Community Forums

gweedo295 · 04-26-2022, 02:26 PM

Hello all, took out my Dometic fridge and I have placed a Samsung in its place and I'm about to level it out and bolt it down.

Anyhow I'm not huge into electrical.

There are two separate outlets behind the fridge the Dometic was plugged into. One says GFI protected which I confirmed and the second has the same type of electrical wiring except that there is also one red and one white wire like a #12/14 that also went to the fridge, and that outlet is always hot. I'm assuming one was for the fridge and one for the ice maker or am I wrong, is one for when its on DC power?

? is which one would you plug the fridge into?

When turn on the inverter will both are still hot?

Thanks

wolfe10 · 04-26-2022, 02:44 PM

VERY likely one is for "inverter powered", the other for "shore power/generator powered".

Choose the inverter powered on. Then YOU decide if you want the inverter on or not. This was exactly what we did on ours. Had a remove temperature monitor in the refrigerator, readout at the dash. If refrigerator temp reached 38 degrees F, the inverter was turned on. So, on cool days while driving, refrigerator was OFF.

windsorbill · 04-26-2022, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gweedo295

Hello all, took out my Dometic fridge and I have placed a Samsung in its place and I'm about to level it out and bolt it down.

Anyhow I'm not huge into electrical.

There are two separate outlets behind the fridge the Dometic was plugged into. One says GFI protected which I confirmed and the second has the same type of electrical wiring except that there is also one red and one white wire like a #12/14 that also went to the fridge, and that outlet is always hot. I'm assuming one was for the fridge and one for the ice maker or am I wrong, is one for when its on DC power?

? is which one would you plug the fridge into?

When turn on the inverter will both are still hot?

Thanks

Brett is correct, one is inverter, the other is not. Pick the inverter power, that way you can run the new fridge on shore, generator, or inverter.

The down side is if your new fridge can't be shut down without unplugging it, you'll want to put a switch in to control that outlet you plugged your fridge into.

You can safely terminate the other wire, or possibly use it for some future project. Mine was labeled "refrigerator" in the electric panel.

gweedo295 · 04-26-2022, 03:12 PM

Ok thank you, so I will unplug from shore power, turn on the inverter and determine which is hot.

Thanks again, I read some guys put in a separate inverter, not really wanting to do that, hoping my original inverter will do the job.

Thanks again

gweedo295 · 04-26-2022, 03:56 PM

so I did the above and had no power in either. Went to the bath GFI and it was tripped blinking very fast, never seen that before. I did a reset, the outlet marked GFI works off the inverter.

Tomorrow I will complete the install of the fridge. and move on to the next thing like slide seals.

happy travels and thnx

YC1 · 04-29-2022, 06:27 AM

2008 Endeavor with same Dometic. You already have solved your issue but would like to add my two cents.

Onboard Inverter is 2000 watt modified inverter. Magnum to be exact.

Since we installed a Whirlpool there was or is not information on weather it would work on that power and we make some long day runs so decided to plug the refer into the normal non-inverted outlet.

The refer stays cold for at least four hours and the freezer is solid for many more than that.

It is rare that we don't turn the generator on at least during a rest stop and just let it go for a couple of hours. When the roof air's are needed it is a mute point because the generator is running for that of course.

I made access to the rear of the refer outlet easy enough by removing the lower outside vent panel. The outlet is still there so it could be moved if I wanted to take the risk. We full time so even if we had to boondock for a day or two could live with the generator keeping it cold.

The slide seals are a bit of a challenge and just getting the right ones is tough enough.

The seals on the inside lips that make contact with the walls when the slides are out seem to escape me. Trying various substitutes has not come up with decent results.

Getting the hand over the top edge with the slides in to get the seals in place is really difficult for me. Perhaps someone had made an installation jig to help?

gweedo295 · 05-01-2022, 09:30 AM

Good morning, I'm not big on electrical, so I'm not sure why you would not use the converter outlet (unless it's not powered when plugged into shore power) mine is hot on shore power and will be hot on converter.

I purchased the slide seals from Ini-Grip, great selections.

The wiper seal actually snaps on. I read on another thread a great idea, the guy put a small flat door seal from Lowes a few inches in front of the wiper seal, so when the slide opens it flips the entire seal in both directions. Mine never open flat against the slide.

As for the inside seal, I ordered the 1" x 1" domed seal high density rubber/foam with self adhesive.

MSHappyCampers · 05-01-2022, 11:28 AM

Our 2002 Windsor has two outlets behind the fridge, one on the inverter and the other one direct. Originally the fridge was connected to the direct outlet and the icemaker to the inverter-powered one. I connected the fridge to the inverter-powered outlet so we can use it on AC while traveling!

RamiDav · 05-01-2022, 11:37 AM

I think the most important thing is to not have the frig on a GFI outlet.

Folks have ruined lots of food because their GFI tripped and they didn't know it.

Ray & Marilyn
03 Windsor

YC1 · 05-01-2022, 01:54 PM

One needs to be concerned that the refer can run on a modified sine wave inverter is that is what is installed.

153stars · 05-02-2022, 04:39 AM

The MSW inverter to fridge debate is the reason owners chose to add a small dedicated PSW inverter. There are also ones with transfer switch . So they plug into shore power outlet and hopefully power with DC wires that was to fridge, if large enough. If wires large enough ,up the fuse to wire gauge or inverter max DC input ...but inverter should have breaker or fuse. Shore power turns off inverter flows through outlet.

gweedo295 · 05-17-2022, 05:12 AM

Good morning and thank you for all of the responses. As mentioned in my first post my electrical knowledge is limited.

Okay I plugged into the GFI and all worked well, but I get plugging into a GFI is risky. This last trip I ran on the inverter and the genny.

So here is my question, when running on the inverter should my plug in volt meter be reading 120 volts? it was reading 105 volts, so I switched over to the genny to be safe. The way I understand it is lower volts ='s higher amps and high amps is bad for equipment.

My batteries are at least 5-years old, if they are not up to par will this cause a low volt reading?

Should I have the batteries checked first to see if the volts come up to 120 volts with my stock inverter? I don't want to damage my new Samsung or anything else.

How difficult is it to install an independent inverter? any certain brands?

Thanks again!

YC1 · 05-17-2022, 06:04 AM

A digital voltmeter may not read the real voltage. The pulses need to be smoothed out for it to read correctly. However, a good load on old batteries could easily draw that down but not likely that much.

If your load was the microwave then all bets are off unless you have some better test equipment.

RamiDav · 05-17-2022, 07:33 AM

For many of us needing the frig on the inverter is not an issue unless we are boondockers. Even then you'll need good batteries and solar and you will still have to run the gen periodically to charge the batteries.
As YC1 said, when going down the road running the gen now & then is enough.

Running the refrigerator on a GFI is not what I would do. Water and moisture will eventually trip the GFI and both are present in a frig.
You may not know it is tripped for a long time.
Spoiled food can ruin a frig.

Ray & Marilyn
03 Windsor