How does our Whirlpool refrigerator operate while it's in tow

[Wine Lady]

We just disconnected from electric and thought we could turn it over to propane. Evidently that is not the case. How does the Whirlpool refrigerator operate while we are in tow? Leaving for FL at 4am and we are not happy because we cannot find the answer. Please help ASAP

[lbrjet]

You will have an inverter that runs it off battery power.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[TLAK]

If you don't figure it out just buy some bags of ice at the gas station to keep it cold until you hook up again. -- don't let it ruin your trip.

[SidecarFlip]

To my knowledge Whirlpool hasn't made an absorbtion refrigerator since the 1930's.

Has to be a compressor refrigerator and as such requires 110 volts to operate. Bags of ice or a huge battery bank and inverter are your options.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by lbrjet

You will have an inverter that runs it off battery power.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

To my knowledge Whirlpool hasn't made an absorbtion refrigerator since the 1930's.

Has to be a compressor refrigerator and as such requires 110 volts to operate. Bags of ice or a huge battery bank and inverter are your options.

If your dealer didn't explain this to you when you bought it, SHAME ON HIM!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Wine Lady

We just disconnected from electric and thought we could turn it over to propane. Evidently that is not the case. How does the Whirlpool refrigerator operate while we are in tow? Leaving for FL at 4am and we are not happy because we cannot find the answer. Please help ASAP

First, you need to provide year/make/model of RV you have. It's not listed in your profile.

Second, is the fridge a residential one?

Third, there should be a manual for the fridge in the paperwork.

As someone else said, sounds like the dealer failed to properly explain how your fridge works.

[ScottBrownstein]

A Whirlpool will not run on propane as others have said. It is a convention residential refrigerator and requires 110 volts AC to run. Agreed that since we don't know what kind of RV you have its kind of hard to tell. I would bet that there is an inverter that powers it and generally there is a small button by the door near the floor that turns it on. On many FR units (Georgetown and others) it looks like this:

[CHICKDOE]

agree with all that has been said previously. look for the invertor switch that was shown. disconnect from shore power and press the inverter switch button so it glows green. then go over to the refrigerator and verify that it is running (does the light come on when you open the door). at this point you are running off the batteries with the inverter using them to supply 110v to the refrigerator.




here's where I am not fully sure. you say you are towing which implies a trailer or 5th wheel. I am assuming the electrical connection between truck and trailer is a 7 pin connection. if so this will supply 12 vdc from truck to trailer to help recharge the batteries as you tow. it is not as much as you will get when connected to shore power, but it is there. we have towed all day with the refrigerator on the inverter and it worked fine.




















if the connection is only a trailer 4 pin connection then you will not be recharging the batteries and you will only be able to run the refrigerator off the batteries for a limited time until you discharge them. how long depends on battery capacity, refrigerator demand, and many other factors.


my guess, turn on the invertor, hook up, and go!

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Wine Lady

We just disconnected from electric and thought we could turn it over to propane. Evidently that is not the case. How does the Whirlpool refrigerator operate while we are in tow? Leaving for FL at 4am and we are not happy because we cannot find the answer. Please help ASAP

Are you Happy yet? Did you leave by 4AM? Did you ever find out what Type of Refer you have? What type of RV you have? Youroo!!

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by youroo

Are you Happy yet? Did you leave by 4AM? Did you ever find out what Type of Refer you have? What type of RV you have? Youroo!!

Reminds me of a 60's pop song...'runnin down the road try'in to loosen my load......'

[aceinspp]

Guess we will never know the rest of the story. Later RJD

[5picker]

I'm going to assume they bought new from a dealer... nothing says otherwise.

This is just another example of folks who come here looking for help because their dealer failed them miserably. This stuff is RV 101 and is something every owner having a residential refrigerator should know.

Shame on these dealers... their lack of professionalism led the OP to come here looking for answers (first post) and created a situation they believed was a crisis for them. What a way to start off a trip to Florida. Also, they never mentioned having called the dealer they bought from. Shouldn't that be your first point of reference?

It also shows many owners are unprepared in advance for a trip.

Finally, it's sad that many here tried to help and we never heard back.

OK... off my soapbox.... for now!

[youroo]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

Reminds me of a 60's pop song...'runnin down the road try'in to loosen my load......'

Eagles! Youroo!!

[Tractor Guy]

You all did what you could and likely helped 2-3 other new owners who just had that "ah-ha" moment and are now outside unplugging from their garage and seeing if they can get their inverter running (which they did not know they even had). I've learned so much from reading random posts I can't believe it. Don't be discouraged, keep it up!

[ScottBrownstein]

I guess we don't help for the thank you's but for the fun of it and for spreading and exchanging knowledge. However, that was her first post and undoubtedly she will be back. I do agree though that all we ask is to find out the results as it helps all of us going forward. Simple forum etiquette.

[SidecarFlip]

Obvious to me that a lot of dealers hand the keys to the owner (maybe help them hitch up) and that is it and that (IMO) is a travesty.

But then people never bother to read the owners manuals either as it's usually explained inside. manuals get stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about.

My manuals came with things like proper winterizing procedures and operation of various appliances... all one has to do is read...

Pretty sure she will be back as soon as another issue bubbles up.....

Until then, hope their journey is safe and uneventful....

[CTGREG]

My refrigerator is a ordinary residential refrigerator that runs off of 110v AC. The power is supplied by either a 1000 watt or 2000 watt inverter. That is not to be confused with a converter. The inverter changes the power from the battery bank to 100v AC power to run the fridge when not connected to a outside power source such as campground power. The 7 pin connector from your tow vehicle provides 12v DC power to the batteries from your tow vehicle. While driving this constantly provides power to the camper batteries to "top off" the battery power.

Check to make sure your refrigerator is working and powered up when connected to the battery bank. As a rule, your batteries in the camber should last for a day without being connected to the tow vehicle. Don't forget to unplug your tow vehicle when you get to a camp with full hook ups.

In other wards you will love it going down the road knowing you fridge is cold. No worries about being level or using propane on the road.

[bend302]

It's be my experience that new appliances have very poor user manuals with little good info beyond installation options. Residential refer makers will likely not have any advice for those poor souls who get one of their units in an RV.

However, the good news is that the Gov't has pressured Refrigerator makers into lower energy consumption driving them to using better insulation and more efficient motors/compressors. I think that todays units can last 24 hours without opening the doors, so even without an inverter you should be able to easily handle a days driving.

Bill

[B47]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

Obvious to me that a lot of dealers hand the keys to the owner (maybe help them hitch up) and that is it and that (IMO) is a travesty.

But then people never bother to read the owners manuals either as it's usually explained inside. manuals get stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about.

My manuals came with things like proper winterizing procedures and operation of various appliances... all one has to do is read...

Pretty sure she will be back as soon as another issue bubbles up.....

Until then, hope their journey is safe and uneventful....

Well said. I've knocked some of the manuals we received with our Silverback as lacking information,but with the exception of not explaining how the thermesisor (sp) works,the refrigerator manual was quite spot on.

[BamaBob]

So I wonder if the OP's problem was solved - she has not posted back to this thread