Can I add the refrigerator to the inverter to power it during travel?

[atkinswr]

Dimensions 12X20B3G2R4T And has 2 circuits. BTW, I have noticed all of the receptacles are marked GFCI protected on the top and Inverter on the bottom. Are they wire lick that, on 2 separate circuits?

[00 Buckshot]

"There is 2 receptacles behind the fridge but both appear to work only when plugged into power or gen running. "




It doesn't make sense to me that there are two plugs behind the fridge and one of them is not tied to the inverter. I know you said the previous owner added the residential fridge but maybe the MH was wired for either. I don't remember if they had residential fridges in RV back that far.


Did you disconnect the shore power with the inverter on and check to see if one had power from the inverter?


Not trying to be a wise guy, just trying to offer my thoughts. Have never owned a MH.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by 00 Buckshot

"There is 2 receptacles behind the fridge but both appear to work only when plugged into power or gen running. "




It doesn't make sense to me that there are two plugs behind the fridge and one of them is not tied to the inverter. I know you said the previous owner added the residential fridge but maybe the MH was wired for either. I don't remember if they had residential fridges in RV back that far.


Did you disconnect the shore power with the inverter on and check to see if one had power from the inverter?


Not trying to be a wise guy, just trying to offer my thoughts. Have never owned a MH.

That is a very common way they are wired.

[atkinswr]

I will double check the second plug when we get back home but I believe I unplugged from the house service and then checked the extra plug. We have taken a short 4 day trip up to a local campground and are leaving shortly to head home.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by atkinswr

I will double check the second plug when we get back home but I believe I unplugged from the house service and then checked the extra plug. We have taken a short 4 day trip up to a local campground and are leaving shortly to head home.

Make sure the inverter is on during your test.

[atkinswr]

Ok , I must have had the inverter or breaker off. I checked the 2nd receptacle after getting hone today and it appears to be working with the inverter. Will the Modified/Quasi sine wave inverter damage the residential refrigerator? Does it need to be a pure sine wave? I see hiptks2010 has the same brand inverter, do you have a standard residential fridge?

[atkinswr]

It is the same brand and is a Quasi-sine wave. Are you running a residential fridge on your inverter? I believe the second receptacle behind the fridge is working from the inverter! I must have had the breaker off when I checked it last time.

[twinboat]

Try it,

First get the fridge to operating temps on shore power. Jot down, the fridge and freezer temps.

Next, pull the shore power and let the fridge run on inverter power 6 to 8 hours.

In the morning, take the temps of again and see if they dropped at all.

The Modified Sine Wave or Quasi Sine Wave power can sometimes mess with the electronics and not keep accurate temperatures.

If the temps hold pretty steady for 8 hours, you should be fine.

[Bill Gail]

Originally Posted by hipkts2010

Or you could just run the generator when you travel. That is what we have done since 2003 when we went full time. I do not like having the propane on going down the road so even when we had the Norcold, we used the generator.

When running the generator while driving do you put any additional loads on the generator other than the refrigerator ?

From what I've read , the general rule of thumb is to not run the generator for any length of time at less than 50% load. I would guess your frig is only drawing 400 - 500 watts , approx. 10% load or less depending on size of Genny.

You say you've been doing it for years with no detrimental effect to the generator .

I might have to rethink how I use the Genny.

[hipkts2010]

Originally Posted by atkinswr

It is the same brand and is a Quasi-sine wave. Are you running a residential fridge on your inverter? I believe the second receptacle behind the fridge is working from the inverter! I must have had the breaker off when I checked it last time.

Looking at the picture that you posted, it appears that your inverter while a Quasi-Sine wave inverter is a different model as it only has two breakers. That is a huge plus for you. What that could infer is that your system has two 120v feeds already. Not sure how to check for that other than having two breakers in the main breaker box.

When we converted to a residential, we had to go with a Whirlpool unit that would work with with the QSW inverter because we did not have the money at the time to add the small Pure Sine Wave inverter for the fridge.

The tech basically disabled (hid) the inverter outlet when they installed the new fridge so that it could not accidently get used and fry the electronics in the new fridge.

If you do have two feeds, I would suggest getting a PSW inverter. Should be a simple swap.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Bill Gail

When running the generator while driving do you put any additional loads on the generator other than the refrigerator ?

From what I've read , the general rule of thumb is to not run the generator for any length of time at less than 50% load. I would guess your frig is only drawing 400 - 500 watts , approx. 10% load or less depending on size of Genny.

You say you've been doing it for years with no detrimental effect to the generator .

I might have to rethink how I use the Genny.

You heard it a bit wrong.

When doing a monthly generator run, while in storage, they recommend a 50% load for proper warm up.

Some large RVs have 10000 and 12000 watt generators. They would be challenged to always run at 50% output.

Your fine with just the fridge running, If you don't want to use the inverter. Maybe throw on the water heater for a little extra load. Be sure there is water in the heater.

[904Dave]

When we installed our residential refrigerator about a year ago we added an outlet that is powered by the inverter when not on shore or generator power. This works well.

Newmar Mountain Aire 4522

[mbass777]

I have converted a fifth wheel and a deiseal pusher to residential if you dont travel more than 6 hours at a time and the fridge is full and cooled down it will keep everything cool we came across the US ahead of the pandemic and ate tv dinners and ice cream every night for a week at truck stops and rest areas to avoid people never powered the fridge unless we were going to open it or the AC was running and evrthing stayed great when we rented a house we emptyed it into the house and walla a full fridge

[coachmanjay]

If you have your inverter on while driving, your alternator should charge your house batteries. No need to run your generator. Just make sure there are no other large loads running off your inverter.