Inverter to run outside fridge

I guess you're hooking to the converter because that's easier than direct to batteries?

Is this a 12v or 120v fridge?

Yes. The convertor has a few open fuse slots is another reason. It is about a 6 ft run under the cabinets to the fridge.

120 volt fridge. Rated at 1.1 amps which gives me 132 watts. I am looking at possibly a 180w to 200w inverter.

Fridges that have motors can have a pretty hefty startup surge. My advice would be make sure the 12v wiring is large enough to handle that.

I was looking at 10g wire minimum to to inverter. Thanks

mhsmith wrote:
I was looking at 10g wire minimum to to inverter. Thanks

I'm not sure that will do it, plus, what is the gauge from the converter to batteries? Of course, try this at home before relying on it to work on the road.

It is 6g from battery.

Absolutely check it out in the drive before going anywhere.

mhsmith wrote:
120 volt fridge. Rated at 1.1 amps which gives me 132 watts. I am looking at possibly a 180w to 200w inverter.

Required starting power for the fridge compressor is probably a lot higher than that; a 600W to 1000W inverter is often the minimum size that will work reliably for a fridge, even a small fridge. The running power is much less than the starting power.

mhsmith wrote:
I was looking at 10g wire minimum to to inverter. Thanks

Nothing like planning for failure..

10 ga isn't going to cut it even if it was 2 ft in length, will drop way to much voltage under the startup surge.

A 1.1A at 120V rated fridge compressor can have as much as 10A at 120V start up surge. That is roughly a 100A at 12V surge and not only does your inverter need to be able to handle it, the wiring and battery must be able to support that surge.

You WILL need an inverter rated at a min 800W CONTINUOUS but I would recommend a 1000W continuous rating. This gets you past the elcheapo inverters which have false surge ratings to make them sound better.

For the wiring, you NEED to mount the inverter as close to the batteries as possible to keep the 12V wiring as short as possible. The longer the 12V wiring, the heavier ga of wire you will need and at todays wire prices short as possible is your wallets best friend.

With a potential of a 100A at 12V surge your looking at 2 ga at a min for not much more than 10ft total (5ft for negative and 5 ft for positive). I personally used 1/0 and it is just under 8ft total for my home fridge conversion.

There is no shortcuts to this otherwise you will end up with lots of frustration when the inverter shuts down from low voltage.

Cheapo inverters are also a "hit or miss" thing, many of those low priced imports are way overstated on their ratings, choose cheap and you get cheap and less than reliable results.

If you are using a single group24/27 RV/marine battery you will need to consider MUCH MORE capacity since the tow vehicle charge line will not be able to support and keep up with the discharge rate..

I am using a pair of 6V GC2 batteries on my setup, works like a charm and is dependable.