Fridge issues

[Farkey]

I have had this issue on & off since I bought it 3 years ago.

When plugged into land line the fridge keeps saying "no AC". This happens no matter if plugged into a land line or if the genny is running.
Then it will commence to operate normally.

The only common thing is the 120 volt outlet in the rear bedroom, which has the fault light iluminated(sp).

But when I press the reset nothing happens, the light stays on and the fridge still says "No AC"

I have tried everything I can think of, I've switched the 120 AC on and off, to no avail. I've switched both switches on the invertor on/off and still have the same situation.

Without having an RV pro look at it, I'm lost.......besides with the Covid-19 happening I doubt I could get a service person to come and look at the problem.

Any ideas what and where to go?????

[Arch Hoagland]

Have you tried running an extension cord to it from a power source external to the RV?


Make and model of the refrigerator would help.

[Kenr74]

I assume the outlet you are talking about in your room is a GFI. You say nothing happens when you reset it. If that is the case then there is a fault somewhere, or the outlet has failed.

[rarebear.nm]

Second the idea to run an external power cord. Will ID if it's a frig issue or something in the RV wiring.

There is always exceptions. I have never seen an RV frig share a 120v circuit with anything else. Check in your 120v breaker panel and see if a breaker is labeled Refrigerator or like. Trip it off and back on. Turn all other breakers off. At this point nothing that uses 120v except the frig should be operating. Check it all of the way around.

Breakers do go bad. Even though it may seem set to on, I've seen them not work on multiple occasions. The breaker may just need to be replaced.

[153stars]

Yes plug into known good source , plug a lamp or fan into the fridge outlet to test either or. If fed off a GFCI those won't reset if no power or hooked up wrong. There is a load side of GFCI to power other outlets, you can disconnect that to see if it's down steam issue
A lot of rvs have dedicated line to fridge or at least CB is marked fridge.
Harbor freight has a usable meter you can't get free or nearly free with weekly coupons. Just glue or tape where wires exit the probes they break off where soldered to pins otherwise.

[Farkey]

There are 2 plugs from the fridge...one for the fridge and one for the ice maker.

The fridge does work if plugged directly into an extension cord.

Yes it is the GFI and I just replaced it thinking it was gone, so it is brand new. The light is on the GFI and when I try to reset it, it jumps back out as if there is a short somewhere.

Unfortunately, my electrical knowledge and skill is similar to my knowledge and skill for brain surgery....nil.

[rarebear.nm]

Good news the frig works properly on an extension cord. Is the outlet where that extension plugs into a GFCI type or regular? Keep in mind it maybe downstream from GFCI between it and the breaker panel.

Are you saying that the frig power cord are plugged into a GFCI outlet?

Have you replaced the breaker for the frig?

[Farkey]

Originally Posted by rarebear.nm

Good news the frig works properly on an extension cord. Is the outlet where that extension plugs into a GFCI type or regular? Keep in mind it maybe downstream from GFCI between it and the breaker panel.

Are you saying that the frig power cord are plugged into a GFCI outlet?

Have you replaced the breaker for the frig?

I have not replaced the fridge breaker.
And yes, it appears that the fridge power is plugged into the GFI.

That seems to be the normal and I can't figure out why. What would be the reason to do this. The fridge is protected by the breaker in the panel.

So let's get back to the beginning.

The power comes in through the main 120 AC panel and goes to the fridge breaker, then goes to the GFI, then goes to the fridge...WHY??

Why does it need to go through 2 power protectors?

As I said previously, I know nothing about electrics, but I do have some common sense and that tells me why does the fridge need to be protected twice?

It's like having 2 air bags, 2 seat belts, 2 bumpers.

I'm considering wiring the fridge straight to the main panel, then that will remove one possible area of problem.

GEESH, this is a piss-off.

[twinboat]

GFCIs are not the same as circuit breakers.

GFCIs protect against ground faults that can electrocute you.

Circuit breakers protect from short circuits that can overheat wires and cause a fire. The fire can kill you too, but not the same way.

[Old-Biscuit]

GFI protected circuits do not play well with fridge electric heater elements.
The elements can 'leak' current to the case/holder....not enough to be a short etc but just enough to create an imbalance in current flow that GFCIs detect.


But you keep stating fridge operates even with the 'No AC' fault and fault light on GFCI

That tells me fridge is swapping to GAS to operate cause GFCI tripped and 'No AC' Fault of fridge means it is NOT running on AC


Unplug the fridge heater element leads from the fridge lower circuit board and then RESET that tripped GFCI
Plug the leads back in/select AUTO on fridge controls and bet that GFCI trips
Replace fridge element(s)

[153stars]

Just unplug the fridge and see it the GFCI trips. I agree with above that the fridge doesn't kick into gear on AC immediately but , unplug it try GFCI. To test the breaker just test output voltage at breaker or gfci wire connections. You can remove the load wires from GFCI to test what's downstream if it holds it downstream test every outlet on that wall look under cabinets , drawers and in underfloor compartments. A damaged outlet can give you a problem. If GFCI holds inspect and unwired the fridge outlet tape the wires test GFCI. again , that outlet is more exposed to the elements . I have seen an over tightened metal romex clamp short the wires. Think look for any work that may have done on the side that wire run is

[rarebear.nm]

OK- according to National Electric Code,

All commercial buildings/kitchens are required to have GFCI for refrigerators. See NEC 210.8(B)(2). In a Dwelling Unit (house or apartment) refrigerators located inside the kitchen do NOT have to have a GFCI.

Exception being when the frig outlet is within six feet of a sink. That is not the frig being within six ft of a sink, but the outlet itself. They are typically accessed only from the outside.

So I'd would replace the GFI outlet with a standard outlet. Please turn off the frig breaker first and/or disconnect from shore power and disable the generator if you have one.

Old-Bisquit is point on about the difference between a breaker and GFI/GFCI devices. In some uses you must have both, but not here.

If any others know something in the NEC I've missed about this issue please correct what I said.

As another note you might turn off the main propane valve at the tank/cylinder to ensure the frig does not automatically switch to propane if the AC fails. I'd ignite a stove burner after turning the valve to drain the system of any propane. Expect it go out pretty quickly as the line pressure drops. It may not even ignite, which also means the frig propane can not ignite.

If the frig really runs on external power and not on propane, I'd wait just a bit before replacing the AC heating element. It maybe failing and causing this problem. If you want to slam dunk this problem, you could replace the frig breaker, the outlet and the AC heating element. That would not leave much else in the 120 v area. In some cases like this you may have more than one defective component at the same time making things somewhat more difficult to resolve.

[Farkey]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

GFI protected circuits do not play well with fridge electric heater elements.
The elements can 'leak' current to the case/holder....not enough to be a short etc but just enough to create an imbalance in current flow that GFCIs detect.


But you keep stating fridge operates even with the 'No AC' fault and fault light on GFCI

That tells me fridge is swapping to GAS to operate cause GFCI tripped and 'No AC' Fault of fridge means it is NOT running on AC


Unplug the fridge heater element leads from the fridge lower circuit board and then RESET that tripped GFCI
Plug the leads back in/select AUTO on fridge controls and bet that GFCI trips
Replace fridge element(s)

No, I am not stating that, the fridge does not operate at all....the "no AC "light comes on within seconds of trying to have it operate on AC.

Frustration!!!!!!!!

[153stars]

Ok I forget to ask you to check the GFCI wiring.... kind of .....the power had to go to power side of GFCI ....black to copper screw or will marked hot and white to silver screw /neutral And green screw or ground marked. Taking the wires off the load side would have tested this if the GFCI holds.