Does your Res. fridge not cool when towing in hot?

[77cruiser]

120 volts out of the inverter.

[jjwhite368]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

Are you running on the inverter? Ours keeps temps very well when travelling. I've even had it making ice while travelling. I always make sure after disconnecting shore power that the inverter is on and running so the fridge can run on battery. There is a disconnect in the battery compartment on the wall above the battery box, and the inverter itself must be turned on as well. Mine has a green button on the face you have to hold in for a few seconds to turn on/off.

Ours too. we just did 6 weeks in ours with many days 95+ and the refrigerator was never an issue, travelling or parked.

[77cruiser]

Nothing to do with fridge but I forgot to turn the water heater on but water was still hot after 12 hrs.

[RMcNeal]

Many people have had issues with the transfer switch. If you have a clamp on meter, check the wires in and out of the transfer switch. It should be close to the inverter. Trace plug from inverter to the transfer switch. Also an easy way to find out is disconnect shore power, then go inside and open fridge door. It should still show temps at the top of the fridge inside door if it has power. If it does not have power and inverter is on and GFCI on inverter not tripped, then it is most likely the transfer switch is not switching over to the inverter side.

[mlh]

The refrigerator is working and it can’t be a gasket. If it was a gasket the refrigerator would never be cold. When you get to where you are going the refrigerator is warm and the battery is fully charged. You aren’t getting power to the refrigerator when you are either just unplugged or when hooked to your truck. Bets are on your transfer switch being bad. Or how could your battery being fully charged.
Lynwood

[RMcNeal]

I agree with Lynwood. But in my case, the truck is able to keep up with the power consumption of our Samsung fridge while on the road. Battery is always fully charged after travel. Our Samsung fridge only pulls 5 amps at most and when it's good and cold before travelling, it rarely kicks on. Fridge says it has "Digital Inverter Technology" built in, which is a fancy way of saying it uses less power than a normal residential fridge. It is very efficient though.

[77cruiser]

Originally Posted by mlh

The refrigerator is working and it can’t be a gasket. If it was a gasket the refrigerator would never be cold. When you get to where you are going the refrigerator is warm and the battery is fully charged. You aren’t getting power to the refrigerator when you are either just unplugged or when hooked to your truck. Bets are on your transfer switch being bad. Or how could your battery being fully charged.
Lynwood

But when I stop & open the fridge the light is on.


Transfer switch is the box that's about 3 x 4 by the inverter, I assume.

[77cruiser]

If I shut off the breaker to the fridge circuit the inverter must switch over, cause the fridge light is on.

[RMcNeal]

There should be a standard 110 v plug in the inverter. Follow this wire to the auto transfer switch. Mine is mounted a few inches away on the ceiling of the basement near the inverter. With no shore power hooked up, unplug this plug and your fridge should have not power source, light will not light. If leaving shore power unhooked and plugging this plug back in restores the power to the fridge and the light comes on, then the inverter is supplying some power.

[77cruiser]

I put in a new group 27, I'll see what happens Monday, gonna be about 100 deg.

[mhs4771]

If you have a Residential Fridge and Inverter, you should have two batteries at a minimum. I've been running four and have our fridge and portable freezer both running off the inverter. And we've gone an overnite without power and still had plenty of power in the AM to retract slides and jacks.

[mlh]

He should have two batteries but a single battery should, will run his refrigerator for a short period of time. That isn’t what is happening. The single battery isn’t running his refrigerator it’s staying at over 13 volts. That says to me his inverter or transfer switch isn’t working.
Lynwood

[jimcol]

Originally Posted by mlh

The refrigerator is working and it can’t be a gasket. If it was a gasket the refrigerator would never be cold. When you get to where you are going the refrigerator is warm and the battery is fully charged. You aren’t getting power to the refrigerator when you are either just unplugged or when hooked to your truck. Bets are on your transfer switch being bad. Or how could your battery being fully charged.
Lynwood

I'll have to disagree with your assesment on this one. I said in my reply the OP has another problem. The OP said his refrigerator went from cold to 60 in 1 1/2 hours of traveling. Besides the fridge not running he is losing cold from somewhere. I suspect when plugged in the compressor runs all the time, and gets cold, despite losing cold. Not very efficent but still keeping contents cold. If it is not the door gaskets perhaps the refrigerator box has a crack in it somewhere but the cold is diffently escaping.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by jimcol

I'll have to disagree with your assesment on this one. I said in my reply the OP has another problem. The OP said his refrigerator went from cold to 60 in 1 1/2 hours of traveling. Besides the fridge not running he is losing cold from somewhere. I suspect when plugged in the compressor runs all the time, and gets cold, despite losing cold. Not very efficent but still keeping contents cold. If it is not the door gaskets perhaps the refrigerator box has a crack in it somewhere but the cold is diffently escaping.

Ok. But why does it cool when he is plugged in. I do agree it’s getting hot way too fast and why is his battery at over 13 volts?
Something is going on we don’t know about.
Lynwood

[77cruiser]

Battery is over 13v when hooked to the truck. Checked the door gaskets all seemed tight. Agreed it should hold cold longer.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by 77cruiser

Battery is over 13v when hooked to the truck. Checked the door gaskets all seemed tight. Agreed it should hold cold longer.

Ok. What was the voltage in your camper battery?
If you unhook the refrigerator what is the temperature in it in the same amount of time?
Lynwood

[77cruiser]

Originally Posted by mlh

Ok. What was the voltage in your camper battery?
If you unhook the refrigerator what is the temperature in it in the same amount of time?
Lynwood

That was the camper battery.
I don't know never tried.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by 77cruiser

Today about an 1 1/2 hrs. into the trip I stopped & checked, fridge was 60 already. Fired up the generator I brought this time 2 hrs. we got to out spot fridge was at 36.
I think I'm going to grab a new battery & see what happens.
GFCI wasn't tripped.

When you stopped today what was the voltage in your camper battery when unhooked from your truck? Sounds to me your refrigerator isn’t running while you are on the battery. As others have stated you could have a problem with the refrigerator warming up to fast but that’s isn’t why it’s warming up while you are traveling.
Lynwood

[RMcNeal]

Originally Posted by 77cruiser

Battery is over 13v when hooked to the truck. Checked the door gaskets all seemed tight. Agreed it should hold cold longer.

Just re-read the posts. If you are testing voltage of the battery with truck hooked up and running, then you are reading voltage supplied by the truck and not necessarily the battery's voltage. Disconnect all power from the battery and let it sit disconnected for 1/2 hour to equalize, then test voltage. It should read around 12.6 if fully charged, not 13+. Even better, you might try taking the battery to be load tested at an auto parts store.
I have only 1 group 27 battery and it can run our fridge just fine indefinitely when the truck is supplying charge to it during travel. I typically only travel about 4-6 hours at most since DW has medical issues that prevent longer travel days. If your inverter is similar or same as ours, it will not produce power if battery voltage drops below a set amount. If memory serves, that is around the 12 volt mark, maybe a little less. The protective circuit in the inverter is set this way to keep from destroying your battery.
I'm still suspecting your problem is the battery based on your troubleshooting so far.

[mlh]

I agree with RMcNeal. You have a bad battery. Get a new one. I would suggest a lithium battery. Lion Energy and I’m sure others make a great one.
Lynwood