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Old 04-11-2018, 06:51 PM   #1
sdinsley
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Residential Refrigerator on Battery only

Hey Gang. Looking for some guidance. Our new Montana 3731FL has a Samsung residential refrigerator that is connected to an inverter which will allow operation on Battery. Our rig came equipped with 2 Interstate HD-24-DP batteries in Parallel configuration.


One of our first trips this year will be a two day drive one way and were not planning on stopping in an area where we can plug in overnight. With that being said does anyone have any experience with this configuration and how long can we go on 12V battery power only just supplying the refrigerator . Will it last the two days or is that two long


Thank you

Doug
 
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Old 04-11-2018, 07:43 PM   #2
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Before you hit the road have your refer nice and cold with the freezer contents already frozen. Turn off your ice maker. While driving your TV should adequately charge the batteries to keep the refer going. When you overnight try to avoid opening the refer much. Most residential refers stay quite cold overnight if not opened even without an inverter. One night at a time should not be a problem. Two nights without driving or a hookup would be pushing it. As long as you are driving between overnights you should be able to recharge the batteries. You should eventually upgrade to a 6 volt golf cart battery bank if you want to do some limited boondocking. There are plenty of discussions about 6 volt upgrades on this site. Golf cart batteries have more power and are much hardier than the 12 volt variety.
By the way, Walmart is a good place to overnight. Most allow it but some don’t. You can check the status of Walmarts by getting the AllStays app (Walmart Overnight Parking). It cost a couple of bucks but well worth it. It will show all Walmarts across the country. Just plan your route and check the ones you want.
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Old 04-11-2018, 08:22 PM   #3
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Only use necessary lighting & don't run the furnace or you will kill the batteries really quick overnight! definitely want to upgrade to 6 volt Batteries when you can.

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Old 04-13-2018, 08:44 AM   #4
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Doug, those two group 24 batteries are probably 75 amphr batteries...so you have a total of 150 amphrs. But if you don't want to shorten the life of the batteries, never take them down below 50% capacity on a repeated basis. So what does this info get you... The Samsung draws 3 amps max on 120vac, which means that inverter is using approximately 35 amps at 12vdc...which is 35 amphrs for every hour of power on time if the fridge is drawing max power. My guess is that it averages out to be more like 25% of that or 8-9 amphrs. So with no charge coming in to the batteries, your safe battery drawdown would be 75 divide by 9 or 8 hours of travel time IF the tow vehicle washing supplying what it can to the batteries. I would love to know what the experience is from users with residential fridges that have the capability to log battery draw from the inverter....even if it is only that the inverter readout gave me the battery voltage after a travel day of XX hours. I have installed the Samsung this last fall and will be towing out of Florida without any means of powering the fridge as I haven't had time to install an inverter yet...so I will only be able to see how much temperature changes after a six hour tow period. Hope this gives you some help to your question.
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Old 04-13-2018, 11:09 AM   #5
sdinsley
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Thank you so much for the information jcurtis. I will see how it goes in a few weeks and let everyone know. Keeping fingers crossed....
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Old 04-14-2018, 09:37 PM   #6
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Here is my take on the Samsung reefer running on only the pair of 12 volt batteries installed by the dealer when we picked up on Oct. 31, '17. I had several times the first trips noticed the reefer getting warm. So I tested it at home running only the ref, all else turned off (key in convenience center removed). No shore power but not charging through the truck. The input voltage dropped to 10.5 (the cut off point for the inverter) after between 36-40 hours. The ambient temperature was mostly below 65 degrees, inside and out. The wattage draw, shown on the inverter display, was between 40 and 120 watts depending on what part of the cycle the reefer was in - amazingly efficient refrigerators. I'm sure these numbers would be different if the truck was charging and the ambient temp was higher. It turns out that the inverter was never turned on by the dealer, hence the warming up of the freezer especially during 4-6 hour trips to campgrounds. I had also found one of the wires on one of the batteries very loose.
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Old 04-14-2018, 09:50 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by jcurtis934 View Post
I would love to know what the experience is from users with residential fridges that have the capability to log battery draw from the inverter....even if it is only that the inverter readout gave me the battery voltage after a travel day of XX hours.
I installed a dc volt meter just the other day so I could easily monitor when making pit stops while traveling. I also wired in a switch for it and the repeater for the TPMS. No reason to keep either on when on shore power at home. Our next trip, when we pit stop, I'll note vdc and wattage for the frig. It might be a while cuz our platter is full right now.
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Old 04-15-2018, 02:49 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdinsley View Post
One of our first trips this year will be a two day drive one way and were not planning on stopping in an area where we can plug in overnight. With that being said does anyone have any experience with this configuration and how long can we go on 12V battery power only just supplying the refrigerator . Will it last the two days or is that two long
I have a residential fridge in my rig and have done exactly what you are about to do. First thing to remember is, its a residential fridge. Once it has reached temp you can lose power and the fridge will still keep everything fine for several days as long as you don't open the doors. Think about losing power at home. You food doesn't go bad overnight.

This is what I do if I spend the night at Flying J or WalMart.
First, I lower the landing gear while the truck is running and the umbilical is plugged into the truck.
Second, I turn off the truck and unplug the umbilical.
Third, I turn off the inverter.

Now I have battery power for lights, some furnace time if needed, water pump if I'm carrying water, etc without worry.

The fridge and your food will be fine. Don't forget to turn the inverter back on before you leave the next morning. I forgot one time and guess what ? Nothing happened. Everything was still fine.
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Old 04-15-2018, 02:53 PM   #9
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I installed a dc volt meter just the other day so I could easily monitor when making pit stops while traveling. I also wired in a switch for it and the repeater for the TPMS. No reason to keep either on when on shore power at home. Our next trip, when we pit stop, I'll note vdc and wattage for the frig. It might be a while cuz our platter is full right now.
What about just looking at the voltage reading on your level up panel ?
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Old 04-15-2018, 04:00 PM   #10
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What about just looking at the voltage reading on your level up panel ?
Too many mouse clicks. --unlock door. turn on level up. scroll to the screen that shows voltage. Most of the software I use in astronomy has hot keys for quickly getting stuff happening. No need to click Stars/Mag filter/ then select/OK when you only need one button set for that. All I have to do to see the vdc is open LP door and look.
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Old 04-15-2018, 04:11 PM   #11
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Too many mouse clicks. --unlock door. turn on level up. scroll to the screen that shows voltage. Most of the software I use in astronomy has hot keys for quickly getting stuff happening. No need to click Stars/Mag filter/ then select/OK when you only need one button set for that. All I have to do to see the vdc is open LP door and look.
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Old 09-20-2018, 10:54 AM   #12
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What about just looking at the voltage reading on your level up panel ?

Sorry what's a level-up panel?

Is this something with legacy package only or will my new "2019 3855BR" come with this?
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:17 AM   #13
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It is the panel where you operate your hydraulic jacks on the driver side front of the rig.
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:23 AM   #14
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It is the panel where you operate your hydraulic jacks on the driver side front of the rig.
The LCI panel in driver side basement has voltage readings for the residential fridge inverter? Thanks!!
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:25 AM   #15
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The LCI panel in driver side basement has voltage readings for the residential fridge inverter? Thanks!!
It will provide battery voltage which is an indicator of their state of charge.
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Old 10-13-2018, 09:54 AM   #16
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Can someone tell me how to turn off the Samsung residential refer when hooked up to 50 amp.
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Old 10-13-2018, 12:50 PM   #17
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Can someone tell me how to turn off the Samsung residential refer when hooked up to 50 amp.
If you hold the "Power Freeze" and "Freezer" at the same time for ~3 seconds, until the bing sound it will be off. The displays will show OF & OF. The lights will take about ten minutes to shut off with the doors open. You can also cut it off using one of the kitchen breakers but that will disable some other outlets.
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Old 10-13-2018, 07:23 PM   #18
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Why would you want to shut it off when hooked to 50 amp power?
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