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  1. #1
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    Residential Refrigerator While Towing?

    We have the Samsung residential refrigerator with the inverter in our Solitude 2930. Is it ok to have it turned on while towing? We have turned it on. After our last trip we arrived with a dead battery. I had to purchase a new battery. Arriving home, it read 12.1 volts. My question, is the refrigerator draining my battery because the truck can't keep it charged up? Do you guys' tow with your refrigerator turned on? Would installing a second battery help? Is there another solution.?
    2020 Solitude 2930RL
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  2. #2
    Site Sponsor NB Canada's Avatar
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    The fridges uses the inverter which uses the battery so it will deplete it

    Are you sure the truck is charging it?

    It should keep up if the battery is in good condition
    2021 Imagine 2400 BH
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  3. #3
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    We had a motor home with a 120VAC fridge on an inverter and our current RV has a 12VDC compressor fridge. Neither ever ran the battery down while on the road. I think further testing is in order. As NB Canada says, the charge circuit may not be working properly, or your battery has reached the end of it’s life.
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    You will get very little charging of the battery from the truck. The wiring isn't set up to supply much amperage, so the residential fridge could very well be draining the battery faster than the truck can recharge it. A lot depends on how long you're traveling.
    Howard and Peggy
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    Site Sponsor NB Canada's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hoopy Frood View Post
    You will get very little charging of the battery from the truck. The wiring isn't set up to supply much amperage, so the residential fridge could very well be draining the battery faster than the truck can recharge it. A lot depends on how long you're traveling.
    I can’t imagine a sealed fridge is running that much to not allow the truck to keep up
    2021 Imagine 2400 BH
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    Quote Originally Posted by NB Canada View Post
    I can’t imagine a sealed fridge is running that much to not allow the truck to keep up
    But the fridge isn't the only thing running off the battery, and the truck supplies very little amperage. Depends on what all is running besides the fridge.
    Howard and Peggy
    2019 Momentum 351M, and 2018 RAM Cummins dually 6-speed.
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by fam5mel View Post
    We have the Samsung residential refrigerator with the inverter in our Solitude 2930. Is it ok to have it turned on while towing? We have turned it on. After our last trip we arrived with a dead battery. I had to purchase a new battery. Arriving home, it read 12.1 volts. My question, is the refrigerator draining my battery because the truck can't keep it charged up? Do you guys' tow with your refrigerator turned on? Would installing a second battery help? Is there another solution.?
    Something is off, I have the same residential and a 2017 GMC. Maybe something else on in the trailer and using power?

    Draw will vary based on temps etc. On average the charge from my truck accounts for 75% of what the trailer draws during towing while running the fridge off the inverter. It may run at a 3/4 amp hour. Even a 10hr towing day should be ok with a regular battery. Its been the same on my current 2021 375 and previous 2017 377.

    I run 400ah of lithium's so its a non issue regardless but I watch the Victron battery monitor and that draw is fairly consistent. An average 8hr pulling day will use 30/35ah. Pulling at night its almost a wash.
    2021 Solitude 375 RES-R
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    Add another battery or add 200W of solar.
    Not res but 12V fridge and I have solar and when leaving a dry CG after 3-4 days camping my batteries are down some. By the time I get to another CG or home the batteries are fully charged from the solar. The cool thing about solar is when in between trips the solar keeps the batteries fully charged.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by fam5mel View Post
    We have the Samsung residential refrigerator with the inverter in our Solitude 2930. Is it ok to have it turned on while towing? We have turned it on. After our last trip we arrived with a dead battery. I had to purchase a new battery. Arriving home, it read 12.1 volts. My question, is the refrigerator draining my battery because the truck can't keep it charged up? Do you guys' tow with your refrigerator turned on? Would installing a second battery help? Is there another solution.?
    We have the Samsung Residential fridge also. If you do the math from the manual, the fridge will draw about 30 amps into the inverter when operating. The energy guide (yellow tag) data gives a 20% duty cycle so you can figure 6 to 7 amps average battery draw into the inverter, IF your fridge was cold at the start of the trip. If it was not cold, figure 30 amps battery draw for the first several hours.

    It seems that the TV should provide enough current to handle the draw if the fridge is cold at the start. Ours doesn’t. I’m don’t know enough about the current capability of the 12v+ circuit in the 7-way plug to really understand what is going on here. We have 300 watts of solar so no problems on a sunny day. If I didn’t have solar, I might consider a beefier circuit from the TV and a DC-DC charger. In any case, 200ah of LiFePo4 would solve the problem.
    Last edited by Tom Traveler; 03-15-2023 at 01:21 PM.
    2021 Solitude 380FL-R
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  10. #10
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    On average, going down the road, the fridge pulls (and whatever other loads there are plus inverter losses) about 10 amps per hour. More if its really hot, less when its cooler. (if already cooled as @Tom Traveler states). My truck puts back around 7 amps per hour.
    2021 Solitude 375 RES-R
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