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?

[austinjenna]

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

[Cummins12V98]

I check water level every three months on my two 6V Interstate batteries. I add very little and I am in warm to HOT climates year round.

[Coach-man]

laknox wrote:

Coach-man wrote:
That is the downer to residential fridges! If you stay put for long periods, and only move occasionally then they are great! Now, if your on the move a lot, your going to have to become an “expert” on batteries, and inverters. Starting with the alternators, yes plural. In your truck. Did your rig come with an inverter? What size is it, does it power more than the fridge? Perhaps, you need to upgrade it, or add one if not present? What is the amp rating on your house batteries? Typically, the factory ships their rigs without batteries, which are provided by the dealer at the time of sale. Again, they typically install the smallest, cheapest batteries they can get away with providing! Some people install a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries, to ensure they are providing enough amps to run things! That would then require, looking at your charging systems, both in the trailer, and in your truck, keeping the batteries charged! Yep a residential fridge can become an expensive option, if you outfit your truck and rig to support it! Good luck!

Actually, 2 12v "marine" batteries will usually provide a few more amp hours of storage than the typical 6v golf cart batteries but will require more frequent charging to avoid damage. In my experience, it's usually 225-230 Ah for 2 12v batteries (voltage stays at 12v but Ah doubles when connected in parallel), but the typical 6v golf cart batteries are around 210 Ah and stay at that level when connected in series for 12v power. The =real= advantage to deep cycle 6v golf cart batteries is that they can be drawn down a lot further than so-called "deep cycle" 12v batteries without damage, and can do so many, many times.

Lyle

As long as we are splitting hairs, I have found Marine type batteries just a little better than useless! The so called “marine” battery is part “deep cycle” and part starting battery. Designed for people with trolling motors, as well as the “big” out board. Instead of getting the best of both worlds, you wind up with the worst of both worlds. A good deep cycle will not have a cold crank rating, used for starting. Your RV environment usually consists of the batteries sitting with a trickle charge for long periods, followed by running them way down. Only big draw back with the 6 Volt golf cart batteries is you must keep an eye on the water level, “high maintenance”. Good luck.

[Veebyes]

Start by reading the documentation that came with the rig.

Does it have an inverter? If so, was it turned on? An inverter is only as good as the size of the battery bank that it feeds off of. Typically off the dealer lot you will get 2 group 24 batteries. Just barely better than useless.

Going down the road the TV really does not put very much back into the trailer battery bank because of light wiring & distance causing VD. Solar does not put much back unless obviously under sun & exposed for long periods of time.

The new domestic type fridges are much better at power consumption than they used to be but if you don't have or don't have turned on what they need, all you have is a big cooler during the time you are on the road.

[laknox]

12th Man Fan wrote:

laknox wrote:

Diamond c wrote:
I just went out and checked and as I suspected the inverter is on. So I’m going to assume that it’s the truck that isn’t setup to charge the 5er. I’ll have my son-in-law to look at it again and if he can’t figure it out then I’ll take it to the dealership.

Make sure your battery disconnect is ON! I learned the hard way that if it's not on, my batteries wouldn't charge. Also, a single alternator will not charge up 2 batteries unless you drive all d@mn day long. Had my old FW plugged in for 5 days at my house and found that my batteries were well down before leaving for a 3 hour drive for our annual family boondocker, because the disconnect was OFF. Got to our site and batteries were still in the yellow so ended up having to run my truck for about an hour each day, on top of 45w of solar, just to stay in the yellow. My current KZ is the same way.


No an alternator will not charge two dead batteries but it will keep two charged batteries charged all day.

Lyle

Not in my experience...

Lyle

[12th_Man_Fan]

laknox wrote:

Diamond c wrote:
I just went out and checked and as I suspected the inverter is on. So I’m going to assume that it’s the truck that isn’t setup to charge the 5er. I’ll have my son-in-law to look at it again and if he can’t figure it out then I’ll take it to the dealership.

Make sure your battery disconnect is ON! I learned the hard way that if it's not on, my batteries wouldn't charge. Also, a single alternator will not charge up 2 batteries unless you drive all d@mn day long. Had my old FW plugged in for 5 days at my house and found that my batteries were well down before leaving for a 3 hour drive for our annual family boondocker, because the disconnect was OFF. Got to our site and batteries were still in the yellow so ended up having to run my truck for about an hour each day, on top of 45w of solar, just to stay in the yellow. My current KZ is the same way.


No an alternator will not charge two dead batteries but it will keep two charged batteries charged all day.

Lyle

[laknox]

Diamond c wrote:
I just went out and checked and as I suspected the inverter is on. So I’m going to assume that it’s the truck that isn’t setup to charge the 5er. I’ll have my son-in-law to look at it again and if he can’t figure it out then I’ll take it to the dealership.

Make sure your battery disconnect is ON! I learned the hard way that if it's not on, my batteries wouldn't charge. Also, a single alternator will not charge up 2 batteries unless you drive all d@mn day long. Had my old FW plugged in for 5 days at my house and found that my batteries were well down before leaving for a 3 hour drive for our annual family boondocker, because the disconnect was OFF. Got to our site and batteries were still in the yellow so ended up having to run my truck for about an hour each day, on top of 45w of solar, just to stay in the yellow. My current KZ is the same way.

Lyle

[laknox]

Coach-man wrote:
That is the downer to residential fridges! If you stay put for long periods, and only move occasionally then they are great! Now, if your on the move a lot, your going to have to become an “expert” on batteries, and inverters. Starting with the alternators, yes plural. In your truck. Did your rig come with an inverter? What size is it, does it power more than the fridge? Perhaps, you need to upgrade it, or add one if not present? What is the amp rating on your house batteries? Typically, the factory ships their rigs without batteries, which are provided by the dealer at the time of sale. Again, they typically install the smallest, cheapest batteries they can get away with providing! Some people install a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries, to ensure they are providing enough amps to run things! That would then require, looking at your charging systems, both in the trailer, and in your truck, keeping the batteries charged! Yep a residential fridge can become an expensive option, if you outfit your truck and rig to support it! Good luck!

Actually, 2 12v "marine" batteries will usually provide a few more amp hours of storage than the typical 6v golf cart batteries but will require more frequent charging to avoid damage. In my experience, it's usually 225-230 Ah for 2 12v batteries (voltage stays at 12v but Ah doubles when connected in parallel), but the typical 6v golf cart batteries are around 210 Ah and stay at that level when connected in series for 12v power. The =real= advantage to deep cycle 6v golf cart batteries is that they can be drawn down a lot further than so-called "deep cycle" 12v batteries without damage, and can do so many, many times.

Lyle

[Campinfan]

I have the residential fridge and it works great off the inverter when I am towing. I have the stock Interstate deep cycle rv battery from the dealer.

[Cummins12V98]

Good idea on the disconnect.

[MT_BOB]

Well,the next logical step would be to check for 12 volts at the inverter.
BUT,some things you can check-
1 all the fuses and circuit breakers
2 you might have a separate "changeover/transfer switch/module, and it may have a switch on it
3 My best guess--- some Forest River products have a battery disconnect switch, that only disconnects the batteries from the inverter. Usually located in the battery compartment. Dealers turn them off because the inverter can discharge the batteries when sitting unused for a while.
Good Luck.

[Cummins12V98]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
We are all just shooting in the dark until we know what make and model refrigerator you have. Or at a minimum, is it a true 12V DC refrigerator or does it run on 120V AC from an inverter.

Two things that will improve its operation while towing are 1) a DC-DC charger and 2) a better battery, like lithium ion.

OP says Residential refrigerator. I would assume 120v.

[Cummins12V98]

Coach-man wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Coach-man wrote:
That is the downer to residential fridges! If you stay put for long periods, and only move occasionally then they are great! Now, if your on the move a lot, your going to have to become an “expert” on batteries, and inverters. Starting with the alternators, yes plural. In your truck. Did your rig come with an inverter? What size is it, does it power more than the fridge? Perhaps, you need to upgrade it, or add one if not present? What is the amp rating on your house batteries? Typically, the factory ships their rigs without batteries, which are provided by the dealer at the time of sale. Again, they typically install the smallest, cheapest batteries they can get away with providing! Some people install a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries, to ensure they are providing enough amps to run things! That would then require, looking at your charging systems, both in the trailer, and in your truck, keeping the batteries charged! Yep a residential fridge can become an expensive option, if you outfit your truck and rig to support it! Good luck!

ONE alternator in my 15 RAM, two 6V batteries and one 1,000 watt inverter in RV. ALWAYS arrive with temps the same as when I left even on my 33 hour trip mentioned above.

One time I did arrive with temps up. Reason was the batteries were on their last leg. Trip to Costco and all has been well since.

That may well be true! There are options for two alternators on these vehicles! I was expressing to the OP what he “MIGHT” encounter going down this road. There are many variables, and you can not post on a particular situation and expect that to cover all alternatives! Congratulations on YOUR PARTICULAR situation, but it does not cover all situations. Not to mention all the alternative’s and allow the OP to think his situation and yours are identical is doing him a diservice!

HMMMMM, never said a word about identical. Just stating what I have and how well it works.

[theoldwizard1]

We are all just shooting in the dark until we know what make and model refrigerator you have. Or at a minimum, is it a true 12V DC refrigerator or does it run on 120V AC from an inverter.

Two things that will improve its operation while towing are 1) a DC-DC charger and 2) a better battery, like lithium ion.

[Coach-man]

If your inverter is setup up correctly, and is sized for the load, I suspect your problem is with the house battery (s). As I mentioned previously, dealers install the smallest and cheapest batteries in these rigs! I would suggest you look at least two 6 volt golf cart batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts to support your setup. I really doubt your truck alternator is the problem.