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?

[12th_Man_Fan]

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.

It sounds to me like you may have a battery problem. If your RV is new with new batteries you should be able to run the fridge for minimum of 24 hours off of the inverter without even plugging in to the truck or shore power.

Once you get it all figured out and everything working right you will be very pleased with this setup.

You only need one alternator on your truck for the system to stay charged if everything is working.

What size of battery pack do you have?

[Michelle_S]

We had Friends this Summer get a new Redwood with the Residential Fridge and was having issues. Turned out neither the MFR or Dealer setup the Inverter properly. They contacted the Inverter MFR and they walked them through setting it up and all is good now.
We have four 6 Volt Bats and run both our Fridge and small Freezer off the inverter, when both are running they draw 16 Amps from the batteries, but they don't run full time. Been doing it this way for 6 1/2 years and 50K miles.

[Diamond_c]

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.

[Coach-man]

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!

[Cummins12V98]

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.

[Cummins12V98]

You have a residential frig you have an inverter! As mentioned be sure the inverter is on. I took one trip and the frig temps were up and realized the switch was off. I drove from SoCal to DFW, TX with two stops for two hours each for a nap with truck running non stop. Left SoCal with frig at 38 and freezer at 0 and arrived at the same temps.

I will NEVER own a RV refrigerator again! Love the KitchenAid.

[Campinghoss]

We have an inverter that keeps our 23 cubic foot frig perfect. The truck charges the fiver batteries which in turn keep the inverter working at max level. We have thousands of miles on this fiver and we have never had a problem. We will never go back to the standard rv frig.

[djousma]

Don't let the nay sayers discourage. Residential fridge is the bomb, unless you camp off the grid a lot. You do need to turn the inverter on however, and is probably what you didn't do. I leave ours on all the time, it will switch to shore power automatically.

[jdc1]

There you have it. Bigger battery bank and solar. Charge those batteries to 100% BEFORE you leave the house. Get thet fridge as cols as possible BEFORE you leave the house.

[12th_Man_Fan]

I have a residential fridge with n 800 W inverter and I would never go back to the old RV type fridge. I have driven 13 hours with no issues. The truck alt will keep the batteries charged with no problem.

I do have two 6V golf cart batteries in the 5er and I do not boondock.

[wowens79]

I’ve got a resi fridge, with an inverter and 2 golf GC6 batteries and it does great, and would not have an RV fridge after this. But we are in the southeast, and there really aren’t places to boondock.

I’ve spent 12 hours on the road, and the fridge was still running, and the batteries still had a good charge. The charge from the truck doesn’t keep up, but definitely extends the range.

Find your inverter and turn it on before you leave and you’ll be in good shape.

[Lwiddis]

Adequate batteries and a strong solar system should be considered. Otherwise you’ll continue to be tethered to RV parks with electricity or running your generator often. RV retailers and manufacturers are doing “fridge newbies” no favors by not explaining the downsides of electric fridges.

[Coach-man]

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!

[JRscooby]

Fulltimer50 wrote:
Many companies that offer res fridges also include an inverter to convert DC to AC for the fridge. You should find out if you have one and how to use it.

I'm by no means a expert, but I would bet that if you do not have enough power input to the inverter you can't get enough to power the fridge.
I have a little inverter that plugs into lighter socket. Plugged in the outlet in sleeper, it would not start my coffee grinder. Move up to outlet on dash, warning squeal, but would grind the beans. When I put a outlet hooked up to the heavy wires of the tarp motor switch, could charge laptop, Dustbuster, and grind the beans.
A friend would freeze a couple blocks of ice before he traveled. Move 1 to fridge to help it stay cold, move the fridge stuff that really needed cold to freezer

[MT_BOB]

Your new rig came with an inverter. Did you turn it on? Perhaps it is time to get out that big pack of information that came with the unit and read.