OK, I admit that I have not looked up the wattage requirement on the fridge and am just posting here cause I didn't get enough attention as a child and besides that, my third grade teacher didn't like me.....but I digress. Basic, no frills question: if I use a male/male extension cord and plug my inverter into the nearest receptacle (12" away), do you think it'll power the fridge? Assume all AC breakers are placed in the open position to prevent activating other circuits. Assume that the fridge is the only significant load. 1KW inverter, pure resistive load(?).

I won't even try to explain my reasoning and justification for this line of thought...:-)

You are scaring me to death....Male/Male extension cord? In the hardware store business people used to string their christmas lites wrong end first and then come in and ask us for a Male/Male adapter. Maybe you are thinking of something else??? Don't scare me like that. I am not picking on you, JUST want you around to enjoy this site. Dale

Ron, what exactly are you trying to do? Do I detect a backfeed lurking in the thicket of your post?

LOL, y'all take it easy. I hope to survive this experiment.....and not burn down my coach in the process.

Yeah, a male connector on both ends of an extension cord could pose a certain shock hazard couldn't it. What I was thinking was:
If I shut down my AC circuit breakers at the main distribution panel and connect the output of the inverter to a normal electrical outlet, when the inverter was switched on, it would energize that section of the AC wiring system
which happened to be in parallel with that particular receptacle....all the way back to the "low" side of the circuit breaker. The fridge is plugged in to that side of the AC receptacle run, so it would select "AC" instead of "GAS" and I could run off the inverter. ???

Now if I could just get this darned Zombolian Defragglatuer to power up..... :-)

[This message has been edited by ron (edited October 08, 2003).]

NO, I don't think the way you are talking it can be done.It DANGER, but you can do if your ref has a duplex rect.Plug one end in the same rect. with your ref,make sure the breaker for your ref is cut off.You will have to unplug the inverter before you can turn on your 120 volts breaker,or you could have a BIG BOOM,and FIRE.I think you would be better off with a regular cord plug in to the inverter, unplug ref and plug ref into your cord from the inverter,better to be SAFE than sorry.

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br2409

What are you guys smokin'?

I don't SMOKE, but the SMOKE might be seen soon in the sky over the Banks of the Wabash, as in "BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA" Was this a mind game? Got to LOVE that Ron though, he got our attention. Dale

No, seriously now, there is obviously a safety issue with an exposed and energized male plug if you are not paying attention. There is also the possibility of connecting two AC sources together which would not be in phase (that's the boom and smoke part I think). But, from a purely theoretical standpoint, will a 1000 watt inverter power a small Dometic? The fridge is a pure resistive load, right?

Let's say you had a very well adhered too step-by-step procedure for de-energizing the coach AC power, plugging a short cord into the wall receptacle next to the inverter, plugging the other end of that cord (yes another male) into the inverter and then turning on the inverter to energize the receptacle and the connected section of the AC wiring system (which the Dometic just happens to be a part of). Other than NEC code, OSHA and common sense violations, why won't it work? ;-)

OK, gonna be on the traile for a few days and pledge I will not try this Rube G. scheme until I really puzzle through your input. I might be overlooking such an obvious problem with this that I will truly be embarassed when it finally dawns on me what I have proposed.

"If ya survive and are able to laugh at yourself........you should have listened to the advisors more closely in the first place." :-)

Well, a warning.

I have seen schemes like this cause undue grief to unknowing folks that stumbled upon a male-male cord stored in a garage, then started playing with it. Like kids looking for something to do while dad was away.

And, I have been at the scene of a death caused by 110 volt electric shock, it is not pretty.

My advice (I happen to be a schooled-through hard-knocks mechanic/machinist, I have seen about everything over my 56 years) is to erase this thought from your mind.

Even using the most detailed check list ain't the answer, one time you are bond to forget something.

Doing the wrong thing with electricity, or having something that may be improperly used by the ignorant, is setting up a trap for disaster. About the same as leaving a loaded handgun in the house when you are away at work and the kids find it.

For Roy, they been smooking left handed cigarettes.

[This message has been edited by John Ricks (edited October 09, 2003).]

I am sure you mean well, and I meant the same with my orginal post. I stand by my post as I know a male/male extension is not a good thing. I can't imagine any of the Barth members laughing at you. Alittle humor for sure, and I am far from perfect or am I an expert. You probably know more about the subject than I. Forgive me if I did offend you. It's just not my style. Dale

At the risk of sounding even stupider than I am, and knowing it's a lot more fun to contemplate these exercises, than to actually complete them, how about this alternative?

Your problem has two elements:
1) Will the inverter run the fridge?
2) If so, how do we get the gazotta from the inverter over to the gazinta for the fridge.

Element 1) - Insure that you're not barking up a tree with the whole idea of powering your electric fridge from the inverter.

Element 2) - Explore the nooks and crannies of your rig to figure out how you could run a concealed, dedicated line from the inverter to the fridge compartment.

Install a male receptacle near the inverter, and connect your new line to it. Install a dedicated outlet in the fridge compartment to connect the fridge to the inverter. Use a short m/f extension to connect the new male receptacle to the inverter.

Use the fattest wire you can for the dedicated line, to reduce line loss to a minimum. Maybe #12-2wg stranded - the stranded wire snakes around corners more easily - rated for exterior use if you have to go under the coach.

This obviates the whole problem of male/male connections, checklists for throwing breakers, and all the inherent dangers thereof.

You might even be able to get so fancy as to rig an external, or perhaps even an automatic switchover for the fridge when you go from shore power to inverter for your 110 accessories. That way, you wouldn't have to swap plugs.

Takes lots more work than trying to run your house wiring backwards, but nobody's going to get electrocuted by it.

But it all seems like a lot of who-struck-john to get battery juice to a fridge that should run perfectly and easily on propane.

How about installing your inverter in, or near the fridge compartment so you can plug into it directly?

Ron, Inverters are expensive and rewiring you coach is even more expensive. If you really want to run the frig with the inverter, it can be done. Find out what the current draw of the frig is as you need to know this. Also, the rated output of your inverter is not the actual output because of efficiency losses in the transfer of electrical energy. You inverter output should probably be at least 25% higher than the load (frig) needs to operate. Inverters need to be located as close the batteries as possible. For best and safest results, take the advice of others here and avoid trying to feed current into an electric outlet and wire a direct feed to the frig. If you do it right, it will work, however I think that the propane may actually be more efficient. Battery power won't last as long as you may think with a fairly constant load drawing on them.

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William B. Goodwin

On my cruiser, 35' boats and road warriors have many similarities, I use an inverter as a smart battery charger and electrical supply to the frig. I have a 120VAC frig, it is slightly over 6 cubic feet and draws 0.9 amps with light on. To keep things cool when cruising and not needing the genset for other purposes I rigged the house wiring with a separate disconnect and a dedicated outlet for the frig. This disconnect box is also supplied by the inverter so when not on shore or gen power the outlet is powered by the inverter. With 5 large batteries on board and the inverter quiting at 11.3 volts I have never lost ice.
Not of particular interest for RVers but the other side of the duplex is used for a 3/4HP sump pump which should give a long time to abandon ship.
Tim

No offence taken from any repiles here. I know exactly where you're coming from with the advise. "If it ain't complicated, don't make it so". :-)

Anyway, thanks for all the well thought out input. The safety concerns you have expressed have already crossed my mind. When travelling in the Smokies this past weekend, I had time to consider the repercussions of my plan. Everytime I was making a hookup, I would think, "hmmmm, now if the inverter were energized, this would cause the magic smoke to leak out and probably give me a jolt as well"! I think J.Ricks made a good point. "....unknowing folks that stumbled upon....etc etc". Why tempt fate, right?

Back When I worked for a living I had the pleasure to tag up with a very experienced industrial electrican, although a bit crusty on the edges. We shared a shift in a big industrial complex, I was the mechanical quick fix guy and he handled the sparky things. Big stuff, motors up to 18,000 HP, running on thousands of volts. We helped each other out on the various breakdowns that liked to occur in the wee morning hours, commonly called "Zero Dark Thirty".

He had a pretty good theory on all the things that mere mortals said ran on electricity. Late one night when we were changing a motor he said: "You know John, all this weird electric stuff just runs on smoke. Like this 300 hp 2300 volt motor. It just quit when all the smoke leaked out".

All I could say was "Yea, by the number of fire extinguishers we just emptied, I guess you are right".