rhagfo
Portland, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/06/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
Well I might be a bit late to the party, but have you considered a a 12 volt cooling unit replacement from JC Refrigeration. We lost our cooling unit last year and did the 12 Volt compressor unit. Best move we made for refrigeration, refer cools quickly, refer temps are always between 32 and 35 degrees, freezer just above zero.
Russ & Paula the Beagle Belle.
2016 Ram Laramie 3500 Aisin DRW 4X4 Long bed.
2005 Copper Canyon 293 FWSLS, 32' GVWR 12,360#
"Visit and Enjoy Oregon State Parks"
|
cummins2014
Utah
Senior Member
Joined: 02/20/2008
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
LouLawrence wrote:Go residential and you will never go back!
I would agree ,although never had to replace an RV fridge .
|
LouLawrence
Traveling the US fulltime since 2000.
Senior Member
Joined: 03/16/2021
View Profile
|
Grit dog wrote:LouLawrence wrote:Go residential and you will never go back!
You forgot the rest of your statement which reads, “only if you’re hooked to shore power full time or have a battery and inverter system that could light up a small town.”
If neither one of these is true then a resi fridge is somewhere between a hinderance and a nonstarter.
Thanks, I didn't need your incorrect correction. My statement was clear and correct. I have had a residential fridge in my RV's since 1999. Yes, I have an inverter and some large batteries but no solar. The engine alternator keeps the batteries charged while driving so no issues there. When I dry camp I have to run my generator a few hours per day but I am going to do that anyway for cooking and assorted morning and evening activities. If I chose to dry camp a lot, solar would solve that but very few are off the grid for extended periods of time.
|
Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 05/06/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
Campinghoss@51 wrote:I have had several different rv's and all but the one I have now was elec/propane. My current one has a 23 cubic foot Frigidaire in it and I will never go back to propane. My stays plugged in year round and since my batteries charge while hooked to the truck long distance travel has never been an issue. We don't boondock so that is not an issue either. However if we did need to boondock I could hook the pigtail up to the truck and keep the batteries charged. I never expect to do that though.
The last part of your reply is incorrect. Don’t test that theory as stated. It won’t “keep your batteries charged” even if you leave it plugged in and the truck idling 24-7.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold
|
Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 05/06/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
Rbertalotto wrote:Thanks for all the great replies. I'm still totally undecided on Residential with inverter or a true RV 12V refrigerator. Because I near 100% boondock, and do a lot of traveling, I'm leaning toward the RV 12v solution. I got the price for a Dometic 8 cu ft down to exactly $1000 which seems reasonable considering I'm hoping to get at least 10-12 years out of it. And my absorption refrigerator is like new and works as a 2 way refrigerator is supposed to so I might be able to sell it for a few hundred dollars and offset the cost.
We shall see.....Tax Free Weekend so I can save $60.50 if I buy it on Saturday...
In your first post you complain of your fridge NOT working as it’s supposed to, and now you claim it does….
Idk why you’d do a thing if it works, “for free”. If it’s like the first post though, it may just need some more attention. I’m not that well read on absorption fridges so unfortunately can’t help there. But the fact it works is a good thing. And your first experience posted I’ve not experienced with the old 3 way fridges I’ve had.
This is sounding now like a mission to fix something that ain’t broke.
|
|
|
Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
Senior Member
Joined: 05/06/2013
View Profile
Offline
|
LouLawrence wrote:Grit dog wrote:LouLawrence wrote:Go residential and you will never go back!
You forgot the rest of your statement which reads, “only if you’re hooked to shore power full time or have a battery and inverter system that could light up a small town.”
If neither one of these is true then a resi fridge is somewhere between a hinderance and a nonstarter.
Thanks, I didn't need your incorrect correction. My statement was clear and correct. I have had a residential fridge in my RV's since 1999. Yes, I have an inverter and some large batteries but no solar. The engine alternator keeps the batteries charged while driving so no issues there. When I dry camp I have to run my generator a few hours per day but I am going to do that anyway for cooking and assorted morning and evening activities. If I chose to dry camp a lot, solar would solve that but very few are off the grid for extended periods of time.
Thanks for the clarification. Which I gave consideration to, as it was. With enough battery capacity and the right inverter, you are making it work to your satisfaction.
But not an unqualified one size fits all solution as you first alluded to.
|
Rbertalotto
Massachusetts
Senior Member
Joined: 06/02/2005
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
OK, More research (and confusion).....It appears a major energy user with these 12V RV refrigerators is the "Defrost Cycle"....Heating up the freezer and then quickly cooling it back down uses a bunch of energy. And as far as I can tell, there is no way to shut it off. So today I went to Home Depot / Lowes / Best Buy and looked at small college dorm type refrigerators that do not offer any type of defrost cycle. But they are quite small. Since I always camp alone, and I never have a full 6 cu ft refrigerator, one of these 4 cu ft units might be the ticket for me. On the rear info card it says they draw 1.5 amps! And at around $250, heck, if it doesn't work out I can use it out in the shop....I have a call into Dometic to see if the defrost function of the 8 cu ft unit they offer can be deactivated.....stay tuned for more RefrigAdventures!
RoyB
Dartmouth, MA
2021 RAM 2500 4X4 6.4L
2011 Forest River Grey Wolf Cherokee 19RR
520 w solar-200ah Renogy Li-Epever MPPT
|
Cptnvideo
Arizona - most of the time
Senior Member
Joined: 11/05/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
We had the same issues as the OP since DAY 1 OF A NEW 2022 fiver. After 2 months and 4 mobile techs not finding a problem, we decided to go residential. After many careful measurements, we went with a 20cf Whirlpool from Home Depot to replace the 18cf Norcold.
The fridges had to go down to the end of the island on their way in and out the door.
We couldn't be happier with our decision AND we boondock regularly.
Bill & Linda
Arizona
2019 Dodge Ram Laramie 3500 dually 4x4 diesel
Hensley Trailer Saver BD5 hitch
2022 Grand Design Solitude 378MBS
1600 watts solar, Victron 150/100 MPPT controller, GoPower 3kw inverter/charger, 5 SOK 206AH LiFePo4 batteries for 1030 ah
|
wa8yxm
Davison Michigan (East of Flint)
Senior Member
Joined: 07/04/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
If you boondock alot the 12 volt is the hands down winner
As I said when I was "in the dark" overnight the Residental fridge got the big inverter with the big batteries... The little 12 volt only chest freezer that hits -4ºF making it a "Deep freeze" got a 12 amp hour LiFePO4 and a 300 watt msw to feed it's brick as I could not find the 12 v cord (I think I know what happened to it)
3 amps at 12 volt beats 10 or 20 or 30 (For 120 volt appliances take wattage and divide by 10 to estimate 12 volt amp draw... that covers conversion/inverter loss.. Works well up to around 100 amps/1000 watts.. Tested myself).
I say again go with the 12
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times
|
TechWriter
Part-Timing Again
Senior Member
Joined: 12/22/2002
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
Cptnvideo wrote:We had the same issues as the OP . . . we went with a 20cf Whirlpool from Home Depot to replace the 18cf Norcold.
We couldn't be happier with our decision AND we boondock regularly.
Cptnvideo's power setup:
- 1600 watts solar
- 5 SOK 206AH LiFePo4 batteries for 1030 ah
2004 - 2010 Part Timer (35’ 2004 National RV Sea Breeze 8341 - Workhorse)
2010 - 2021 Full Timer (41’ 2001 Newmar Mountain Aire 4095 DP - Cummins)
2021 - ??? Part Timer (31’ 2001 National RV Sea View 8311 - Ford)
www.rvSeniorMoments.com
DISH TV for RVs
|
|
|
