Community Forums

mkjamoney · 07-13-2015, 12:13 AM

A lot of the rv I have been looking at have the residential refrig. We camp at many state parks in Ohio here and they are not know for having "good" power. At times in the summer when the demand in the park is high my meter is telling me, I have 100 volts. Am I going to run into a problem where I have to decide to run my refrigerator vs my AC for the weekend. Does the frig that that much power?

Steve Ownby · 07-13-2015, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkjamoney

A lot of the rv I have been looking at have the residential refrig. We camp at many state parks in Ohio here and they are not know for having "good" power. At times in the summer when the demand in the park is high my meter is telling me, I have 100 volts. Am I going to run into a problem where I have to decide to run my refrigerator vs my AC for the weekend. Does the frig that that much power?

If you find yourself in this situation often, then you are a candidate for an Autoformer:

https://hughesautoformers.com/

They are pricy, but there is cumulative damage being done to your coach when low voltage occurs. A/Cs especially are harmed, but anything with a motor is having its life reduced.

We often stay in a park with this chronic low VAC problem. We bought a Hughes years ago for protection from this problem.

Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

jerichorick · 07-13-2015, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillandJane

I don't think anyone is advocating going out and replacing your old propane frig especially if it works and in most applications I don't even think they make a size replacement. I think the frig in my Lance camper, a three way AC, DC and propane was the best I ever had, however buying new and given the choice between a normally smaller, less efficient, and often temperature fickle machine versus a full size residential frig, I think the latter is the better choice.

WDK

I agree. But you would be surprised at the choices available with the residential models. Yup, it will take a bit of remodeling to get the thing in but I think the results will be pleasing.

I think many of the "NEW" manufacturing methods and engineering decision are geared toward guaranteeing industrial survival and less toward reliability for the end user. Bean counters are now running the show. Low bid is the rule of thumb even in the parts used in our rigs. Quality is no longer a prime consideration. How sad. It tends to take the fun out of our fun. With all that said, I do hope my residential refrigerator works for as long as I have this coach. We love both, in spite of the flaws and problems. (Fixing a A/C unit as we speak. Burnt wire to a relay. Replacing both.)

Happy trails,
Rick Y

WillandJane · 07-13-2015, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkjamoney

A lot of the rv I have been looking at have the residential refrig. We camp at many state parks in Ohio here and they are not know for having "good" power. At times in the summer when the demand in the park is high my meter is telling me, I have 100 volts. Am I going to run into a problem where I have to decide to run my refrigerator vs my AC for the weekend. Does the frig that that much power?

A good surge protector will interrupt power if the voltage is to high or too low....you should have shut down by 100 volts. If the power comes back up the surge protector will send it back through.....however if there are times in the day that the brown outs are that bad, I would run my generator or in my case unplug and and let my solar power take over until perhaps early evening when the voltage could be better, test your service power and decide if plugging back in is a good idea or not.

WDK

jerichorick · 07-14-2015, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillandJane

A good surge protector will interrupt power if the voltage is to high or too low....you should have shut down by 100 volts. If the power comes back up the surge protector will send it back through.....however if there are times in the day that the brown outs are that bad, I would run my generator or in my case unplug and and let my solar power take over until perhaps early evening when the voltage could be better, test your service power and decide if plugging back in is a good idea or not.

WDK

There are 3, off the top of my head, solutions for low voltage:

1/ Run the frig off a true sine wave inverter full time.
2/ The auto transformer. Have used mine for years.
3/ A good solar backup system.

Any other ideas?

Rick Y