Residential fridge

[Diamond_c]

We just bought a new Montana 5th wheel with a residential fridge. We have only been on one trip with in but so far I’m not a fan. It works fine but I’m use to switching to gas while on the road and this one is electric only. It’s supposed to pull juice from my truck but I’m not sure that is. My son in law says my truck is doing what it’s supposed to ( I’m not sure if he knows what he’s doing or not ) but after 3 1/2 hrs on the road the stuff in the fridge was starting to warm up a little. What am I doing wrong?

[Cummins12V98]

"Make sure your inverter is turned on."

HA, yes was bitten once on that one!!!

[wingcat]

I was worried about this also before we bought our Pinnacle with the residential fridge. No problems whatsoever and one of the best things about it, Is that it will cool down in about an hour compared to 6-8 hours. And that is without being plugged into electricity. We have 2 Interstate batteries. We drive up to 8 hours sometimes and the fridge and freezer are cold as it should be. Make sure your inverter is turned on.

[Ivylog]

Our 21 cuft Whirlpool draws 8 amps DC measured before the inverter…96 watts or 1 amp AC. It runs less than 50% of the time or 1.3 KW/day. One good 12V battery will run it 12-16 hours before needing recharged. A properly installed residential should come with a 1000W inverter and 2 extra batteries and Yes, your tuck shouldn’t have any problems beeping the batteries up, even with the small 12V charging wires.
OMG, a second alternator or a dc-dc converter to charge 8 amps part of the time…stay on the porch.

PS: we dry camp most of the summer and a residential refrigerator is my best mod ever.

[Endricken]

Hmmm
I replaced our failed legacy Fridge with an Apt size Fridge and the longest time it’s been off between Campgrounds is 8 hours and the Ice Cream stays Frozen. Of course we Don’t open it while on the road.
Not sure why there’s a problem unless maybe there’s not much in the Fridge.

[Michelle_S]

No Solar or Shore power. Our Whirlpool is a very low draw fridge, plus it only draws power when the compressor is running, per the Inverter Remote Control draws 11 amps when running.

[Cptnvideo]

Michelle.S wrote:
I did a test when we first got ours, ran the Fridge for 36 Hours on the two size 31 12V batteries and battery voltage was still at 12.6. Now nothing else was in use so fridge was only load. This is with a Whirlpool fridge, different brands might have a different power draw.

If battery voltage was the same after 36 hours, then something had to be charging the batteries. Solar panels?

[Michelle_S]

Fridge was set for 34 and freezer was zero, outside was spring in Western NY, so night time lows 40 to 50 daytime 60 to 70, best I can remember, after all it was 6 1/2 years ago.

[Cummins12V98]

Michelle.S wrote:
I did a test when we first got ours, ran the Fridge for 36 Hours on the two size 31 12V batteries and battery voltage was still at 12.6. Now nothing else was in use so fridge was only load. This is with a Whirlpool fridge, different brands might have a different power draw.

What was the outside and inside temps surrounding the refrigerator?

[Michelle_S]

I did a test when we first got ours, ran the Fridge for 36 Hours on the two size 31 12V batteries and battery voltage was still at 12.6. Now nothing else was in use so fridge was only load. This is with a Whirlpool fridge, different brands might have a different power draw.

[austinjenna]

My question was more regarding the run time while not moving. I know the truck will charge the batteries while moving. Mine had to deal with it being in the storage lot and being able to start it the day before so what could I expect for the run time.

[riflegunbuilder]

I just went from Ga. to San Antonio and back. No problems 2 group 27 Interstate deep cycle batteries.

[austinjenna]

How long does it take the fridge in your house need to cool down?
I bet if you turned it on when you hooked up to bring it home by the time you got everything else loaded the fridge would be ready to pack.

Doubtful, my storage lot is 2 miles away. It takes a few hours for a residential to cool down

[MNRon]

Austinjenna - a quick reply to your question: our residential fridge (and 1k inverter) draws 160A over 24hrs. Remember that for lead acid batteries you only want to draw down about 50% before recharging. Therefore assuming your golf cart batteries give you about 200AHr, you get about 100AHrs or 100/240= 10hrs running the fridge without other loads. If you’re driving you probably get 2-3A/hr charging from your truck so that you’re good for going site to site. If you want to overnight you really need the equivalent of 4 GC lead acid batteries.

[JRscooby]

austinjenna wrote:
How long (approximately) will a residential run on 2 golf cart batteries? I am used to going to the rv lot the night before we leave and start the fridge on propane now, so it can be 17-20 hrs before I bring it back home. I dont think the batteries would last that long.

I know there are a lot of variables but looking for an approximation

How long does it take the fridge in your house need to cool down?
I bet if you turned it on when you hooked up to bring it home by the time you got everything else loaded the fridge would be ready to pack.