nooga Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I have a gas/110 volt Dometic fridge. Is there any way to easily add 12 volt capability to make it a 3-way cooling unit? I prefer redundancy in MH appliances whenever possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Yes and No. The easiest way would be to get a high power inverter (converts 12Volts DC to 110 volts AC). and if you find you ran out of propane and are woried about the beer getting warm, you could plug the frig into your inverter and press on. The frig would be operating on 110 volts, but the 12 volt inverter would be supplying the 110 volts in stead of shore power. I have a 2000 watt unit that could easily handle the frig, but I have never used it for that. I have my inverter installed under the bench seat, and have several "extension" inverter outlets mounted around the Toyhouse. One of these inverter outlets is located so I can open up the outside frig access compartment, and plug power tools or radio or whatever, while sitting outside. Of course if worst come to worst, I could plug the frig into this outlet.If you look carefully in the photo, you can see the frig is plugged into a normal outlet on the left side4 of the compartment. I'm using the inverter to power an electric drill thats plugged into the inverter outlet on the right side of the compartment. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I have a gas/110 volt Dometic fridge. Is there any way to easily add 12 volt capability to make it a 3-way cooling unit? I prefer redundancy in MH appliances whenever possible. I've got a RV with a 5 cubic foot AC refrigerator that is just AC and runs off a 1500 watt inverter. Winnebago used to factory-install big Norcold refrigerators that were AC and had a small inverter built into the back. I assume you realize how inefficient an absorption refrigerator is when run on electric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nooga Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Thanks. Inverters are the way to go. Seems to be handy devices even if I stick to propane to keep beer cold while driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 They are energy hogs and they won't run long with just the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 What's an energy hog? The inverter or the absorbtion refrigerator? Any inverter I've got is at ;least 88% efficient and some are 94% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Running the inverter/ refrig combo will draw some hefty 12 volt amps (around 10-12 amps). Probably not recommended if your parked somewhere overnight. However, if you find you need to do this, you'll probably need to run the truck a couple times to re-charge the coach battery. I don't think I would leave this on all night, it would defiantly kill the battery by morning. (Actually, you'll probably be awoken by the low voltage alarm on the inverter)I installed a remote starter on my truck just for this purpose. hit the start button, truck starts, runs for about 15 min, then shuts off. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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