Running a bar fridge off an inverter while in transit.

samhain7 wrote:
Can some one explain to me how to run a bar fridge in English?

Small size fridges typically 5 cu ft or less are often called "dorm", "bar", "under counter" fridges since they are often low and small enough to use in college dorms, home bar situation, or under counter tops..

To "run" them in a RV you need a Inverter which takes 12V DC and creates a 120V AC voltage..

Pretty simple?

it is referring to the small fridge that is electric only in outdoor kitchen RV's.

Can some one explain to me how to run a bar fridge in English?

I have seen lots of electrical fires in my time. With #6 to the back of the converter where I tapped in, I chose an inverter that requires no larger gauge than #8 and I put a 60 amp circuit breaker into the mix as well.

Well, electricly you might be okay. Lots of variables, 7pin connections are supposed to be able to handle 20-30 amps on the Bat line, which will give you about 300 watts of 12v DC to feed the inverter (thats also about HALF your alternators output! ymmv). Biggest issue is just surge capacity when the motor starts.

My 400 watt pure sine wave inverter will not handle the compressor starting, so that idea is scrapped. It was not a big deal anyway. I did not want to go larger than 400 watts since I had to use the #6 AWG DC feeds behind the converter and they are 15 feet from the battery. I calculated that 60 watts on the DC side was the max I wanted to be drawing. The inverters main job is providing power for my CPAP, my laptop & printer, and running the 120v TV. Since I RV mainly in Mexico, shore power is not reliable. It cuts in and out according to my surge guard protector. For this reason I also needed a pass through inverter that auto switches. The Power is on enough to keep the bar fridge cold when hooked up, if I don't open the door too much. In most places it shuts on & off during the night as my surge guard detects too low or too high a voltage.

I have a xantrex 1750 watt inverter running the mini fridge and the truck keeps the batteries (2 agm durecells) charged while driving. This setup works great, should be even better with your solar charger. When the batteries are full, it will also run a mini kuerig coffee maker.

Yes, it will work. And quite well. I would (if you are worried about keeping the trailers batteries up in transit) look at Trailer chargers. They are designed to charge the liftgate batteries on trailers off the trucks power. By eliminating all voltage drop in the charge line from the truck to the batteries, you can fully charge or maintain the trailers batteries under loads (of less then the charger is rated for). The charge line in my truck to my trailer rarely gets over 13.5 volts, even with the alternator pushing 14.4 volts. My inverter/charger keeps my mini fridge running 24/7 except when in storage.

We run a 17 cu ft KitchenAid 3 door residential refrigerator, a 4' long 17 cu ft household chest freezer and a 3 cu ft basement freezer on a dedicated Tripp Lite PV1200FC inverter. The primary consideration on selecting an inverter for running a unit with a refrigeration compressor has to be the inverter surge ability, both in total wattage and in time. I had very poor luck with Samlex PSW inverters. We use the freezers to bring down a summer's catch of shrimp, halibut and salmon from Alaska.

I would think the combination of the solar and the truck's alternator would keep the fridge going well. I run a 1.7 cu. ft. dorm fridge with a 235W panel and 300AH of battery bank. Start up draw on the dorm fridge is probably 5A-> 7A. A 600W Samlex Pure Sine wouldn't push the little fridge but a 1000W Xantrex Prowatt doesn't break a sweat.