I just bought a 2018 Salem 32BHI it's got a whirlpool residential refrigerator with an inverter. does anyone have a setup like this? how does it work?

Always have an electric hookup or come up with some way to keep the batteries charged.

Whenever you are not connected to shore power, the INVERTER is using your TT battery to power the fridge. If you are travelling a couple hours from home to a campground, its keeping your reefer cold while you travel, and when you plug in, the CONVERTER recharges the battery.Doing this is cheaper for the manufacturer, gives you a bigger fridge interior in the same space. but limitsyou on how long you can go without an outside source for recharging your batteries. You can add solar panels to recharge the batteries and evenyually make the rig self sufficient.

This a very popular configuration on many 5ers !Hopefully Salem install a quality pure sine wave inverter and at least TWO 6V true deep discharge batteries. I also hope there is some kind of lock on the doors so they can not open when bouncing down the road.I don't own a rig like that, but to preserve battery power, I would turn the refrigerator off while driving. If the door is not opened it will be fine for 12 hours or more. Power from the tow vehicle will keep the inverter running but will NOT recharge your batteries.

household refer and inverter2009 Household refer Class A 2009residential fridge- boondocking 09Residential refer Class A 2010Norcold w resi, class a 2014resi Feb 2016

kerrlakeRoo wrote:Whenever you are not connected to shore power, the INVERTER is using your TT battery to power the fridge. If you are travelling a couple hours from home to a campground, its keeping your reefer cold while you travel, and when you plug in, the CONVERTER recharges the battery.Doing this is cheaper for the manufacturer, gives you a bigger fridge interior in the same space. but limitsyou on how long you can go without an outside source for recharging your batteries. You can add solar panels to recharge the batteries and evenyually make the rig self sufficient.x2 on thiswe bought a 2018 wildwood tt about a year ago. it came with an inverter and probably same fridge as yours.we plug our 30amp cord into a 110 outlet adapter which is on a 20amp breaker at home.the inverter charges the 2 12volt deep cycle batteries while plugged in.we don't dry camp or boondock so 2 12volts deep cycle batteries works fine for us. if we did dry camp i would go with 2 6volt setupits very nice to have the fridge running a day ahead of leaving home, load the fridge the night before, keeps things nice and cold the whole trip. on longer trips we will stop for lunch, wife will go in and make sandwiches etc. last summer i tested how long the 2 batteries would run fridge in 95 degree temps.went 2 days with no other loads on them except parasitic draws (co detector, etc.) and never got below 50 percent charge. best not to draw rechargeable batteries down below 50 percent.our inverter charges batteries automatically when plugged into shore power regardless if it is turned on. one important note is to always remember to turn inverter on before leaving home or campground for fridge to run. propane fridges are great for boondocking but since we don't, i love the efficiency and size of the new rv residential fridges.

residential refrigerator with inverter? | Good Sam Community

theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Jul 20, 2018
Huntindog wrote:
Nope. Lots of others here on this forum have posted similar results over the years. If you want a higher charge rate, you need to run thicker wiring.

Thicker wire helps, but you will STILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECHARGE AN RV BATTERY BANK JUST BY DRIVING !

Read this about DC-DC charging while you are driving
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 17, 2018
time2roll wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
Wizard was recommending NOT running the fridge while underway.

And besides, depending on what the draw is, the truck may not keep the battery charged up. Most TVs really just trickle charge the TT batteries. The issue is the size of the charge line more than the altenater output. I once measured it on one of my vehicles and got 1.6 amps!
Something is wrong with your connection or the battery was near full charge.

Truck should easily keep the fridge running between pedestals... even stopping for fuel or lunch. OK maybe the battery will be a little low upon arrival and then you plug in. That is what the trailer battery is for.
Nope. Lots of others here on this forum have posted similar results over the years. If you want a higher charge rate, you need to run thicker wiring.. Not the easiest project, and not cheap either. The thick wiring can be hard to route to the rear of the TV, and the length will set you back $$$.
Some here HAVE done it though with good results.

Myself, I looked at what was involved and decided to take another path.
mike77leprechau
Explorer
Jul 17, 2018
APT wrote:
That's a lot of trailer for your truck.

Wasn't asking.
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 17, 2018
Huntindog wrote:
Wizard was recommending NOT running the fridge while underway.

And besides, depending on what the draw is, the truck may not keep the battery charged up. Most TVs really just trickle charge the TT batteries. The issue is the size of the charge line more than the altenater output. I once measured it on one of my vehicles and got 1.6 amps!
Something is wrong with your connection or the battery was near full charge.

Truck should easily keep the fridge running between pedestals... even stopping for fuel or lunch. OK maybe the battery will be a little low upon arrival and then you plug in. That is what the trailer battery is for.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Jul 17, 2018
dodge guy wrote:
Wizard was recommending NOT running the fridge while underway.

Any decent householfd refrigerator should hold temperature for 8 hour IF YOU DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR !

dodge guy wrote:
... I think for most of us using a residential fridge and starting with a fully charged battery it will work just fine, and even better with 2 batteries. And the truck will keep it alive long enough till you plug in at the next stop. And to really extend it with no worries you could run a good solar panel.

Concur, but it depends. What voltage does your inverter shutdown at, what voltage is delivered from the TV to the RV batteries/inverter and will your inverter automatically restart after a low voltage shutdown.

If you are dry camping and do not want to run your generator the read this about DC-DC charging while you are driving.
APT
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018
That's a lot of trailer for your truck.
mike77leprechau
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018
atreis wrote:
Just a point .. When selecting an inverter you need to consider the startup load for the compressor, not the runtime load. If you size the inverter for the run load, it likely won't be able to start running the fridge. (Startup load on a compressor is quite a lot higher than the run load.) Most fridge's don't provide this information, but 4-5x is usually sufficient.
I would hope being factory installed they took this into consideration but the rv industry doesn't have a good track record at thinking things like this through lol
atreis
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018
Just a point .. When selecting an inverter you need to consider the startup load for the compressor, not the runtime load. If you size the inverter for the run load, it likely won't be able to start running the fridge. (Startup load on a compressor is quite a lot higher than the run load.) Most fridge's don't provide this information, but 4-5x is usually sufficient.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Jul 15, 2018
Huntindog wrote:
dodge guy wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
theoldwizard1 wrote:

I don't own a rig like that, but to preserve battery power, I would turn the refrigerator off while driving. If the door is not opened it will be fine for 12 hours or more.
This won't work where it is really hot.
AZ @ 115 will cook everything in the fridge pretty fast.

And the truck will keep the trailer battery from draining while on the road!
Wizard was recommending NOT running the fridge while underway.

And besides, depending on what the draw is, the truck may not keep the battery charged up. Most TVs really just trickle charge the TT batteries. The issue is the size of the charge line more than the altenater output. I once measured it on one of my vehicles and got 1.6 amps!

Right, but I think for most of us using a residential fridge and starting with a fully charged battery it will work just fine, and even better with 2 batteries. And the truck will keep it alive long enough till you plug in at the next stop. And to really extend it with no worries you could run a good solar panel.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 15, 2018
dodge guy wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
theoldwizard1 wrote:

I don't own a rig like that, but to preserve battery power, I would turn the refrigerator off while driving. If the door is not opened it will be fine for 12 hours or more.
This won't work where it is really hot.
AZ @ 115 will cook everything in the fridge pretty fast.

And the truck will keep the trailer battery from draining while on the road!
Wizard was recommending NOT running the fridge while underway.

And besides, depending on what the draw is, the truck may not keep the battery charged up. Most TVs really just trickle charge the TT batteries. The issue is the size of the charge line more than the altenater output. I once measured it on one of my vehicles and got 1.6 amps!