New Fridge, Old Coach
I recently installed a Norcold Polar 7 fridge in my Mother's older (1991 era) motorhome. She never uses it, but likes to keep it around and keeps it maintained. The Norcold works wonderfully on ...
Forum Discussion
Are you confusing converter with inverter?
You didn’t say that it didn’t work with the camper plugged into shore power. Just that it worked if plugged in directly from shore power to fridge. Does the camper have other AC components? Do they work?
If you’re getting AC from an inverter, it may not have the amperage to run the fridge compressor on AC.
Everything else works. AC, microwave, outlets etc... No issues. The only thing that will not work is the refrigerator when plugged into the coach outlet. I even plugged the refrigerator into an extension cord and plugged the cord into another outlet on the coach and it would not run the fridge.
It will run on gas with no issue. As soon as I plug in the coach to shore power, it will attempt to switch over to AC and then immediatly shut down.
I am completly out of ideas.
AC comes in through the main breaker, then distributes out. One circuit will be to the converter keeping the battery charged and running DC loads. Another will go to the fridge AC receptacle. It is possible the converter is throwing harmonics back on the system, making the power "dirty." Easy to test, simply open the breaker to the converter.
I would open and close all the breakers, and try again. Also check the voltage at the receptacle when the fan is plugged in and running. If the voltage drops, you have a bad connection somewhere, or a bad breaker. Since the other coach receptacles are affected, I would look first at the main breaker.
Also, what are you using for shore power, and have you tried other sources?
So it works in another outlet outside the coach. Have you tried a lamp or a fan in that outlet to see if it works? Have you put a multi meter on that outlet to see what the readings are? You might have an open neutral or a mis wired neutral. Your AC and Microwave will have dedicated circuits, so not a true test if all your outlets are good. Seems to me that if it works on an outlet outside the RV, then the problem is the outlet(s) in the RV on the circuit the fridge is on.
I am still thinking it has something to do with the wiring from the breaker box to that outlet.
