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Old 02-28-2019, 05:03 PM   #1
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Residential Refrigerator Does Not stay running

Does anyone that has a residential fridge in their RV have a solution to keeping it running while on the road?
The inverter is on, the fridge is running but when I stop I notice that the fridge isn't running and have o turn the inverter switch off and on again.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:10 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scusset1 View Post
Does anyone that has a residential fridge in their RV have a solution to keeping it running while on the road?
The converter is on, the fridge is running but when I stop I notice that the fridge isn't running and have o turn the converter switch off and on again.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I can't answer your question but you're really talking about your INVERTER, right, and not your converter?
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:12 PM   #3
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Yes, sorry...
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:12 PM   #4
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Fridge does not run off the Converter. Fridge runs off the Inverter. Perhaps the fridge isn't running because it is at the proper temp set of the t-stat? Fridge compressor does not run all the time.
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:14 PM   #5
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Yes, I corrected the info on the original thread, sorry!
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:15 PM   #6
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if your batteries are charged and in good shape and you are hooked to your tow vehicle your fridge should work no problem (for a limited amount of time)
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:20 PM   #7
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I have Cardinal 3800 FL with residential fridge. I use the inverter to travel with fine. I run dual batteries and a 2800 watt inverter. I always have the fridge running to temp the day before. The batteries charge sufficient to keep it to temp with no issues using the inverter. I pulled from Arlington TX. straight through to Denver Co. and all was good.I have seen people discuss it takes a lot of power but have not found this to be true in my case.

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Old 02-28-2019, 05:23 PM   #8
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The OP has a Motorhome with a residential fridge.
They surely must have an inverter.
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Old 02-28-2019, 05:53 PM   #9
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you have several things to 'think' about when you want your residential fridge, or any 120v item, to run while you are not plugged into shore power, or have the generator running, whether parked or while traveling.

residential fridges ONLY work on 120v power - so that power MUST come from either Shore, Generator, OR Inverter power(from your House batteries).

residential fridges also do not 'run' 24/7, the compressor only runs as it needs to, to keep the temperature at a low temp.

as for the 120v power when only the Inverter is available, which works off the House batteries, you must have BOTH good battery voltage levels AND the Inverter must be ON.
Inverters, by design, though, will ultimately turn themselves off at a certain low Voltage level so that they don't sap ALL of the House battery power, usually at 10.0 volts.
If you are traveling for hours and hours, it may be that the batteries are being drained while driving, the batteries are not being charged during that time, and the low voltage has caused the Inverter to shut off.

Most motorhomes, though, provide for House battery charging, while driving, thru a controller that senses when the Chassis/Vehicle batteries are high enough, and sends the extra Alternator power back to the House batteries. If the controller is not working properly, your house batteries could be drained well before you arrive and plug into power.

You can also run your Generator while you are driving, or for just some of the time you are driving, especially during the summer when you could also make use of the roof air conditioners, in addition to the Battery Charger or Converter to recharge the house batteries.

You may also have an AGS(auto Generator started) that you can set to crank the generator when the House batteries get low, such as at 12.0 volts, even when you are driving.
Generators don't care if you want to use them when you are parked, or when you are driving, they just do their job no matter. : )
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Old 03-01-2019, 08:47 AM   #10
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Batteries appear to be the issue?

Great feedback folks, thank you. I have had battery issues from the day we bought the unit. Initially there were only 2 house batteries and I wasn't smart enough to know that wasn't enough to power the fridge. We now have 4 batteries and still have an issue. So, I am thinking that one or more of the batteries are not working properly, the inverter is not powerful enough or the controller is not working properly.
I can take the coach to a battery place and have the batteries checked. How would I know if the inverter is enough to run the fridge? And how would I test the controller?

Again, Many thanks folks. Obviously I have limited knowledge but I am willing to learn.
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:01 AM   #11
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I think you might have to give us more details and history about 'why' you think this might be a battery issue, as two batteries can just as easily 'power' the Inverter to provide 120v power to the fridge, just as four can - it's not a question really of how many batteries, as they are all connected to give a 12v output. Yes, with four batteries you will have more 'time' to provide 120v power thru the Inverter, but the power is 120v not matter the number of batteries.

Could you have an issue with one of the batteries, or even one or two CELLS within an battery? YES. I had that issue recently myself. One of the 6v batteries was showing a fair charge, or voltage level, but when the Inverter needed 'sudden' power, such as when the fridge's compressor kicked on, or using the Microwave, or turning on the Vacuum, the Inverter would suddenly shut OFF. No explanation. No alerts. Nothing.
I was very perplexing for a while, as I 'assumed' that it might have been a 12v relay coil that was underpowered, or not handling the sudden rush of power.

What I found, after taking the 'specific gravity' reading of each cell of each battery, via a easy-to-use bulb-type device found at any auto parts store, was that two of the cells in the #4 battery where non-existent, basically so low on the scale that they were causing the whole battery bank to 'lose' 12v power, even for a moment during these initial loads, causing the Inverter to think that it had lost 12v power, therefore shutting off.

I could have easily just spent $125 and replaced the battery, but that's not me.
I took the route of trying to see if I could successfully 'revive' the battery, just like the factory may when the battery store sends it back for recycling. I did some utube viewing, purchased a $8 box of battery fluid(electrolyte sulfate/acid), and started the reviving process. I drained the battery fluids into a plastic 5 gal pail. I filled the battery cells with distilled water and ran it thru several full charging cycles. I drained the water, and refilled with the new fluid, and also some of the 'old' fluid to top each cell off. I ran it thru several more full charging cycles over several days.
Viola' - the battery is now back to holding a full charge, and responding appropriately with the voltage when a load is applied. Everything is back to normal, $8 later.
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:07 AM   #12
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the 2800 watt inverter is probably at least double what is needed to run the refrigerator. our residential refrigerator says it uses 8.5 amps which is about 1000 watts. your inverter is totally big enough!

the key is that you say you have to turn the inverter off and on to get it running again. it is most probably shutting down due to low battery voltage. (of course there could be a flaw in the inverter itself). before you reset the inverter go take a look at its face panel to see if there are any indicator lights or status displays the indicate why it shut down.

we have 2 group 27 batteries in our trailer. we are able to tow all day and the batteries will keep the refrigerator running. there is a small charge also coming from the tow vehicle. you have four batteries in a motor home and i would expect the batteries to get more of a charge from the motor home alternator than batteries in a trailer would receive. bottom line: it sure appears that you have an issue with the batteries and how they are getting charged. you have more than enough battery and inverter capacity to travel for a day and keep the refrigerator running.
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:07 AM   #13
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We have a single door 10.7 cu ft residential frig. Drove from Detroit area to Sterling CO with an overnight at Walmart, 30 hours. Our dual batteries were at 3/4's charged according to the wall meter when we arrived. Just my experience with our TT.
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Old 03-01-2019, 09:17 AM   #14
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Tough question.

As stated above test your cells. Easy.

Eliminates one issue.

At present rv manufacturers often use inexpensive components in new rvs.

I might try unplugging the fridge from the inverter and plug in a saw or something that uses more amps to see what happens. Check the inverter capacity.
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Old 03-01-2019, 01:56 PM   #15
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Are you getting an error message on your inverter? Maybe I missed it but I’m not sure why you know to turn the inverter off and then back on again.I had a similar problem but got an error code on the inverter. Unfortunately I don’t recall what it was. It turned out the GFI outlet on the inverter was bad and would trip when the residential fridge started up after running fine.
I replace the GFI outlet and everything works fine now.
Good luck!
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Old 03-01-2019, 02:17 PM   #16
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You said you had battery issues from day one which may mean that the original batteries are damaged due to over discharging. If you simply added two new batteries to the existing marginal ones, that could be your problem. Once one of the old weak ones goes bad, it will draw down the others. Any time you change multiple battery banks, you should change out all of them. If the voltage drops below a set value during the trip, the inverter will shut off. It will recover slightly when off to allow you to restart the inverter but will quickly shut off again. I am leaning to batteries.
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Old 03-01-2019, 02:56 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Havasu Bill View Post
Are you getting an error message on your inverter? Maybe I missed it but I’m not sure why you know to turn the inverter off and then back on again.I had a similar problem but got an error code on the inverter. Unfortunately I don’t recall what it was. It turned out the GFI outlet on the inverter was bad and would trip when the residential fridge started up after running fine.
I replace the GFI outlet and everything works fine now.
Good luck!
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Old 03-01-2019, 03:36 PM   #18
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Fridge

I have a 5th wheel with residential fridge it came with a 1000 watt inverter it also only has 2 batteries. It takes 24 hr being plugged in to totally charge the batteries. If less time you get a surface charge that doesn't last as long. My batteries charge from my tow vehicle and i have not had any problems with the fridge shutting down. My last two rv have had the same system.
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Old 03-01-2019, 03:49 PM   #19
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Can you be a bit more specific. When you say the fridge is not running, do you mean that there is no per to the appliance? Is there a lot control panel on the door? When you open the doors, does the light come on?

If no power, check the GFI on your inverter. It is located in a panel above the propane tank on the driver's side of your 2014 378l. What model fridge and what inverter? There is a known issue that the Frigidaire model fghf2366pf2 has too long of a startup time for the xantrex pro watt 2000 inverter. We experienced the problem, went thru several inverter failures and it is now fixed.


Let us know more info, many folks here with applicable experience and knowledge.
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Old 03-01-2019, 04:31 PM   #20
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I agree it is probably the batteries! I understand FR switched to
LG refrigerators because the draw when compressors start up is too much and long like mentioned above. We have not had a problem with ours except the time when we first bought it in 2017 we forgot to turn it on. Totally my fault. But user manual explained it very well and no problems since. Good Luck I know it is frustrating when things don’t work
like they should and we don’t know why!
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