Thinking about a residential fridge.

[PanJH]

FWIW- I bought a refrigerator at a garage sale that had been in a guys garage/shop. I put it in my outside kitchen . I'm in Florida and the temps out there are seldom below 85, most typically 90+ for at least half the year. It runs like a champ and my food and beer are nice and cold. It's been out there for years.

[Vagabond Ron]

Our first coach had a conventional RV refrigerator than took hours to get cold and had the capacity of an ice chest! When we started talking about upgrading to a diesel pusher, my wife insisted we go for one with a residential refrigerator. Great choice! It is 18 cf with an icemaker and good freezer space. We have no problem packing it with a week or more supply of groceries.

I don't know how your coach is set up but ours has a bank of 4 deep cycle coach batteries and an inverter to run the refrigerator and other items while traveling. We use to bring our coach home and plug it in to load and the refrigerator would be ice cold in 2 hours or less. We recently moved to a new storage facility with electric so it is always cold and read to load with food.

Hope this helps in your decision process!

[FIRE UP]

Ok gang,
Here's a preliminary report. So far, the new Residential fridge seems to be working great. We have one of those little hanging fridge thermometers inside it and, for the most part, it indicates around 36-40 degrees, at various checks and times. I don't have a clue as to what the temp in the freezer is 'cause I've not moved the thermometer to that section but, I can tell you the chocolate chip ice cream is pretty hard. So, that's a good thing.

Now, here's a technical question for you electrical wizards out there. The coach is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP C-7. All the wiring in it is bone stock, no changes to any part of the 120VAC system have taken place. When we left for our present trip we are on, all the tests for that fridge (as in just making it work), were with the coach plugged into shore power, in the coaches garage. All has been well.

But, I *figured* I'd just run that refer on the INVERTER while motoring down the road, 'till we get to our first stop in Williams AZ. So, I turned the inverter on just before we pulled out of the garage. I figured, just like the TV and other appliances, that the fridge would just keep on truck'n with the inverter supplied AC as we motored down the road.


Well, about 30 miles into the days run, the wife decided to get a drink from the fridge and, low and behold, the fridge WAS NOT ON!!! CRAP!!!
I told her to maqke sure the inverter was/is in the ON position and, touch and hold the fridges ON/OFF button, to turn it ON. She did and, nothing happened. CRAP!! So, I said: " Wait a second, and I started the generator from my dash controls. I said now try and turn the fridge ON.

She said: "Yep, the fridge turned ON!. Well, boohooo, now I have to run down the road with the genny on 'till we get to where we're going. We pull into our camp/RV spot in Williams, get all setup and, hook up shore power and the fridge is happy.

But, in my 9 years of ownership of this coach, I was always under the impression that, every single outlet in and outside of this coach, was inverter powered, if and when needed. Well, guess what, it appears that, the ONLY outlet that is not inverter powered is the REFRIDGERATOR OUTLET!!!!!!!!!!

And, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to reading electrical diagrams that Winne/Itasca put online but, from what I can tell, it appears that the refer outlet is NOT CONNECTED to the Inverter controlled outlets.


So, with all that crap being said, to those that have changed over your RV fridge to a residential one:

1. Is your outlet that the fridge (any fridge) plugs into, only main panel controlled or, is it dual powered both main panel and the inverter?
2. If yours wasn't, WHAT DID YOU DO to get Inverter power, to that outlet?
3. It appears in my wiring diagram that, the fridge outlet it related to or, is powered through a relay, coming from the *Load shedding* unit in the coach, where ever that is. I'll be looking for it.

I'm not one of those that likes running the gen for hours and hours, for something small. I'd really like to set up that fridge outlet to run on inverter power, while driving down the road.
Scott

[dons2346]

Why do you think you have to have power to the refer 24/7? The refer will hold temps for a long time,, much longer than you will be driving.
I have gone without power for over 20 hours and the temps were still in the safe levels. The wife was in the food service business for 30+ yeara so if she says things are fine, I tend to believe her.


Look behind the refer and see if there is a double outlet. Turn on the inverter and see if one is powered. Do this while generator is off and unplugged from shore power. Sometimes one will be inverter powered and one not.

[deandec]

On my rig, the ice maker in the refer was plugged to an inverter powered outlet behind the refer.

The Dometic gas/electric refer itself was plugged to a dedicated 110v outlet behind the refer.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Ok gang,
Here's a preliminary report. So far, the new Residential fridge seems to be working great. We have one of those little hanging fridge thermometers inside it and, for the most part, it indicates around 36-40 degrees, at various checks and times. I don't have a clue as to what the temp in the freezer is 'cause I've not moved the thermometer to that section but, I can tell you the chocolate chip ice cream is pretty hard. So, that's a good thing.

Now, here's a technical question for you electrical wizards out there. The coach is an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the CAT C-7 330HP C-7. All the wiring in it is bone stock, no changes to any part of the 120VAC system have taken place. When we left for our present trip we are on, all the tests for that fridge (as in just making it work), were with the coach plugged into shore power, in the coaches garage. All has been well.

But, I *figured* I'd just run that refer on the INVERTER while motoring down the road, 'till we get to our first stop in Williams AZ. So, I turned the inverter on just before we pulled out of the garage. I figured, just like the TV and other appliances, that the fridge would just keep on truck'n with the inverter supplied AC as we motored down the road.


Well, about 30 miles into the days run, the wife decided to get a drink from the fridge and, low and behold, the fridge WAS NOT ON!!! CRAP!!!
I told her to maqke sure the inverter was/is in the ON position and, touch and hold the fridges ON/OFF button, to turn it ON. She did and, nothing happened. CRAP!! So, I said: " Wait a second, and I started the generator from my dash controls. I said now try and turn the fridge ON.

She said: "Yep, the fridge turned ON!. Well, boohooo, now I have to run down the road with the genny on 'till we get to where we're going. We pull into our camp/RV spot in Williams, get all setup and, hook up shore power and the fridge is happy.

But, in my 9 years of ownership of this coach, I was always under the impression that, every single outlet in and outside of this coach, was inverter powered, if and when needed. Well, guess what, it appears that, the ONLY outlet that is not inverter powered is the REFRIDGERATOR OUTLET!!!!!!!!!!

And, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to reading electrical diagrams that Winne/Itasca put online but, from what I can tell, it appears that the refer outlet is NOT CONNECTED to the Inverter controlled outlets.


So, with all that crap being said, to those that have changed over your RV fridge to a residential one:

1. Is your outlet that the fridge (any fridge) plugs into, only main panel controlled or, is it dual powered both main panel and the inverter?
2. If yours wasn't, WHAT DID YOU DO to get Inverter power, to that outlet?
3. It appears in my wiring diagram that, the fridge outlet it related to or, is powered through a relay, coming from the *Load shedding* unit in the coach, where ever that is. I'll be looking for it.

I'm not one of those that likes running the gen for hours and hours, for something small. I'd really like to set up that fridge outlet to run on inverter power, while driving down the road.
Scott

Scott,

I'm kinda surprised you don't have 2 outlets behind the fridge. My old norcold had the ice maker that ran through the inverter. Otherwise you would never have ice being made without shore power or generator power. The other outlet ran the fridge, but wasn't through the inverter. When I did my swap, I just used the old ice maker outlet.

[FIRE UP]

Hey Gang,
Well first off, when you're roaming around in 100 degree weather, and open that fridge for even a slight amount of time, you loose a bit of coldness each and every time you open it, even if you're real conscientious of what you're doing. I'd like this fridge to be able to recoup any time it needs to, to help from it needing to bring it waaaaay down from it not being supplied with power for any driving length of time. This is why I want that plug back there to be inverter powered.

Second, I only have one single plug back there. It has a two-gang face on it but, one of them is not open. That is, you can only plug into one side. In our RV fridge we just removed, the Norcold N-1095 also had and ice maker. But for the life of me (or the CEO), we cannot remember EVER running or, trying to run that fridge on the inverter. We made ice many, many times over the years but, we just can't remember the operating circumstances when we did.

As for *testing* the outlet, yes, I did that. I had/have power to that outlet when the power pole that supplied shore power was in the ON position. But, when I shut the breaker on that 50A power pole OFF, I had zero power to that fridge plug. Then, I turned on the Inverter. Again, NO POWER. Go back out to the power pole and turn on the 50A breaker and, zap, we got power at that fridge outlet.

So, that is a confirmation that, the ONE AND ONLY, 120VAC outlet at the back of the fridge compartment, is MAIN PANEL POWERED ONLY, and not by the inverter. Soooooooooo, back to my original question, how to get power to that outlet, FROM THE INVERTER?
Scott

P.S. This is why I linked my make/model/year/engine etc. because, different coach builders, and different year models etc, will equip their electrical supply systems differently.

[scooteral]

Better make sure what type of invertor you have. Sine wave or partial sine wave. Probably tells you in your coach documentation. I think your coach is 2004, probably partial sine wave. I have read that some fridges will be damaged by partial sine wave invertors. Maybe that's why it's not recommended not to use in RV. Check the fridge documentation.
Good luck and be careful.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by scooteral

Better make sure what type of invertor you have. Sine wave or partial sine wave. Probably tells you in your coach documentation. I think your coach is 2004, probably partial sine wave. I have read that some fridges will be damaged by partial sine wave invertors. Maybe that's why it's not recommended not to use in RV. Check the fridge documentation.
Good luck and be careful.

The inverter/charger I have is a replacement. I had the Dimensions 2000 watt Inverter/charger *quasi* sign wave, (what ever that means). But, it gave up the ghost several years ago. Back then, I found an almost brand new Magnum ME2012 MSW 2000 watt inverter/charger. Yes, I know what the manual says about not recommending using it with an inverter. This is an experiment but, a form of a calculated one. We'll see.
Scott

[happy2rv]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

But, I *figured* I'd just run that refer on the INVERTER while motoring down the road, 'till we get to our first stop in Williams AZ. So, I turned the inverter on just before we pulled out of the garage. I figured, just like the TV and other appliances, that the fridge would just keep on truck'n with the inverter supplied AC as we motored down the road.

...
But, in my 9 years of ownership of this coach, I was always under the impression that, every single outlet in and outside of this coach, was inverter powered, if and when needed. Well, guess what, it appears that, the ONLY outlet that is not inverter powered is the REFRIDGERATOR OUTLET!!!!!!!!!!
...
1. Is your outlet that the fridge (any fridge) plugs into, only main panel controlled or, is it dual powered both main panel and the inverter?
2. If yours wasn't, WHAT DID YOU DO to get Inverter power, to that outlet?
3. It appears in my wiring diagram that, the fridge outlet it related to or, is powered through a relay, coming from the *Load shedding* unit in the coach, where ever that is. I'll be looking for it.
Scott

That was a design feature. If that outlet were on the inverter, your old RV refrigerator would never have switched to propane automatically. Being tied to the power shed relay, would also make sense for the same reason.



From here, you have a few options. As you indicated, you can try to find where that line ties into the power management system and move it to another source. Not sure how easy it will be to identify and/or move. Since you have the wiring diagrams, does it indicate this is a dedicated outlet or is there anything else on that circuit?



As others have indicated, if there was an option for an ice maker, there should be another outlet that would likely be on the inverter. This would obviously be the easiest solution.



You could run a new outlet either from the load center or an extension from an existing outlet. Difficulty here is going to be highly dependent on your particular coach. When evaluating other outlets as sources, keep in mind that most kitchen outlets should be on a GFCI circuit and that's not really desirable for a refrigerator outlet either.

[Journey cat]

If im not mistaken The ice maker on my 1210 , is powered by 12 Volt .
I say this from experience with my 05 Journey 34H .
It always makes ice without being on shore power . Ill have to read the manual again to confirm. Although , it works for me

[Out N About]

I'm considering the same upgrade, and on our '04 Journey, our DC fuse panel is directly below the refer. My plan was to install a small 500-750 watt inverter right off of the main 12v buss bar and control the refer power source with a double pole relay, or just leave it always off of the 12v. The smaller the inverter, the less minimum voltage is needed by just being on.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Journey cat

If im not mistaken The ice maker on my 1210 , is powered by 12 Volt .
I say this from experience with my 05 Journey 34H .
It always makes ice without being on shore power . Ill have to read the manual again to confirm. Although , it works for me

Bingo!!!
It took JC to jog my memory. Yes, our RV fridge, the Norcold N-1095 DID make ice but, ONLY when on shore power or, generator power. I don't think this is a "design failure". In my opinion, the design of that part of the electrical system in ours (and apparently many other Winnes and Itascas of that era) is/was in coordination with the fact that, there are a given set of RV refers out there that make ice on 12V and therefore, there was no need to supply an additional outlet behind the fridge, just to power up an ice maker.

So, with all that being said, yes, the outlet back there, is a DEDICATED outlet, with zero other outlets on that circuit. According to the wiring diagrams and, installation wiring schematics, there are 3 outlet circuits on that inverter panel. And, all three of them have a minimum of 5 outlets on each circuit. But, that fridge outlet, is not connected to, or in any way, tied to that inverter. But, it is tied to the load shedding component, where ever that is. Going to search for it later.
Scott

[Journey cat]

We both learn something here , Scott .
As I saw a frig that had both a black & a white cord & plug on it .
And Ive been pondering that thought since I saw it .