Residential fridge no shut off.

[Kampermac]

I have a 2022 forest river 176LTD and have a question about the insignia residential refrigerator. I have disconnected every single fuse and plug I could find and it looks like my fridge is hardwired to the battery. Called the dealership to confirm and they went out looked at one and said that is true. That’s all fine and good but it kills the battery in the garage because there is no solar in there. The only thing I could do is plug into the shore power and run it off my house on a 15A converter cord (dog bone) while stored but I have read so many articles saying not to do that either. Other than that I am just disconnecting the battery. I plan to put a battery shut off on just like on my boat. My only concern with that is residential fridges are made to be run 24/7. Any suggestions 😂 seriously though? So confusing I have read several posts about this already with no actual answers..

[Reverse_snowbird]

If all you have 'on' in that trailer, you should be able to run it off the dogbone on the house connection. There shouldn't be a problem doing that. If you wanted to run your air conditioner, that might be a problem.

You've got to have an inverter in that rig which should have the ability to be turned off (although I have no idea how to do that)
If you're concerned that you need to have the residential fridge operate continuously, then your best option is to run it on the house current.

Welcome to the forum!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Kampermac

I have a 2022 forest river 176LTD and have a question about the insignia residential refrigerator. I have disconnected every single fuse and plug I could find and it looks like my fridge is hardwired to the battery. Called the dealership to confirm and they went out looked at one and said that is true. That’s all fine and good but it kills the battery in the garage because there is no solar in there. The only thing I could do is plug into the shore power and run it off my house on a 15A converter cord (dog bone) while stored but I have read so many articles saying not to do that either. Other than that I am just disconnecting the battery. I plan to put a battery shut off on just like on my boat. My only concern with that is residential fridges are made to be run 24/7. Any suggestions [emoji23] seriously though? So confusing I have read several posts about this already with no actual answers..

Just to clarify, you don't have a residential fridge. A residential fridge is a 110v AC powered fridge, like one for your house.
Previously, all popups had a 3-way fridge.
Apparently now manufacturers are installing a 12v only fridge. This is very surprising to me, having owned two popups. Personally I would never want a 12v only fridge in my popup.

https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/campi...ent/176LTD/778

[Kampermac]

Thanks I don’t mind running it off of the house just didn’t know if that was okay long term. Tried the inverter shut off couldn’t figure out how to shut it off either �� without just disconnecting the battery. Anyways I’ll just plug it into my house plug and let it run on the 15A. I definitely know not to try and run the AC. I am a mechanic by trade so I’m very familiar with most of this stuff it just seems odd that it would not have a plug or shut off requiring you to have constant battery draw and no way to shut it off when the refrigerator installation instructions clearly state there must be a fuse for safety ( fire or electrical shock ) But I will go ahead an plug it into the house that’s what I did last night then disconnect the battery this morning after I tested it to make sure it was fully charged. I just wanted to see if anyone else had this issue and what the solution was. I will call forest river tomorrow and see what they have to say. Really not that big of an issue just want to know the proper operating procedure.

[Kampermac]

Yes it’s a 12v only fridge brand is insignia, the dealership and forest river are calling it a “residential fridge.”

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Kampermac

Yes it’s a 12v only fridge brand is insignia, the dealership and forest river are calling it a “residential fridge.”

I don't see any mention of "residential", in the FR webpage I linked, for your popup.
As for the dealership, [emoji849]

[CHICKDOE]

Install your battery disconnect switch and disconnect the batteries while in storage. That is still a compressor refrigerator and it will cool down rapidly once you restart power. Start it the night before you leave and you will be just fine.

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

Install your battery disconnect switch and disconnect the batteries while in storage. That is still a compressor refrigerator and it will cool down rapidly once you restart power. Start it the night before you leave and you will be just fine.

Those 12V are compressor fridges? I would have thought peltier thermoelectric cooling at 12v

[Kampermac]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I don't see any mention of "residential", in the FR webpage I linked, for your popup.
As for the dealership, [emoji849]

Yeah I know that’s just what they called it when I called them directly so ?? I just assumed that’s what it was called.

[Kampermac]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

Install your battery disconnect switch and disconnect the batteries while in storage. That is still a compressor refrigerator and it will cool down rapidly once you restart power. Start it the night before you leave and you will be just fine.

That’s what I think I’m going to do as a long term solution I have the fridge propped open now with the battery disconnect. But I was going to plug it back into my house. Didn’t know if it would ruin the fridge turning it off all the time.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by flyerdp

Those 12V are compressor fridges? I would have thought peltier thermoelectric cooling at 12v

Flyer, I know you are very knowledgeable about popups. Did you know that they were replacing 3-way fridges with a 12v only fridge?

[CHICKDOE]

We have a residential refrigerator and we disconnect the batteries while the trailer is in storage. I’m sure thousands of others do also. We had no issues leaving the the refrigerator turned off. I go over and start it a couple of hours before we load the trailer and leave on a trip and it has the freezer down below freezing and the refrigerator in the 50’s. After a couple of hours of towing the refrigerator has reached the desired operating temperatures.

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Flyer, I know you are very knowledgeable about popups. Did you know that they were replacing 3-way fridges with a 12v only fridge?

No clue and I would say my knowledge is limited to my own experiences with them.

[flyerdp]

Found this in the manual so yeah compressor:

Place your refrigerator at least 1 in. (2.5 cm) from the wall to make sure that the
airflow to the compressor is adequate. Don’t place your refrigerator near any heat
sources, such as a heater or stove, because this may put a strain on the
compressor.

Here is the manual:
http://forestriverinc.com/files/Comp...er%20Guide.pdf

If I wanted to make it turn on/off I would find the power block on page 10 and by interrupting the +12V line with an inline switch.

Something like this but I would have to know the amp rating to be sure this is ok. The manual makes reference to 20Amp fuse:
https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Inline-...s%2C100&sr=8-3

I agree that leaving it running while in storage is just asking to kill it prematurely.

[Reverse_snowbird]

I admit to no practical experience with 12v refrigerators or residential refrigerators in campers. It is possible that they've replaced the 12v fridges with small residential refrigerators, but not likely. Disregard my previous advice about inverters.

Your best advice on how to store and operate that refrigerator is going to come from the refrigerator manufacturer's website. Since it's their warranty, you need to download and read their manual.

I've read that there is a battery cutoff switch on those trailers, but if you can't find it, removing the negative cable will cut off all power to that camper. We did that on our tt to remove any parasitic draws on the battery. Or you could simply leave it plugged in and do routine battery maintenance.
Edit.... sorry. typing while previous poster was posting.

[lwbfl]

In normal times, I'd find it very hard to believe that they installed an appliance without a fuse to protect it. These days, not much surprises me with RVs. If it indeed is direct wired, I'd find the most convenient location to add both a switch and an in-line fuse.

[bikendan]

Unless something has changed, FR popups don't come with a factory battery disconnect switch.
The website description states the 176 comes with the 12v only fridge but below that, the fridge isn’t listed as a standard feature but as an option. The floorplan also doesn’t show a fridge.
From what I know, the 176 has always been a basic small popup, without a standard fridge.

[Mike91]

Wow, looks like FR is doing away with the cargo rack on the roof to add a solar panel for the 12V only refrigerator.

If it's a compressor refrigerator, and not a worthless Thermoelectric refrigerator, or ammonia absorption refrigerator, then this is good.

Good only as long as Solar Panel and controller can provide enough current to keep the battery charged when there's a loss of shore 120VAC to converter, to keep battery charged.

It's stinks that FR took away the cargo rack from the roof though.

I am not a fan of these crappy tiny ammonia absorption refrigerators so maybe FR is finally making a wrong into a right!

Now there should be an external fuse from the refrigerator to the battery as I believe that is electrical code and they have to do have a fuse for safety.

Even though it's only 12V, a short could cause enough current to flow to heat up and catch wiring on fire. I know, it's happened to me on my previous Jayco because Fuse failed.

Weird how FR decided to change refrigerators after all these years and issues of keeping them cold.

BTW, only the highwall models come with 3 way refrigerators now. This is also looks like a mid model line change as previous 2022s come with 3 way refrigerator and no solar panel while new 2022s come with solar panel and 12 volt refrigerator.

Also 2022 brochure is vague not having a feature and option break down for each model line most likely because of the changes and differences between same model years.

[High Country Duramax]

Pull the fuse

[dmctlc]

So though I'm no expert some 12v insignia fridges turn off by setting the thermostat to zero...not sure your model but if there's a zero I'd try that out though I agree with others funny that they don't have it wired to a Fuse. If it's directly wired to the battery your right to put a battery disconnect makes sense.