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I currently have a battery minder brand unit connected to a normal 110v outlet on the side of a building. Are you suggesting to get a 50amp->110 adapter and use that cable to trickle charge it through the camper's electrical system? Is 110v enough to do so?
Thanks again for the help, sorry for the delay in responding.
Thats right, the campers converter will keep the battery charged and will run fine off of your 15 or 20 amp 110V outlet. Just get the adapter you mentioned (commonly called a "dogbone" due to its shape) and plug the camper in. Be careful what else you turn on in the camper its easy to overload the outlet, that will not damage anything, but will trip the breaker in your house. Some people keep a small lamp on in the trailer near a window so you can see the power is on in the trailer.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
I called grand design - the only way to disconnect the fridge is to remove it from the enclosure/cabinet of the slide and get to a fuse that is behind the unit. Other than that, you have to remove the battery connection as the disconnect doesn't apply to the fridge.
Sorry, I may not have been clear with the intent of my comment. "Disconnect" and "Turn Off" are two separate topics.
In the Furrion manual, there's a LOW POWER refrigerator mode that is accomplished by holding down the FUNCTION button for 5 seconds. This turns off the interior lights, compressor and defroster. Effectively turning off the refrigerator (except for, I'm assuming, the control panel so it can respond to another 5 second holding down of the FUNCTION button to turn back on).
See page 12 of the manual. It's under the heading STORAGE / WINTERIZATION.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Thats right, the campers converter will keep the battery charged and will run fine off of your 15 or 20 amp 110V outlet.
Ok, that's ideal. So the 110v from the 15amp wall outlet should keep the battery trickling when the fridge is in low power mode / vacation mode or at least during the off part of its cycle.
In the Furrion manual, there's a LOW POWER refrigerator mode that is accomplished by holding down the FUNCTION button for 5 seconds.
I was reading this manual and I placed the fridge in "Off Grid Vacation Mode (Holiday Mode)". I am guessing the LOW POWER mode is slighly less cooling and less power draw than VACATION mode?
If in LOW POWER mode will I be able to be keep the fridge doors closed or do I need to open them to prevent mildew? Thanks again for helping me out!
cwhettinger , take my advice with a huge grain of salt - I have the 16 CU Furrion, the factory 165 W solar panel, and dealer installed lead acid batteries (2.) Once I figure out how to turn off the factory disconnect key in the passthrough area AND how to turn off the Furrion (the 5 second hold as Howard mentioned above) I have found the solar was able to keep the two batteries charged while the trailer was in storage for a couple of weeks. When there's no snow covering the roof and the sun is out.
Mike and Rebecca
2022 Reflection 150 260RD, October 2021 build date.
2001 Chev 2500 HD 8.1 liter 4x4
Ok, that's ideal. So the 110v from the 15amp wall outlet should keep the battery trickling when the fridge is in low power mode / vacation mode or at least during the off part of its cycle.
Thats right. That is how most of us maintain our batteries when not in use with access to a regular outlet. You will still need to do regular battery maintenance (water levels etc) but the converter is a multistage charger with a float mode that should do a good job of maintaining them.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
cwhettinger , take my advice with a huge grain of salt - I have the 16 CU Furrion, the factory 165 W solar panel, and dealer installed lead acid batteries (2.) Once I figure out how to turn off the factory disconnect key in the passthrough area AND how to turn off the Furrion (the 5 second hold as Howard mentioned above) I have found the solar was able to keep the two batteries charged while the trailer was in storage for a couple of weeks. When there's no snow covering the roof and the sun is out.
Appreciate this input, thank you for describing your experience. I am figuring out a couple things at the same time here and you've helped a lot.
1- Can I charge the battery off solar and run the fridge -> seems to be no, it would need to be in LOW POWER MODE to be able to have a positive charge trend
2- With it hooked up to shore power with 110v 15-20amp, can I charge the battery and run in VACATION MODE -> I believe the answer to this is yes, but I will have to test and find out.
I have plans to add lithium batteries to my rig but that will require a new charge controller and that is more than I can do before we want to get enjoying this thing!
Thats right. That is how most of us maintain our batteries when not in use with access to a regular outlet. You will still need to do regular battery maintenance (water levels etc) but the converter is a multistage charger with a float mode that should do a good job of maintaining them.
Thank you for the explanation - I am going to put the trickle charger away in favor of this much simpler setup! I am hoping the 110v 15-20amp can power the fridge in VACATION mode (says it draws 5.3amp/hour) and keep the battery topped off or at least in a safe place. If I put it in LOW POWER MODE i think I will have to prop the doors open as it will basically be off if I'm understanding your posts and the manual correctly.
Thank you for the explanation - I am going to put the trickle charger away in favor of this much simpler setup! I am hoping the 110v 15-20amp can power the fridge in VACATION mode (says it draws 5.3amp/hour) and keep the battery topped off or at least in a safe place. If I put it in LOW POWER MODE i think I will have to prop the doors open as it will basically be off if I'm understanding your posts and the manual correctly.
I'd be shocked if you couldn't run it in regular mode with the converter also keeping the batteries charged plugged into a 15A circuit. Keep in mind that rating on the fridge is 12V DC, your converter probably puts out 60A, and draws far less than 15A at 120V AC. You should be fine. In fact I think this is the same fridge WondersAwait has. We set him up with a 100A converter to charge his batteries and he had it connected to a 20A outlet in the garage with no issue running the fridge in normal mode.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
Thank you for the explanation - I am going to put the trickle charger away in favor of this much simpler setup! I am hoping the 110v 15-20amp can power the fridge in VACATION mode (says it draws 5.3amp/hour) and keep the battery topped off or at least in a safe place. If I put it in LOW POWER MODE i think I will have to prop the doors open as it will basically be off if I'm understanding your posts and the manual correctly.
I've cooled the fridge before a trip on the full/regular setting using an extension to the house front porch outlet. I'm sure you're good to go if you plug it into the house without using the Vacation or Low Power mode. I used a wireless thermometer to monitor and it only took a couple of hours to get down to operating temps on both the fridge and freezer. Although the outside ambient temperature was probably in the low 50's so it was starting from cold to begin with. But MUCH faster cooling than the "old" propane/electric fridges.
Mike and Rebecca
2022 Reflection 150 260RD, October 2021 build date.
2001 Chev 2500 HD 8.1 liter 4x4
Are you a vendor/installer for RV items? I am hoping to install lithium and more solar panels, would love to support you as you have been a huge help if that's your business.
I've cooled the fridge before a trip on the full/regular setting using an extension to the house front porch outlet. I'm sure you're good to go if you plug it into the house without using the Vacation or Low Power mode.
This is tremendously helpful thank you so much. I will try going from 50amp->15amp plugged directly into the RV with shore power and leave the fridge in normal mode. I'll let you know if I notice it discharges - I am in Florida so a large environmental difference, but hey, the insulation in this rig is supposedly good!
This gives me enormous peace of mind, thank you! I will attempt and report back if I have a problem to further troubleshoot.
Out of curiosity when you say:
Are you a vendor/installer for RV items? I am hoping to install lithium and more solar panels, would love to support you as you have been a huge help if that's your business.
No problem at all, glad to help. Not a vendor just a hobby I enjoy. Myself and several of the members here have done the lithium/converter/solar/inverter dance and upgrade lol. Here's a recent thread about lithium and converters specifically. I mention in there the batteries and converter I recommend.
The batteries I use (Lion Energy) are on sale on the Costco website right now.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
cwhettinger I just tested mine out. In off-grid or regular mode it pulls about 6.25-7.00 amp in real time. During the first hour it will use about 7ah, included some other constant amp draw from other rv items. Now this data is based on the fridge being at 26C at start up. Furion does stat that this number could be higher if the outside temp is higher. Note, the Ah difference between off-grid regular mode is only due to the cycle frequency. Only time the fridge pulls more then the 6.25 amps is when you put it in super chill mode or it is defrost mode. In super chill, it pulls about 10-11amps. I haven't tested the defrost mode yet.
Overnight (15hrs) the fridge used about 50ah in off-grid mode from the battery. Please note, I do have an upgraded solar and battery system, but during this test we had clouds and rain, so not really helping much (only producing about 0.5amp). The low overnight was 10C.
When you put the fridge in storage, turning it off by holding the function button for 5 secs, it uses almost nothing in Ah.
I have a thread going where I will be putting all my test data up if you are interested.
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