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Hiya this is a much asked question, so this is my input others may differ

All we do is plug van into home mains the night before we travel to chill it down,

I've just motored up & down to Edinburgh journey time of 5 hrs each way, i have yet to use either gas or 12v  on my fridge to keep it cool when on the road, even after 5hrs unconnected to the mains, my frozen food is still hard enough to hammer the awning pegs in

So ithink your looking for a food defrosting problem that doesn't realy exist

mick

I am sure an expert will be along to answer shortly. My take on this, and what I do, is use 12v while travelling and light gas when parked for a stop. I dont turn gas off at the cylinder. So far as I know it is not illegal to drive with a lit gas appliance in the uk (although it is I believe, in France and some other eu countries). I certainly dont think there is any rneed to shut off the gas at the cylinder.

I recall a few years ago seeing the dutch plant importers who come over with their vans loaded with plants they take round garden centres, in winter, travelling with lit mobile calor gas heaters  tied inside the side door.

I think that you will find that it is illegal to travel with the gas on unless you have the special valve fitted which automatically turns it off in the event of an accident.

I can't see why you would not want to use the fridge as intended and that is leave it on automatic and use the 12 volt while travelling.

Like Mike, we put the fridge on about a day before we travel (on hook-up) to get it cold.  We do use the 12v while travelling  and don't bother putting on gas when we stop.  We try not to open the fridge too many times as this will heat the fridge up.  Suppose it depends on how long you're goig to stop for.

We keep the gas turned off at the cylinder when travelling.

Any motorhome that we have owned had a solinoid valve that automatically shut off the gas, just above the cylinder, as soon as the vehicle ignition was switched on.

This meant that even when the vehicle ignition was switched back off, although this valve opened, because the gas units were cold, they would not allow any gas through until the proper unit ignition proceedure had been applied.

Whether you have this solinoid or not, all cylinders should be turned off at the bottle before any journey is undertaken.

The only cylinders that are allowed to be open are LPG fuel ones for LPG vehicles and these have built in safety features inthe event of a crash.

    Hi

       As A Retired Fire Officer, I would advise you to turn OFF and isolate (Disconnect) from the gas cylinder completely. If in an accident, the cylinder if possible could be removed from the vehicle as not to cause an explosive Hazzard to others. I have seen the backend of a Motor Home Blown Off Completely,due to it being left on. NOT A PRETTY SITE

                                                                   Regards Gingertom.