FWC Hawk moved 120ac refg to unused breaker

[pvstoy]

For years it had bugged me that FWC hid the AC (120 volt) electrical box for the AC/DC Dometic refg in a hidden closed off space above the back of refg and behind the stove. From the outside you cannot reach it to unplug it.

You may ask, why would you want to unplug it? It is designed to run off DC but if you plug in AC it will auto switch to AC to save on DC draw. Well yes that is a good thing.

But,

I have enough solar that it can run every day on DC. In the shop before a trip it will run on AC to get it going. So far so good.

On the last road trip we stayed at State park that had AC hookup. I just wanted some AC to charge cell phones, laptop and a small device. Ok seems great. The issue is it threw the refg out of perfect cooling mode keeping it at a set temperature.

So FWC on the AC breaker combine the refg and GFIC together. The breaker below is is open and labeled Air Conditioner. I moved the refg wire to the open breaker. Yea!

Now I can plug in to AC, turn on "Main" breaker. Turn on "Converter". Turn on GFIC 120 volt outlet. Then it is my choice if I want the refg to be on AC or DC. It is nice to have a choice to have breakers on or off.

The electrical outlet for the refg was never tied to the GFIC, just the breaker provided protection.

Cheers, Patrick
.

 

[Jon R]

Nice. I think I will make the same change.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Patrick, great innovative thinking! BTW, now you have conditioned air in the refer.