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Old 08-21-2019, 04:56 AM   #1
Duramax
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Battery charge while traveling?

I’m gonna be going on a road trip. I have a 2020 HC 331rl with residential refrigerator. I usually turn fridge on while traveling and running off inverter. My question is will my truck keep the battery charged while driving and connected?
 
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Old 08-21-2019, 06:13 AM   #2
Arkware
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My experience has been a no. Our trucks are only able to supply a trickle charge while the Res Fridge uses more power.
The amount of time the inverter can run the fridge will depend upon the quality of the batteries.
My dealer supplied 2 - 12v batteries. They were not the "best" deep cycle batteries...
and my experience with them was not great.
We upgraded to 6v golf cart batteries and have been very happy.
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Old 08-21-2019, 09:00 AM   #3
DQDick
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I would also say no since you won't only be trying to keep up with the frig all the other phantom draws will also be pulling juice. I would agree with the comment above on the need for a bigger battery bank.
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Old 08-21-2019, 11:30 AM   #4
jcurtis934
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Lots of factors will impact this. I have no problem keeping my batteries (2 group 31 12vdc agm) charged while towing. My samsung 18 cuft draws only up to 240 watts that I have noticed before I start my tow. I have been towing in some very hot weather this summer so far with the monte getting very hot inside during the tow. Since I installed my fridge and inverter, I know exactly what is on the same circuit as the fridge...a total of 5 outlets, of which only the fridge is live. Other outlets are unplugged while running off inverter. I would tell you to hook up the tow vehicle to the monte with inverter on for fridge and no shore power and look at the inverter display to see how the battery input voltage is reacting to the truck supplying charge as well as taking note of how many watts your fridge is pulling from the inverter. The dc power to the inverter should remain fairly steady. Hope this gives you some insight.
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Old 08-21-2019, 02:30 PM   #5
Creeker
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You certainly will lose charge as the refrig/inverter and other 12V draws will be more than the truck is able to replace.

If you start with a fully charged battery your chances are much better of your truck supplying enough charge to keep from completely draining your battery. Of course this depends on hours of drive time and temp.
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Old 08-21-2019, 02:32 PM   #6
summer home
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We have a 2017 HC375FL with a Samsung residential fridge... factory installed inverter... We have NO issues running the fridge on the inverter while traveling... IF your truck has a good charge line there should not be an issue... My RAM has a 220 amp alternator and when we arrive at the end of the day (8 hours of travel) my batteries show 13.2 volts....
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