Can you run a Bar Fridge from a 600 w inverter? NO.

Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 16:48
ThreadID: 56926 Views:27950 Replies:9 FollowUps:8
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This has been discussed, but I'm not sure if it has ever been tried.

Today I picked up a 120L Bar Fridge for the Factory. It draws 77 watts. Plugged it into the 600 watt inverter in the back of the Ute and the inverter error light came on.

This is no doubt due to what Nudie has been telling us for ages; the start up current for the compressor is huge before it settles back to its rated 77 watts.

Jim.



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Reply By: stefan P (Penrith NSW) - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:03

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:03
My 65w waeco 240v fridge runs perfect off my 1500watt inverter.

start up is around 650watt.

Your 600w inverter should be able to handle peaks of around 1200w for a short time

Stefan
AnswerID: 300105

Follow Up By: kev.h - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:13

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:13
your waeco 240v fridge has a good quality compressor some of the chinese bar fridges have enormous start currents due to the way they are made
Kev
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Follow Up By: stefan P (Penrith NSW) - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:19

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:19
'your waeco 240v fridge has a good quality compressor'

ummmmm the 240v only which I have, has a Daewoo compressor I pulled the back off to have a look. Is that a good one???

Stefan
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Follow Up By: kev.h - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 17:04

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 17:04
Without going into brands the reference to "good quality" was aimed at its build quality the smaller the start and run current is indicates a better "build quality" as opposed to the cheap type which have half the amount of copper or sometimes aluminium windings which draw greater current to start and run ie. cheap to make and dont give a rats about running cost
Kev
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Reply By: kev.h - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:09

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:09
Spot on 600w only gives a start factor of 7.8 it could be as high as 20 to 30 which means a 1540w to 2300w to start
At a guess your 600w unit may only be 900-1200w intermittent load
A1200-1500w unit may start it but it is'nt good for them , try asking the supplier for specs and the warm start current rating and go from there
Kev
AnswerID: 300106

Reply By: Top End Explorer Tours - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:10

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:10
What you do is, go to Bunnings and buy a cheap GMC 850w genset, then convert that to Gas as it is cheaper to run, then convert the bar fridge to gas, as that would be cheap to run as well, then you could use that as a two way fridge.

Sorry Jim couldn't help myself. ROTFLMAO.

Cheers Steve.
AnswerID: 300107

Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:14

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 17:14
Very good Steve.

Cheers,

Jim.

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Follow Up By: KSV. - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 18:20

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 18:20
ROTFLMAO this was good one, Steve.

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Follow Up By: nowimnumberone - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 18:51

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 18:51
but where does the hyclone go?
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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 22:46

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 22:46
sheesh Diamond the hiclone goes in the fridge!
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Reply By: Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:27

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:27
Yes if the inverter and battery supply voltage are up to the job.

Here are the test pictures of the i-500M







Regards'

Derek.
AnswerID: 300136

Reply By: Wilankurgab - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:51

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:51
Jim,

I had the same problem. I bought a 1500w Modified Sine Wave with 2500w surge and still had the same result. Since then I have bought a 600w Pure Sine Wave from Jaycar and yep, no joy. In other words don't keep forking out the dollars. So I wonder if there are different qualities of pure sine wave inverters. I've given up on this and am looking for a second hand 3 way fridge.

Regards
Wil
AnswerID: 300142

Reply By: kcandco - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:55

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 19:55
Hi Jim

I have been through this exercise recently with a smaller bar fridge about 70litre. A friend has the same fridge. We found that my 300 watt modified sine wave invertor would run either fridge. The fridge draws about 55 watts when running and according to a plug in power meter peaks at about 180 watts at startup. We did find however that if the fridge was disconnected from power, it seemed to have some type of reset time and would not restart for 2 minutes. So in short I would have thought that your fridge would operate from your inverter considering it is twice mines capacity. My fridge is a cascade brand and the inverter from dick smith. Hope this helps.

Kc
AnswerID: 300143

Reply By: Crackles - Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 21:11

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 at 21:11
Jim check the DC volts at the inverter when the fridge is turned on to ensure the battery & associated wiring is suppling the required current. I had heaps of problems with a small inverter only to find that undersized wiring caused too much line loss at start up.
Cheers Craig..............
AnswerID: 300180

Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (Yalgoo) - Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 17:43

Thursday, Apr 24, 2008 at 17:43
yes my inverter wont even run a laptopwith the motor off when plugged into the cig lighter. i have to put the alligator clips on to the battery
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Reply By: Thermoguard Instruments - Friday, Apr 25, 2008 at 07:44

Friday, Apr 25, 2008 at 07:44
Hi Jim,

For a couple of years we quite successfully ran a 180L Fisher & Paykel fridge/freezer from a basic 1000W modified square wave inverter (which is what so-called modified 'sine' wave inverters really are) from time to time. I think the F&P was rated about 120-130W

The inverter was fed by heavy cables about 1m long from two 70Ah VRLA batteries.

AnswerID: 300362

Reply By: neil&brenda - Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 00:57

Monday, Apr 28, 2008 at 00:57
Try plugging the fridge into 240ac with an ammeter inline and see what the startup amps are (safety precautions taken). Obviously, if the start up current is greater than your inverter capacity.. move on.
AnswerID: 300875

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