Fridge only works on gas

[Westsidebob]

We recently moved our RV to some land we just bought. There was a garage only on the property with electricity. I plugged the rv in to power in the garage and smoked the inverter I assume. I had neglected to check the ground power, it was wired up for 220. We got the wiring straigntened out and are now working well off of shore power. The only thing that is not working is the fridge, it will only run off of gas. Everything else works. When I let the smoke out of the inverter, it was a bunch of smoke. Any ideas on why my fridge will not work on shore power without gas? I've been rv'ing for a few years but no virtually nothing about the electrical system. Thanks for any info.

[Westsidebob]

Thanks everyone, it has been very helpful.

[turbojimmy]

Westsidebob wrote:
Well it resembled a smoke bomb, it put out a large amount of smoke. Everything besides the fridge seems to be ok.

Somehow it must have survived then. I personally have never had smoke pour out of anything electronic and have it result in a positive outcome. Sounds like you dodged a bullet. Your battery would have been dead long ago if it wasn't still charging.

So back to the fridge - probably just the little glass 5A fuse if the control board still lets it operate on propane.

[Westsidebob]

Well it resembled a smoke bomb, it put out a large amount of smoke. Everything besides the fridge seems to be ok.

[turbojimmy]

Westsidebob wrote:
Well if all of that stuff is running off of the battery, I have one heck of a battery, we've stayed in it for approximately 14-16 days, many of those running the heater.

Then your converter is not cooked. You baked something else.

[Westsidebob]

Well if all of that stuff is running off of the battery, I have one heck of a battery, we've stayed in it for approximately 14-16 days, many of those running the heater.

[turbojimmy]

wrgrs50s wrote:
Check the two fuses on the back of the converter itself. Also check the outlet that the converter is plugged into for power.

He released the internal smoke from the converter. I think it's done.

[bikendan]

Westsidebob wrote:
Thanks so much! I was under the impression that some of the lights, and the bathroom fan worked off of the battery. I guess I'm mistaken in this, since everything still works and my battery is not being charged?

Yes, you need to learn the difference between a Converter and an INverter.
Nearly all Revs come with Converters, few come with INverters.

Google the 12 Volt Side of Life.

[wrgrs50s]

Check the two fuses on the back of the converter itself. Also check the outlet that the converter is plugged into for power.

[turbojimmy]

Westsidebob wrote:
turbojimmy I assume you mean if I don't have shore power, it appears nothing is running off of the battery now. Does anything run off of the battery when plugged to shore power?

Anything 12V (lights, fan, furnaces, etc.) run off of the batteries all of the time whether plugged in to shore power or not. The converter, when plugged into shore power, keeps the batteries from draining. So if your converter is currently cooked, you're running all of those things off of the batteries and they will die eventually.

[Westsidebob]

turbojimmy I assume you mean if I don't have shore power, it appears nothing is running off of the battery now. Does anything run off of the battery when plugged to shore power?

[turbojimmy]

Westsidebob wrote:
Thanks so much! I was under the impression that some of the lights, and the bathroom fan worked off of the battery. I guess I'm mistaken in this, since everything still works and my battery is not being charged?

Most of the lights, if not all of them, will run off the battery. Bathroom fan too. It will all continue to operate off of the battery until it's dead. It will die eventually because it's not being charged so use it wisely. Furnaces are the biggest draw, followed by the fridge if it has a 12V option. Hopefully you have LED lighting because the old incandescent bulbs suck down a lot of juice too.

If someone has a conventional battery charger that you can use, you can hook that up until you can replace the converter.

[Westsidebob]

Thanks so much! I was under the impression that some of the lights, and the bathroom fan worked off of the battery. I guess I'm mistaken in this, since everything still works and my battery is not being charged?

[Fleet_Man]

A charger/converter failure on our MH acted just like what you are experiencing. Unit replaced and problem solved. Service a Manager at our dealership correctly diagnosed the problem based on the description alone.

[turbojimmy]

Westsidebob wrote:
Thank you very much for the info, I will check the fuse on the fridge, I can get to it from the outside, or do I have to pull it? So it was the inverter that I fried, the smoke came out of the fuse area, a lot of smoke. So if the converter is fried all it affects is the charging of the battery?

You fried the converter, not the inverter. Yes, all it affects is battery charging.

The 5A fuse will be accessible through the access door on the side of the rig. UNPLUG THE FRIDGE FIRST. It will be under a cover where all the wires go in.