I am at my wits end. I bought a Samsung RF 197 residential refrigerator two days ago. When we received the refrig it started up on our inverter no problem. The next day it quit and would not start on the inverter. I have a Xantrek 2000W Freedom inverter and 800 watts of solar and 8 batteries, We boondock most of the time and based on the posts I hoped it would work. It groans as it is tries to start, but then does not. The real mystery is that it will not run on my 8KW Onan generator either. I read 120 V on the generator. If I plug it into a 120 outlet shorepower it works fine. Talk about being tied to an outlet if even my generator won't start it. I am thinking of getting a true sign inverter, but I am afraid that will not do any good if it won't run on the generator. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate the imnput. Thanks Drake

You have an issue with the outlet. Look at it with it unplugged. I have that fridge and no problem inverter or not. In fact Samsung is turning the current to DC anyway. No problems with a mdified sine wave. That it has an issue on the genset too is troubling

Do you have a meter to measure it's current draw at start up? There's no way an 8 kW gen. shouldn't work. I guess it's remotely possible the modified sine wave power has somehow damaged the motor already.If the gen. won't start it I would say something is wrong with the ref. and it should be returned or serviced.

I'd run an extension cord directly from the generator to the reefer. If it runs fine, then the problem is probably somewhere in your RV wiring.

Maybe the receptacle is part of a ground-fault circuit and it has been tripped? Check the receptacle first to see if it has power.

If it runs OK when plugged into shore power then the MSW inverter is the problem.Generators usually have a half way decent sine wave but not as pure as the shore power some may even have a saw tooth wave.It could be your particular refrigerator is more sensitive to the incoming power than same models or the manufacture has made changes.

residential refrig problem | Good Sam Community

byronlj
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013
Since everyone else has convinced you that your perfectly good inverter that many previous posters have said works fine for this application, is no good, I would be happy to take it off your hands.
Dave
gatorcq
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013
No problem with the MSW, I have a few friends with the same unit, and they have had no problem.
You may just have a bad Refrig.
kdk
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013

Posted By: pianotuna on 08/31/13 06:15pm

Hi,

I wonder if it is possible to "feed" the fridge DC to start with?

It may be possible to do this but Samsung is not publishing how many volts they operating the refer on. Also would surely void the manufacturer warranty on the refer. The question also came up as to using a Magnum or a Xantrex inverter, I chose Magnum because it has an internal transfer switch that passes through shore power when hooked up.
KDK
TechWriter
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013
Drelen wrote:
Any opinion on Magnum vs Xantrek pure sine inverter/chargers?

Magnum
shooted
Explorer
Aug 31, 2013
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

I wonder if it is possible to "feed" the fridge DC to start with?

Great thought. Can someone provide a wiring diagram to consider this? My brief search was unsuccessful.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 31, 2013
I'd look seriously at the prowatt 2000 watt unit. It is a whole $355.00 from Best Converters. If it died, I'd not attempt a repair--rather just replace it.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Aug 31, 2013
Hi,

I wonder if it is possible to "feed" the fridge DC to start with?
kdk
Explorer
Aug 31, 2013
You can purchase a pure sine wave inverter if you think you need it for other reasons than the refer. Samsung on there web site "frequently asked questions" state that there refrigerators convert the incoming 120 volts AC to a DC voltage and the entire unit runs on DC, therefor springing for an expensive inverter is not required. I installed a Magnum MMS1012 before finding out about this, $800 wasted. The refer ran fine on my 2000 watt modified sine wave but had 2 control panels fail on my 24.5 cu ft model so I installed the inverter. After the install of the inverter the Samsung refer tech. that installed the second panel informed me that there was a series of panels that were bad. My newest revision panel has now worked ok for the last 7 months of continuous use. I leave thhe refer on 24-7. Just giving some info here.
KDK
Drelen
Explorer
Aug 31, 2013
Any opinion on Magnum vs Xantrek pure sine inverter/chargers?
Drelen
Explorer
Aug 31, 2013
If I bought a Magnum, I am looking st the Magnum ME-RC50 and the ME-ARC50 controllers. Not too sure of the difference.

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