Inverter (s), Res. Refrig and Solar Panel Questions

[Mrsmoos]

Our new-to-us 92 Fleetwood Southwind 35' had an ice maker that could be accessed from the outside (next to a cassette player and speakers-woohoo party time LOL) Anyway the ice maker is gone but my husband says there is an inverter that goes to it. I am assuming that is addition to the "regular" inverter, right? And how do I tell if it (or they) are a pure sine wave or modified sine wave? We are seriously considering putting in a residential refrigerator that seems like it would fit with very little mods in the existing hole of the dead Dometic 2804. The frig I saw is this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Avanti-7-4-cu-ft-Mini-Refrigerator-in-Black-RA7316PST/205609694 and for less than $400 its looking pretty good right now, especially since we have 2 solar panels up top that seem to be working. I have looked through the paperwork that was kept with the MH and I can't find anything that says how much watts they are. From the pic of the top of the roof my son took (I'm afraid of heights) the panels look to be apx 12" x 24-28"
*EDITED TO ADD: My husband says the panels look to be closer to 48" long x 12" wide*
each and there are 2 total plus a neighbor gave us another one that he used on his boat to power--a refrigerator!!! So did this "vintage" MH come with PSW or MSW inverter(s)? And would anyone like to take a guess on the solar panel output? If the inverter that my husband thinks goes to the previous icemaker would you wire the fridge to just go off that or?

[Mrsmoos]

Well, we found out the inverter in the compartment that used to hold the icemaker is a Whistler 2000 watt peak, 1000 watt continuous, 115VAC, 60 hz. That's all i could find on it. my husband is going to see what is hooked into it tomorrow hopefully.

[MrWizard]

thats 50amps charging, and that should work for the time being
just don't leave it plugged in and charging the batteries 24/7 in the storage shed
the older magteks had a reputation for boiling the batteries dry
there are better option but not absolutely necessary you replace it right now
but that is NOT an inverter and will Not supply 120v to power the fridge
it is a 'battery charger' and house DC supply
when ever the generator is running or shore power is plugged in, it charges the batteries and gives you 13.xx volts to power the lights water pump etc..

i sealed the lower vent with alu heat vent duct tape
in my case there is adequate vent space all around the fridge for the heat from the closed in coils to dissipate
i left the top vent in place, i have all my solar wiring coming down behind the fridge, but installed a piece of plywood as a partial baffle/block to limit windy down gusts in to RV, put allow for any heat to rise out that way as secondary fridge ventilation

[Mrsmoos]

So I went intro the motorhome today and took a picture of what was in the cabinet under the refrigerator. There is the "charger/converter" and it says Series 900 Model 950 50 amp so i am assuming it is the Magnetek Series 900 Model 950 50 Amp converter / charger. I Googled it and came up with a bunch of not-so-good posts re: this thing. I didn't get into the outside compartment with the "icemaker inverter" since my husband moved the motorhome out to the shed at his work to get ready to do the roof tomorrow morning. So will this Magnatek thing work? Are 50 amps too low? Is there something that we should replace it with if it is not suitable to do what we need-especially run the Avanti refrigerator I ordered this morning (with the thought that I could always return it if necessary)Is there an economical yet good choice?

[Mrsmoos]

Mr. Wizard: That is an appropriate name! Thanks so much for the info and pics because that was going to be my next question(s) of how to secure the refer down and if you felt there is adequate space around it for venting? Did you leave the existing vent area open on your rv? I read another older post about how someone put a residential model in their rv and left the vent intact for air flow around the refer and then they discovered they were taking on exhaust fumes leaking in through there. So how did you handle this? Also, do you notice you have to defrost this refer often? We have a space for the time being to store our big old motorhome in a lumber shed so it will have a roof on. I think there is 110 out there so we could plug it in if need be. We are not full time--will only be taking it on trips to the coast etc (unless we decide to run away from home 😉 ) BTW--my husband says the solar panels are closer to 12" x 48" so bigger than what I thought. A neighbor gave us another solar panel he had on his boat-to run a refer so my hubby may be adding that as well.
Your input is invaluable--thank you so much!

[crasster]

Look up the model number on the inverter and put it on google. It should tell you if it's a true sine wave or modified sine.

[MrWizard]

here is how i finally anchored it



i took 'T' brackets bent them

the 'T' is screwed to the wood floor, the long leg is folded over and bolted to compressor mounts using the compressor hold down nuts
the (2) woods strip, one each side, block the fridge rollers
i put those in during the install so the fridge could not roll back too deep in the cabinet while driving and strapped across the front
maybe not needed now, but no need to remove them

for a long time we strapped or braced the fridge across the front
it took time for this idea to suddenly come too me

[MrWizard]

don't know which inverter it used to have
but we have That 'fridge' or the 2010 model of that fridge
i installed in Aug 2010
it has been running a trip lite 1250w 'power verter' (their brand name) for almost 6years
it is quality MSW unit with heavy transformer and filtering weighs 22 pounds, made to run electric motors in commercial situations

cost avg less than $300

we full time, so we have almost 6yrs of non stop use of this setup
the fridge will have no problems with a good inverter, it does not have to PSW
if its a good build

i even ran it for a few weeks on a 1200w Harbor Freight inverter