Inverter and refrigerator not playing together

[Bluesguy6]

Hello All, we are fairly new to RV'ing so please be gentle! Has anyone experienced getting an alarm from their refrigerator, when it is LP mode when you engage the inverter? This is while dry camping and not hooked to electricity. I'd appreciate any thoughts.
Thanks!

[wa8yxm]

It is most likely a low voltage alarm.

Many inverters, when they first kick in, draw some big time current. If the battery connections are the least bit less than perfectly clean.. You will get some serious low voltage.

This high power draw only lasts a fraction of a second. Your volt meter won't react that fast.

[Diplomat Don]

Bluesguy6......Do you have an icemaker? If so, the two 110 volt refrigerator plugs may be in the wrong position. The outlet on the back side of the refrigerator has one plug for the icemaker and one for the refrigerator. One of the outlets is connected to the inverter and is suppose to have only the icemaker plugged into it. The other outlet is for the refrigerator and is only suppose to be hot when the generator is on or you're plugged into shore power. The system was not designed to run the refrigerator off of the inverter.

[Bluesguy6]

Yes, it does have an icemaker, so I will check the connections on the back of the fridge. Curiously, just before I bought the coach, the previous owners had a leak repaired on the icemaker. The tech may have inadvertently plugged it in wrong.

Thanks for the great ideas! I’ll post if that cured the problem.

[Bluesguy6]

Well Diplomat Don, you hit the nail on the head! I switched the connections on the back of the refrigerator and it did the trick. It appears the fridge itself was plugged into the inverter receptacle. Thanks a bunch for the suggestion!

[caymann]

Mine is a 2001 year coach so it may be different and fridge is Norcold 1200LRIM
I only have one outlet behind the refrigerator and it is powered by the inverter
I know this because i can run the refrigerator on inverter (Trace RV 3012)
The icemaker is plugged somewhere, i am not sure, and it makes ice just fine.
Where is this icemaker plugged to?

[gregk]

Don - It is amazing what you can learn on this forum. Took a look and my plugs were switched as well. Wondered why my ice maker never worked when dry camping at the NASCAR races. Now I will not have to make sure I manually switch my refer to gas so the inverter does not run the fridge therefore draining my house batteries.

[nodine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregk Don - It is amazing what you can learn on this forum. Took a look and my plugs were switched as well. Wondered why my ice maker never worked when dry camping at the NASCAR races. Now I will not have to make sure I manually switch my refer to gas so the inverter does not run the fridge therefore draining my house batteries.

Greg,

You may not have to manually switch your frig to LP when using the inverter. In our coach and Don's, and many others, the inverter is on a dedicated outlet behind the frig for the purpose of running the ice maker and only the ice maker. It does not use much power from the batteries and only runs when the ice needs to be dumped. You should have a second outlet for the AC portion of the frig that will power the frig when you run the generator or connect to shore power. When the gen set is off and you are not connected to shore power, if your frig is on Auto it will automatically switch to LP. To make ice you should have the inverter on and the water pump. Without the water pump on the ice tray will not replace the water after the ice is dumped.

Bob

[SpursMVP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregk Don - It is amazing what you can learn on this forum. Took a look and my plugs were switched as well. Wondered why my ice maker never worked when dry camping at the NASCAR races. Now I will not have to make sure I manually switch my refer to gas so the inverter does not run the fridge therefore draining my house batteries.

Same here...I thought the ice maker used to work. Traced it back to when the first Norcold recall was done. The RV tech had switched the wires so when I manually switched the frig to AC, it started drawing HUGE amps via the converter....yet no ice.

Just went out and switched the plugs and walla....when I manually turn the frig to AC it does not power it up and beeps at me. Now I figure we'll have a tray full of ice tomorrow morning.

THanks again for the great tips on the forum. Man I love this place.

[gregk]

Bob,

I may not explained it properly but what you stated is what I meant to convey.

Thanks