Electrical shut down

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Sue and Henry

The refrigerator on propane sounds like the inexpensive solution. I just filled the tank. Any idea how fast a fridge goes through a tank?

I get over two weeks running the fridge constantly and cooking with gas on a 20# tank..

[Sue and Henry]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I'll call you from the airport.

But seriously, if this is only an occasional need I'd look into just using an additional extension cord.

it is packed just in case! Thanks.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I get over two weeks running the fridge constantly and cooking with gas on a 20# tank..

Me, too...and when wintercamping and using heat (16 hpd), I get about six days.

Francesca

[Raz]

Gas fridge, weeks. Gas furnace, days. Even with the dog along. (Dog puts out a lot of heat) Raz

[Sue and Henry]

Thomas, Francesca and Raz, thanks! Problem solved!

[Bob Miller]

As circuit breakers age they start tripping at a lower and lower current. Your 15 amp breaker may be tripping at as little as 8-10 amps. I'd suggest you try a new circuit breaker first.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Sue and Henry

Thomas, Francesca and Raz, thanks! Problem solved!

Does this mean I should cancel my airline reservation?

[cpaharley2008]

I'm still thirsty....

[David Tilston]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

As circuit breakers age they start tripping at a lower and lower current. Your 15 amp breaker may be tripping at as little as 8-10 amps. I'd suggest you try a new circuit breaker first.

+1 on that.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

+1 on that.

You can buy these at a good electrical supply house (maybe not Home Depot) or a place like Zoro tools. You'd want one rated for 15 amps, 125 volts.

Breaker by CARLING TECHNOLOGIES - Circuit Breakers by Zoro Tools Industrial Supplies

[Francesca Knowles]

Unless I'm completely out to lunch per electricity- and it wouldn't be the first time:

At best even with a brand new breaker, Sue has 15 amps.

-Voltage times amps= watts
-120 volts times 15 amps= 1800 watts
-The typical space heater run on high setting draws 1500 watts, leaving 300 for all other draws. Lights are relatively low, load-wise...
BUT
-I don't know the specs of Sue's fridge, but 5 amps ac is a typical planning number....that's 600 watts, twice the 300 that's available with the heater on high, and no other load at all.

As Sue found out, running the heater on its low setting (probably 750 watts), the breaker didn't trip, in my opinion because of the much lower wattage draw from the heater (750 heater plus 600 fridge= 1350 total...probably enough left over for lights)

Francesca

P.S.

Something to try, just in case the fridge draws less power and the breaker is in fact not delivering 15 amps due to losses at the breaker or along the power feed:

Sue could try the "extra cord" suggested earlier, and plug the fridge itself directly in to the park pedestal alongside the trailer plug.(fridge is typically plugged in to an outlet in the compartment accessed via outside door) The effect of "doubling wire size" and delivering power directly to the fridge may well allow for the operation of all appliances at the same time and desired levels. I've done this myself with some success.

I recommend a minimum #14 extension cord for this experiment.

F.

[Francesca Knowles]

Unless I'm completely out to lunch per electricity- and it wouldn't be the first time:

At best even with a brand new breaker, Sue has 15 amps.

-Voltage times amps= watts
-120 volts times 15 amps= 1800 watts
-The typical space heater run on high setting draws 1500 watts, leaving 300 for all other draws. Lights are relatively low, load-wise...
BUT
-I don't know the specs of Sue's fridge, but 5 amps ac is a typical planning number....that's 600 watts, twice the 300 that's available with the heater on high, and no other load at all.

As Sue found out, running the heater on its low setting (probably 750 watts) didn't trip the breaker, in my opinion because of the much lower wattage draw from the heater (750 heater plus 600 fridge= 1350 total...probably enough left over for lights)

Francesca

P.S.

Something to try, just in case the fridge draws less power and the breaker is in fact not delivering 15 amps due to losses at the breaker or along the power feed:

Sue could try the "extra cord" suggested earlier, and plug the fridge itself directly in to the park pedestal alongside the trailer plug.(fridge is typically plugged in to an outlet in the compartment accessed via outside door) The effect of "doubling wire size" and delivering power directly to the fridge may well allow for the operation of all appliances at the same time and desired levels. I recommend a minimum #14 weight extension cord for this experiment.

I've done this myself with some success- gotta get as much of what we pay for as we can, right?

F.

[Sue and Henry]

The case of beer is in the burro chilling in case the flight isn't cancelled - but I think I'll try replacing the little reset button circuit and see what that does. I'm pretty sure it is original and at 32 years old, I'll bet it is due.

Thanks. You are all great help. :-)

[knighth001]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

-I don't know the specs of Sue's fridge, but 5 amps ac is a typical planning number....

interesting. where does the 5 amp avg. come from?

I'm currently swapping out my mini-fridge for one a tiny bit bigger. The smaller one says .8 Amps and the larger one says .9 Amps.

Now I assume that's the rating for after it's cooled down initially to keep it cool and assume that it may draw more power when initially cooling down. But is it really that much higher in actual load?

[Bob Miller]

RE: Fridge Amps: If you are using a typical 2 or 3 way RV refrigerator, the 120 heating element is usually 100 watts or less, or a tad less than 1 amp @ 120VAC. You might add a little bit more if it has an active electronic control, but not much.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by knighth001

interesting. where does the 5 amp avg. come from?

It's a planning number, and it's strictly for absorption-type fridges, which must make heat in order to operate. (Compressor fridges are a different animal altogether.) Using an absorption fridge on electricity is very much like having another heater plugged in. Which one does, effectively.

Here's a quote from one of many discussions about this online:

An absorption refrigerator uses heating elements that draw between 350 to 600 watts, depending on the size of the refrigerator, or about 10 times as much power as a conventional compressor driven refrigerator uses.

And assuming (perhaps wrongly) that Sue's is an older such fridge, I think it's likely to be at the high end of that.

Francesca

[David Tilston]

I looked in the manual for my fridge:
Fiberglass RV - Document Center - Dometic_RM36, 46, 66, 76, 77, 100 Manual
It does not list the 110VAC heater wattage, but the 12VDC heater is listed as 120 W, on page 8.
The RM211 claims 95W for both.
For a current unit, I looked up an RM2354:
https://www.dometic.com/enus/America...ctdataid=71135
On page 14 of the operators manual, the 12VDC heater is 150W and the 120VAC heater is 175W.

[Bob Miller]

If one was talking about "Home Size" absorbtion refrigerators the 5 amps may be valid. But in single door, RV sized boxes about 100 watts is the limit, both on AC and DC. If we needed even 360 watts on DC that would suck down a battery in less than an hour and your charging line couldn't keep up with the 30 amp demand.

I have replaced several Dometic heaters in RV rfrigerators and they were about 100 watts or less.

FWIW: The 7.1 cubic foot double door Norcold (LP/120 AC only) in our Coleman 171 pulls but 2.1 amps on a/c and it's almost big enought to park a U-Haul inside of it!!!!

[Sue and Henry]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

It's a planning number, and it's strictly for absorption-type fridges, which must make heat in order to operate. (Compressor fridges are a different animal altogether.) Using an absorption fridge on electricity is very much like having another heater plugged in. Which one does, effectively.

Here's a quote from one of many discussions about this online:

And assuming (perhaps wrongly) that Sue's is an older such fridge, I think it's likely to be at the high end of that.

Francesca

The refrigerator is new out-of-the-box this winter. The old one developed a frightening leak. This one I opted for electric/propane and dropped the 12 volt option. We got a dometic rm2351. I can't find anyplace in the paperwork and instructions that tells the draw. I did find a spot in line that said 12 to 18 amps. Does that make sense?

[Francesca Knowles]

Thanks for the more specific info, guys!


.........................................................................................
Entering corrections in my ever-changing arsenal of "factoids"...



Francesca