The auxiliary battery not charging at the same rate as the main would be an
indication of inadequate wiring or relay, etc. The 12 volt heater is the
same wattage theoretically as the 110v heater so if all is well, it should
work the same. The 12 volt does not use the thermostat however.

Except for the propane feature having to be turned off for refueling or some
other situations such as ferries and certain tunnels, both the 110 and 12
volt is inefficient. RV refrigerators don't even bother with the 12 volt
option, especially the larger ones.

It is likely that you have a bad 12 volt heater, or the wiring for you 2nd
battery or to the fridge is not adequate. Also, depending on driving
conditions, the fridge may intermittently stop working as acceleration
surges disturb the flow of the fluids in the cooling system. Remember, the
fridge relies on gravity flow to do its job.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Chuck Reisinger
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 3:09 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Frig on 12v

My Frig isn't doing so well running on 12v when underway..... thought
in theory -  that you could run the frig while underway or parked for
1-2 hours....changng over to propane when stopped for longer periods or
for the night.....  new batteries and frig update  completed by
GoWesty.....talked with Chris at GW...he told me the aux battery
doesn't charge at the same rate as the main....I didn't know
this.....he suggested just staying on propane....btw:  frig works like
a champ on 110....

So....is the 12v frig feature a WASTE?  Is there anything that can be
done to resolve this?

Would installing a new alt help?

Thanks much