BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Mike & Gail Beggarly on May 17, 2020, 09:08:38 PM
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Swapping out Dometic NDA1402 absorption refer for the Samsung RF18 residential unit. There are a lot of helpful posts on the forum but I haven't found any yet that suggest that the separate ice-maker receptacle behind my Dometic can be used to power the RF18. I assume it can as it is on the inverter which is a Magnum MS2012 (PSW). Has anyone used this separate receptacle to power the RF18? I see some are running a separate line from the 30A main box but appears just from prints that this would power the RF18. Looking at the other loads on that line, AV receptacles, etc. I guess I would need to see how much total power might be on that circuit with the TV and Dish Hopper powered ON. But would be good to know if anyone else has used this receptacle for the Samsung to keep it on inverter power. Thanks for any experience anyone can share.
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Mike,
Yes, use the ice maker receptacle to power your RF 18. It will handle the load with no problem. Mine as worked fine to power my RF-18 for about 5 years now. The other receptacle behind the old reefer is not hooked to the inverter so don't use it.
Steve
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Excellent. Thanks for that info Steve! I like to hear that it's worked for 5-years too!
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I too have used that outlet for our Rf-18. Going on 19 months no problem. Marty
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We switched from the Nevercold to an RF18 last August. Used the ice maker cord to power it, because it was already in the circuit for the inverter. No issues.
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Plugged our new residential fridge (Fisher Paykel) into the icemaker receptacle, GFCI breaker tripped after about 2 seconds. All inverter circuits are protected with GFCI breakers in out '05 Patriot. Anyone else run into this problem? No issue with the Norcold ice maker tripping the GFCI.
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I also had the GFI issue when I installed a Samsung RF18. After doing a little research, I determined that many compressor refrigerators are not compatible with GFI circuits. I disabled the GFI function on that circuit breaker and have had no problems since. The refrigerator is the only thing on that circuit, so I am not concerned with not having GFI capability on that circuit. My electrical engineer friend explained to me why inverter compressors may not be compatible with GFI protected circuits, but I do not remember the technicalities of his explanation.
Richard
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There is a spare breaker spot on my inverter panel, so I moved the refrig wire from the main panel to a new non-gfci breaker I installed in the spare space in the inverter panel. All is well.
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Just a FYI. I installed the Samsung RF18 and plugged it into the old ice-maker circuit 3 years ago. With that circuit powered from the inverter, it obviously required the inverter to be left on all the time while dry-camping. I found that the Magnum inverter draws quite a bit of power while idling and doing nothing causing me to run the generator more than I felt was necessary. It is nice to have that big Magnum inverter when you want to run the microwave or watch TV, but it is a bit excessive for smaller draw long term situations. So, I installed a smaller dedicated inverter (Xantrex 1000 watt) and transfer switch just for the refrigerator. My estimate is that it saves me about 1/2 hour of generator time per day while I am dry-camping. That may not seem like much, but it adds up if you do a lot of dry-camping.
Richard
p.s. I also moved the circuit from the original refrigerator and added a dedicated plug-in below the new fridge to be used for a space heater in the Winter when we are in a park with 50 amp electric power. That way, the space heater is on a separate circuit breaker and is not competing with other electrical devices (like my wife's hair dryer).