Inverter

[BLH]

while driving down the road, refrigerator turn off and not cooling. Is this a battery problem or something else, By battery problem I mean house battery. Thanks in advance.

[wolfe10]

Yes, it could be a house battery issue-- what is voltage at the back (outside access door) of the refrigerator when this happens?


It could also be a propane/burner issue. Were you on propane or on automatic which deferred to propane when no 120 VAC available?


Were you able to restart it?



Please tell us what RV and what refrigerator you have.

[glwinger]

Are you running the refrig on propane or electric. Need more information. Rv or TT. Type and model of the refrig.

[a7az]

Use a battery tester to see what the voltage drops to under load. You won't get a good picture of the battery's real condition without applying a load of a few amps and measuring the voltage.

[RVnAggie]

Sounds like this is a residential fridge that only operates on 120V

I have a residential fridge and had the same issue with inverter shutting off. Replaced the aging battery and problem was solved.

However, the new battery is now only a year old and I just experienced this again 3 weeks ago on a trip. Acts like weak battery, but I haven’t yet checked it under load b/c somehow I left the multi-meter at home.

Strange thing is it shut off very early during the trip, then later it stayed on for much longer. We found the fridge was off when we opened it for some drinks about 2 hrs into the drive. I specifically confirmed it was in fact on when we left an rv park that morning after being plugged in to shore power for several days (which should have had battery fully charged…right?)

After pulling fuse on front of inverter and re-inserting, it powered up and stayed on for much longer to complete the trip.

I thought maybe a loose ground or terminal on inverter or battery, but all were tight. So a bit of a mystery, but I will be troubleshooting further. I hate chasing electrical gremlins.

Will share any conclusions I reach and will watch for the same from you.

Safe travels,

[Persistent]

Originally Posted by BLH

while driving down the road, refrigerator turn off and not cooling. Is this a battery problem or something else, By battery problem I mean house battery. Thanks in advance.

Refrigerator make and model?
Absorption or compressor?

Absorption:
Propane flame will sometimes extinguish during highway driving.
12 volt electric draws high current. Battery depletes fast. Continued operation depends on charging from RV alternator or auxiliary generator.
120 volt depend on inverter using 12 volts or generator using 120 volts.
Does inverter breaker trip? Is it due to low battery voltage?

Compressor:
Inverter uses 12 volt system to stay running. 12 volt electric draws high current. Battery depletes fast. Continued operation depends on charging from RV alternator or auxiliary generator.
Does inverter breaker trip? Is it due to low battery voltage?

[BLH]

I gave a call to magnum energy and spoke with a technician. He walked me through the setup process for the inverter but the problem still exists. Thinking about buying new batteries, but don't know if that will solve the issue but I will have new batteries. Can't find the cutoff switch on the inverter. Will keep searching and will report any findings. Thanks for the feedback.

[rffowler55]

Originally Posted by BLH

I gave a call to magnum energy and spoke with a technician. He walked me through the setup process for the inverter but the problem still exists. Thinking about buying new batteries, but don't know if that will solve the issue but I will have new batteries. Can't find the cutoff switch on the inverter. Will keep searching and will report any findings. Thanks for the feedback.

I don't see where you provided the year and make of your coach, type of refrigerator (absorption or residential) and make and model of inverter, were you running your generator on the trip? All of these answers will help provide you a more informed response.

is it possible that your refrigerator outlet does not receive power from the inverter, if yes then the only way to power the residential refrigerator is using the generator. If you want to rely on the inverter and batteries, you will need to run wire to the refrigerator from the inverter and use a transfer switch to enable power from the normal A/C (shore or generator) and inverter.

We did this exact process this year when when our absorption fridge lost it's ammonia charge and we replaced it with a residential refrigerator. Our coach being 15 years old only powered the tv area through the inverter so we had to pull wire and install a transfer switch. Now when we travel we do not have to run the generator, the house batteries are charged through the alternator and the inverter converts the battery energy from 12v to 120v for the refrigerator.

[jimcumminsw]

Originally Posted by BLH

while driving down the road, refrigerator turn off and not cooling. Is this a battery problem or something else, By battery problem I mean house battery. Thanks in advance.

Frist; do you have a trailer or motor home. Second; do you have a residential or RV fridge?

To better answer your concern this information should be provided or all we are doing is guessing that these could be your fixes.

I have a trailer that has a residential fridge with an inverter that powers my fridge when traveling. I have found that the inverter will turn off when the trailer battery has low DC voltage condition. This is so, you will not drain the trailer battery below a set voltage point.

I have found through trial and error. That I must use shore power when camping, to close the slides and to raise the hydraulic legs up. This is to insure that the battery is fully charged, which will allow the inverter to operate for the full day when we are towing the trailer and cooling the fridge.

Even though the inverter could turned off the residential fridge will still be cold and the food will not be spoiled as we have traveled. When I connected to shore power the trailer battery will be charged up by the converter in the trailer to the proper DC voltage.

[wolfe10]

Originally Posted by BLH

Thinking about buying new batteries, but don't know if that will solve the issue but I will have new batteries. Can't find the cutoff switch on the inverter. Will keep searching and will report any findings. Thanks for the feedback.

While you CAN just throw $$$$ at a problem, much better to diagnose the problem first.


If batteries are suspect, fully charge them and have them LOAD TESTED. Most places that sells batteries will do that for free.


And as repeated many times in this thread, letting us know what RV you have and exactly what refrigerator will save a lot of "doesn't apply to your equipment" guesses on our part.

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by BLH

while driving down the road, refrigerator turn off and not cooling. Is this a battery problem or something else, By battery problem I mean house battery. Thanks in advance.

A battery voltage test is needed to answer your question.

[Marine359]

Curious why OP hasn’t posted info on his rig, especially the type of fridge he has.