Hello all - I have a 2016 Bighorn 3685 with a residential fridge. The last two trips found me arriving at the campground with the freezer and fridge temperatures significantly higher (43, 38) than normal. The inverter appears to be working normally. It turns on (green light on inside trailer) and the status says normal on the actual inverter unit. Any ideas what could be causing this or how to troubleshoot this? Is this a sign that it’s time to replace my batteries? When plugged into AC the fridge and freezer work fine.
Residential Refrigerator Not Working Properly.
- Thread starter Micky-D
- Start date
wdk450
Well-known member
As you drive around have you noticed semi trucks with refrigerated reefer trailers? Most all of the modern ones have a green (good) status light on the front of the trailer on the driver's side that he (she) can see in their mirror.
Our forum founder and former owners club president, Jim Belletti, came up with a modification for the trailers with inverters/residential-type refrigerators that copies the professional truckers set-up. You can find the thread on this here: https://heartlandowners.org/threads...er-external-status-light-saved-my-food.63831/
On edit: I seem to remember a recent post on the inverter GFI nuisance tripping in which Jim said that it was his personal decision to swap out the outlet on the inverter for a standard one, since GFI protection wasn't needed, and he hasn't had inverter GFI problems since.
I use a wireless refrigerator/freezer temperature monitor like this, with the readout magnetically attached to a plate secured to the front of my refrigerator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384714980668?hash=item5992ccbd3c:g:iDwAAOSwbBxgc8F5
I have heard from other Heartlanders that the wireless signal from this system can reach into the cab of the truck, but haven't tried it myself. I am moving on Monday, and will be sure to move the monitor to the truck for the trip, and report on the results.
BY THE WAY, I FOUND THE OLD THREAD USING THE FORUM'S "SEARCH" FUNCTION WHICH HAS SEEMED TO HAVE GOTTEN FINALLY FIXED. A GREAT TOOL FOR USING THIS FORUM, AND THANKS SO MUCH TO THE TECHNICAL STAFF FOR SOLVING THIS PROBLEM!!!
Our forum founder and former owners club president, Jim Belletti, came up with a modification for the trailers with inverters/residential-type refrigerators that copies the professional truckers set-up. You can find the thread on this here: https://heartlandowners.org/threads...er-external-status-light-saved-my-food.63831/
On edit: I seem to remember a recent post on the inverter GFI nuisance tripping in which Jim said that it was his personal decision to swap out the outlet on the inverter for a standard one, since GFI protection wasn't needed, and he hasn't had inverter GFI problems since.
I use a wireless refrigerator/freezer temperature monitor like this, with the readout magnetically attached to a plate secured to the front of my refrigerator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384714980668?hash=item5992ccbd3c:g:iDwAAOSwbBxgc8F5
I have heard from other Heartlanders that the wireless signal from this system can reach into the cab of the truck, but haven't tried it myself. I am moving on Monday, and will be sure to move the monitor to the truck for the trip, and report on the results.
BY THE WAY, I FOUND THE OLD THREAD USING THE FORUM'S "SEARCH" FUNCTION WHICH HAS SEEMED TO HAVE GOTTEN FINALLY FIXED. A GREAT TOOL FOR USING THIS FORUM, AND THANKS SO MUCH TO THE TECHNICAL STAFF FOR SOLVING THIS PROBLEM!!!
Last edited:
CoveredWagon
Well-known member
Have you checked the testable circuit breaker ? If I remember correctly it needs to be reset. To keep the batteries up.
ok here is something i never knew with mine i had the green light on also thinking it was working. not always . when you plug your truck in check the temp lights on the refrigerator itself. if they are not on you dont have any elect to it. that what happen to me for 2 years driving around. But i never notice i only drive for a hour or two it never warmed up for me. there is a little reset button on the inverter. Then a little green light come on down there .then i was suprized when i pluged the truck in again i had lights on the temp.i never realy notice the lights on the fride before. some one in here told me to try that. when i wrote in here about it. hope its that easy to fix it this time.
david-steph2018
Well-known member
It could be the batteries, but if the other 12VDC items work okay while not plugged into shore power, probably not. It also a chance it is the GFCI has tripped, mine does sometimes, just reset it.
But a likely cause could be the transfer switch for the fridge. Our transfer switch for the fridge went bad in less than 2 years. It is located next to the inverter. a simple way to check is to turn off your shore power, using a voltmeter make sure you have power coming out of the inverter at the GFCI. Next check to see if you have power at the outlet or coming out of the transfer switch. If no power at the outlet or transfer switch, it is probably bad.
I found one online for about $75.00 in 2019. It takes about 10 minutes, with a coffee break, to change it out.
But a likely cause could be the transfer switch for the fridge. Our transfer switch for the fridge went bad in less than 2 years. It is located next to the inverter. a simple way to check is to turn off your shore power, using a voltmeter make sure you have power coming out of the inverter at the GFCI. Next check to see if you have power at the outlet or coming out of the transfer switch. If no power at the outlet or transfer switch, it is probably bad.
I found one online for about $75.00 in 2019. It takes about 10 minutes, with a coffee break, to change it out.
wdk450
Well-known member
Re: "
I use a wireless refrigerator/freezer temperature monitor like this, with the readout magnetically attached to a plate secured to the front of my refrigerator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384714980668?hash=item5992ccbd3c:g:iDwAAOSwbBxgc8F5
I have heard from other Heartlanders that the wireless signal from this system can reach into the cab of the truck, but haven't tried it myself. I am moving on Monday, and will be sure to move the monitor to the truck for the trip, and report on the results."
I took the refrigerator temperature monitor out to the truck this morning. It is parked approximately in hooked up towing position. The refrigerator and freezer sensors wireless signals were NOT strong enough to be received in the truck cab. I could pick up the refrigerator sensor at about the trailer's front storage compartment. The monitor is back to its place on the front of the refrigerator where it has worked perfectly.
I use a wireless refrigerator/freezer temperature monitor like this, with the readout magnetically attached to a plate secured to the front of my refrigerator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384714980668?hash=item5992ccbd3c:g:iDwAAOSwbBxgc8F5
I have heard from other Heartlanders that the wireless signal from this system can reach into the cab of the truck, but haven't tried it myself. I am moving on Monday, and will be sure to move the monitor to the truck for the trip, and report on the results."
I took the refrigerator temperature monitor out to the truck this morning. It is parked approximately in hooked up towing position. The refrigerator and freezer sensors wireless signals were NOT strong enough to be received in the truck cab. I could pick up the refrigerator sensor at about the trailer's front storage compartment. The monitor is back to its place on the front of the refrigerator where it has worked perfectly.
LBR
Well-known member
Do check/reset the inverter's GCFI that is on it's plugin. You can have a green light on the inverter switch plate inside, and inverter status reads OK, but the GFCI can still be tripped.
Thanks all for the replies. My trips to the campgrounds and back are about 3-5 hours. I tested and reset the inverter GCFI that's on the bottom just to make sure it was reset. I think the culprit is the batteries. They are the original ones that came with my trailer in 2015! So I'm going to swap them out with two new ones as it's probably due anyway. My current ones are Deka deep cycle DP27 marine batteries. I want to upgrade to Renogy (or another top rated) deep cycle AGM batteries. Does anyone know if the Progressive Dynamics 9200 power converter (came with the trailer) is safe for use with AGM batteries? The owner's manual doesn't talk about charging with AGM batteries. I would think the built-in charge Wizard would be safe. Anyone have a video for swapping out the batteries?
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