SOLVED: Residential Fridge problem

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I hate to join this group...those who have a bad inverter and no fridge while driving down lifes highway!!!..took our unit out for a first time try out...not only did the inverter not kick in we had a massive leak under the fridge (we think) ...that flooded the outside under the kitchen slide...got so bad we turned the water off unless we were showering or doing dishes...when we closed the slides to come home once again the inverter was on for a few minutes then went off...also by the time we got 45 miles down the road and stopped to check out the fridge we found that water had leaked all over the kitchen floor...to say the least we were a bit upset!!
The unit is in the shop and they said they were waiting for Heartlnd to contact them about the inverter..duh!...I am not a happy camper...

Well its been 6 days since we took the unit back to the dealer with inverter problems.....they are still waiting on the replacement inveter to arrive.....I am so upset with this dealer...this manufacture...this whole thing....bought this unit 5-30-2014 and have used it for 3 days.... rest of the time it has been in the shop!!!...still not a happy camper..

 

[danemayer]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

Well its been 6 days since we took the unit back to the dealer with inverter problems.....they are still waiting on the replacement inveter to arrive.....I am so upset with this dealer...this manufacture...this whole thing....bought this unit 5-30-2014 and have used it for 3 days.... rest of the time it has been in the shop!!!...still not a happy camper..

Has the dealer found and fixed the water leak? The inverter replacement will take only a few minutes. You don't want to have them sitting on the other problem while waiting for the inverter.

 

[Hunter11]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I am so upset with this dealer...this manufacture...this whole thing....bought this unit 5-30-2014 and have used it for 3 days.... rest of the time it has been in the shop!!!...still not a happy camper..

I hear you, we picked ours up 5/5/2014. Although Heartland has been good to authorize a mobile tech to come out and fix our issues which he has done except the bedroom slide seal and the inverter. So far he has made two trips and will have to make a third because their parts people keep sending the wrong parts. Beyond the fridge/inverter that will not work the bedroom top slide seal has to be replaced because it was installed wrong and the seal is 13'6" long. So far they have sent three pieces that are 13' long. I know these seals are not cheap. The Heartland POC I have been dealing with has been great but the parts guys are killing them. I went to check all the battery terminals last night and found both on one of the batteries the nuts had been cross threaded and I could not get the nuts off. I spent an hour in 90* heat trying to get bolt cutters on them to cut the cables loose so I could get the battery out. I had to get approval this morning from Heartland to go buy a new battery and them pay for it. I have a lot of receipts to send them and this all could have been avoided with just a little quality control. We have tried to stay positive through all this but it gets a little harder every time we find another issue.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

They found out that when the new fridge was installed something was not done correctly and a leak occured. That has been fixed...as of last Friday...we are still waiting for a new inverter..was suppost to be ordered
last Tuesday, the 17th, found out today that the inverters are on back order and a new 1000 inverter will be arriving in a few days....same inverter...I told dealer that would not work..it needed a 2000 watt inverer..that I read that on the Heartland Owners Forum... I called Heartland Customer Serv. and was told the internet was not the best place to get information ....hummmm..that's strange....anyway....still waiting to get our new camper...maybe someday..

 

[Hunter11]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I am willing to give them one more chance to send us the correct inverter (the next one will be our third) to make the residential fridge work on it and that will be it. If the new batch does not work I am going to go to CW and buy one of the 2000 watt inverters that do work. The mobile RV tech was out Saturday and we discussed this issue and checked our fridge again. The label says it runs at 8.5 amps which he said if you take that X 120v (I also saw someone else post this formula here on the forum) it will pull 1020 watts. Now that is running not the surge when the compressor kicks on so would a 1000 watt inverter not be marginal at best? I am not expert on this I am just going by what I am being told.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

Just got off phone with Heartland Customer Service agent David....he told me that the company that makes the inverter is changing the internal system of the inveter, changing the circut to work with the
Frigidaire refridgerator. This will take a while and I will get an inverter shipped to the dealer when they are ready....wellllll good for them....I get to have a camper I can't travel with and they get to send me
a rewoked inveter when they get it fgured out...My unit was completed April 16 2014....they knew of this problem at that time...but sent the unit out anyway..guess it was on a wing and a prayer hoping it would
work...gheeshhhh....I was so looking forward to loving this unit....

 

[scottyb]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

alethaj, I'm sorry for your troubles and I would be plenty PO'd like you are, but I would be enjoying my new trailer. I would not for 1 minute let an inverter stop me from using my rig. You can buy an inexpensive 2000W inverter that will get you by until they get it together. I have some friends with a new 4200 with the same problem and they are not sitting at home. I am using an "el cheapo" as an experiment to run a wine fridge. It has been working flawlessly for nearly two years now. Tell the dealer to put it back together and go enjoy.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

alethaj, I'm sorry for your troubles and I would be plenty PO'd like you are, but I would be enjoying my new trailer. I would not for 1 minute let an inverter stop me from using my rig. You can buy an inexpensive 2000W inverter that will get you by until they get it together. I have some friends with a new 4200 with the same problem and they are not sitting at home. I am using an "el cheapo" as an experiment to run a wine fridge. It has been working flawlessly for nearly two years now. Tell the dealer to put it back together and go enjoy.

We did go pick up the unit from the dealer this afternoon...can sit at my house as easy as it sits at the dealer...at least at home I can plug it in and get everything cool ....I am concerned about adding something to the unit that is not Heartland approved and then have something else go wrong...don't want to void the warrenty in any way...we had a trip arranged for next week but doesn't look like we will be able to take it....I just don't trust the fridge....last and only trip we went 45 miles from home and fridge went from 0 to 29 in that length of time...heaven forbid that we go 100 miles from home...everything in the fridge would spoil...oh welll.....I can camp in the driveway I guess...

 

[wdk450]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

. . . . found out today that the inverters are on back order and a new 1000 inverter will be arriving in a few days....same inverter...I told dealer that would not work..it needed a 2000 watt inverer..that I read that on the Heartland Owners Forum... I called Heartland Customer Serv. and was told the internet was not the best place to get information ....hummmm..that's strange...their website...anyway....still waiting to get our new camper...maybe someday..

Alethaj:
The quote "their website" is not quite accurate. This website is an INDEPENDENT HEARTLAND OWNERS WEBSITE. Note the ".org" in the address, not ".com" that is used by commercial entities. Although the factory people sometimes do monitor it, and Heartland allows us to pretty much say whatever we feel (unlike most other owners group websites) Heartland is not officially the owner of this website. Jim Beletti, who is the president of the Heartland Owners Club, and a compensated Heartland employee is the website owner. He started out the website completely independent as a service to other Heartland owners, then pitched the corporate management on some compensation for his time and expenses in running the owners club and website.

 

[jimpav]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

Just got off phone with Heartland Customer Service agent David....he told me that the company that makes the inverter is changing the internal system of the inveter, changing the circut to work with the
Frigidaire refridgerator. This will take a while and I will get an inverter shipped to the dealer when they are ready....wellllll good for them....I get to have a camper I can't travel with and they get to send me
a rewoked inveter when they get it fgured out...My unit was completed April 16 2014....they knew of this problem at that time...but sent the unit out anyway..guess it was on a wing and a prayer hoping it would
work...gheeshhhh....I was so looking forward to loving this unit....

Yes, I was told just about the same thing from customer service. There is nothing wrong with the Magnum1000 inverters. Magnum is re-flashing the firmware to allow the unit to handle the surge when the compressor kicks in. The unit is capable of this. The fact that my Frigidare has a rotary compressor vice a piston compressor might make a difference also. I don't know which serial numbers have the rotary compressors. They might be SOP these days anyway.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

Thank you for the clarification..I do appreciate the information I get from this forum and look forward to many happy trips with our new unit...just so disappointed in not being able to take our unit on the road...I hope that Heartland will get this inverter problem solved quickly...bought the coach May 30 and only been able to do a 3 day run to check out the unit...got fingers crossed for a quick resolution this inverter problem

 

[jimtoo]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I have a question to ask,,, why can't you just plug your fridge into a regular 120 outlet,,, cool it down and pack and go... the fridge will stay cool and keep food OK for 6--10 hours while driving if you do not open it. When you get to campsite ,,,plug in and your fridge starts working.

 

[Miketnsa1]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

The invertI'm lights comes on and the fridge turns on for about 1 minute. The light is still on the remote switch, as if the inverter is still working, but then turns off about 2 minutes later. Both batteries are brand new and fully charged. I'm having to run my generator on the road to keep the fridge cold and on. What am I missing?

Suggestions?

Just picked up my new 4200 and I'm having the EXACT same problem :-(

 

[jimpav]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I have a question to ask,,, why can't you just plug your fridge into a regular 120 outlet,,, cool it down and pack and go... the fridge will stay cool and keep food OK for 6--10 hours while driving if you do not open it. When you get to campsite ,,,plug in and your fridge starts working.

I agree, and I think that most people, if they have the chance, indeed pre-cool. THe issue arises when you put in a long hot day and the road, and like us, stopped in a rest area without shore or generator power for the night.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

We went 45 miles from home on our try out run....fridge was on...cold..packed and doing great..then we unpluged from shore power..hit the inverter button...green light comes on and we hit the road..45 minutes later we stop..no inverter working and the freezer had gone from 0 to 29...had we gone another hour or who knows, I am sure the temps would have been above freezing and everything would have been ruined...it did not make for a good trip..

 

[porthole]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

...I just don't trust the fridge....last and only trip we went 45 miles from home and fridge went from 0 to 29 in that length of time.....

That sounds like you have an additional problem besides the inverter.

If that is correct, your inverter is trying to run full time at full output - and it ain't gonna work for that.

 

[jmgratz]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

All these inverter problems are exactly why we did not want the residential refrigerator in our Landmark.

 

[porthole]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

I hear you, we picked ours up 5/5/2014. Although Heartland has been good to authorize a mobile tech to come out and fix our issues which he has done except the bedroom slide seal and the inverter. So far he has made two trips and will have to make a third because their parts people keep sending the wrong parts. Beyond the fridge/inverter that will not work the bedroom top slide seal has to be replaced because it was installed wrong and the seal is 13'6" long. So far they have sent three pieces that are 13' long. I know these seals are not cheap. The Heartland POC I have been dealing with has been great but the parts guys are killing them. I went to check all the battery terminals last night and found both on one of the batteries the nuts had been cross threaded and I could not get the nuts off. I spent an hour in 90* heat trying to get bolt cutters on them to cut the cables loose so I could get the battery out. I had to get approval this morning from Heartland to go buy a new battery and them pay for it. I have a lot of receipts to send them and this all could have been avoided with just a little quality control. We have tried to stay positive through all this but it gets a little harder every time we find another issue.

Batteries are not installed at the Heartland factory.

They are a dealer supplied and installed item. So the dealer is to blame for that.

 

[alethaj]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

We have a 50 amp plug at home and keep our unit pluged in all the time...have had no problem with anything other than the fridge...had to have factory installed fridge replaced and when that was done we brought the unit home...prepared to take it out for a test run and that is when we discovered the inverter would not run the fridge...I already knew of this problem from reading the messages in this forum...so at least I knew what to look for..still waiting for new inverter to be delivered and we will take the unit back to the dealer for installation...have fingers crossed this will work..if not may look into getting a generator
installed..we had one in our toy hauler....I will then be comfortable that the fridge will be working on arrival ....

 

[Hunter11]

Re: Inverter for fridge problem

Batteries are not installed at the Heartland factory.

They are a dealer supplied and installed item. So the dealer is to blame for that.

Heartland is paying for the new battery I had to buy yesterday so if they did not install them they are accepting responsibility for it. That is all I care about at this point.