Community Forums

soundsuperio · 06-20-2017, 01:14 PM

I have a 2011 Ventana 3973 on a Spartan chassis.
Need to get the Norcold up and running so it is cold before we leave on Thursday. I cannot start it on propane due to construction welding in street near where it will be parked /Wednesday night.
Can I start the Norcold on the inverter circuit? If so, how long can I wait before starting coach to recharge batteries. I will be away from the coach for about a three hour interval.
Thanks

DAJO · 06-20-2017, 01:46 PM

My old Norcold 1200 would not work on my MSW invertor, it threw a code and was not happy with the a/c power. If you have a pure SW maybe it will work. Won't hurt to try it and see. How long it will work depends on many things one is how much battery power do you have and what else is using battery power. My older Newmars 1999, 2005, did not have invertor power behind the fridge and required rewiring the receptable.

twinboat · 06-20-2017, 02:39 PM

The Norcold is going to draw 40 + amps @12 volt DC.

If you have 400 AH of battery, you have about 4 to 5 hours run time, before you get to 50% discharge and need to re-charge.

Now you need to re-charge 200 AH for the next session. If you have a 100 amp charger, that will take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

If your going to charge with the engine alternator, unless you rev up the engine to cruising RPM, it will take longer.

JC2 · 06-20-2017, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundsuperio

I have a 2011 Ventana 3973 on a Spartan chassis.
Need to get the Norcold up and running so it is cold before we leave on Thursday. I cannot start it on propane due to construction welding in street near where it will be parked /Wednesday night.
Can I start the Norcold on the inverter circuit? If so, how long can I wait before starting coach to recharge batteries. I will be away from the coach for about a three hour interval.
Thanks

Any reason why you couldn't run your generator For power to the fridge? They are built to run and not sit.

Sky_Boss · 06-20-2017, 04:13 PM

Maybe I don't understand the issue. How will construction welding across the street be a problem for you? Maybe I am underestimating the danger potential?

I would suggest running the generator. Trying to rewire the outlet or running some kind of extension cord from an inverted outlet to the back of the Norcold could work but you would have to have batteries of sufficient size and in good shape to do the work.

Of course, if you have an issue of "quiet hours" (keeping neighborhood happy) to deal with that could be a problem.

It is a bit of a convoluted option but you could:

1. Run an extension from an inverted circuit to the back of the refer.
2. Run an extension from a 20A outlet to the coach to keep the charger working.

This ASSUMES your refer can work with a MSW inverter if you have one. If it doesn't and you have an MSW...PUNT!

vsheetz · 06-20-2017, 04:26 PM

Previous coach had a norcold 1200. I would run it in a MSW inverter when traveling. Worked fine. But used a lot if power, not at all effecirnt on 120vac.