inverter question

Try to keep the cord under 12' and either a 14 or 12 AWG will do fine. Fridges don't use much. Mine used 150 watts to start the compressor and cruised on 70 watts.

Spend a little extra and buy a good grounded extension cord with heavy duty insulation. Your typical cord is 16 AWG.

14 AWG is rated for 15 amps or about 1600 watts safely.

12 AWG is 20 amps or about 2200 watts safely.

Get one close to the inverter output and you'll never have a problem.

My fridge and microwave was by my inverter but running power to the other side I went behind the cabinet, tucked under the trim in front of the mattress and behind the cabinet on the other side. It took a 12' cord to accomplish that but it was out of sight.

 

a heavy duty extension cord should be fine.

 

You are right except the need to improve the supply line, there is no real problem with a 16 gauge cord under 15 feet, the voltage drop won't be measurable at 3 amps and because most of the fridges draw 1.5 amps with a startup current about 3 amps for less than a second, the drop isn't an issue.The point is that the lighter cord being used for a fridge will do just fine, less expensive and less of a problem being used in a small space.

By the way one issue with these cheap fridges is the inverter themselves, some of them are cheap and if they are left on when the truck is started, there can be a brown out condition with them (large drop in voltage) which the compressor can't handle too many times (one important reason why you unplug a fridge or freezer at home when the power goes out). This can also happen when the battery voltage drops too.

 

I have a cobra inverter in my truck and use it to power a Samsung tv and a satellite receiver. I have them on a duckfoot extension cord and I guess since they use minimal power I can get away with it and use the other outlet for my computer. Since that is also a low energy requirig device I have had no spiking or overheating issues with it.