Can Residential Refrigerator Inverter/Batteries be Upgraded?

[CA Fisherman]

Our 2014 MH has the residential refrigerator with the inverter and two 12 volt batteries. I had the opportunity to see some 2015's earlier this week and wondered what upgrades might be available for our 2014 residential refrigerator.

Following is the question I posed to Forest River followed by their next day response.

My MH has the residential refrigerator powered by an inverter and two 12 volt batteries. I believe four 6 volt batteries would provide longer run time for the refrigerator. I noticed a 2015 Georgetown on the lot which appeared to have four 6 volt batteries. I sure wish mine had four 6 volt batteries. Does Forest River have a program to retrofit from two 12 volt to four 6 volt batteries? (hopefully YES). If not, can four 6’s be substituted for two 12’s or does the inverter need to be changed or anything else special?

To my knowledge Forest River, Inc has never offered 4 6v batteries. We do though in the 2015 offer a 2000w invertor with 4 12v batteries. The setup you have would be 2 12v batteries with a 1000w invertor. There is not at this time a way to retro fit your unit with the 2015 version. The setup you have is by design for that year and was the only setup we had at the time. You can on the other hand purchase a bigger invertor and 2 more batteries to add to your unit. If that is done Forest River, Inc 1 year limited warranty does not cover product enhancement.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

Our 2014 MH has the residential refrigerator with the inverter and two 12 volt batteries. I had the opportunity to see some 2015's earlier this week and wondered what upgrades might be available for our 2014 residential refrigerator.

Following is the question I posed to Forest River followed by their next day response.

My MH has the residential refrigerator powered by an inverter and two 12 volt batteries. I believe four 6 volt batteries would provide longer run time for the refrigerator. I noticed a 2015 Georgetown on the lot which appeared to have four 6 volt batteries. I sure wish mine had four 6 volt batteries. Does Forest River have a program to retrofit from two 12 volt to four 6 volt batteries? (hopefully YES). If not, can four 6’s be substituted for two 12’s or does the inverter need to be changed or anything else special?

To my knowledge Forest River, Inc has never offered 4 6v batteries. We do though in the 2015 offer a 2000w invertor with 4 12v batteries. The setup you have would be 2 12v batteries with a 1000w invertor. There is not at this time a way to retro fit your unit with the 2015 version. The setup you have is by design for that year and was the only setup we had at the time. You can on the other hand purchase a bigger invertor and 2 more batteries to add to your unit. If that is done Forest River, Inc 1 year limited warranty does not cover product enhancement.

Think about if 1 6 volt go's bad then you have no power at all. If a 12v go's bad you still have 1 that would work. If you want to upgrade get 2 deep cell only and change them out if you have duel batteries now (Starting and deep cell)

[BillMFl]

Depending on how much you want to spend you can get deep cycle batteries with more capacity than the two that came with your coach. Do some research and shop around.

[CA Fisherman]

My current 1000 watt inverter does have two dedicated 12 volt batteries. I wonder if leaving the inverter as is and adding two additional 12 volt batteries for a total of four would provide longer run times for the RR and not be incompatible with the existing inverter?

[CA Fisherman]

BillMFI, Great idea I will do some research.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

My current 1000 watt inverter does have two dedicated 12 volt batteries. I wonder if leaving the inverter as is and adding two additional 12 volt batteries for a total of four would provide longer run times for the RR and not be incompatible with the existing inverter?

I think you would have to check what your charger puts off and then do the math, now your charging 4 battery's not two. Might take longer but it probably would do the job. The inverter has nothing to do with it unless it's a charger/inverter.

[CA Fisherman]

I will check it out. Actually the charger is already charging at least four batteries, the two for the inverter and the two under the steps for the MH. It may even be charging the engine compartment battery for a current total of five.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

I will check it out. Actually the charger is already charging at least four batteries, the two for the inverter and the two under the steps for the MH. It may even be charging the engine compartment battery for a current total of five.

Just a question for you I use to be a boater to. Do you have a selector switch installed to isolate the charging? like on boats?

[CA Fisherman]

Gljurczyk, No I do not have a battery selector isolation switch on my MH like those one most boats, including mine.

[camaraderie]

CA... you can absolutely add more batts to the coach if you have room for them or get a rack welded up locally.
The inverter size of 1000W is plenty for your power needs and more batts would simply give you more run time before recharge. If you want to be able to run MORE stuff, then you might consider a bigger inverter. The real question as GJ suggests is do you have a charger built into the inverter that is capable of charging 4 batts v. 2 (House) .... you need a charger that provides at LEAST 10% of the amp hour rating @12V of your bank...so for either 4 6V batts OR 4 12V Group31 batts...anything over 40 amps will suffice...and anything over around 80 amps would be overkill.
I'd recommend 4 6V's in your situation if they fit mainly from a cost standpoint. Otherwise...stay with TRUE deep cycle 12Volts in as large a size as you can fit... just don't mix sizes. 4 Group 31' would give you roughly the same amp hours (400+) as 4 6V's.
If you don't have room for 4...you might be able to fit 3 of the 12V's ...nothing wrong with that.

There is no need for more batteries if you camp plugged in most of the time. If you boondock a lot that fridge can definitely chew up your present capacity. A TRUE battery monitor is something you need if the latter is the case and need to expand your batt bank.

[wire1946]

I have 4 6 volt batteries 2 house and 2 for the ref. not sure the 1000 watt inverter is the right size . always goes out on some alarm .

[JoanneL]

WE have four (12 volt I think) and the extra two were put in free by the dealer because we freaked out (and were never told) that we couldn't dry camp for even 24 hours with just two. So another two can be added.

[CA Fisherman]

JoanneL: Thank you for the information. Sometime when convenient, I would appreciate a picture of your inverter battery storage area after the dealer added the two batteries. It would help me plan how to fabricate a platform to hold the additional batteries.

[JoanneL]

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

JoanneL: Thank you for the information. Sometime when convenient, I would appreciate a picture of your inverter battery storage area after the dealer added the two batteries. It would help me plan how to fabricate a platform to hold the additional batteries.

For sure...let's see if I can do more than one at a time!

[JoanneL]

Hope this helps..I will post the others separately

[JoanneL]

Why can't I post pics??

[JoanneL]

Ok I posted them on my Facebook page. Just click the pic on and you will get nice big pictures. https://www.facebook.com/jo.levy.104

[JoanneL]

Originally Posted by JoanneL

Hope this helps..I will post the others separately

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

JoanneL: Thank you for the information. Sometime when convenient, I would appreciate a picture of your inverter battery storage area after the dealer added the two batteries. It would help me plan how to fabricate a platform to hold the additional batteries.

I had trouble posting them here.