4 replies to this topic

[todgru]

Hello everyone! Great group here!Here's my first question.

I have a 2014 Toyota Tacoma with the 400 watt inverter in the bed. I also have a new Whynter FM-65G refrigerator. The fridge runs off both 12 volts and 120 AC. The fridge will automatically switch to DC when the AC is off. The panel states it uses 75 watts.

I'm not sure the inverter type that Toyota uses(square vs sine). I believe the inverter only works when the truck is running. So when the truck is off, the house batteries in the camper will run the fridge.

Here's the question: will the fridge be safe using the trucks inverter?

Thank you all!

TodGru

[takesiteasy]

I've read on Tacoma World that the inverter produces square wave power. I haven't been able to confirm that but it makes sense since sine wave inverters are more expensive and I doubt Toyota would spend the money for such a feature and not tout it. But as I understand it, square wave power is fine for most uses like lights and motors.

 

I have a 2011 Tacoma. The inverter produces 400 watts when the truck is in park and the key is turned on. It produces 100 watts when the truck is in gear. I installed an outlet in the cab connected to the inverter. While driving, I run my Apple powerbook (for GPS) and also charge the iPhone off the inverter without any issues. I would suspect the fridge would be fine. You could call Whynter and ask them.

 

I'm not sure why you would run the fridge off the inverter though, unless your camper battery isn't wired to the truck for charging. If the truck is running, the alternator should cover the fridge draw on the camper battery. If you are plugged into shore power, the fridge will switch to AC if it is connected to the shore power circuit.

[todgru]

Follow up:

 

Our last trip to Mt Rainier, I used the trucks on board inverter to power the fridge. Worked great!

 

Every time I turned the truck off, though, the inverter would turn off. When I started the truck back up, I had to remember to turn the inverter back on. This is how Toyota built the inverter system on the truck. Not a big deal.

 

FYI: This refrigerator is all DC. The fridge has a built in inverter to convert AC to DC to run the compressor.

 

Bottomline: This is not the most efficient way to power the fridge. I'm sure it is a waste to go from DC to AC back to DC! Regardless, this ended up working very well.

[takesiteasy]

I've used my Tacoma's inverter to run a battery charger to charge a battery (while driving) that isn't connected to the truck. It works well for that but the same problem exists of remembering to turn the inverter back on every time you start the truck. I've since connected that battery to a solar panel so I don't need to do that any more.

 

I also wired an outlet into our camper connected to the inverter so we can have 400 watts of 120v AC in the camper (as long as the ignition switch is on). It's not convenient to have to turn on the ignition but it has come in handy a few times.

[todgru]

TakeItEasy, thanks for all your information!

 

For the new camper, we'll have wired the camper to the truck to keep the house batteries charged while driving. And also keep the fridge running. I agree that the inverter is a nice to have. Not necessary for us, but sure make a few things easier.

 

Todd.