Need help with Surfdie fridge wiring

[SteveHoy]

Hello, I have a Surfside camper that I purchased without a fridge. Recently I bought a used dometic 211 in great condition and have hooked up the propane, but I would like to hook up the 12 volt so we can use the fridge on long trips to keep the fridge cool while driving. Also, how do you wire the 110 so that I can run it from the 110 from the camper. Right now we are just running the 3 prong plug out the back of the fridge vent via a extension cord to shore power . Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by SteveHoy

Hello, I have a Surfside camper that I purchased without a fridge. Recently I bought a used dometic 211 in great condition and have hooked up the propane, but I would like to hook up the 12 volt so we can use the fridge on long trips to keep the fridge cool while driving.

Welcome to the forum. You can run the refrigerator from the tow vehicle but you need to use a very large gauge charging wire (4 to 6 gauge is adequate). Generally this wire is run from the tow vehicle battery through a circuit breaker (or fuse), then through a relay so the wire is disconnected when the engine is not running. A refrigerator draws a large current and will drain a battery fast, thus the disconnect. If you try to do this with a small gauge wire you will find that it drains your trailer battery instead of charging it as you drive.

Also, how do you wire the 110 so that I can run it from the 110 from the camper. Right now we are just running the 3 prong plug out the back of the fridge vent via a extension cord to shore power . Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Generally a trailer has electrical power from an external extension cord to a small power panel with a circuit breaker or two inside, within the camper . If you have this panel, you need to run a wire from the panel to an added 110 volt outlet like you have on your walls at home. Plug the refrigerator into this outlet.

[SteveHoy]

Hi Thomas thanx for the reply and info, my camper is already wired with a charge line from the TV battery. 7 pin camper wiring.

Lets see if I got this.
At the back of my fridge is a wiring schematic for 12 volt . I am assuming that I wire the 6 gauge from the back of the fridge to the converter/ inverter that is inside the camper on the front of my sink vanity where it is located. Am I on the right track?

Secondly, re the 110 plug. Do I mount a house plug near the converter and wire it to the converter?

The converter or inverter or what ever it is called,seems to be the junction box where everything else is wired, (lights, water pump)
The converter/ inverter appears to be the factory oem from what I have seen in other Surfside pictures. It basically has one flip switch to switch from battery to 110 and one three prong receptacle to plug in ext devices ( when you switch to battery this outlet does not work it only works on 110)

Once again thanx for any help or ideas!

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by SteveHoy

Hi Thomas thanx for the reply and info, my camper is already wired with a charge line from the TV battery. 7 pin camper wiring.

That's a good start. Sometimes the factory charge line wiring is too light a gauge. You can check this by measuring the charge (or discharge) rate from the trailer battery with the refrigerator running on 12 volts and the tow vehicle hooked up and running..

Lets see if I got this.
At the back of my fridge is a wiring schematic for 12 volt . I am assuming that I wire the 6 gauge from the back of the fridge to the converter/ inverter that is inside the camper on the front of my sink vanity where it is located. Am I on the right track?

I'm assuming that you have a battery in the trailer. I'd wire the refrigerator to the trailer battery via a fuse or circuit breaker. I'd then connect the charging wire from 7 pin connector to the trailer battery also via a fuse or circuit breaker of 30 to 40 amp capacity.

Secondly, re the 110 plug. Do I mount a house plug near the converter and wire it to the converter?

I'd mount a box with a 110 volt plug near the refrigerator so it would be easy to plug in. I'd supply that box with 110 volt power that has a circuit breaker or fuse protecting it.

The converter or inverter or what ever it is called,seems to be the junction box where everything else is wired, (lights, water pump)
The converter/ inverter appears to be the factory oem from what I have seen in other Surfside pictures. It basically has one flip switch to switch from battery to 110 and one three prong receptacle to plug in ext devices ( when you switch to battery this outlet does not work it only works on 110)

Once again thanx for any help or ideas!

OK, it sounds like you have the 110 volt and 12 volt fuses (or circuit breakers) all in one box. You want to obtain power for the refrigerator by tapping into the same circuit that powers the outlet on this converter box.