House hold Refridgerator

[Witch Doctor]

Maybe some one can answer this burning question I have. Why would FR offer a house hold refer that only runs on 110v for a travel trailer without a generator. they say it will run off your battery's when not plugged in to shore power. I would assume you need an invertor, along with alot of battery's with a lot of AH. What happens if you lose power at a CG? They say or atleast I have been told, that they do not need a generator, to run it. Just curious why they would sell something like that, let alone the weight that it adds. I'm not talking about an MH here, but a 5th wheel..... I think my friend is making a mistake by doing this, am I off base here, it's a big double door? How would you keep it running when traveling?

[KyDan]

Some trucks have a double alternator option.
If you had one of those, I'm pretty sure you would be able to run a
compressor refer.

We've rented houseboats that had a large semi-tractor battery and
a generator. The boat had a smaller compressor fridge. It was a top
freezer with single fresh food door below. I'm guessing no more
than an 18 CF. The fridge ran off an inverter and most days we could
go nearly 24 hours before the low voltage warning would beep on
the inverter and we'd have to start the genny to re-charge.
The fridge was a manual defrost model which use less power than a
normal automatic frost free type.

We had margarita hour each afternoon when the genny was running.
That's when we could run the blender and make those good frozen
drinks.
It took longer than an hour to recharge tho.... probably more like 4
hours as best I can remember so we were running the genny 4 out
of every 24.

I can't imagine trying to run a side by side full size fridge on battery power!

[BarryD0706]

FR offers them because some people want them. Not for traveling thought. They're for cases where you'll be plugged into shore power always (or a generator).

[Itsthetwoofus]

Originally Posted by BarryD0706

FR offers them because some people want them. Not for traveling thought. They're for cases where you'll be plugged into shore power always (or a generator).

Not necessarily..
We have one in our Cedar Creek and it runs off the battery while we travel. We fill it up, well not full but we put milk, cold meat and frozen food in the freezer and it all stays frozen or cold.
Boon-docking is another thing, if you camp where there is no power, then you might do better with one that runs on propane,

A little story about ours when new.. Heading for AZ we stopped at a rest area for a quick lunch and went inside and I told my wife to open the fridge and get what we need fast to keep the bags of ice cold that I put in the botton shelf. The dealer said ya couldn't keep things cold so I used ice to help. She opened the door and closed it and the darn thing came on, we just looked at each other and said "dealer's don't know every thing." lol

It's a nice thing to have because you don't have to run to the store twice a week.
I would suggest it to any one.. works super.

[BarryD0706]

Originally Posted by Itsthetwoofus

Not necessarily.. We have one in our Cedar Creek and it runs off the battery while we travel.

I would be most interested to know how many watts that refer uses, and how many batteries you have in the CC if you have the time. Do you have to have it cold before you start your travels, or you can begin the trip with a warm fridge? I wonder why the dealer said it wouldn't keep things cold? It sounds like he expected it to drain the batteries (which shortens their lives).

[lindy]

Don't know about watts but my Maytag bottom freezer in the MH pulls about 4 AMPs when the compressor starts, and then sets at about 2 amps after when it's running.

[Itsthetwoofus]

Originally Posted by BarryD0706

I would be most interested to know how many watts that refer uses, and how many batteries you have in the CC if you have the time. Do you have to have it cold before you start your travels, or you can begin the trip with a warm fridge? I wonder why the dealer said it wouldn't keep things cold? It sounds like he expected it to drain the batteries (which shortens their lives).

I'm not sure how many watts it pulls. The battery is charged when I plug into the truck, that keeps the battery charged there fore keeping the fridge cold. We always turn the fridge on the day before and put food in before we go someplace. I keep the 5th wheel in my driveway so it's always plugged into shore power. Even now it's plugged in and refridge is turned off, doors open and a piece of ducktape over the light switch so it stays off, battery is always keeping a charge.
The battery I'm using is the battery that came with the unit when I bought it in Oct 2010. Just one battery and I plain on replacing it before we head West in Nov, mybe before the Aug. FROG rally in Goshen. I think three years of trouble free service is enough.
I think the dealer had never sold a home fridge in an RV before. Ours was the first. He was defently wrong.