Keeping Fridge Running on Portsmouth to Spain Ferry

[shaggy]

Hi Will

I'm not banking on them supplying poweri but thought I would give it ago.

 

It maybe as you suggest, that a third party might be answering for BF, it is not uncommon for companies to outsource their social media hence the more positive response from their twitter account.

 

We will have to wait and see.

 

Gavin

[Will86]

I fail to see how anyone can rely on a third 'unknown' party. You could never rely on an 'unknown' if an accident occurred and I doubt if they are covered to compensate anyone if they gave misleading information.

[Mike88]

Will85 - 2015-09-27 6:07 PM

 

I fail to see how anyone can rely on a third 'unknown' party. You could never rely on an 'unknown' if an accident occurred and I doubt if they are covered to compensate anyone if they gave misleading information.

 

Reports that say that something has happened are always interesting because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know. ;-)

[markh1]

I know I'm endlessly repeating myself, but it is absolutely no problem to have a hook up on the pont aven or the cap finisterre to Spain, tweet them they add a note to your booking, you don't do it when you book cos you can't, they'll pm you back to confirm, when you check in remind them, they will tell you to put your headlights on, so the loading team know its you, they take you out of line And load you to a point where you can plug in, it really is that simple, there isn't a problem with trailing leads, you use your own, there are way more plugs in they can use, even if there are fridge trucks onboard, if you've actually been on either ferry you'll have seen the hook up points on the walls, nothing else to add

[shaggy]

markh1 - 2015-09-27 9:58 PM

 

I know I'm endlessly repeating myself, but it is absolutely no problem to have a hook up on the pont aven or the cap finisterre to Spain, tweet them they add a note to your booking, you don't do it when you book cos you can't, they'll pm you back to confirm, when you check in remind them, they will tell you to put your headlights on, so the loading team know its you, they take you out of line And load you to a point where you can plug in, it really is that simple, there isn't a problem with trailing leads, you use your own, there are way more plugs in they can use, even if there are fridge trucks onboard, if you've actually been on either ferry you'll have seen the hook up points on the walls, nothing else to add

 

I have tweeted them and they have sent an email to the ship to request an electric hook up. They haven't confirmed it yet but will ask again when checking in, so no guarantee given as yet.The ship in question is the Baie de Seine.

[Bulletguy]

Am i missing something here but why would anyone need to take a fridge full of food when you can buy fresh on wherever you arrive....not to mention usually cheaper too!! All i stick in my fridge is a small milk to see me through a couple of days of cereal after which i shop and eat out. I cook at home so i'm damned if i'm going to faff around cooking when away. I go for a break from humdrum house routine......not live as i do at home!

[shaggy]

Bulletguy - 2015-09-28 12:23 AM

 

Am i missing something here but why would anyone need to take a fridge full of food when you can buy fresh on wherever you arrive....not to mention usually cheaper too!! All i stick in my fridge is a small milk to see me through a couple of days of cereal after which i shop and eat out. I cook at home so i'm damned if i'm going to faff around cooking when away. I go for a break from humdrum house routine......not live as i do at home!

 

Just don't like the idea of starting off the holiday in the shops.

[vindiboy]

Cliffy - 2012-10-08 9:21 PM

I was thinking about booking the ferry to Santander/Bilbao for next year when I read in MMM about the problem of the fridge not running on long ferry trips which I had not thought about. As we usually set off with a full fridge and freezer and considering the length of the crossing it is critical we keep it running.

Do Britinay Ferries provide EHU? If not how do we keep the food frozen?

  

 My van needed a new clutch on one of our trips to Portugal and was in a garage for 3 days , I had a full fridge and freezer, I told the garage not to hook up to electric , and I taped the door of the fridge shut, we got the van back after 3 days and the freezer was still frozen and the fridge still cool ,we did not loose any of the food, so if your fridge freezer is frozen when you start out I do not think you will have any problems on the ferry, you can of course  just buy food on arrival at your chosen entry  port Choices.

[Cliffy]

shaggy - 2015-09-27 10:39 AM

 

Just to open this one up again. I will be travelling to Bilbao on Tuesday so thought I would follow the advise of previous posts about requesting an EHU for the outbound crossing. I both emailed BF and posted a tweet. The email came back towing the company line stating that the EHC s were only for freight vehicles and are not available to the public. The tweet was responded to a little more positively and offered to email the ship to request the hook up and if it could be made available should there be spare capacity. Whilst this is not guaranteed and I probably won't no until after boarding at least it showed some hope. The only problem is not knowing and having to freeze everything in preparation.

 

I will let you know how we get on!

 

We used the Portsmouth to Santander ferry this year after reading the replies here to my original post we travelled with an empty freezer and were glad we did. We stopped at a Dai supermarket just outside Santander heading west. The prices and quality for fresh meat was much better than UK. We bought the meat of the day offer 6 chicken breasts and 6 pork chops for 7,5 euros the lot.

 

So I would leave the freezer empty but use the fridge to store fresh cooked food for the first night in the fridge, such as Spag Bol or chilli. it is not worth chancing getting a hook up on the ferry.

 

They moved us twice when we boarded before they got us in to the place they wanted us. I would not like to be wandering around on the car deck trying to plug an EHU lead in with lorries and cars everywhere.

 

Loading the vehicles is not the slick operation it is on the short crossing ferries

[shaggy]

Just a quick update, to let everyone know how we got on.

 

When we checked in at Portsmouth, I requested EHU to the girl who said nothing had been noted on the booking. She did radio the loaders to request/ advise of my request and they confirmed it was possible.

She then gave me an A4 printed sheet of paper with' Electric' printed on it to stick in the front window.

As we approached the first person giving directions through security he advised us to put on our hazard lights to make ourselves noticed. We were then held separately from everyone else boarding and positioned next to a power point on the ship when loaded. There was an engineer waiting to plug the lead in ( we were not allowed to do it ourselves).

So the answer to the question about power on the longer crossings is, if they have space and not too many people who request it, there is a good chance on getting it, but don't rely on it. I don't think they will ever publicise it because there would be too many wanting it and due to the location on the points would be a pain in the a**e for the loaders.

 

Would we request it again, probably not, as others have said, just take enough for the first day/ night and purchase locally.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Gavin

 

[aandncaravan]

Maybe not totally relevant to this thread any more but some Hymers, Burstners and others using the Schaudt Elektroblock range have the facility to run the Fridge short term directly off the Habitation Battery without the need for the engine to be running. On the Schaudt Elektroblock EBL 99 equipped vehicles there is a fuse second from left marked up Kompr/AES. If you populate this fuse slot and the Fridge has been wired up correctly by the MH Builder, 12v will be supplied directly from the Habitation battery to the Fridge.

It is designed to allow the fridge/freezer to be kept cold if you are travelling and stop at a services for refreshment, like a stop for Lunch, where there is a petrol Services nearby and naked flames are not allowed to 'Gas' the Fridge.

 

It is also a good way of selectively running a Compressor Fridge 'off Solar Power', providing you remember to manage it when the Sun sets.

 

Forgetting to remove the fuse will not hamper any other working. It will still run from the Alternator when the engine is started, but it will obviously drain the battery quite quickly once the engine is switched off.

 

This fuse holder should normally be unpopulated. We occasionally get people who make a MH purchase and think it's a good idea to populate all the fuse slots. Then wonder why the battery goes flat in 8 hours.

 

 

 

[StuartO]

I've bumped this old thread to provide the up to date position with Britanny Ferries.  I have a booking for September(i.e. in 6 months time) so I rang up to enquire about an EHU.

 

Clearly they have them on these ferries but they are reserved for refridgerated freight users and the Booking Office has no mechanism to book one for a motorhome.  Six months ahead they would of course have no idea how many lorries would need them.  Even close to the departure, it sounds like they could not reserve an EHU for me.

 

But mine is a two night crossing and they were not unsympathetic.  A motorhome is going to be loaded on the lorry deck, so they suggested asking as I am being loaded and there might be one I could use.  Obviously cannot be depended upon but if I can get one, a useful bonus.

 

[AndyLou]

Stuart

Have you tried the twitter thing?

[PJay]

Just seen some of the old posts. We do not all use twitter, we don't for a start.

 

Why do you need to keep fridge on ehu for the ferry journey.?if packed with frozen milk/water, meat etc, it should still be Ok for 24 hours, on 12v, as the door will not be opened. in that time. They do have shops in Spain, and are not as expensive as France, so buy locally, fresh food. I take things that I know are not easy to get, like favorite cereals, and a few basics. Your on holiday, eat out some times!

 

PJay

[StuartO]

Andy&Lou - 2017-03-18 1:24 PMStuartHave you tried the twitter thing?

 

Not yet, I think I'll leave any further approaches until closer to the time.  Either they are going to have more than enough EHUs for the number of lorries they are loading that day or they won't.

 

Ours is a two night crossing but even so if we pack the fridge with either frozen food or those blue cool box things we'll be OK.

 

[Brian Kirby]

PJay - 2017-03-18 2:30 PM

If packed with frozen milk/water, meat etc, it should still be Ok for 24 hours, on 12v, ..................PJay

Sorry Pauline, but if I'm understanding you correctly, I think you may be making an incorrect assumption. In almost all motorhomes, once the engine is stopped the 12V fridge supply is cut so, with the gas off, the fridge will not cool at all.

 

To run a fridge for 24 hours, at a normal consumption in the region of 10A, the total consumed would be around 240Ah. So, as it is generally unwise to use more than 50% of the capacity of a leisure battery, somewhere near 500Ah of leisure battery capacity would be required to run the fridge on the crossing. Practically, it just has to be accepted that fridges are effectively turned off on ferry crossings, unless a 240V supply is available.

[Derek Uzzell]

Brittany Ferries has Facebook and Twitter pages

 

https://en-gb.facebook.com/BrittanyFerries/

 

 

I would have thought it should be possible to satisfactorily resolve the ‘onboard 230V hook-up for motorhomes’ issue via the Facebook route.

[PJay]

Brian Kirby - 2017-03-18 7:48 PM

 

PJay - 2017-03-18 2:30 PM

If packed with frozen milk/water, meat etc, it should still be Ok for 24 hours, on 12v, ..................PJay

Sorry Pauline, but if I'm understanding you correctly, I think you may be making an incorrect assumption. In almost all motorhomes, once the engine is stopped the 12V fridge supply is cut so, with the gas off, the fridge will not cool at all.

 

To run a fridge for 24 hours, at a normal consumption in the region of 10A, the total consumed would be around 240Ah. So, as it is generally unwise to use more than 50% of the capacity of a leisure battery, somewhere near 500Ah of leisure battery capacity would be required to run the fridge on the crossing. Practically, it just has to be accepted that fridges are effectively turned off on ferry crossings, unless a 240V supply is available.

 

I stand corrected, We have not done the Spanish crossing, so I assumed that the fridge would stay cold

We put ours on 12v for the crossing to France, and when we are motoring.

We've had "ice boxes " on a boat in Greece, and we used to buy either large chunks of ice, or frozen bottled water to keep the box cold. It worked ! They did not have electric fridges in those days.

 

i would have thought that the decks on the ferry which are open, would be reasonably chilled any way?? I don't understand why , some people need to keep the fridge frozen, buy food when you get there. I have to keep medicine in the fridge, and manage with 12v, on normal crossings

 

PJay

[Brian Kirby]

PJay - 2017-03-19 2:17 PM........................ I have to keep medicine in the fridge, and manage with 12v, on normal crossings PJay

Sorry Pauline, but that's not quite what I meant! The 12V supply to the fridge cooling circuit only works when the engine (really the alternator) is running. When the engine is stopped, because the alternator is engine driven, that 12V supply ceases. There is a relay in the circuit feeding the fridge that switches off the supply as soon as the alternator stops generating. In the absence of this relay the fridge would simply draw its power from the starter battery which, on a crossing lasting several hours, would be liable to prove flat on arrival at the destination port.

 

So, when you are on a ferry, your fridge isn't getting a supply to its 12V cooling circuit. However, the fridge light and control panel will continue to work as normal, because they are fed from the habitation battery. This can create the impression that the fridge is running (cooling) as normal from its 12V supply when, in fact, it isn't.

[PJay]

Thanks you Brian

i understood what you said. I did wonder why the fridge started to melt on one occasion when we where not on Hook up once. I assumed that the fridge did work off the 12v, even when the engine not working.

Hey Ho

Only had van for 11 years, and we have managed Ok.You live and learn (sometimes)

P

[aandncaravan]

I was recently talking to someone who said they were going to run their Fridge on Gas while on the Ferry to Spain.

I pointed out that not only are naked flames not allowed were there might be a build up of Petrol fumes but the Gas bottle is supposed to be turned off, etc.

 

His reply was to the tune of, "Don't be worried about something like that, more important to make sure you are not parked next to a Vauxhall Zafira".