A friend of mine purchased a 2015 Thor Challenger. It comes standard with a Residential refer and a Xantrex 1800w inverter running off 2 6v deep cycle batteries, as well as a rudimentary Magnum Autogen start. The problem is that the refer will only run if connected to shore power or running the genny. Does this make any sense, or is this a wiring issue? Would an 1800w inverter be large enough to handle the refer load? The inverter is definitely working, as he can watch tv and power the sat receiver off the batteries, however, we were unable to find any hot outlets when only in inverter operation. We were boondocking this past weekend, and he had to run the genny continuously, which kind of defeats the purpose of having quiet time. Unfortunately, I have very little experience with the late model gas coaches.

Not enough batteries to support a residential refrigerator for long periods of time. You got to have at least six to eight house batteries and even then you need solar panels to maintain the batteries charged.

Your assessment is probably accurate but, your not considering the weak part of the equasion...that being the number of batteries. Two six volt batteries would indeed be very marginal in providing the storage needs of that frig and the other dry camping items, lights, tv satellite etc. If the owner doubles the battery capacity, then he would be in a better position to run the frig off of battery power.

My guess is there are TWO outlets BEHIND the fridge. One operates on A/C only and the other is tied into the inverter. The fridge is plugged into the WRONG receptacle. Look behind the fridge and plug the reefer into the OTHER plug....Dennis

That fridge would run on a 1000 watt inverter! New refrigerators sip power and aren't the electric hogs people remember them as . something isn't right the fridge should be plugged into a power outlet that's powered by the inverter perhaps there are two recepticals ? 2 6 volts should run it for hours. A friends large Samsung with 4 6volt batteries runs all night and most of the next day about 20 - 24hours as long as the ice machine isn't running .

Executive wrote:My guess is there are TWO outlets BEHIND the fridge. One operates on A/C only and the other is tied into the inverter. The fridge is plugged into the WRONG receptacle. Look behind the fridge and plug the reefer into the OTHER plug....DennisYup. This is it, either it's plugged into the wrong outlet, or the coach is a bit miswired.Our, (NOT A RESISDENTIAL FRIDGE) has 2 outlets behind it, an inverter outlet for our icemaker, and a "not inverter" outlet for the fridge.The residential fridge needs to be plugged into the inverter outlet.

2015 Thor Challenger Residential Refer | Good Sam Community

RayChez
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
Not enough batteries to support a residential refrigerator for long periods of time. You got to have at least six to eight house batteries and even then you need solar panels to maintain the batteries charged.
hershey
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
Your assessment is probably accurate but, your not considering the weak part of the equasion...that being the number of batteries. Two six volt batteries would indeed be very marginal in providing the storage needs of that frig and the other dry camping items, lights, tv satellite etc. If the owner doubles the battery capacity, then he would be in a better position to run the frig off of battery power.
Executive45
Explorer III
Apr 27, 2015
My guess is there are TWO outlets BEHIND the fridge. One operates on A/C only and the other is tied into the inverter. The fridge is plugged into the WRONG receptacle. Look behind the fridge and plug the reefer into the OTHER plug....Dennis
jorbill2or
Explorer II
Apr 27, 2015
That fridge would run on a 1000 watt inverter! New refrigerators sip power and aren't the electric hogs people remember them as . something isn't right the fridge should be plugged into a power outlet that's powered by the inverter perhaps there are two recepticals ? 2 6 volts should run it for hours. A friends large Samsung with 4 6volt batteries runs all night and most of the next day about 20 - 24hours as long as the ice machine isn't running .
JimM68
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
Executive wrote:
My guess is there are TWO outlets BEHIND the fridge. One operates on A/C only and the other is tied into the inverter. The fridge is plugged into the WRONG receptacle. Look behind the fridge and plug the reefer into the OTHER plug....Dennis

Yup. This is it, either it's plugged into the wrong outlet, or the coach is a bit miswired.

Our, (NOT A RESISDENTIAL FRIDGE) has 2 outlets behind it, an inverter outlet for our icemaker, and a "not inverter" outlet for the fridge.

The residential fridge needs to be plugged into the inverter outlet.
Ivylog
Explorer III
Apr 27, 2015
If there is not an inverter outlet for it on a 2015 unit, the dealer needs to run one from the inverter to it as a home refer without one is totally wrong. Some are running their units on 600W inverters so it's not the inverter.
Cbones
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
Checking on the 2 outlets behind the fridge. Second question, wouldn't it be expected that there are some other outlets in the coach that would run off the inverter? I checked the outlet by the passenger seat as well as the outlets in the kitchen, and bathroom. None are hot off the inverter. The only hot outlet that we could find was in the entertainment cabinet for the tv and sat receiver. I would have expected at least another one somewhere.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
I'm going to throw this out...

Check to see if you have tripped one of the GFI outlets in the bathroom or maybe in one of the under bays. It might be as simple as that. Also, aren't there two breakers on the inverter itself? Double check the inverter to make sure everything is OK.

Good luck,
MM.
MrWizard
Moderator
Apr 27, 2015
It's not the inverter...The inverter is plenty big enough
And it's not the batteries, they are enough for over night ,or a weekend when doing daily charging

Something is miss wired, or malfunctioning
The fridge circuit should come from aka thru the inverter
Thor should make this right...The dealer should be doing the work to solve this problem and fix it

There should be hot outlets with the inverter on, not just the TV..nobody needs 1800w to power the TV and Sat receiver
Cbones
Explorer
Apr 27, 2015
Mr.Mark wrote:
I'm going to throw this out...

Check to see if you have tripped one of the GFI outlets in the bathroom or maybe in one of the under bays. It might be as simple as that. Also, aren't there two breakers on the inverter itself? Double check the inverter to make sure everything is OK.

Good luck,
MM.

There is only one breaker on the inverter, it is a push to reset, already checked. The gfci circuit is working when the genny or shore power is on, just not when inverter only.