Residential Fridge Power

[D. Wendal Attig]

We have removed our Norcold 1200, and are prepping for the installation of our new residential model, which requires about 10% of the power required by the original Norcold. I have been reading about the Inverter power connections and am not sure if the original outlet is inverter friendly. How could I discover this, and and is a gfci outlet a necessity?   If I should connect this to the Inverter, should I run a separate line (as in an extended heavy duty extension directly from one of the outlets on my Prosine 2.0 inverter?  New fridge arriving on Wednesday. Thanks.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Assuming you are getting a Samsung or comparable low power consumption unit, plug it into the ice-maker outlet. The circuit will handle the unit with no problems.
Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Wendal,
If the Norcold in your Patriot has an icemaker in it, you should have two 120 volt plugs behind it, one with inverter feed and one without. If so, just plug the new refrigerator into the inverter feed one. You can verify this by disconnecting the coach from shore power, turning on the inverter and using a volt meter to check for voltage at the plug. However, if you do not have an inverter feed plug behind the refrigerator, you should run one from an inverter feed circuit, and I would not use a ground fault circuit.

Gerald 

[Steve Funk]

However, if you do not have an inverter feed plug behind the refrigerator, you should run one from an inverter feed circuit, and I would not use a ground fault circuit.

I don't want to hijack this thread but this is a question for Gerald.  I added a 20 amp GFI to my inverter panel when I installed the residential refer.  Plugging the refer into the ice maker would trip the breaker as all the AV and TV outlets  in the front cap and DS are on that 15 amp circuit.  Another question is why is there only a 15 amp circuit on the panel for the icemaker, front cap, and driver side when all the wiring is #12 and almost all breakers are 20 amp?

Thanks
Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Steve,
I do not know which residential refrigerator you used, but most energy efficient models like the Samsung units that most owners chose have a continuous draw of 2 amps (20 amps at 12 volts) or a little less after the compressor is running. The problem that you were having is tied to start-up amperage draw. Some refrigerators can draw as much as 10 or 11 amps for a short time at compressor start-up, and apparently this start-up amperage load was tripping your 15 amp breaker if you had other loads on the circuit but that is a very uncommon problem because the start-up load is to short of a duration to trip most breaker if the load is not much in excess of the rating.

Your solution was an excellent answer to your problem, but it was probably a little overkill. I would have probably just replaced the 15 amp breaker with a new 20 amp breaker.

Gerald

[Steve Funk]

Wendal, today you get the new refer, good luck on the install, looking forward to hearing how it goes.

Gerald, thanks for the info.  I installed the Samsung RF18 a year and half ago.  After careful consideration and studying the wiring diagrams I have I'm thinking about replacing the 15 amp AV/TV/icemaker circuit with a 20 amp GFCI. That should eliminate the occasional tripping of that breaker.

[D. Wendal Attig]

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. The install went as smoothly as possible. One of my business associates and friend who formerly owned a glass company joined us and removed/replaced and resealed the window through which the new unit had to enter the coach.

We insulated the walls with polyfoam on the sidewalls and still had about 1-to-2 inches clear. We are still deciding what we will do to trim it out, but want to see the seasonal effects before we decide for sure. We blocked the roof vent, and for the colder meantime, taped the rear of the original ventilation panel on the side the the coach, since it was letting massive amounts of cold air into the coach.   

For now, we have about as much open space around the unit as we have had in residential settings.

Never knew freezing ice-cream could be such a luxury!

[Bart Mix]

Wendal - I installed the RF18 in my Beaver last month. Took off the refer doors & brought it in the entry door - after removing the 2 front seats - no problem.Plugged it in the relocated ice maker (inverted) outlet. I also have access to the old 120v (non inverted) outlet should I chose to use it at other times, if necessary? Sure is nice to have reliable refer/freezer! Unfortunately, all of a sudden after 11.5 years of service from the Beaver we decided to trade it off for some newer upgraded features. $1,000 for 1 months use while on the road. Now our new coach has a side by side Dometic - we may be swapping that one out as well? No issue operating off my 2000 watt MSW inverter.
Bart from VA

[Bob Bulot]

Some points that may be self evident:  First, you absolutely want the fridge to run through the inverter.  Otherwise you wont have any power going to it going down the road (unless you run the gen).  Second you really only need a GFI if the outlet is near an open water source during normal operation.  Fridges are electrically isolated from the icemaker sufficiently that they never require one.

Lastly, with a new residential fridge, make sure there is some way to secure the doors.  I didn't know what the U-shaped wooden block provided by Beaver was used for until the first time I noticed a jar of mayonnaise roll by after turning a corner on our first trip.  Thank god the Jack Daniels was OK.  I might have had to survive with nothing but food and water for several days!

[Bob Bulot]

Thought of something else:  Monaco added two batteries whenever the residential refrig option was added.  If you do a lot of dry camping, you might want to think about this.  It may not be totally necessary due to the lower power consumption of new fridges over what went in to these coaches when Beavers were being built.  Just sayin'.....

[Bill Sprague]

Thought of something else:  Monaco added two batteries whenever the residential refrig option was added.  If you do a lot of dry camping, you might want to think about this.  It may not be totally necessary do to the lower power consumption of new fridges over what went in to these coaches when Beavers were being built.  Just sayin'.....

Talk to Marty.  He thoroughly tested and checked.  His Samsung refer did not need extra batteries.

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Wendal, when I switched to a Samsung I ran a circuit for the frig from the 30amp sub panel in the basement. I just removed one breaker that was a single and replaced it with a dual breaker. I ran the new circuit through the hole the propane line had been routed through. I had 4 coach batteries and DID NOT add more. We dry camped at Quartzsite for 5 days and only ran the generator for four hours a day, 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.
Marty