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Old 08-19-2018, 08:48 AM   #1
Molego89
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Help! Res. Fridge not working

Hooked to shore power but the refridgerator is not working nor is the outlet on opposite side of the wall. All other appliances work without the inverter. The fridge and outlet will work if inverter is plugged in.

Unplugged inverter because I think I also have a bad converter and maybe even battery. Came home to no 12v but all 110 were working. Hooked a battery charger up to batter and everything worked great for a few days and everything died again. I think the inverter is draining the battery and the battery charger cannot keep up? No idea. I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing here.


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Old 08-19-2018, 08:51 AM   #2
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First off it sounds like you've damaged your battery or it is just old. From there on we need to know how long your using your frig on battery only and how you are charging it after. Many folks with a residential frig have found they need two or more batteries.
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Old 08-19-2018, 09:40 AM   #3
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I have recently had some issues with the converter so researched up on this topic

First I am very surprised if you don’t have two batteries. When you can afford to upgrade go with two AGM batteries hooked together (positive to positive and negative to negative). Even with that probably only get about 4 hours run time when off grid and not plugged into running truck.

Try completely disconnecting batteries at terminals and charging just to make sure they are not issue. Testing with a load style battery tester ($20 at Harbor Freight) will verify

You said that you unplugged the inverter? Do you mean you turned off switch from battery or disconnected the 12volt lead at inverter? The 110 volt plug on the unit is the outlet going too the fridge. Unplugging that does not turn inverter off and even without a load it will still draw power. There should be a switch and 150amp fuse near battery that does turn off inverter. Since we never boom dock and most of our trips are short we just leave inverter switched off.

However the 110 volt plug is good place to test the inverter. A volt meter ($10 at Harbor Freight or Wal Mart) is a good investment but you can just use a lamp

Between the 110 plug in and the wall socket for fridge is a metal box with a shore power detector. There could be an issue there and relay is not switching to Shore power to feed fridge. Testing that isn’t hard but it does require a bit of expertise.... You should have power to fridge when on shore power even with completely dead batteries!! One other possibility is that the 110 volt circuit breaker for fridge has tripped so check that first.

The Converter that came on ours was a 60amp WFCO. I got really bad reviews on here and elsewhere on that brand. I’m going with a 80amp Progressive Industries 9200 series which comes highly recommended. Before we install it though going to get a good Surge protector for our Shore power!!
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Old 08-19-2018, 11:03 AM   #4
Molego89
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Yes only one battery.

Anyways I did indeed unplug from an outlet in the roof of the basement what I thought. Was the power cord coming from the back of the inverter. I also switched the hanging LED inverter light to the off position.

Since reading your post I plugged the cord back in and kept the inverter LED light off. I do still have power to fridge slide out outlets.

So your telling me that is not a power cord for the inverter itself?

The fridge slide out power is on the same breaker as microwave and the microwave is working. So I don't think it's that.
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Old 08-19-2018, 11:47 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Molego89 View Post
Yes only one battery.

Anyways I did indeed unplug from an outlet in the roof of the basement what I thought. Was the power cord coming from the back of the inverter. I also switched the hanging LED inverter light to the off position.

Since reading your post I plugged the cord back in and kept the inverter LED light off. I do still have power to fridge slide out outlets.

So your telling me that is not a power cord for the inverter itself?

The fridge slide out power is on the same breaker as microwave and the microwave is working. So I don't think it's that.
This might be easier over phone. I’ll pm you
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Old 08-19-2018, 11:50 AM   #6
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I also have wfco 65 amp converter. Is installing the suggested progressive series as easy as plug and chug or will the breaker and wiring require upgrading also?
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Old 08-19-2018, 12:29 PM   #7
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I also have wfco 65 amp converter. Is installing the suggested progressive series as easy as plug and chug or will the breaker and wiring require upgrading also?
Plug right in and go provided your model has same 20amp for converter mine has
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Old 08-19-2018, 01:00 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mtlakejim View Post
I have recently had some issues with the converter so researched up on this topic

First I am very surprised if you don’t have two batteries. When you can afford to upgrade go with two AGM batteries hooked together (positive to positive and negative to negative). Even with that probably only get about 4 hours run time when off grid and not plugged into running truck.
The shore power for our entire CG was off a few days ago for nearly 14 hours and our residential had power for the entire time and we only have 2 Deep Cycle Group 27 wet cells. Really surprised me too! BTW how can you tell that they can't afford the AGM upgrade now? LOL.
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Old 08-19-2018, 01:12 PM   #9
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To clarify the 12 volt DC input on the inverter will be separate heavy red and black cables directly from battery and there may be a cutoff switch and 150 amp fuse near the battery. The standard AC plug in on the front of inverter is 110 AC OUT to fridge.

On our unit the inverter is 2000 watt Progressive industries. It is white and mounted in ceiling of front pass thru storage. The shore power auto switch is mounted about 6” in front of inverter with just a short cord plugged into inverter

The Converter on ours is a stand alone box mounted directly behind the breaker box. There is a 20 amp breaker dedicated to it in the breaker panel and handy plug in mounted to back of panel for it to plug into. Both old and new inverters have the special sideways plugs on cords designed to prevent plugging into less than 20amp recepticals. That handles the inlet 110volt AC. The outlet is two separate red and black cables with 12volt dc. Our hot (red) 12 volt is connected back to the same breaker box as it is combo DC/AC with both breakers and fuses for each system. The Converter is a galvanized vented stand alone box and easily accessed by removing the rear passenger side wall on front pass thru storage (our gas furnace is back there too)

Hope that helps
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Old 08-19-2018, 01:21 PM   #10
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Cool

Quote:
Originally Posted by WeBeFulltime View Post
The shore power for our entire CG was off a few days ago for nearly 14 hours and our residential had power for the entire time and we only have 2 Deep Cycle Group 27 wet cells. Really surprised me too! BTW how can you tell that they can't afford the AGM upgrade now? LOL.
LOL Well I didn’t put a time line on it. If today is the day go for it. I guess to be politically correct I could have said be prepared the AGMs are freaking expensive!!

My apologies for Assuming anyone else would cringe like me at $200+ each batteries
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Old 08-19-2018, 02:38 PM   #11
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LOL Well I didn’t put a time line on it. If today is the day go for it. I guess to be politically correct I could have said be prepared the AGMs are freaking expensive!!

My apologies for Assuming anyone else would cringe like me at $200+ each batteries
For the record my AGM money isn't piling up either!
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Old 08-19-2018, 06:34 PM   #12
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I am trying to figure from the posts if you have an issues or if it is corrected.

I had an issue with the inverter on my HC353 and had to replace it but I learned several things.

The plug you unplugged is the 110 vac circuit that powers your frig when on shore power. Your inverter has an automatic pass thru when hooked to shore power. If you unplugged it, you disconnected the frig circuit from your shore power. The heavy red and black cables going into the back of the inverter are the 12 vdc power from your battery. There also should be a white romex wire that is attached to the inverter, which is the circuit that goes to your frig.

Unplugging the inverter and turning the inverter off would kill all power to the frig circuit.


As a side issue. my inverter was incorrectly wired and powered the TV and not the Frig. I sorted this out when I replaced the inverted.

Hope I was some help!
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Old 08-19-2018, 07:27 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Twopetes View Post
I am trying to figure from the posts if you have an issues or if it is corrected.

I had an issue with the inverter on my HC353 and had to replace it but I learned several things.

The plug you unplugged is the 110 vac circuit that powers your frig when on shore power. Your inverter has an automatic pass thru when hooked to shore power. If you unplugged it, you disconnected the frig circuit from your shore power. The heavy red and black cables going into the back of the inverter are the 12 vdc power from your battery. There also should be a white romex wire that is attached to the inverter, which is the circuit that goes to your frig.

Unplugging the inverter and turning the inverter off would kill all power to the frig circuit.


As a side issue. my inverter was incorrectly wired and powered the TV and not the Frig. I sorted this out when I replaced the inverted.

Hope I was some help!
I’ll go back out and triple check mine but 99% sure mine has an external shore power switch and the plug going into inverter is from that. But I have been wrong before
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