Inverter in tow vehicle

Confused? You have a residental refer, then you cannot run it on propane? Residental refers are 120VAC only. Now, if you this is a typical RV refer then running it on gas is really a no brainer.

I was told here that running 120v extension cord from the TV to a TT was a bad idea! That is a lot of volts and amps over a flexible joint is a problem waiting to happen.

On another TT we had, I ran the fridge on an inverter rather than PP (forget why) and it worked fine but it only needed 120 watts.

Inverter will be pulling 30+ amps off the alternator to power the absorption fridge on about 60% duty cycle.
I recommend you stay with propane.

CFBLACKTRIKE wrote:
Plannin to wire an Inverter into my Ram 3500 charging system. I already have the inverter at no cost ,, thought I oughta do somethin with it. Thinkin I can wire this 2400 watt inverter into my truck bed toolbox. then run a #12 cord from inverter back to my trailer breaker panel and feed the refridgerator with 120 volt thru inverter. We got a full size double door residential frig and freezer.
Just thinkin I could run the fridge on 120 V. instead of LP. while driving. Since we do alot of long distant trips to get south or to the rockies.
Has anybody installed an Inverter to there tow vehicle ?? Can yas give your pro and cons. Any advice or instruction greatly appreciated.

I have a 16' TT with a small apartment sized dbl door Frigidaire refer in it. I run a 750/1500 inverter in my toolbox, for work lights, drills, etc, and built a short 1ft adapter with 2 male plugs on it and plug it into my outside receptacle, it has worked fine for about 20 yrs. I run a 25' 10/3 extension cord from the inverter to the trailer plug by way of the hitch stand with a small bungee cord.
NOW, I am installing a converter into the unit and setting up a charge line -8 ga- to keep my battery topped off and run the fridge internally on it's own beaker.
The main consideration for ANY electrical after market hookup is "don't get a case of cheap butt", check with an electrician and explain what you want to do, have the specs from the unit, and ASK how to do it so it is SAFE. Larger stranded wire than needed will carry the amperage better, cooler, and more efficiently than going cheapy and burn your trailer or fridge compressor up.
Just my 2 cents worth.

CFBLACKTRIKE wrote:
Plannin to wire an Inverter into my Ram 3500 charging system. I already have the inverter at no cost ,, thought I oughta do somethin with it. Thinkin I can wire this 2400 watt inverter into my truck bed toolbox. then run a #12 cord from inverter back to my trailer breaker panel and feed the refridgerator with 120 volt thru inverter. We got a full size double door residential frig and freezer.
Just thinkin I could run the fridge on 120 V. instead of LP. while driving. Since we do alot of long distant trips to get south or to the rockies.
Has anybody installed an Inverter to there tow vehicle ?? Can yas give your pro and cons. Any advice or instruction greatly appreciated.

Sounds like a fine idea to me.

Do you have the dual alternators in your Ram?

I've always wondered what someone would do with the Cummins dual 440 amp alternators, sounds like a perfect setup for a big inverter.

I often run a generator in my truck bed, connected to the trailer... this lets me charge my battery bank at 125 amps rather than the 5 or so that the truck supplies.

My suggestion is, rather than run a cord into the breaker panel, run an extension from your shore-power cord/inlet.

Good info. Not sure I understand the 60percent duty cycle ???
My truck altenator is 220 amp output ,,, being a deisel it has 2 batteries,
one of which is auxilary battery ,, as long as the altenator keeps both batteries fully charged can yas see any electrical hazards with connecting this. I plan to run 2/0 welding cable/battery cable from truck charging system back to the inverter in toolbox.
I do understand # 10 wire extension cord for the load and distance back to the TT. 43ft 5th wheel toyhauler.

60% duty cycle would be the fridge cooling 60% and coasting 40%.

Definitely would go with #10 for that distance.

On my wish list is installing an inverter under the hood in the space for the 2nd battery, and then run a 12/2 armored cable to the truck bed for a small deep-freeze.

A small 6.9 cubic foot absorption fridge draws 5.7 kwh in a 24 hour period with a duty cycle of 2/3. i.e. for every hour the fridge will run 40 minutes.

The wattage draw while running is about 325 watts. Allowing for inverter losses that works out to about 32 amps of load on the alternator.

Alternators may have about a 1/3 duty cycle so a 120 amp alternator would prefer to have a load of only 40 amps continuous. Modern vehicles draw lots of amps, so powering an inverter to run the fridge may exceed the continuous duty cycle of the alternator.