Compact fridge and inverter

[jjrbus]

I bought a 4.3 cu ft VissaniHVDR430SE and tried to run it off my 16 year old 750 watt inverter. I do not see a locked rotar amps for the fridge listed anywhere, nor is the surge watts available for the inverter.

If I plug the fridge into the inverter it will go into overload mode, but the fan does not shut off. If I turn the fridge off and plug in then turn fridge on it will work?? So spec's aside it is not going to work.

I started poking around the net and looking at what is available in small inverters. I believe that a thermally controlled fan is important, could be wrong on that one? I looked at an AIMS 1250 with the bells and whistles including thermal fan for $125, but has very mixed reviews and there is a Whistler 1600 pro with the bells and whistles for sale on Craigs for $70, which also has mixed reviews.

Now I am hesitant to buy an inverter online, I would prefer something I can return.

I took a look at Xantrex, which used to be a top company, now they are showing mixed reviews. I tried surfing the net on fridge and inverter in RV and the threads quickly deteriorate into the you must use a 2 way fridge or go into solar so are useless.

So what is a poor boy to do, any input on this aside from the advantages of a 2 way fridge greatly appreciated. Jim

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Compromises compromises...as long as the owner is tickled to death, why worry...?

[pianotuna]

Going to an absorption fridge is, in my opinion, a mistake.

[jjrbus]

I have been chewing all this input over for the weekend, amps and wire size, reserve capacity. Thinking about running wires and mounting fridge. Maybe eventually adding a solar panel.

So for about $600 to $700 I am gaining 2 cu ft of fridge and not having to worry about parking level! Plus will likely be about 3 days of fabricating, running wires, collecting parts. Maybe not worth while?

I am grateful for all the input and hopefully someone else has found the info useful. But tomorrow I am going to start on returning RM 2410 to its rightful home and learn to live with it.
Jim SW FL

[JiminDenver]

I had a Mini fridge rated at .8a at 120Vac for a bit, ran it on the system for a while and gave it to the MIL because the freezer was too small. I wouldn't even think of trying it on the Grp 27, that's a good way to kill a battery very quickly. Even quicker for our five year old battery.

New and fully charged our grp 27 with 95 Ah was pressed to run just our 12v absorption fridge pulling 8 amp overnight. It never cycles but also has no start up surge or needs a inverter. The cycling would help but the start up surge will be harder and harder to handle as the battery loses voltage.

That surge takes a chunk out your battery's power every time. Eventually the battery will be low enough that the compressor doesn't start and the continued attempt will drain the battery the rest of the way. I've watched it happen testing the little A/C on a 250 Ah 8-D. It damaged it and the 3000w inverter, surges are nothing to ignore. Starting and marine batteries can't take that kind of abuse and it will shorten the life of even GC batts.


8 amps or .8a at 120Vac is on the low end for mini fridges. The majority pull 1.5a at 120Vac and have even higher start up surges to deal with. Only one pulls less than .8a and it cost a extra $100 for that .16a savings. That's a extra 1.6a not coming out of your battery. ( mini cubes are almost always 1.5a @ 120Vac)

Just adding info to hopefully help you set it up.

[Almot]

westend wrote:
You will need more capacity. I wouldn't rely on the vehicle charge line to charge batteries to 100 percent SOC. That means you may park with less-than-full battery. Hence, the loss of food.

I would be also concerned with a loss of battery. A single gr29 holding - as we established - about 90-100 AH, will cycle between 50% and 85-90%, possibly dropping below 50% regularly. Not a good idea even if it were a real deep cycle battery - or whatever is normally labeled as deep cycle.

Getting full 100% would be difficult even without that fridge though. This is is the nature of charging, last 20% are slow. Fridge would aggravate the situation.

[time2roll]

I would try that 2/0 in a heartbeat with the existing inverter before spending money.
Worst case the wire is in place for the new inverter.

[westend]

jjrbus wrote:
I am shopping for and trying to size an inverter. I do not have wires or fuse yet as I do not know what size I will need.

Length of wire should be less than 3 feet each way. I do have some 2/0 welding cable, seems a bit much for a small inverter.

The wire size is OK if you have it. You will need a minimum of #2 AWG and a 150 amp fuse. I'd recommend a 1000W inverter, minimum, and a quality product, not a price leader that may not handle the surge of the fridge compressor.
You should also ask yourself if the price of losing a chest of food is worth the additional price of adequate battery capacity. You will need more capacity. I wouldn't rely on the vehicle charge line to charge batteries to 100 percent SOC. That means you may park with less-than-full battery. Hence, the loss of food.

[jjrbus]

I am shopping for and trying to size an inverter. I do not have wires or fuse yet as I do not know what size I will need.

Length of wire should be less than 3 feet each way. I do have some 2/0 welding cable, seems a bit much for a small inverter.

[time2roll]

jjrbus wrote:
I will experiment with this and if the GP 29 is not sufficient I will go to the 2 GC.

Took a bit to get the battery info.
Any chance you can post the 12v wire size and length?

Need a connection to carry 120 amps and maybe a bit more with low voltage drop to ensure maximum surge performance.

As an alternative put the voltmeter on the inverter 12v input. Monitor the voltage stays above about 11.8 as you turn on the fridge. Although voltage can drop out faster than you see indicated.

[Almot]

jjrbus wrote:
People are skipping what I am saying, I will be driving often (charging battery) and running the generator or tied to a power poll. So all I actually need is to keep the fridge cold over night

Daily driving and generator have come up when - after 3 pages of responses? Forgive those of us here that are not psychics :)... Then they will hopefully forgive your skipping what they are trying to tell - your battery is way too small and is not even the right type for a coach battery.

Power poll you have mentioned for the first time now.

For your own good, I hope you will be running generator same or even more often as you drive, i.e. all the time while on the camp, unless hooked up to grid. Without constant source of power your single 100 AH battery will have a hard time charging above 90%.

If you avoid opening fridge in the night, it will remain TAD cold for 10-15 hours. Depends on the ambient. Won't keep initial 40F but will remain below 77F by the morning. A small freezer tray of a dorm fridge will probably have water pouring out, by the morning. Standalone freezer - especially a chest freezer, full of frozen items, is a different thing, it can stay cool longer because of the cold accumulated in all those items - but it takes longer to freeze them too.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Wuuwee my Vestfrost units are pricey now. And they have real Freon for higher efficiency. Even the LG dorm units I bought ran 24/7 and the top shelf front held 49F. No freaking thank you. They had widdle bitty fweezers. Until high humidity and door leaks turned them into what sank the Titanic.

[jjrbus]

Gdetrailer wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
I believe smk means 2 group 29 compare to 2 golf cart. If there is room for three group 29 then there is advantage to going 12 volt.

Gdetrailer wrote:

smkettner wrote:

jjrbus wrote:
My Everstart 29 125 amp hours 205 reserve capacity. I'm guessing that this is in a lab under ideal conditions. If your 2 GC batteries have 210 capacity my GR 29 cannot have 205 capacity?

The 210 (GC2) compares to your 125 (G29).
A pair of GC2 can go to about 240.

Nope, not even close.

From Walmarts website seems that the specs are not really posted BUT there ARE comments that it is rated as 114Ahr AT 1A RATE!..

See website HERE scrol down to the online comments and read Rick232 comments..

At normal industry standard of 20A rate it will be rather dismal compared to GC2 batteries..

Another thing to look at is physical size, group 29 is 13.00 x 6.80 x 10.00 IN, that size is not much bigger than ONE GC2 battery

Length 10.25 inches
Width 7.13 inches
Height 11.25 inches

No way a group 29 can replace one pair of GC2 batts for capacity.

Hmm.. let me think about this statement..



Walmart group 29 at 114Ahr at 1 hr rate, that comes to about 89Ahr at 20 hr rate.

Two group 29 batteries then would have a combined capacity of 178Ahr at 20 hr rate..

Now take into account that the group 29 the OP has is a "marine" battery which means dual purpose starting/trolling.. To keep it alive for a long time you should only discharge it to no more than 20% of the capacity (35.6Ahr for two) compared to one pair of GC2s which have 210 Ahr capacity and ARE designed to handle up to 80% discharge (168Ahr)..

Last time I checked my math, 168Ahr (GC2) is MORE capacity than 35.6Ahr (TWO group 29).

If the OP really wants to embark on running a home fridge they will need to upgrade the battery AND the inverter.

I do think the battery they have SHOULD be able to handle being used for TESTING purposes but for actual camping use, no.

The combination of a 750W inverter, one group 29 is on shaky ground.

If OP wants this to work, they NEED a bit bigger inverter (800W or larger, very short and heavy ga wires and at a min one pair of 6V GC2 batteries..

The OP HAS been told what works by more than one person here and the OP is more than welcome to ignore the folks like me that have successfully done what they are asking.

I rarely ignore any input and always appreciate the time and effort put into posting!

People are skipping what I am saying, I will be driving often (charging battery) and running the generator or tied to a power poll. So all I actually need is to keep the fridge cold over night.

I will experiment with this and if the GP 29 is not sufficient I will go to the 2 GC.

Weight is my enemy I am approaching my GVWR and if one battery will work, even if not perfectly then that is what I will use.

[pianotuna]

Gde,

You are forgetting voltage drop is related to the number of cells. So it quite possible for even dual walmart group 29's to outperform a pair of golf cart jars, if a medium large inverter is being used.

[Gdetrailer]

pianotuna wrote:
I believe smk means 2 group 29 compare to 2 golf cart. If there is room for three group 29 then there is advantage to going 12 volt.

Gdetrailer wrote:

smkettner wrote:

jjrbus wrote:
My Everstart 29 125 amp hours 205 reserve capacity. I'm guessing that this is in a lab under ideal conditions. If your 2 GC batteries have 210 capacity my GR 29 cannot have 205 capacity?

The 210 (GC2) compares to your 125 (G29).
A pair of GC2 can go to about 240.

Nope, not even close.

From Walmarts website seems that the specs are not really posted BUT there ARE comments that it is rated as 114Ahr AT 1A RATE!..

See website HERE scrol down to the online comments and read Rick232 comments..

At normal industry standard of 20A rate it will be rather dismal compared to GC2 batteries..

Another thing to look at is physical size, group 29 is 13.00 x 6.80 x 10.00 IN, that size is not much bigger than ONE GC2 battery

Length 10.25 inches
Width 7.13 inches
Height 11.25 inches

No way a group 29 can replace one pair of GC2 batts for capacity.

Hmm.. let me think about this statement..



Walmart group 29 at 114Ahr at 1 hr rate, that comes to about 89Ahr at 20 hr rate.

Two group 29 batteries then would have a combined capacity of 178Ahr at 20 hr rate..

Now take into account that the group 29 the OP has is a "marine" battery which means dual purpose starting/trolling.. To keep it alive for a long time you should only discharge it to no more than 20% of the capacity (35.6Ahr for two) compared to one pair of GC2s which have 210 Ahr capacity and ARE designed to handle up to 80% discharge (168Ahr)..

Last time I checked my math, 168Ahr (GC2) is MORE capacity than 35.6Ahr (TWO group 29).

If the OP really wants to embark on running a home fridge they will need to upgrade the battery AND the inverter.

I do think the battery they have SHOULD be able to handle being used for TESTING purposes but for actual camping use, no.

The combination of a 750W inverter, one group 29 is on shaky ground.

If OP wants this to work, they NEED a bit bigger inverter (800W or larger, very short and heavy ga wires and at a min one pair of 6V GC2 batteries..

The OP HAS been told what works by more than one person here and the OP is more than welcome to ignore the folks like me that have successfully done what they are asking.