Refrigerator Problem

What you are doing wrong is trying to do things "cheap" rather than doing it the right way. Sorry for being blunt ...

The issue is not the power consumption of the refrigerator itself ... its the compressor that is tripping your inverter. Home style refrigerators are not designed for big rigs for a variety of reasons, including the fact that you'll need a 1500 watt inverter ... plus homestyle/dorm refrigerator compressors are filled with oil. RV/Trucking refrigerator compressors are not ... they are designed for the rigors of going up and down the highway.

My suggestion is a TruckFridge TF-32 Portable Refrigerator. It plugs directly into the cig. plug (12 volt) and will also plug into AC when outside the truck. It has a built-in compressor, automatic thermostat, and also a low voltage shut-off. (Its not cheap, but its what you need .. if you are looking for a true refrigerator - not a thermo-electric cooler.)

 

Lets try this again. Its the compressor that is causing the power drain and kicking out the inverter. The compressor is requiring more than 500 watts of power to run.

You are trying to "kill an elephant with a pea-shooter". The refrigerator's compressor needs a larger inverter ... one that will require it to be hard-wired to the batteries. Your inverter is designed for small appliances ... not dorm style refrigerators.

Also, look on the back panel of the refrigerator and tell us what the wattage rating ois for the refrigerator. it should tell you in watts, what the power consumption is for ther refrigerator. Once you find that ... you will realize that your inverter is too small for the refrigerator.

So your choices then are ... change companies to a company that allows hard-wired inverters ... or take back your Emerson and get a portable refrigerator (like I noted before) that plugs directly into a cig plug (12 volt) ... or buy a permanent installed 12 volt refrigerator (ie. Waeco/ TruckFridge) and have the company install it for you.

 

Using this example at 10 amps...

If your refrigerator is rated at 1.5 amps at 120 volts your refrigerator is running at 120 X 1.5 = 180 Watts

The truck is suppling 12 volts at 10 amps 12 X 10 = 120 Watts

180 - 120 = 60 Watts you are lacking.

Inverter looking for more is blowing the fuse.

 

If yours is the chrome looking one with locking doors, I have the same Emerson. But I powered it off a 2500 watt inverter. On start up the digital meter would show 150 watts and quickly drops to 70 watts.

The thing about microwaves and fridges is they have a start capacitor which needs alot of juice for a second. I think you could upgrade to a 800 watt and be okay. But if you are going to stay in trucking you might as well invest in a big one.

That little wire running off a cigarette lighter ain't going to carry enough juice. You need to go straight to the batteries.

I learned the hard way too. I first bought a 800 watt microwave and a 800 watt inverter. Wrong answer. Buy the 2500W and you'll never have problems.

Since your company prohibits it, there is nothing you can do but buy one of them 12V coolers. That or change jobs. Many companies allow or put inverters in for you. That should be one of your job hunting questions.

 

If you look on the floor where the fridge sits or behind the seat, you'll find a predrilled hole in the floor that has a plastic plug on it. You could run a 800 watt to the batteries and easily disconnect it when you go to the shop. Just an idea.
Just make sure you protect the hole where the metal don't wear the insulation off your wire and cause a short. You might use a glad hand gasket.