Inverter/Refrigerator 2020 Vita 24P

[cstarchers]

When I unplug from shorepower(house), tried to turn on Inverter to power
compressor refrig. The Inverter will turn off (no power to refrig).
Batteries are fully charged. However, when I plugged the 30 amp power cable into generator 4x4 box next to power cable inside rv, it seems to work fine with out tripping Inverter. Is this the correct method, the manual has no mention of this, but keeping cable on ground to test system did not work. New to RV's and sorry if it an obvious answer. I know power cord must be plugged into box while driving to use generator.

Thank You

Chuck

[Winterbagoal]

Is the coach battery enable/disable switch enabled? The coach batteries feed the inverter and should be enabled.
When you plug the shore power cable into shore or the generator with the coach battery e/d switch in the disabled position, shore power will force it to be enabled even though the switch is disabled.
Try it. Look for the green light.
At least that's how it works for me.

[cstarchers]

Yes - the coach battery switch is on.
I wanted to try running the refrigerator powered only by the Inverter
For some reason, unless the power cord was actually plugged into the generator receptacle (versus just laying on the ground during test) the Inverter would shut off once the refrig was turned on.
I just am curious why the power cord needs to be plugged into receptacle to
allow Inverter to stay on. I am fine if this is the case, just not sure why this is a must (not documented).

Thank You

Chuck

[Winterbagoal]

Coach batteries OK? Only other reason i can think of.

[lenore]

The inverter should turn on without the cord plugged into the shore or generator plug. Either the coach batteries are not at 12.5 volts or the inverter auto switch is not working. Note the auto switch is not in the inverter but located on the floor next to inverter. Please note try not to switch to inverter with shore power or generator running until the generator comes up to load. There is also a GFCI on the inverter, Even though the green light is on you may still not have power to Refrigerator. Unfortunately to check this you have to remove the cabinet floor panel under the sink and the bottom drawer to access this GFCI reset button. Quick check is to plug something in the GFCI on the inverter and see if you have power out. Also highly recommend joining the Vita/Porto facebook group. It is only our motorhomes and we have some very talented people with lots of good info and fixes.

[al1florida]

Originally Posted by cstarchers

When I unplug from shorepower(house), tried to turn on Inverter to power
compressor refrig. The Inverter will turn off (no power to refrig).
Batteries are fully charged. However, when I plugged the 30 amp power cable into generator 4x4 box next to power cable inside rv, it seems to work fine with out tripping Inverter. Is this the correct method, the manual has no mention of this, but keeping cable on ground to test system did not work. New to RV's and sorry if it an obvious answer. I know power cord must be plugged into box while driving to use generator.

Thank You

Chuck

To be clear:
Are you saying that the fridge works fine with the the inverter on, without the generator running, only when the shore power cord is plugged into the generator 4x4 box?

Most unusual if that is the case. I have never heard of that being a requirement.

[cstarchers]

I believe the batteries are not holding charge and causing all the issues.

As soon as I disconnect from shorepower, the voltage starts dropping.

Refrig will only work now while plugged into shorepower.

They are Napa wet batteries and I believe they are in need of replacement.

I will be changing to AGM - would appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks You

Chuck

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by cstarchers

I will be changing to AGM - would appreciate any recommendations.

My recommendation is to read up on batteries a lot, a lot. These are big subjects that have a lot of nuances.

First... what batteries do you have now? How many? What Amp Hour rating? What Group Size are they and how big is the battery compartment to fit different or greater quantity?

PS. It would take a lot of abuse for the batteries in a 2020 motorhome to already be ruined. Are you sure they are not salvageable? More study and testing is required.

[creativepart]

One more thing... if your fridge is an RV Absorbtion fridge, aka dual fuel it is not meant to be run on the inverter. Yes, it can but it will drain your batteries very fast.

When on Shore power / generator run the fridge on AC or Auto.

When not on any outside power source run the fridge on Propane.

Running your RV fridge on inverter/battery power will drain your batteries very quickly.

[al1florida]

To add to what CreativePart wrote:

My 4 door gas/elect fridge when operated in elect mode through the inverter pulls about 25amp of 12V DC. If your RV has 2 house batteries, you probably have a max battery capacity of 200 amp hours. This gives you a useable capacity of about 100 AH (50% charged). If your batteries are in good condition and fully charged, only about 3-4 hours of operating the fridge will use the 100AH of your battery capacity. You could very well have only about 150AH of total battery and that is if your batteries are fully charged and good condition.

About your battery voltage dropping.

When you have been on shore power for a few hours to get your batteries charged and then disconnect from shore power you batteries will have a surface charge of around 13.2 volts. Hitting them with the 25-30 amps load will quickly drop the voltage to the full charge voltage of 12.5-12.6 volts.

Now 3-4 hours of running the fridge will pull those batteries down to around 12V or lower depending on condition of your batteries and if you really have 200AH of battery. You could very well have only about 150AH of total battery.

Additionally, if your batteries were previously discharged to 50% full it take 8-12 hours of shore power to get them fully charged. If they were discharged even farther, say to a voltage of 11.5V or lower it can take 24 hours of shore power to get them charged.

[lenore]

Originally Posted by creativepart

One more thing... if your fridge is an RV Absorbtion fridge, aka dual fuel it is not meant to be run on the inverter. Yes, it can but it will drain your batteries very fast.

When on Shore power / generator run the fridge on AC or Auto.

When not on any outside power source run the fridge on Propane.

Running your RV fridge on inverter/battery power will drain your batteries very quickly.

The Vita and Porto Motorhomes use a household Compressor style Refrigerator so we have no alternative other than run inverter or generator or shore power. They are definetly a weak point for boondocking. However I have ran for three days with solar, and conserving. I will be adding more solar, and someday change batteries for a better solution.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by lenore

The Vita and Porto Motorhomes use a household Compressor style Refrigerator so we have no alternative other than run inverter or generator or shore power. They are definetly a weak point for boondocking. However I have ran for three days with solar, and conserving. I will be adding more solar, and someday change batteries for a better solution.

Good answers.
Our Navion has that same issue, but I added a 3rd panel, and swapped in 2 X 100Ah Relion low temp series lithium batteries and now things are stable. The factory installed batteries were pretty much toast after about 10,000 miles of travel and use, off grid. I just added a propane solenoid vampire "fix", and hope it cuts the power consumption when we need to use propane for the Truma, the furnace, or the cooktop. Most people who add this 12V to 5V, DC to DC step down buck converter fix, say it cuts power consumption by about 80%.
It's all about the off grid camping, no?

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by lenore

The Vita and Porto Motorhomes use a household Compressor style Refrigerator so we have no alternative other than run inverter or generator or shore power.

I can see WBGO putting 12v compressor fridges in these RVs, but 110v seems problematic as others here have commented.

I was not aware of the fridges in these models. However, even a 110v compressor fridge will not use as much power running on batteries/inverter as a RV Absorption fridge would use on inverter. So there is that.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by creativepart

I can see WBGO putting 12v compressor fridges in these RVs, but 110v seems problematic as others here have commented.

I was not aware of the fridges in these models. However, even a 110v compressor fridge will not use as much power running on batteries/inverter as a RV Absorption fridge would use on inverter. So there is that.

The DC electric powered heating element on an absorption fridge is a battery killer, for sure. Been there, done that, couldn't afford the T-shirt.
It gets worse of you've got a 2018 View/Navion (like mine) with the DC only Norcold. The batteries are always in play when the fridge is on, and you're off grid. Plugging in/solar/generator all help mitigate the power situation. The worst part is the compressor/fridge can draw around 6.5 amps when running. Talk about vampire draws on your power supply.

[DavidM]

Originally Posted by creativepart

I can see WBGO putting 12v compressor fridges in these RVs, but 110v seems problematic as others here have commented.

I was not aware of the fridges in these models. However, even a 110v compressor fridge will not use as much power running on batteries/inverter as a RV Absorption fridge would use on inverter. So there is that.

That is a bit of an overstatement about absorption fridges running on batteries/inverter.

Yes if you set your absorption fridge to run on DC only or worse AC from an inverter it will draw a lot of power. But if you run it on propane as it is designed to do while dry camping it draws only a tenth of an amp or so to power the controls/ignitor or 2-3 Amp hours daily (excluding any frost heater which can/should be disconnected). I have measured those values with a DC clamp on ammeter on my absorption fridge.

Using battery power to produce heat is a horrible waste of energy, probably only 15% efficient overall, compared to propane which is probably 80% efficient. For the eco minded .

David

[cstarchers]

The compressor refrigerator is only powered by 110V or Batteries.
It works while driving with Inverter on or Generator on or Shorepower.
However, it will shut off once its compressor kicks on while unplugged.
Initially thought 1000W Inverter would not allow initial load from compressor,
but I believe the batteries are not holding charge. They are about 2 years
old,Napa Deep Cycle wet battery. 2020 Winnebago Class C Vita built on
4/2019 but not sold until 1/2020. Probably sat on lot in winter without
charging, and batteries will probably need replaced. Solar panels weren't
charging due to bad fuse up on roof. Very frustrating.

[lenore]

Originally Posted by cstarchers

The compressor refrigerator is only powered by 110V or Batteries.
It works while driving with Inverter on or Generator on or Shorepower.
However, it will shut off once its compressor kicks on while unplugged.
Initially thought 1000W Inverter would not allow initial load from compressor,
but I believe the batteries are not holding charge. They are about 2 years
old,Napa Deep Cycle wet battery. 2020 Winnebago Class C Vita built on
4/2019 but not sold until 1/2020. Probably sat on lot in winter without
charging, and batteries will probably need replaced. Solar panels weren't
charging due to bad fuse up on roof. Very frustrating.

So sorry to hear that. Have you checked water levels in the batteries. They are not AGM. Pull sticker back and see. Maybe they can be saved for awhile.