Will 1,000 watt inverter run the refrigerator going down the road

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PatrioticStabilist said:
I didn't know it was unsafe to run the fridge on propane going down the road.  I've driven over 15000 miles with it that way.  I leave it on automatic and let it flip to whatever it needs to while traveling.  I do turn it off when filling the gas tank though or refilling the propane tank. Am I wrong?
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That would be a Chevy/Ford thing. I turn mine off because I can't imagine that it would be safer leaving it on.
 
I am not aware of any documented issues caused by running the fridge on propane while driving and I would not have any concern about running mine on propane.  The only reason we don't is to save propane.
 
I have driven vehicles powered by propane since I was a teenager many years ago. Propane and gasoline are both quite dangerous if not treated with respect.  I have no more fear running down the highway with the propane powering my refrigerator, furnace, or whatever than I do running down the highway with a full tank of gasoline.  At least the propane tank is much less likely to rupture in an accident than the gasoline tank is !!!
 
My inverter supplies the ice maker power but not the fridge. Icemaker and fridge have separate power cords and there are two outlets at the back of the fridge. If I need to, I can swap the cords so that the fridge gets inverter power and the icemaker not. Or I could probably put a cube tap on the inverter outlet and power both of them from it.
 
Don't have a MH, but we have always used the fridge in our TT's and 5vr while driving, have to close the propane in tunnels (once) and should turn off the fridge prior to fueling.  Been doing this for years, wouldn't want melted ice cream sandwiches!
 
I'm brand new to this forum, so forgive me if I'm "re-energizing" an older post.  I, too have a 2011 Sightseer 33c and have had no luck running the refrig via the inverter.  I suspect this model does not wire from the inverter to the refrig.  Anybody have any other information on the 2011 Sightseer inverter-to-refrig?  Otherwise, I've been very pleased with this model of RV. :)
 
Here's the Body, 110 Volt Wiring Diagram for your coach (2011 Sightseer 33C).  According to it your inverter powers the following:  Bedroom TV receptacle, Bedroom desk receptacle, External TV receptacle, 3 receptacles up front, Side TV or Dinette receptacle.  The fridge is not on the inverter.
 
Hi,
Two points:

a. I see no problem with using propane for the refrigerator on the road; we've always done it that way.

b. If the refrigerator outlet is not on the inverter, it would be simple to run a new outlet from the inverter; or if your refrigerator is in the slide just trace the wires back and connect to the inverter output instead of the std. power. I'd suggest you get an electrician to check the wiring and make the actual connection if you're not familiar with wiring.

Ernie
 
SargeW said:
I added one by jumping off of an existing plug that I know is powered by the inverter. In this case it was an outlet that powered my exterior TV.  All of the TV's in my rig are on circuits that are powered by the inverter.  Here is a link to the post with some pics that I made here on the forum  http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=43318.msg399951#msg399951 

Let me know if you have any questions about it.
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Nice write up and pictures
 
My 1500 (rated) watt inverter powers the entire coach. It leaves it up to me where I want to get my 1500 watts from, and sometimes I don't think it really gives me 1500 watts. If I over do it, the inverter shuts every thing down til I turn something off, then it resets itself.  It does not like the microwave at all and I quit running the fridge off of it, even going down the road, because I don't think it puts out a full 120 volts, and the fridge did'nt seem like it was getting near as cold as it does on true AC or propane.
  I've heard you can't get an accurate voltage measurement from an inverter with a normal voltage tester so I don't know how I can test my Cobra inverter to see how many watts it truly puts out or even how many volts, does any one know how it can be tested?
 
max49 said:
...  I've heard you can't get an accurate voltage measurement from an inverter with a normal voltage tester so I don't know how I can test my Cobra inverter to see how many watts it truly puts out or even how many volts, does any one know how it can be tested?
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You need a fancier digital voltmeter that measures RMS voltage (root mean square) when measuring the voltage of a stepped, square wave, or modified square wave AC inverter.  If you have a pure sine wave inverter, any AC meter will read accurately.

The wattage your inverter is capable of will be found in its specifications.
 
Chris,
Thank you very much!  I've looked at those drawings before and had never seen that particular one.  I predict that I will rarely use the inverter, but would have loved to have run the fridge en-route.  Might have to put on my electrician's hat.

Thanks for the welcome, John.

Dave Mills
 
BTW:  Thanks to all of you for your tips.  We've ran the propane for frig use for years in our older class c, even underway.  I guess we'll do the same with this one, until I re-wire to the inverter.  Two year retirement countdown and then we will continually adjust the "flip flop thermometer".
 
The most common reason for an inverter to "shut down" is low input DC voltage. To get even 1000 watts from an inverter, it has to pull about 90 amps from the battery bank and a 90 amp draw will drop the voltage very quickly unless the battery bank is both large (at least 400 amp hours) and in top notch condition.  1500 watts requires the ability to deliver a sustained 140 amps from the batteries and most RV battery banks cannot do that for more than a few minutes.

A microwave is a huge power hog and some models require almost the full output of a 15 amp, 120v circuit. That's actually more than a 1500 watt inverter can deliver for more than a few moments, plus its a 175 amp draw on  the batteries while it runs. Even a small microwave will likely use 1000-1200 watts @120v.
 
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