Residential Refrigerator with Inverter

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by jlgail4309

Mine did not come with the inverter. The dealer installed the inverter so that the food would stay cold going do the road. Doesn't work real good. I'm getting ready to take it back in to see if they can fix the problem. Not sure if it my Jeep or the cheap battery they installed or the 50 dollar inverter they charged me 200.00 dollars for. But do your home work before they install. They did a 800 watt inverter not sure that's big enough. Might need two battery.

System seems anemic, ones I've seen had four batteries and maybe 2000-2500 watt inverter.

[jlgail4309]

Yea after having problems and looking into the issue. I think the inverter is to small and not enough battery power. First one they had sold with the home style refrigerator. I believe forst River is trying to keep prices down. It will drain the battery in a hour or so. so beware before allowing the to go cheap on the battery and inverter.

[textman]

I need to take a closer look at my inverter. I've had my unit just over a year and we just had to replace our residential fridge. The new one is not cooling very well and I am wondering if the plug is not getting enough power. Batteries are strong when on inverter, but the fridge has to be pulled out to get to the plug. So I guess its back to the dealer again!

I also wonder if it is getting enough air circulation for the compressor!!!

With the issues I have had with my unit, if it were not for my RV Dealer, I would hang a sign on mine for Mr. Buffet to read. Maybe he would visit his RV manufacturers then! Doubt it!

[Gaasb]

Fellow RV Forum Members: I'm still concerned about the safety of this residential refrigerators with invertor.
1. If dry camping, with a 24-36 hr. timeline for keeping food cold, who is monitoring the temperature inside to prevent food-borne illnesses? These diseases are serious and sometimes fatal.
2. Is there an alarm to alert the Rvers when temperature drops below safety standards to prevent spoiled food?
Suzanne Brostrom, RN
PS: I certainly don't want any Forum Members to become ill during a vacation.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Gaasb

Fellow RV Forum Members: I'm still concerned about the safety of this residential refrigerators with invertor.
1. If dry camping, with a 24-36 hr. timeline for keeping food cold, who is monitoring the temperature inside to prevent food-borne illnesses? These diseases are serious and sometimes fatal.
2. Is there an alarm to alert the Rvers when temperature drops below safety standards to prevent spoiled food?
Suzanne Brostrom, RN
PS: I certainly don't want any Forum Members to become ill during a vacation.

I would think that would be up to the individual owner to manage those things. My 2-way fridge works on propane + 12v *or* 110v systems. If I run out of propane or battery, there is nothing in the fridge that tells me when it gets too warm to keep food safe. Why would a residential fridge be any different in a camper? (Other than that window to dead battery might be quicker.)

[georgew48]

Originally Posted by Gaasb

Fellow RV Forum Members: I'm still concerned about the safety of this residential refrigerators with invertor.
1. If dry camping, with a 24-36 hr. timeline for keeping food cold, who is monitoring the temperature inside to prevent food-borne illnesses? These diseases are serious and sometimes fatal.
2. Is there an alarm to alert the Rvers when temperature drops below safety standards to prevent spoiled food?
Suzanne Brostrom, RN
PS: I certainly don't want any Forum Members to become ill during a vacation.

Mine has a ditigal readout on the door and the freezer stays at 0 degrees and I keep the refer part at 38 degrees. Not a single problem on my recent 3000 mile trip.

[wrapperman]

Those are great questions. I too had the same ones.
1. The refrig does have its own inverter.
2. I was told it is a 600w inverter by the RV dealer.
3. The inverter runs on the battery when I manually turn it on and if I don't turn it off when I connect up to shore power it will continue to run on the batteries, but then again the batteries will maintain a charge while hooked up to shore power.
4. On dry camping
The efficiency of the refrig will not be any different, the compressor will keep it cooling regardless of battery or shore power, it does not know any difference. 110 volts is basically the same whether from inverter or shore power.
It will continue to make ice as long as the water pump is on or being connected to city/park water
My experience is the refrig will last about 3 to 4 hours on battery but stay cool for 8 to 10 hours, depending on how many times the door being opened. Forrest River does not put very large amp hour batteries in the coach we have so if you install more or larger batteries that could change your decision.
We have a 2013 Georgetown XL 378 and love the residential refrig and will not go back to propane. It cools down to 40 degrees if needed but we keep it at 45 degrees and the freezer easily freezes to 0 degrees. And it does it within 3 hours. Our preference is residential.
Good luck.

[jerseyboy]

We love ours last about 36 hrs on the batteries (4 6 volt) before we have to recharge. It also makes plenty of ice. We would not go back to propane either.

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by Gaasb

Fellow RV Forum Members: I'm still concerned about the safety of this residential refrigerators with invertor.
1. If dry camping, with a 24-36 hr. timeline for keeping food cold, who is monitoring the temperature inside to prevent food-borne illnesses? These diseases are serious and sometimes fatal.
2. Is there an alarm to alert the Rvers when temperature drops below safety standards to prevent spoiled food?
Suzanne Brostrom, RN
PS: I certainly don't want any Forum Members to become ill during a vacation.

You can find remote electronic thermo with a base uit with user set alarms, not expensive.