Question Inverter for 2 way fridge.

[Dukeofdoom]

I am looking to add an inverter to my jayco redhawk to run the fridge (norcold) while driving.
I don't want to run the propane for 2 reasons.
For one the manual says don't do it.
The other is I want to reserve the propane for boon docking. If I use it up driving I may have to find propane again to boondock.

Any tips and ideas are appreciated.

 

[Matt]

I'm surprised the manual says not to do it. On my last two RV's that's all I used going down the road and in those RV's it was just a pilot light on the coil that heats the oil to move it around. Very little gas used to do this. On my current RV it's all electric and I wish I had a gas option on my fridge. If my truck is turned off say at a rest stop for a couple hours and the inverter is still running the batteries will be dead when I'm ready to go (I don't have a generator). With a gas fridge that's not an issue.

 

[Dukeofdoom]

I'm surprised the manual says not to do it. On my last two RV's that's all I used going down the road and in those RV's it was just a pilot light on the coil that heats the oil to move it around. Very little gas used to do this. On my current RV it's all electric and I wish I had a gas option on my fridge. If my truck is turned off say at a rest stop for a couple hours and the inverter is still running the batteries will be dead when I'm ready to go (I don't have a generator). With a gas fridge that's not an issue.

Yea the manual and even the fridge manual say that. I guess there is a chance the flame could go out and spew gas. The other thing is, it won't burn as efficient in the wind and could cause issues. I don't know.
But it is a waste of gas (even if it's a small amount) for sure when you have DC power generated from an alternator available.
Which can be used (via battery and inverter) to power the fridge.
When stopped I would switch to gas.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

The reason for not using the fridge is the gas fill up. A spark is much more capable of setting gas fumes a-flame. Forgetting to turn the fridge off while filling could be very dangerous. If you check the power usage of the fridge before you buy an inverter you will be able to determine the size of inverter. A true sine inverter is the only way to go for a heating element. On the road the flame may blow out, that said I never had that problem with my old motor home. The amount of propane used is minimal.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

While our present trailer and refrigerator operate either gas or electric, the electric part is 12 VDC. With the trailer battery, the refrigerator runs just fine on DC from the trailer battery and does not drain the tow vehicle battery. When we get to the campsite, we switch to gas. We don't use LP while traveling.

If your refrigerator is gas/electric, meaning 120VAC type electric, then you will need a 12V to 120V inverter rated at about 500 to 700 watts. This is required to handle the starting current of the compressor. We had that on our other/earlier trailer. The arrangement worked quite well, although, when boondocking, would pull the battery down in 12 or so hours.

There are various ways and methods to make the system work. Just depends on your equipment and objectives.

73
Bob, K4TAX