fridge killed battery

[dcorona]

Hi all,

Getting the camper ready for a trip in two weeks and was checking various items. I switched the fridge over to DC 2 nights ago and went in today to check things out and I found a dead everything.

A quick overview, Battery, univolt, converter were all installed new last year, the fridge is 3 years old and I do not believe has ever worked correctly. The battery is always connected to shore power i do not let it drain down.

For the heck of it I connected the camper to my truck and I got interior lights to go on throughout the truck the fridges control panel did not light up.

i do not have any battery testing equipment with me. Th battery is a Napa deep cycle Marine so i'm headed there first thing to have it tested nd to buy my own tester.

Any thoughts as to how the fridge could have done this, if it was indeed the fridge.

Why does this always happen the week before i go away!!

[jdalrymple]

Sounds like the battery is toast, from being connected to shore power continuously.


Here is a paste from another thread discussing virtually the same problem:

The stock power converter is a crude battery charger.

Simply put, it supplies the same amount of power to the batteries without much regard to the condition of the battery charge.

When the batteries reach full charge, the converter will keep supplying power, which will finally boil the electrolyte dry. And, ruin the batteries in short order.


One can manage the charging rate manually, to some degree, by using the use/store switch to disconnect the batteries from the electrical system periodically when on shore power. The converter will supply power to the appliances without the batteries.


Others choose to upgrade to a more expensive converter that has a better charger built in. It monitors the charge condition, and limits the supplied power as the batteries reach full charge.



I hope it helps. Good luck.


Regards,

JD

[dcorona]

Hey JD,

Thanks for the reply. The new converter is a "smart" converter that does convert to a trickle charger once it senses the battery is fully charged. We shall see once I get it checked.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by dcorona

Hey JD,

Thanks for the reply. The new converter is a "smart" converter that does convert to a trickle charger once it senses the battery is fully charged. We shall see once I get it checked.

May I suggest that you update your Profile? That might avoid giving you information that is not applicable, and better hone in on what needs to be done to help you with your question.

I believe that that refer was never designed to be used for days at a time on a battery, since a cooler is a high-current draw item. I would only expect your battery to be a reliable source, but one that is only used for intermittent, short-duty use.

[dcorona]

I'll do some profile updating.

[idroba]

There is not really enough information to say what the problem is/was. If you have a 3 way refrigerator, (120 volts, 12 volts, and propane) and you put it on the 12 volt supply input, the battery would be dead in less than 24 hours. Most 12 volt refrigerators have a heating element which takes 20 + amps, and they run almost continuously. That will exhaust the battery very quickly.

It sounds like you have upgraded the converter/charger to a more modern 3 stage one, which is good. Even so, batteries do eventually fail, and still could be the problem.

The newer refrigerators (you said yours is < 3 years old) take some 12 volt power to run the control board on either propane or 120 volts, but only in the range of half an amp, and that alone would not kill a battery in 2 days, assuming the battery is Ok to begin with.

So, more information is needed for real help to you.

[Aironius]

dcorona, sounds like you have it fixed with the "smart" charger. Assuming you have a new battery, that should be the end of it. The stock charger was a ticking time bomb for exactly what happened. You can't leave one of them plugged in for long term storage. One can use a float charger or solar panel in the 50mA range, but the battery should be isolated from the (power off) converter. Your new converter makes all that unnecessary. What kind did you get?

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by idroba

There is not really enough information to say what the problem is/was. If you have a 3 way refrigerator, (120 volts, 12 volts, and propane) and you put it on the 12 volt supply input, the battery would be dead in less than 24 hours. Most 12 volt refrigerators have a heating element which takes 20 + amps, and they run almost continuously. That will exhaust the battery very quickly.

It sounds like you have upgraded the converter/charger to a more modern 3 stage one, which is good. Even so, batteries do eventually fail, and still could be the problem.

The newer refrigerators (you said yours is < 3 years old) take some 12 volt power to run the control board on either propane or 120 volts, but only in the range of half an amp, and that alone would not kill a battery in 2 days, assuming the battery is Ok to begin with.

So, more information is needed for real help to you.

Lets see how much info I can give you all.

The battery was installed a year ago and kept on the 3 stage charger throughout the year. I did not check it recently so i do not know it status before this all happened.

I know that the camper was plugged into shore power when I switched the refer over to 12 volt does that mean that the power it takes to run the refer off of 12volt is stronger than the ability of the converter to charge it from shore power? If so that;s a lesson learned for me.

The entire camper went through a major overhaul last year partly by me but the electrical and plumbing by a reliable service center and since then all systems have been functioning correctly except the refer.

Last November we were at WDW Fort Wilderness Campground, which we loved btw. and hooked up to shore power the refer would cool down than stop cooling. I'd have to turn turn it off than turn it on to get it to col down again. We weren't using down there so it wasn't a big deal except for the annoyance factor that it wasn't working correctly.

I am mentioning this because out of the entire camper i keep looking at the refer as a red flag.

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by Aironius

dcorona, sounds like you have it fixed with the "smart" charger. Assuming you have a new battery, that should be the end of it. The stock charger was a ticking time bomb for exactly what happened. You can't leave one of them plugged in for long term storage. One can use a float charger or solar panel in the 50mA range, but the battery should be isolated from the (power off) converter. Your new converter makes all that unnecessary. What kind did you get?

Aironius,

The 3 stage converter has been installed for about a year now which is why this entire event is so confusing to me.

[Aage]

More questions for you, Chris:

How old is the refer?

Does the book for it give you the stats on how much current it draws?

Does the book also give you what, precisely, Dometic planned for its use on 12V?

We'll track down your problem, you'll see

[overlander63]

The 12 volt part of the fridge is only supposed to be used for limited amounts of time, and will barely keep the fridge at whatever temperature it was when you turned it to 12 volt. And it will completely 100% drain a standard group 24 deep cycle battery within 6 hours.
The 12 volt element can very likely exceed the capacity of a smaller amperage converter, especially if there is anything else at all in the trailer on.

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by Aage

More questions for you, Chris:

How old is the refer?

Does the book for it give you the stats on how much current it draws?

Does the book also give you what, precisely, Dometic planned for its use on 12V?

We'll track down your problem, you'll see

Fridge is 3 years old, the book is in the camper i'll look at it in the morning.

Thanks for your help.

[TouringDan]

Chris

Since you have been hooked up to shore power, was there any particular reason why you were using the 12v mode to operate the fridge? It would be much better to operate it on 120v AC power.

I did not know you could still get a fridge that was 3 way power.

BTW, my Dometic fridge is about 2 years old. It has a 12v connection, for the controls, I presume, but it does not seem to draw any 12v power when I boondock. I can boondock for 4 days and the battery voltage typically only drops from about 12.9v to 12.7v. No solar, and don't see any reason for solar since my battery power usage is so small. I have actually operated my fridge for days without any batteries installed and I was not connected to shore power.

Sounds like your battery might be toast, but I would take it out and charge it with a trickle charger and then have it tested at your local auto parts store.

As for bad luck, Chris, when I went boondock camping two weeks ago, my electric jack would not work and my water pump sounded like it wanted to quit and leave me without water. After that trip I installed a manual jack and a new water pump! With a manual jack one less thing to fail.

Good luck, Dan

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by overlander63

The 12 volt part of the fridge is only supposed to be used for limited amounts of time, and will barely keep the fridge at whatever temperature it was when you turned it to 12 volt. And it will completely 100% drain a standard group 24 deep cycle battery within 6 hours.
The 12 volt element can very likely exceed the capacity of a smaller amperage converter, especially if there is anything else at all in the trailer on.

I'm starting to get the feeling that I goofed turning it to 12V…….. besides the propane sniffer the only thing on was the refer.

Thanks for the help Overlander.

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by TouringDan

Chris

Since you have been hooked up to shore power, was there any particular reason why you were using the 12v mode to operate the fridge? It would be much better to operate it on 120v AC power.

I did not know you could still get a fridge that was 3 way power.

BTW, my Dometic fridge is about 2 years old. It has a 12v connection, for the controls, I presume, but it does not seem to draw any 12v power when I boondock. I can boondock for 4 days and the battery voltage typically only drops from about 12.9v to 12.7v. No solar, and don't see any reason for solar since my battery power usage is so small. I have actually operated my fridge for days without any batteries installed and I was not connected to shore power.

Sounds like your battery might be toast, but I would take it out and charge it with a trickle charger and then have it tested at your local auto parts store.

As for bad luck, Chris, when I went boondock camping two weeks ago, my electric jack would not work and my water pump sounded like it wanted to quit and leave me without water. After that trip I installed a manual jack and a new water pump! With a manual jack one less thing to fail.

Good luck, Dan

Hey Dan,

I switched it over to 12V for 2 reasons

1st just to check that it was switching over correctly, which it was.

2nd and more importantly i do not feel that the refer is working properly on Shore power, it works beautifully on propane which is how I use when we are camping.

As for bad luck, my worst, and now funniest story.
We were driving back from WDW to my brothers in North carolina last november and as we got into Georgia our camper door blew open. it stayed on the hinges but flattened out very badly. The only thing to do was to take it off the hinges and drive to N.C. and eventually New York City without a door. we can laugh about it now

[TG Twinkie]

If you were on shore power the converter should be capable of keeping the battery charged. Even with the refer on 12 volts. Most 3 stage converters are rated at 45 amps or more. If the refer has a 12 volt 240 watt element, it would draw 20 amps. Leaving you with at least 25 amps of excess capacity to keep the battery charged.
I would check to make sure the converter is actually charging the battery.
I would also put the refer on 120 volts to see how well it works.
Keeping in mind that the propane operation will normally give you better cooling than either electrical mode.

[dcorona]

Originally Posted by TG Twinkie

If you were on shore power the converter should be capable of keeping the battery charged. Even with the refer on 12 volts. Most 3 stage converters are rated at 45 amps or more. If the refer has a 12 volt 240 watt element, it would draw 20 amps. Leaving you with at least 25 amps of excess capacity to keep the battery charged.
I would check to make sure the converter is actually charging the battery.
I would also put the refer on 120 volts to see how well it works.
Keeping in mind that the propane operation will normally give you better cooling than either electrical mode.

I will definitely check the converter
The refer is not acting correctly on 120, but does run great on propane.

Thanks Twinkie

[Aage]

Originally Posted by dcorona

I will definitely check the converter
The refer is not acting correctly on 120, but does run great on propane.

Thanks Twinkie

AFAIK, the only principle difference between operation on 120V and LP gas is that there is a 120V heater element that replaces the energy that the LP gas provides when it is producing the power to chill things.

The heating element is one of the very few 'disposable' parts of your refer, but three years is pretty 'young' for it to go...

[Aage]

Another item of interest on RV refers is the discussions around fans. This retailer/manufacturer makes and sells small fans and mounting devices that he claims are very effective in improving and maintaining the life and performance of RV refers.

Worth reading his site. The little fans he sells are not expensive, and are really just computer fans, which you may already have on hand.

[Al and Missy]

If you were on shore power when you switched to 12V and stayed on shore power, there is no way the battery should have been dead. If stuff started to work when you hooked up the truck, that is an indication that, for whatever reason, the converter was not putting out any power. You either had a converter failure or blew a fuse, if there is one on the converter output.

Your battery may be OK. However, even the smallest Dometic 3-way fridge takes over 10 amps when operating from 12V. That will kill a Group 27 in less than 12 hours.