residential frig w/modified sine wave inverter

[bags]

I have a Xantrex 458 2000 watt MSW inverter. I want to install a smaller residential frig (15.5 cubic foot) frig (GTS16GSHSS) and run it of the inverter when traveling and very in occasional boon docking. I have not been able to find the wattage or running g amps of the frig and GE tech support was no help. I have several questions and am looking for real world experience. I have researched the web and have found several post saying it will and several saying it should not. I am aware that excess heating might be an issue. My inverter is 93% efficient at peak and 85% at full load.

 

1. Has anyone run their frig on a MSW inverter and what was your experience?

 

2. Has anyone just left the power off when driving down the road and what was you experience.

 

3. I have been advised to install an 800 or 1000 watt dedicated PSW inverter to solve this issue. Is this necessary and will it help?

 

All help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

JMB

 

EDIT I have a Onan 6500 generator, 4 6 volt golf cart batteries and plenty of solar panels to change it all except on very cloudy days.

[Darryl&Rita]

Kill-a-watt.

 

1.Running a Fridgidaire on the same inverter.

 

2. Keep the door shut, and it'll stay cold for most of a days' travel. This is assuming temps inside the unit remain comfortable, not unusually hot.

 

3. Depending on what the readings on the Kill-a-watt show. Starting current may be too high for an 800 watt.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We have a 10 year old Amana refrigerator that has been connected to a Magnum 2800 watt MSW inverter since the beginning.

 

There has been no problem in running the refrigerator in cooling or freezer action. However, the circuit board that opens the ice chute was replaced twice and after the second replacement failed, we decided to not replace it again.

 

The board would burn a couple of components from the voltage spikes in the MSW output when on the inverter.

 

That is a 2005 refrigerator. Most of the current refrigerators have more sophisticated power supplies where they convert the input AC into DC voltages to be used for the various functions in the refrigerator.

 

Hindsight, a couple of hundred dollars extra for a PSW would have been a better choice.

[bags]

thanks for all input. Mark, how often do you run your frig on inverter and did the failed board shut down the frig?

[oldjohnt]

John, good questions, and as I'm sure you're well aware, NO ONE can provide any exact answers regarding Inverter rating and specs UNLESS AND UNTIL we know the starting and running energy requirements. That being said and noted, here are my engineering thoughts:

 

 

1. Has anyone run their frig on a MSW inverter and what was your experience?

 

NOT ME I've ran mine on a PSW, HOWEVER if you study and read up on this subject, I have observed that while some have experienced problems using some brands and sizes of MSW Inverters to power a fridge, YOU HEAR OF VERY FEW IF ANY PROBLEMS IF USING A PROPER SIZED PSW Draw your own conclusions, those are my observations

 

2. Has anyone just left the power off when driving down the road and what was you experience.

 

YES and if I drove say 6 to 8 hours the fridge NOT opened, my "beverage" was COOL but no longer COLD. Regardless what anyone says and subject to the size and contents and insulation and starting fridge temp YOU CANT DEFY THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS. Its all a matter of how much temperature rise is acceptable. Obviously the temperature will eventually rise (subject to size and contents and insulation) so if the temp still suits you after x hours FINE NO PROBLEM. ALSO it takes x amount of energy to extract heat from the fridge interior and once allowed to warm up it takes x energy to remove that heat all over again, so once you arrive and turn the fridge back on, if you're dry camping IT TAKES A LOT OF BATTERY POWER TO COOL IT BACK DOWN REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!

 

3. I have been advised to install an 800 or 1000 watt dedicated PSW inverter to solve this issue. Is this necessary and will it help?

 

My "advice" would be to install a new single PSW Inverter with a sufficient rating to Start and Run your fridge PLUS your other typical relatively smaller electronic loads and allow for expansion. If you wish to install a new dedicated PSW to run the fridge ONLY that's certainly a viable "option" and your "choice". I happen to have a 2000 Watt PSW now dedicated to run my fridge plus a few light loads like electronic chargers. (NOTE I believe a 1000 would have worked, but theres a sweet price spot to consider when choosing an inverter to get the most bang for the buck and allow for expansion) The reason I have two PSW Inverters is because I already had a smaller one for electronics that wasn't big enough to run my new fridge, but if I were starting over I would likely go with just one single big enough PSW. An Inverter is not 100% efficient and there are heat losses so the more of them you use the more wasted heat energy.

 

NOTE 1: If you know the fridge start up current DO NOTTTTTTTTTT assume an Inverter with a so called "surge rating" of X Watts will allow the fridge to start !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What I'm saying is DO NOT size the Inverter so close where you would have to rely heavy on its surge rating to start the fridge IE size it such that its rating is sufficient to start the fridge and then there will be no problem. I'm NOT saying its rating has to be such that the fridges start up current is required constantly I'm ONLY saying don't cut it too close or you could have starting problems.... I HAVE TO USE FUDGE FACTORS AND ALLLOW WIGGLE ROOM SINCE I DONT KNOW THE FRIDGES ACTUAL REQUIREMENTS MIND YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

NOTE 2: I have observed instances where an X watt inverter would NOT start a certain fridge when X Gauge wire fed the inverter from the batteries HOWEVER the same inverter and same fridge started when bigger wire was used. MORAL OF THE STORY USE BIG ENOUGH WIRE FROM BATTERIES TO INVERTER (to reduce voltage drop) and, of course, close to batteries is best where safely possible.

 

That's the best I have to offer not having any exact info to start with. I'm NOT a fridge mechanic or Mechanical or Thermo Engineer SO NO WARRANTY See what the "experts" have to say, compute your actual loads (start and run), then size the Inverter and my choice would be PSW but many MSW would work on many fridges, will yours??????????????

 

John T

[jerryneal]

You may want to put an amp meter in line and test the compressor amp kick while your connected to shore power. I have a 15.5ci Frigidaire connected to a 1000 watt PSW inveter. The compressor causes a 7.5 amp kick (900 Watts) for about a second. While runnig, it draws .6 amps. My inverter supports a 2000 watt spike without shutting off.

 

Winter months aren't a problem running without power and keep things cold, but the frozen items get soft in the summer without the inverter. It's also nice to have the inverter if we stop for the evening at a Walmart. With 4 golf cart batteries we can go for about 70 hours till the batteries drop to 50%.

[AFchap]

We have a Frigidaire home refrigerator and decided we did not need to run on inverter. When the weather is warm enough that our day's travel would allow the contents to warm up too much we are running the generator anyway for the ac system, so the refrigerator is powered too.

[acampingwewillgo]

I have the older Freedom series 2500 watt MSW that I use all the time while when traveling down the road for my Residential Refer...have used it for about 4 years now with no issues. I asked these same questions when I put the refer in and was told by those in the know, that some of the older MSW are pretty close to the wavelength in a PSW inverter. So I guess my 1996 model qualified!

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

thanks for all input. Mark, how often do you run your frig on inverter and did the failed board shut down the frig?

The Amana ran on the inverter anytime the shore power was off. There never was an off period.

 

I clearly said that only the ice door chute function was disabled with the failed door.

[Jack Mayer]

John, I'd recommend adding a separate PSW inverter. This Kisea will do the job just fine. You can get a remote switch and the 15 amp transfer switch at the bottom of that page. This is an inverter-only. You need to add the transfer switch. I do not recommend running with the fridge off. It can certainly be done, but most fridges heat up more than I would like to see, and they take a while to cool. If you boondock at the end of a fridge-off run you will really be pushing things with your battery bank. Running on a sunny day you will use no power - the solar array will restore everything used. You should start the evening with a full battery bank.

[bags]

thanks to everybody for your sage response. Just what I was looking for.

 

JB