Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > iRV2.com COMMUNITY FORUMS > iRV2.com General Discussion
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-14-2019, 09:44 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
Refrigerator connection

Hi, we have a 2018 Forest River Cardinal fifth wheel with a full size refrigerator. We have had problems on and off keeping the refrigerator on when not connected to electric or the generator. We thought that problem was solved when we were finally told to be sure the inverter is on and the battery switch is on. We are using the RV for the second time and it seemed to be working at the beginning of the week, however today it is not working again. We thought it was because we dry camped overnight and did not have the generator on. But since then we have tried to charge it with the generator and we have the generator running as we are driving down the road now. But after a couple of hours we checked and the refrigerator will still not stay on without the generator power. Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially since we can't call for service today as it is Sunday. Thank you! Lorraine
Parker720 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 04-14-2019, 11:20 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Skip426's Avatar


 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Powell River, B.C.
Posts: 31,311
Welcome to iRV2.

Other than " Full size " could you add some info on your fridge and the way it's set up .

Is it an RV fridge ; 120 volt and propane ?
Brand and model number ?

Or a residential fridge , that runs off the generator or an inverter for it's 120volt supply?
__________________
99DSDP 3884, Freightliner, XC, CAT 3126B, 300 HP /ALLISON 3060
2000 Caravan toad, Remco & Blue Ox.
Skip426 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 11:24 AM   #3
Senior Member/RVM #90
 
MSHappyCampers's Avatar


 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Columbus, MS
Posts: 54,622
Hi Lorraine! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

As Skip said, a little more info needed to be able to help! Have fun and keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!
__________________
Joe & Annette
Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits.....
2002 Monaco Windsor 40PBT, 2013 Honda CRV AWD
MSHappyCampers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 07:20 PM   #4
Community Moderator


 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Full timing
Posts: 6,185
On our Road Warrior with the residential full size fridge, there is a switch locate near the control panel that turns the fridge on allow to work while towing by using the inverter. Our switch is white panel and has a rocker style switch. When turned on there is a little green light that will come on.

We have a Hisense Fridge, French door bottom freezer.
hamm2018 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-14-2019, 11:12 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Old-Biscuit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 26,689
According to brochure.....
Standard is 20 cu/ft residential fridge with inverter


Optional:
18 cu/ft Gas/Electric fridge




Inverter circuit breaker tripping OR battery bank drawn too low w/o maintaining proper charging
__________________
I took my Medication today. HAVE YOU?
Dodge 3500 w/Tractor Motor
US NAVY---USS Decatur DDG-31
Old-Biscuit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2019, 08:01 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Payson, AZ
Posts: 1,273
we have a 2015 cardinal but i think your problem is not model specific. my guess, and only a guess from the info you have supplied, is that you are trying to run the refrigerator on inverter power and the inverter is shutting down due to a low battery condition. what is the status of the inverter when your refrigerator shuts down? by that i mean what are the status indicators on the face of the inverter. is the inverter showing a low voltage condition? we had similar problems when we first got our trailer until we learned how to use the inverter and keep the batteries charged. how are you charging the batteries when you dry camped?
bigchick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2019, 08:29 AM   #7
Moderator Emeritus
 
Gary RVRoamer's Avatar


 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: West Palm Beach, FL. USA
Posts: 27,563
As bigchick says, it is almost sure that the battery voltage goes low enough that the inverter shuts down and therefore 120v power is lost. That should be fairly easy to verify with a battery voltage check when it happens. 12.0v at the battery is only 50% charge and won't last long.

Running the generator for a few hours provides some battery charging, but not 100%. Further, a weak battery won't accept much of a charge no matter how long it is charged.


Please tell us how many batteries you have and the size, as well as their age.
__________________
Gary Brinck
Former owner of 2004 American Tradition and several other RVs
Home is West Palm Beach, FL
Gary RVRoamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2019, 08:12 PM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
Refrigerator Connection

Thank you all so much for your replies and help. First, I want to introduce myself, my name is Lorraine. My husband, Bob, doesn't use the computer, so I am trying to work this out. We just got back from our trip and now our RV is stored an hour away. So I cannot tell you the make and we cannot find a brochure on it. We purchased this last September from a private owner who never used it. We have had quite a few fifth wheels and a motor home, but now they are more complicated with the computer panels, etc. We called the place where it was purchased and were told we have a 120 V refrigerator, no gas connection. We learned a bit about what is being said on this thread with the charging. The RV rep advised that we have our truck checked to be sure the charging wire works. He suggested we go to an auto store to buy something that check the charging wire. So we will do that first. Our truck is a 2017 Dodge Ram 3500. If that's okay, we will need to wait until we travel again, which will not be soon. Yesterday on our way home we had to run our generator while driving down the road to keep the refrigerator running. We will try to make sense of everyone's suggestions next time out. Again, thanks so much, I am really impressed with the help on this site and hopefully we can reciprocate.

p.s. We have two batteries, but my husband doesn't know the size. Had them checked the first time we used this RV last September and were told they were fine, but the RV tech thinks they are weak. The RV sat outdoors for almost a year up north.
Parker720 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2019, 09:25 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Skip426's Avatar


 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Powell River, B.C.
Posts: 31,311
Lorraine; thanks for the update and if we here in the forums can be of any further help with ideas or info please re-post .
__________________
99DSDP 3884, Freightliner, XC, CAT 3126B, 300 HP /ALLISON 3060
2000 Caravan toad, Remco & Blue Ox.
Skip426 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2019, 06:15 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Payson, AZ
Posts: 1,273
don't expect the charging wire on the truck to charge your trailer batteries and run the refrigerator. do you have a cheap multimeter? you can use that to test the charge cable from the truck and do many more electrical tests such as battery voltage. at best the charge cable from the truck will help the house batteries to run the refrigerator when hooked up and towing. if you are dry camping with a residential refrigerator and a couple of house batteries you are going to need some way (generator, solar) to recharge the batteries. a properly sized generator can also run the a/c when dry camping. but you are going to have to learn about keeping the batteries fully charged to support the refrigerator.
bigchick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2019, 07:56 PM   #11
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
Hi everyone, this is Lorraine again. I wanted you all to know the end result of our refrigerator connection problem. My husband took the RV to a repair shop and it was determined that the GFI on the inverter was tripped. He was told that the only time we should turn on the inverter is to supply power to the electric refrigerator when we are plugged into the truck and driving down the road. Thanks again for all your responses.
Safe travels!
Parker720 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-25-2019, 06:40 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Payson, AZ
Posts: 1,273
glad you found out about the gfci but i don't think that was the cause of the problem you initially described. you said you were having intermittent problems keeping the refrigerator running. if a gfci trips it trips for good until it is mechanically reset. it does not intermittently provide power. so the thoughts about low battery voltage may still be what you were experiencing when you reported the problem, intermittent inverter power to the refrigerator. at some point the inverter gfci tripped and from then on you would have no inverter power to the refrigerator.

but you have more knowledge and experience now.
bigchick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-26-2019, 07:48 PM   #13
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
Hey bigchick, you are right about the intermittent problem. I kind of forgot now, but I think the other problem was because the generator was turned off during the night and when we woke up the refrigerator was off because the batteries were probably low. We are going on another road trip tomorrow, so we'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your concern. Lorraine
p.s. I have no knowledge, but hopefully will get some experience now; we are learning.
Parker720 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-27-2019, 06:43 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Payson, AZ
Posts: 1,273
one thing you can do when on inverter power is to turn the ice make off. it saves some power but i can't quantify how much. if you have an intermittent problem when on inverter power go to the inverter itself and read the status / indicator lights. they will display the status of 'inverter shut down due to low battery power'. this should confirm what you are experiencing. the actual shutdown point may be user selectable depending upon what model inverter you have.
bigchick is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
refrigerator



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Refrigerator connection question callcameron RV Systems & Appliances 5 01-13-2019 04:39 PM
Can I replace my RV refrigerator with a standard refrigerator??? dlineberrys RV Systems & Appliances 30 12-01-2011 04:09 PM
Changing RV refrigerator to domestic refrigerator george p RV Systems & Appliances 4 10-03-2010 09:55 AM
Residential Refrigerator Compared to gas/Electrical Refrigerator seabee13 RV Systems & Appliances 5 05-13-2010 08:24 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.