Fridge not starting without ignition on

[Griswald One]

Need some problem solving help. Twice now I have come to pick up my rig from storage and when I went to start the fridge there was no power to it. Both times after starting the ignition on the MH I had power and the fridge started up. Here are the circumstances:

- Unit had sat for at least 10 days with the master power off
- I had turned master power on shortly before attempting to start the fridge and there was no power to it. Display was blank and pushing / holding the on/off switch had no effect
- Other 12v electrical items clearly had power
- Both times I used the Inverter to check the condition of the battery and it read 12.4
- upon starting MH fridge immediately had power
- This fridge occasionally gets a "C" code. The dealer previously claimed it was a bad battery, but the problem has persisted with the new battery

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[GrayHawk51]

Even though your unit "main switch" is off the unit is still drawing power from the house battery. You need to look into getting a Master disconnect switch. Put this on the house batter and with the flip of a switch your battery should stay charged and not drain thus, being able to start your refrigerator.

[memphis02]

You mentioned checking the voltage with the inverter; you aren't leaving the inverter on, while it's in storage, by chance, are you?

It is possible to have a bad battery and still see 12v. I might suggest having your house battery/batteries load tested. If they load test fine, you're definitely still getting some sort of parasitic draw, while it's in storage.

[Griswald One]

Thanks for the thoughts. The parasitic draw was my first thought as well. Any storage longer then two weeks I do disconnect the battery for that reason. These were both 10-12 day absences. You are right that I do need to add switches just to make the job easier.

As for the Inverter, no it was not left on. When the fridge had no power I flipped the Inverter on just to check the state of the battery. Both times it indicated 12.4 volts. My limited understanding suggests that reading would indicate the battery is near capacity with around 12.7 being a full healthy battery???

It is that inverter reading that is throwing me off and causing the concern that this is not just a low battery issue. I will have to try the load test and see what those results are before I can dig deeper.