Run refer on inverter?

[Rosey Jet]

Anybody experimented with moving the fridge from AC direct to the inverter circuit? Looking resolve warm food while driving, propane is unreliable.

[trsvax]

I run mine that way while I'm driving. Works fine but uses about 400 watts all the time.

[GCinSC2]

Care to try defining / fixing the propane system?

[Wazbro]

I tried it once with an absorption fridge quite a few years ago. In 4 hours my 2 lead acid batteries were below 50% stop using point. This was with no solar and just a little bit of charging on the 7-pin. A bunch of solar and a DC to DC charger would help a lot.

[wulfraat]

400w draw while running on AC here too. I have 800w Solar and 600ah of batts so it nets out fine while on the road when I do this from time to time.

Normally I’ll use propane while on the road it’s very reliable for me after 13 years with a propane/AC fridge.

[Silvr_Bullet]

I haven’t noticed any change in the function of the fridge on electric or propane either way no problem.

[Rosey Jet]

Quite often after making a drive the alarm mode on the Dometic fridge is active and not cooling or fridge is completely shut down. The AS dealer has said they have fixed it a couple of times (first one had to be replaced) but we have had only a couple of drives where the fridge is working and food is cool. I have recording monitors in the freezer and fridge so we can decide if our food is safe. We have used ice and other strategies noted in posts over the last couple of years. We camp quite often in desert country. Rosey is 2021 25’ RBT international with factory 400 watt solar set-up, we are original owners. My thought is to move the wires from the 15A Refer breaker to the inverter. I’m just dipping toe in water to see what others have done. Thanks

[Gulliver72]

We always run the refer thru the inverter. Inverter is always on. 400w in roof-2000w inverter, 300AH lithium.

[jnm30327]

I installed Victron Multiplus II and can run fridge on inverter when not connected to shore power. But while dry camping, I always run fridge on propane. Even with 540 amp-hrs of battery, I think it is too much of a load.

I generally run fridge on electric while underway if battery is not too low, but also have a 30 amp DC-DC charger so battery stays about the same after a day of driving.

OTOH, I have never had trouble running the fridge on propane while underway.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Rosey Jet

Anybody experimented with moving the fridge from AC direct to the inverter circuit? Looking resolve warm food while driving, propane is unreliable.

Unreliable?
If your reefer goes out while towing and running on propane something's not right, time to ck/adjust gas pressure.
Ours has never gone out...different design?

Bob
🇺🇸

[uncle_bob]

Hi

In all the years of running around with our trailer, the fridge is always on propane while towing. It's never been a problem and it has worked quite well. I would suggest that your propane issue is fixable.

Pulling 400W off the inverter likely means 50 or more amps into the inverter. Run down the road for 4 hours and you have used >200AH. Run for 8 hours and you are at >400AH.

Solar is nice, but there are cloudy / rainy days. 300W of solar on a cloudy day might be 50W on average. That gets you maybe 1/4 of what you need.

Power via the 7 pin connector also helps a bit. A "normal" setup there might be 7A to 10A. Again, maybe 1/4 of what you need.

Then there's the minor point of pulling into your off grid campsite at the end of the day. You still need enough power to run overnight. You may well need to go do the same thing the next day.

Lots of variables and lots of potential issues.

Bob

[gypsydad]

Agree with Uncle Bob and Cloudsplitter..4 AS's over 17 years...refrigerator never a problem running on propane..something must be wrong with yours? I run electric when we are on shore power but propane most all the time when traveling or boondocking. Not a fan of all the "new" electric appliances which is a big reason we are not interested in a new AS! YMMV

[brundom]

Ditto. I have only had one issue with running the fridge on propane. That was after refilling the tanks. Apparently, I had a air block in the line. The solution is always to light all the burners on the stove first to unblock the lines. The stove burners draw a lot more propane than the fridge. Then, switch the fridge to propane. Never had a problem since, while travelling or at a campsite without electric.

[ASFC25_2019]

Originally Posted by Rosey Jet

Anybody experimented with moving the fridge from AC direct to the inverter circuit? Looking resolve warm food while driving, propane is unreliable.

While driving, I leave my AC fridge on the inverter and save the propane. I am using RedArc 50 Amp DC-DC chargers. The fridge uses around 30 Amps DC, so it is a heavy load but solar and DC-DC chargers I find. We arrive at the campground with batteries at 100%. I did consider changing to a full DC fridge as they use 8 Amps DC, but I decided I like the option for propane which seems to work well but not as well as when on Electric. It is nice to have the opportunity. I could only get about 8 amp from 7 pin so I ran my cable from the starter battery to the trailer via SB50 or now sb350. I then connected a relay to only turn on the chargers with the car was running. Good luck.

[1957Custom22]

Our original 120 VAC Marvel-brand compressor refrigerator runs on the inverter during trips, including while driving. Batteries stay at 100% during daylight, dropping to no less than 70% overnight when no shore power is available. We have a Victron 2000 Multiplus inverter, 400 watts solar, and 300 amp hours lithium. We don't use a generator, or DC to DC charging from the tow vehicle.

[BareEnd]

I have an older (1999) 25' Safari. I installed 200AH Lithium batteries from Renogy and a 3KW Renogy inverter. I ran the inverter output all the way to the caboose compartment where I installed a 30 AMP outlet.

When I'm boondocking I normally run the fridge on propane but for other appliances I merely plug my shore power cable into the outlet in the caboose and turn on my inverter.

On travel days I also use propane unless my route takes me through a tunnel and all gas bottles must be off. I then switch the fridge to A/C and leave the inverter on.

My DC/DC Charger isn't working right now but with 200AH of batteries I drove for 5 hours and still had over 60% battery life left when I got to my campground.

Just my 2¢

Martin
BRN 7142