Residential frige kills batteries in 3 hours

[Agaveguy]

I charged my batteries (4 6v interstate) with shore power all night long and this morning my inverter panel indicates they are on a 13v float charge with 0 amps, this tells me they are likely fully charged, right? So I put the rig in the driveway and power up the Whirlpool residential refrigerator running off of the inverter for no other reason other than to let it run for a day or two.

The initial voltage was 12.5, in 3 hours I checked my panel and it had tripped the inverter with a low voltage message.

The batteries are 14 months old and have had the SG checked and they appear to be ok. Shouldn't 4 6v batteries carry this load much, much longer than a few hours??? The inverter shows between 7 and 10 amps when the refer is running, the voltage after just an hour or so goes down to 12.0.

Some things to take into consideration, it was 100f today and the interior of the coach was probably 100f too.

Do I have an issue here? I think I may have a battery problem.

[jsmmonaco]

I have been told by professionals that you are asking for trouble if you try to run a residential refrig off your batteries using the inverter/converter.............draws to much power............ if you want to run frig, plug into shore or fire up generator..................same goes for air conditioners...........................

[Bumps]

Our Whirlpool has an auto-defrost cycle. Yours may, as well. With the high amperage draw you cite, that may be what sapped your batteries.

Having said that, we have eight batteries and solar panels that keep them topped-off; our fridge will run forever. I have never tested it to see how long it would run without the daily sun-based battery boost.

If you can figure out how to de-activate the auto-defrost cycle, please post how you did it. I would like to convert mine to a manual defrost system, but have not been able to figure out how to do it.

\ken

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by jsmmonaco

I have been told by professionals that you are asking for trouble if you try to run a residential refrig off your batteries using the inverter/converter.............draws to much power............ if you want to run frig, plug into shore or fire up generator..................same goes for air conditioners...........................

Not sure what professionals you listen to, but thousands of users are running residential refridgerators off batteries and inverters.

My 7.5 CF draws 10 amps, DC while running and many others report around 15 amps, DC on larger units.

If it ran constant, and they don't, that would be 10 amp hour.

A decent 2 battery RV would have about 200 amp hours of battery capacity. Ones built with residental refrigerators double that. That give you an easy 200 AH of usable power.

Running 50% of the time, a high figure, your fridge will run a full, 24 hour day, discounting all of the losses before they need a recharge.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Bumps

Our Whirlpool has an auto-defrost cycle. Yours may, as well. With the high amperage draw you cite, that may be what sapped your batteries.

Having said that, we have eight batteries and solar panels that keep them topped-off; our fridge will run forever. I have never tested it to see how long it would run without the daily sun-based battery boost.

If you can figure out how to de-activate the auto-defrost cycle, please post how you did it. I would like to convert mine to a manual defrost system, but have not been able to figure out how to do it.

\ken

I disabled my auto defrost cycle and discovered that the internal passages iced up and blocked the cold air flow after only 2 days. I then had to wait a few hours for the ice to melt, before it would work again. Fortunately I had a large cooler to store the warming food in, until it started cooling again.

I put it back to normal and it's been trouble free for 8 years now.

Not sure what yours uses, but my fridge had a small clock motor device that switched to defrost every 24 hours. I added a pair of wires, controlling the clock motor, to a remote switch. The timer motor was down near the compressor.

[waternut]

We have a 24 cu ft residential fridge with two LARGE batteries and can easily go 16 hours without plugging in or running the generator. Dutch door, ice and water thru door, hard ice cream, would not go back to RV fridge.
I would think that you have to have another drain on the batteries pulling them down if that is all the fridge is drawing. Look for another problem.

[Playtime III]

What is the make/model of your Inverter? Mine is only a MSW and is not efficient when Inverting 12v to 110v.

[336muffin]

We have four 12v batteries and can boondock 32hrs easily with Samsung 197. The icemaker is off, two LED TVs, ceiling fan running for two nights, no problem. Battery's are Lifeline AGM. I challenge your "professionals"!

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by jsmmonaco

I have been told by professionals that you are asking for trouble if you try to run a residential refrig off your batteries using the inverter/converter.............draws to much power............ if you want to run frig, plug into shore or fire up generator..................same goes for air conditioners...........................

Disagree, many of us using residential refrigerator and boondocking, from batteries. Agree, typically can't do air conditioning.

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by jsmmonaco

I have been told by professionals that you are asking for trouble if you try to run a residential refrig off your batteries using the inverter/converter.............draws to much power............ if you want to run frig, plug into shore or fire up generator..................same goes for air conditioners...........................

If you still "trust" the "professionals" when it comes to solar/batteries you need to go read Handybob's blog.

https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the-rv-battery-charging-puzzle-2/

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by jsmmonaco

I have been told by professionals that you are asking for trouble if you try to run a residential refrig off your batteries using the inverter/converter.............draws to much power............ if you want to run frig, plug into shore or fire up generator..................same goes for air conditioners...........................

I would not trust those "professionals" that you have been listening to as they are totally incorrect.

Do some reading on this forum in regards to using residential fridges in RV's and you will come away with a totally different opinion.

I would find some other "professionals" to rely on.

Originally Posted by Agaveguy

I charged my batteries (4 6v interstate) with shore power all night long and this morning my inverter panel indicates they are on a 13v float charge with 0 amps, this tells me they are likely fully charged, right? So I put the rig in the driveway and power up the Whirlpool residential refrigerator running off of the inverter for no other reason other than to let it run for a day or two.

The initial voltage was 12.5, in 3 hours I checked my panel and it had tripped the inverter with a low voltage message.

The batteries are 14 months old and have had the SG checked and they appear to be ok. Shouldn't 4 6v batteries carry this load much, much longer than a few hours??? The inverter shows between 7 and 10 amps when the refer is running, the voltage after just an hour or so goes down to 12.0.

Some things to take into consideration, it was 100f today and the interior of the coach was probably 100f too.

Do I have an issue here? I think I may have a battery problem.

YES.....you have a BIG issue!

First you need to find out how much energy your Whirlpool fridge is actually using when running.

Purchase a Kill-O-Watt and hook it up to your fridge and monitor the power for one month or longer. Then do the math to determine EXACTLY how much power you fridge is consuming every day.

What you are interested in is the total KWh consumed.

The math is:

Voltage X Amps = Watts

Therefore you know that the Voltage is 120, the Watts will be determined by the Kill-O-Watt meter AND the amount of energy or AMPS is calculated using the formula above.

Once you know how many amps are being consumed per day you can convert that into how many AH's your fridge will be consuming from your Inverter per day.

Inverters have a waste factor of about 10% so if your fridge is using 15 amps of energy per day using house current then it will use about 170 AH's of Inverter battery power per day.

My Samsung fridge uses about 1800 watts per day based on two different Kill-O-Watt evaluations that were performed over two months each time. I can easily go all night without discharging my batteries below 12.1 or so and without the generator coming on automatically once the batteries get too low. I also try to turn off as many other peripheral items that I can which is also using power.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Agaveguy

I charged my batteries (4 6v interstate) with shore power all night long and this morning my inverter panel indicates they are on a 13v float charge with 0 amps, this tells me they are likely fully charged, right? So I put the rig in the driveway and power up the Whirlpool residential refrigerator running off of the inverter for no other reason other than to let it run for a day or two.

The initial voltage was 12.5, in 3 hours I checked my panel and it had tripped the inverter with a low voltage message.

The batteries are 14 months old and have had the SG checked and they appear to be ok. Shouldn't 4 6v batteries carry this load much, much longer than a few hours??? The inverter shows between 7 and 10 amps when the refer is running, the voltage after just an hour or so goes down to 12.0.

Some things to take into consideration, it was 100f today and the interior of the coach was probably 100f too.

Do I have an issue here? I think I may have a battery problem.

A couple of things. First you say......

"So I put the rig in the driveway and power up the Whirlpool residential refrigerator running off of the inverter for no other reason other than to let it run for a day or two."

A refer draws the most while first cooling down, I always plug into shore power for the initial cool down. After it is to temperature (usually at least a day) it draws very little until it tries to defrost or make ice, so it is fine to run on your battery bank, but I would not do the initial cool down on the batteries if I could help it.

You state "I charged my batteries (4 6v interstate)...." I assume they are deep cycle RV batteries, if not they will not last long.

You also state the batteries are14 months old, I assume if you understand SG that you have kept them properly watered and they never were fully discharged. What other loads are on the inverter, all coaches have parasitic loads that are never disconnected, even when the disconnect switch is open, how long do your batteries last without the refer on? How long do the batteries hold a charge if the disconnect switch is open? Are the terminals clean, do you have any build up on top of the batteries? Are all the posts in good condition, I had a battery cable that vibrated so much that the post with in the battery came loose. You need to really physically check all the batteries in your bank. If you need to clean the batteries rinse them with water then sprinkle baking soda on them and lightly rinse it off. You also need to check the cables on the inverter, if there is a problem there that will cause issues charging.

"The initial voltage was 12.5, in 3 hours I checked my panel and it had tripped the inverter with a low voltage message." 12.5 is a low initial voltage, in fact I would expect it to be above 13 volts, it sounds like either the batteries were not fully charged or they are about shot, but the SG is what will tell you their condition. What exactly does "....have had the SG checked and they appear to be ok." mean? What was the specific gravity reading for all 24 cells, 1 bad cell will pull the entire bank down?

Lots of things contribute to battery bank issues, finding the one(s) that are causing your issues could take time.

[PJStough]

Originally Posted by Agaveguy

I charged my batteries (4 6v interstate) with shore power all night long and this morning my inverter panel indicates they are on a 13v float charge with 0 amps, this tells me they are likely fully charged, right? So I put the rig in the driveway and power up the Whirlpool residential refrigerator running off of the inverter for no other reason other than to let it run for a day or two.

The initial voltage was 12.5, in 3 hours I checked my panel and it had tripped the inverter with a low voltage message.

The batteries are 14 months old and have had the SG checked and they appear to be ok. Shouldn't 4 6v batteries carry this load much, much longer than a few hours??? The inverter shows between 7 and 10 amps when the refer is running, the voltage after just an hour or so goes down to 12.0.

Some things to take into consideration, it was 100f today and the interior of the coach was probably 100f too.

Do I have an issue here? I think I may have a battery problem.

Have you looked at the battery manufacture's requirements to fully charge the batteries, and is your charger capable of meeting those requirements? I highly doubt it, so your batteries were probably not fully charged to begin with. What Interstate batteries do you have?

Info on charging Interstate batteries:

[vsheetz]

Refrigerator draws more power during initial cooling than during normal running once cold. Ice maker can take quite a bit of power, so I turn it off when dry camping. I do not disable defrosting.

Get a killawatt meter and see what the real power consumption is over time.

Ensure you batteries are being fully charged. Many converters do not fully charge.

Ensure batteries are good condition via specific grAvity test and breakdown test.