I'm looking to fit a protable fridge/cooler into my van and I've ended up at the compressor Waeco range. The 12/110/240v version is about twice the price of the 110/240v version. I've got a 600W inverter in the van which has a 1500W surge capacity.

I'm thinking of just getting the 110/240v version and running it off the inverter, and views on this? It's 65W in use, don't know what surge on startup is. The 12v version is about 45W in use I think.

I've read that the compressor in the non-12v version is more reliable and we'll often be somewhere where we can also get a mains hookup. The other things I'll be running off the inverter are (microwave, PS3, laptop, hairdryer, several fans). No only kidding , just an LCD TV which uses about 35W. This all runs of a secondary battery split charged.

Just wanted to know if there was any reason I should definately not do this or if anyone has experience of long term running using an inverter (for any equipment)

thanks

Wilbo

 

Strange for me to see a 3 way fridge being all electric. Do other European countries use 110?

It seems that on RV.net, when people's propane fridges fail, and they see the price to fix it or replace it, some decide to get a residential fridge and run it off an inverter.

I did consider it as well, but went and got a 12DC/120AC Norcold for these reasons.
It uses less electricity.
Inverters are noisy. They must be left on all the time, and the fridge will only run 20 minutes out of an hour. During that time they have a standby current which depending on the inverter can use .5 amps to 1.5 amps per hour.
Some compressor motors do not like Modified Sine wave inverters. They either will not run, or overheat, and die prematurely.

Some compressor motors might only draw 45 watts, but require a start up surge many times higher, and might need an 800 watt inverter just to start it. If you have anything else running, it might not like that, and drop out, or off.

Inverters are at best 90% efficient.

Most AC/dc Fridges are designed to go into sailboats, and are designed to be able to operate at angles upto 30 degrees. Residential fridges are not designed for this. I don't know if it will damage them, or just make them work poorly, or not at all.

I don't know what brands you have available in England, but look into.
ARB
ENGEL
Norcold
Isotherm
Novakool
Vitrifrigo.

Something with a danfoss bd35 compressor. Goto the local Marinas and talk to some boat people and see what fridges they use and like and are available in your area.

My Norcold does not have a danfoss, and is louder than I like. It draws about 35 watts when the compressor is running, which under 30% of the time.

I have added extra cooling fans inside and out which greatly reduce duty cycle, and added extra external insulation. Whatever you get, you must design the cabinet so it can vent the hot air that it removes from the interior. Without this, it will not work well, and suffer an early demise.

 

When we had the fridge die in our camper, we replaced it with a dorm fridge. The reason being, everywhere we camped we had 30Amp service.

First, before leaving on the trip, we would plug in the fridge overnight with our stuff inside. We set the fridge to be slightly cooler than normal. When we arrived at the campgrounds, we plugged in and then used the fridge like normal.

We never used power invertors for the fridge. Our fridge was made by Whirlpool. The Norcold unit was old and a heavy piece of junk.

Here's a link on what I did ...
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...pging/1/page/1