Whirlpool Refrigerator

[BandJCarm]

Fridge Fixer:
https://www.recubed.solutions/
works great.


Driving down the road, the inverter MUST be on. I could leave mine on all the time, but for reasons unknown (lol) I turn mine off when plugged to shore power. Many leave it running so that if they leave and power is lost, the refrig will retain power. It isn't hurting a thing to leave it on even when plugged to shore power. But it MUST be on during transit....that's what it's for.

Driving down the road, your alternator will attempt to charge your trailer batteries through the plug. It isn't going to keep up, though. It just helps. Nonetheless, I've had my refrig unplugged from shore power for many hours.........12 or more. Now, that includes up to 8 of those hours with inverter being on, in transit.


In short, the truck allows the batteries to discharge slowly enough that a one day trip is not an issue.

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by chuck9997

I am the OP

Thanks for all the input.. to follow up.. I bought the camper with the Whirlpool refrigerator. It's a 2017 Salem Hemisphere 23rbhl. I mostly always camp where I have shore power. (In 10 years of camping... never without electricity)
This camper came with a factory installed WFCO 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter.

I do have a couple of clarification questions.

If I am plugged into shore power.. does the inverter need to be turned on?

When I am driving/towing... I assume the inverter must be on in order to run the fridge?

and when driving is the fridge getting power from the trailer's battery via the inverter?

Will the tow vehicle running supply enough power to keep the camper battery and my truck battery in good shape.

I don't want to risk running down batteries just to have the refrigerator on while traveling. It would be nice to have a cold fridge on the road.. but not a necessity.

Thanks again.

Congrats in your new rig. I looked up your inverter before responding. (Disclaimer) if I looked at the correct one I can answer your questions correctly.

If plugged into shore power it does NOT have to be on. But I leave mine on because if power fails the fridge keeps running on batter power even if we are not there to know there was a power outage. Shore power charges the batteries and there is no downside to it being on.

It does have to be on while driving to keep the fridge cold.

If you have the 7 pin round plug while towing it will charge your batteries but not with the flat 4 pine plug.

Yes the tow vehicle will produce more then enough power to keep the batteries topped off. I have driven for 7 hours and checked my batteries when we got there and they were at 100 percent.

I stock mine with food and run the fridge every time I go camping. I have never had an issue with my batteries on the TV or TT.

If you always camp with power and never dry camp I am sure you will love this fridge. The only time I turn off the inverter is when I am parking my TT for storage. I disconnect the batteries so they will not drain and damage the batteries.

It works like a UPS system if you plug in the TT it checks the power source and if all is good it automatically switches to shore power. If you unplug the TT it automatically switches back to battery power. Fridge never stops running.

Make sure to follow safety rules and shut off the breaker before plugging in or unplugging your TT and I believe you will have a great experience just as I have.

Happy camping and good luck. If you think of any other questions feel free to ask.

[Mudbug]

Thanks for that BandJCarm I like that.

They gave us this black knob thingy to screw in and to hold the door shut but the one you found is way better. I will be ordering a fridge fixer soon.

[dalford]

I’ve been reading this forum for quite a while and I always see this statement about TV not recharging the RV battery or barely keeping up. I had no measured data but only knew that I could drive 12+ hours and never have an issue with my residential fridge or have any issue using the hydraulic slides and auto level system at the end of the day.

I have the Whirlpool residential fridge as shown by the OP. I have a 2018 Ford F-350 6.7L diesel SD.

I installed a Victron Battery monitor before we went on our trip out west. We stopped at a Harvest Host ( if you haven’t checked them out, do it. Harvesthost.com) for the night and had to run the generator. I turned my generator off a little after 10PM. The batteries (2 - 6 volt golf cart) were used to operated the residential fridge/inverter and my CPAP. In the morning I did not restart my generator and before hitching up to the TV charging system I took a screen shot of the Victron monitor SOC status (attached). The SOC was 79 %.

I then drove for 4 hours with the fridge inverter on and the refrigerator running. When we arrived at our next destination I disconnected the RV from the TV. Before I hooked to shore power I took another screen shot of the Victron monitor SOC status (attached). The SOC was 89%. So in 4 hours the TV recharged the battery by 10%. Obviously this is not as fast if hooked to shore power but definitely not just a trickle charge, it was charging while being towed. Now, my battery wasn’t completely charged but it was recharging.

Also, this is not the most optimum charging method but it does prove the a Ford F-350 can supply more charge to the battery than the Frigidaire refrigerator will consume. This may not be the case for other or larger refrigerators.

I also used the Victron to measure the current draw when the fridge is running. I measure 8.5 dc amps from the battery or about 110 watts depending on battery voltage.

In the screen shots below the first is with no charging source to RV. The current draw is the fridge plus the inverter. The inverter draws a little over 2 amps. The second screen shot, again no charging source, the fridge is not running but the inverter is, 2.2 amps.

[chuck9997]

That explains it.. I found a black knob thingy.. just like that.. in our new 2 us camper. It was in a cabinet drawer.. wandered what it was for.

Originally Posted by Mudbug

Thanks for that BandJCarm I like that.

They gave us this black knob thingy to screw in and to hold the door shut but the one you found is way better. I will be ordering a fridge fixer soon.

Attachment 214032

[formerFR]

I find the original OP's question, or concern, interesting, at least from another perspective - I've owned three different RVs since 2014 when we bought our first, a 40'Blackwood fifthwheel bunkhouse and Ram dually truck, a Georgetown XL36DS motorhome, and most recently, later in 2014, our Palazzo diesel pusher, all with RESIDENTIAL fridges.

I've never owned an RV without one, and personally, never even thought about 'should I' or 'shouldn't I' have that versus some other 'type' of RV fridge. I purchased our RVs with the thought that going 'full time' would certainly warrant a similar fridge to what we were used to at home, a 3600 sq foot custom built home with 1000'cft 5 door fridge(just kidding, but you get the picture!).
Our first two rigs both had the two-door regular size home fridge, with bottom freezer drawer - didn't skip a beat. Now we have the more 'typical' motorhome 'residential' fridge, which is a Whirlpool single door type, with top freezer...much small, but MUCH larger than most ANY rv type fridge I've ever seen.

Personally, having no experience with any 'rv fridge' that runs on propane, or 12v, or even all '3' ways, I'd never want to have anything other than the 'normal' residential fridge that most everyone in America has in their home.
But, I also realize that for some who are questioning whether, just because they might off-grid or boondock, they should consider a 'rv fridge' due to some type of additional or better feature, if for that purpose only.

I get that some think that because you can use the propane side of the equation to provide a fridge without having to 'use' battery power, or shore power, of the need for a generator, at least just for that, but the comparisons of what 'power' is needed for each sometimes gets lost in the equation. They are two different methods, if you are comparing the use of propane, versus the use of an Inverter and your batteries, but they ultimately both take some type of power source, regardless.
If you want to lug around heavy propane, or worry about how and where to refill your tank(s), then go for that.
If you want to to use your batteries to power your Inverter to power your fridge, and use either solar, if any, and/or your generator several hours per day, then go for that. You'll need fuel for the generator, too, of course.

Either way, both require some type of fuel, or power. 'How' you want to power your fridge is really the question. Some are familiar with RV propane, and have been for years, and are used to the requirements. Some of us are not, and would rather not.

As for the fridge itself, some like the roominess and coldness and ice makers with residential type fridges that you might not have as much of with typical rv fridge, and the cost of an rv fridge is crazy high compared to most any 'normal' residential fridge of the same size.

Many may also have the conception that a residential 120v fridge 'runs' 24/7, but that's not the case. The fridge, a larger cooler box, typically will have the compressor running about 10-20 minutes out of every hour, depending on conditions and size, etc.

with over 100,000 travel miles and many, many overnight(s) off-grid, we've had no issues with our residential fridge - the inverter does it's job, the batteries provide the power, and the solar, or generator, provide the battery charging, as needed.

No Worries : )

[dalford]

Originally Posted by formerFR

The fridge, a larger cooler box, typically will have the compressor running about 10-20 minutes out of every hour, depending on conditions and size, etc. : )

I found that mine was in that range also...

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by chuck9997

That explains it.. I found a black knob thingy.. just like that.. in our new 2 us camper. It was in a cabinet drawer.. wandered what it was for.

Did you find a springy thingy like this ? When we were doing our walk through I asked the guy what is this for? His response was I think the guys building the camper left it by mistake. They used it to screw all the screws in.

It took me 2 months to find a website that help me figure out what it is for. It is to manually move the slide in and out if the motor dies.

[Jay2504]

Our current unit has a 6 cubic foot RV 2 way fridge. That thing has been absolutely flawless. The only thing I have done is cut the door heater wire and screens on the air intake. Right now we are looking at a possible new unit. A lot of them have an Everchill 12 volt refrigerator. We often spend a whole weekend at the racetrack with the generator running, sometimes 24/7. At the last race we ran the generator about 1/2 of the time. Not sure which way to go. Thoughts?

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by Jay2504

Our current unit has a 6 cubic foot RV 2 way fridge. That thing has been absolutely flawless. The only thing I have done is cut the door heater wire and screens on the air intake. Right now we are looking at a possible new unit. A lot of them have an Everchill 12 volt refrigerator. We often spend a whole weekend at the racetrack with the generator running, sometimes 24/7. At the last race we ran the generator about 1/2 of the time. Not sure which way to go. Thoughts?

You would have to decide what is best for you and your skill level. I would have to say if you don’t like projects or feel comfortable with electrical then by all means buy the replacement and just change it out. But as most of use have been saying in this post a regular residential refrigerator has benefits. You most likely wouldn’t be able take advantage of a larger fridge unless you have the room. The cost for a 120 volt fridge would be way cheaper. You could then either just run with the generator or you could spend the money saved on a inverter and maybe an extra battery to run it on 12 volts. It would have to be a pure sine wave inverter. They are more expensive then cheap inverters but wouldn’t have to be too big to run the fridge. Mine is a 2000 watt and the original poster of this thread has a 1000 watt. You would have to do the math on your setup to decide how much you want out of it. I can tell you with my current setup I can run on battery power for about 8 hours. My fridge cools down faster, gets colder, and holds temp longer then any rv style fridge I have seen.

[Jay2504]

Sorry, I need to clarify. We are looking at new CAMPERS, some have no choice but a 12 volt (internal Inverter) refrigerator. I was following this thread to see how happy people are who have a non propane fridge in their rv. From reading this thread, most like the idea of a residential unit. I do think that we tend to be without electricity more than most. When we are at the track we put the fridge and the water heater in propane mode to free up power from the generator to run the ac, microwave, coffee maker ect. Again I am sorry if I caused any confusion. Jay

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by Jay2504

Sorry, I need to clarify. We are looking at new CAMPERS, some have no choice but a 12 volt (internal Inverter) refrigerator. I was following this thread to see how happy people are who have a non propane fridge in their rv. From reading this thread, most like the idea of a residential unit. I do think that we tend to be without electricity more than most. When we are at the track we put the fridge and the water heater in propane mode to free up power from the generator to run the ac, microwave, coffee maker ect. Again I am sorry if I caused any confusion. Jay

Ooooh LMAO. Sorry I should have asked a few questions first. Well I think you are talking about a little different fridge then we are. what we have been talking about is the ones that are 110 volt and have a inverter in the pass through compartment. I don’t have any experience with the 12 volt internal inverter fridges.

I think if I were you I would start a new thread asking if anyone has that type of fridge and their experience with it.

I am just not sure if any of what has been said in here would apply.

[tomkatb]

We often stay at state canpmpgrouns with only 30 am service.

We turn the fridge and water heater on propane.

Then being a little careful we can run two ac units. One ac and the clothes dryer. Or microwave. Have never overloaded the outlet

On the way home from Texas in hot weather we could only find 30 amp service to overnight. No problem.

I use a cpap that is a fairly large user.

Motorhomes are wired differently and can recharge batteries easily.

The residental fridge works for the majority of folks.

Have lots of batteries. You would always be good for 24 hours.

For us the limiting factor to not plug in are the gray tanks. We can go four days unplugged. To most that no longer matters.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by Mudbug

Ooooh LMAO. Sorry I should have asked a few questions first. Well I think you are talking about a little different fridge then we are. what we have been talking about is the ones that are 110 volt and have a inverter in the pass through compartment. I don’t have any experience with the 12 volt internal inverter fridges.

I think if I were you I would start a new thread asking if anyone has that type of fridge and their experience with it.

I am just not sure if any of what has been said in here would apply.

Lol... mudbug that thread was a hijack.. he is not the OP

I’ve suggested several times to whoever runs this website to somehow identify the OP. I always have to go back to post #1 to see who the OP was. It seems it would be real easy to highlight the users name to indicate when they reply to a post at they are the op. Rocket science I guess...

[NMWildcat]

In the green FRF app, the OP always has an "OP" after their name for every post they make on that thread. I haven't looked at the website to see if it does the same thing.

Originally Posted by dalford

Lol... mudbug that thread was a hijack.. he is not the OP

I’ve suggested several times to whoever runs this website to somehow identify the OP. I always have to go back to post #1 to see who the OP was. It seems it would be real easy to highlight the users name to indicate when they reply to a post at they are the op. Rocket science I guess...

[dalford]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

In the green FRF app, the OP always has an "OP" after their name for every post they make on that thread. I haven't looked at the website to see if it does the same thing.

Thanks Scott.. I don’t use the app unless I’m on my phone and I don’t like it. On my iPad I’ve always used the web site. I guess I will see how the iPad app works.

[MisterVick]

Originally Posted by chuck9997

Anyone have any experiences with the new residential style refrigerators they are putting in some campers now?
Pros
Cons
Specifically the Whirlpool, like this?Attachment 213481

Recently bought a '17 Surveyor with factory installed Whirlpool. No previous experience RVing but I like the roominess of a residential and have no plans to boondock so I'm not, at this point, concerned about anything other than 120 volt for that appliance.

If I boondocked it might be more of a concern to me. In general, I've always heard of good experiences with the Whirlpool brand and have no negative reports thus far.

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Fridge Fixer:
https://www.recubed.solutions/
works great.


Driving down the road, the inverter MUST be on. I could leave mine on all the time, but for reasons unknown (lol) I turn mine off when plugged to shore power. Many leave it running so that if they leave and power is lost, the refrig will retain power. It isn't hurting a thing to leave it on even when plugged to shore power. But it MUST be on during transit....that's what it's for.

Driving down the road, your alternator will attempt to charge your trailer batteries through the plug. It isn't going to keep up, though. It just helps. Nonetheless, I've had my refrig unplugged from shore power for many hours.........12 or more. Now, that includes up to 8 of those hours with inverter being on, in transit.


In short, the truck allows the batteries to discharge slowly enough that a one day trip is not an issue.

Thanks again BrandJCarm.i have received my fridge fixer and installed it. I think it will work out great.

[NDJollyMon]

I have the Whirlpool with the French doors and lower freezer drawer.
Works great, except the ice cube maker completely fell out in the freezer.

[NHCampers]

We had this exact fridge in our 2017 Forest River Lodge park model. Lasted 2 summers and croaked July 4th this year. We spent the 4th shopping for a new unit and stayed away from Whirlpool, ended up with a Frigidaire. I'm not saying Whirlpools are bad, just figured we'd try something else after such a short life.