Dear Dave,
My RV has a 110 V residential refrigerator similar to what you would have in your house. While camping off the grid, we run the refrigerator from the batteries through an inverter. This works fine with minimum draw on the batteries, with only about 3-5 amps draw.
However, I noticed at times that draw rate will spike to 80 amps, draining my batteries. I am certain it is a defrost cycle on the refrigerator, which uses high electric current to warm the coil. I checked the settings on the refrigerator and cannot find a setting to disable the defrost cycle. It is a Frigidaire FGHF2366PFBA. It seems like a bad choice for an RV.
Any strategies you may suggest to manage it? If the defrost is on a time cycle, maybe turning off the refrigerator for a few minutes would reset the cycle? Just a thought… Any ideas? Thanks. —Jerry, 2017 Forest River Berkshire
Dear Jerry,
I did some research on the Frigidaire model you have and it does have a defrost mode that is designed to keep the evaporator fins clean and working efficiently. They claim it is a “safety” feature and required by ETL and UL code to protect the operation of the compressor.
Auto defrost
Some refrigerators kick the auto defrost on when the temperature of the evaporator coils reaches a certain point. In that case there would be a temperature sensor or thermistor on the back side of the coil.
Your refrigerator seems to have an automatic timer that cycles on a preset time and would just have the heater wrapped around the coil. Typically, the heater is a simple tube or thick metal rod that heats up and melts the ice forming on the evaporator.
It is not recommended to disable the heater as ice will form on the evaporator fins in less than a day and eventually ruin the refrigerator. Most can not be defrosted manually without leaving the refrigerator off and the door open for a very long time, as the evaporator fins are concealed behind the inner panel.
Recommendation for on/off switch in some cases
However, I did find a few recommendations for installing a switch to temporarily shut off the feature. In the back, locate the wire going to the heater and splice in an on/off switch that can be run around the outside of the rig to an accessible location inside the rig. Keep in mind this is only temporary. It should not be shut off for more than a day or it will ice up and not cool. If you are dry camping for an extended amount of time, this would not be a good option for you.
You might also enjoy this from Dave
How many amp hours of lithium do I need to run 12-volt fridge overnight?
Dear Dave,
I’m trying to determine how many amp hours I would need in lithium batteries to allow us to dry camp for one overnight stay on our way to longer destinations. I have two lead acid batteries in parallel that need to be replaced and I’m considering two 105-amp lithium batteries in parallel. I’m not looking to run the air conditioner or microwave or 120 outlets. Just the ability to keep the 12v Everchill refrigerator running, lights, water pump, fans, the heater fan and the slideout. Would 210 amps be enough for one night? The camper also has a 200 W solar panel. Thanks in advance! —Bill, 2024 Jayco Jay Feather 24BH
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Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”
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Thank you, Dave, for the information about auto-defrosting cycles. Have a great week and safe travels!