| Refrigerator doesn't work on Generator with A/C - New Thead [message #307680] |
Fri, 23 September 2016 09:20 |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
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David,
The original thread got so long that I could not figure out where to answer what.
Vocabulary:
Converter - Makes 12VDC from 120VAC
Inverter - Makes 120VAC from 12VDC
Smart Charger - Supplys 12~15VDC for house use and battery charging without destroying the batteries.
Then there are the combination boxes that may contain any or all of the above.....
If you reefer works just fine on shore power, but I think you said that it is now marginal on house DC, keep it where it is. Buy an inverter for the reefer. Do not bother with pure sine, the inverter built for the reefer was a square wave and it worked for 40 years. Get a cheapie from Hazard Fright and use that. Connect it to the house DC for the reefer and plug the AC lead into it and enjoy the ice....
Things you should get before you spend any other money are:
1 - A Kill-A-Watt - a simple thing available at most big boxes and many hardware stores. It can plug into any receptacle and report voltage, frequency and the used current if something is powered through it. This gem is the cat's pajamas for tuning an old Onan. (20~40$us depending on model and sales)
2 - A 200 watt inverter at Hazard Fright to run the reefer on battery. (If the one in the unit is dead - as said, I got lost in the thread.) If you want a pure sine for other things, fine. Do not buy a "Modified Sine" if you want good. They are really modified square wave and that is what you will get for the 20$ at H-F.
3 - A very cheap meter. If you work it right, you can get it free with the inverter from H-F. If you don't know how to use it, keep it in the package so it is safe. When someone like one of the Kens or Johnny comes to your aid and says "Have You got a meter handy?" Then get it out. If you come back here and say you have a cheap meter, one of us can talk you along to collect good data. (Done this both as e-mail and on marine VHF at zero dark thirty.)
I'm sure others will want to add here, and I welcome them.
Your situation is neither strange nor difficult and when we manage to explain the issue, you will understand how simple it really was.
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Albert Eistein
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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