Residential Refrig Install-Happy days are here again.

Tom

>>But the refer runs 24/7 and the heater, tv and light don't. I think if you are boondocking it will suck batteries.<<

My normal usage is 55 amps per hr... so a few more is no problem, just another 3/4 hr genset time.

Lou

>>My fridge likes the sine wave power better than the modified sine.  Don't forget you need a fudge factor for the compressor starting surge.<<

I think you may be right....I have a 800 watt modified sine wave I'm going to try, running the refrig & satellite internet equip.

Jerry

>>When we get to Yuma in the Fall we will bring the pizza so you can store the leftovers!!!<<

I'll be glad to...Can't guarantee how long they will stay in there.<G>

Terry,

How much does the new frig weigh?

ken

Ken

I don't know..... but the guys moving the old & new refrig in & out of the window said the new one was much lighter.

I've had my eye on a compact fridge at Lowes that I've been thinking about putting in our RV.... It's just the right size for the space I have available... My old fridge works just fine.. but, it has cracks in it and I'm going to have to replace the door panels and framing to match the new interior anyway...  I figure I can take it out and sell the cooling unit out of it for the price of this little fridge I want to get... It's kind of a no-brainer really.. We never use the gas to power our current fridge anyway.. and this one can be powered using the inverter when dry camping..

The only think I need to figure out is the best way to secure it... I'll need to put brackets on it to secure it to the frame I'll build for it..

Thanks for inspiring me to go ahead with this part of the project!! Looks great!!

Terry A. Brewer said:

Tom

>>But the refer runs 24/7 and the heater, tv and light don't. I think if you are boondocking it will suck batteries.<<

My normal usage is 55 amps per hr... so a few more is no problem, just another 3/4 hr genset time.

Click to expand...

If you are using 55 amps per hour how long must you run the gen every day when you are boondocking?

Tom

>>If you are using 55 amps per hour how long must you run the gen every day when you are boondocking?<<


I run one hr in the morning & two hrs in the evening... I will now have to increase that by one additional hr.

I turned the refrig off when I went to bed last night for 9 hrs & the freezer lost 30 deg down to 32 deg & the refrig lost  6 deg down to 44 deg....So I will probably turn it off at night, unless my ice cream starts getting soft.<G>

Terry A. Brewer said:

So I will probably turn it off at night, unless my ice cream starts getting soft.<G>

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Terry,

Knowing your electronic skills, you probably should devise a timer for you overnight shut downs. Sooner or later you will forget to turn the frig back on in the morning.

R

Or figure out a way to turn off the refrig but leave the freezer on because you really don't want your ice cream getting soft

Wendy

Wow!  What an outstanding idea.  Very nice job on the installation.  It looks like it belongs there.

I always thought I *needed* the option of propane to keep the fridge cold.  Truth is 95% of the time we have electricity available, even if we aren't in a regular campground.  Even the no frills State and National parks have RV sites with water and electricity.  The remainder of the time is generally when we stop for breaks while driving and I fire up the fridge with propane to put the chill back in it.  I could just as easily fire up a genny.  Doing the math, it would appear that it would be cheaper to not only buy a residential fridge, but a new genny to support it.  Only issue is carrying around gasoline... need to find a diesel genny...doable.  Now ya got me thinkin'.

As I look around for a pop-up TC, whether or not the 2way or 3way fridge works may now be a non issue...   Seems to me a residential fridge with A LOT of extra insulation might work really well so, firing up the genny won't have to happen very frequently. 8)

As far as the residential units go, is there any issue with durability as related to them seeing all the bumps and vibration associated with tooling down the highway?  How did you secure the unit from shifting around during drive time?

gonemissin said:

As far as the residential units go, is there any issue with durability as related to them seeing all the bumps and vibration associated with tooling down the highway?  How did you secure the unit from shifting around during drive time?

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Rocky ,

We drove  our first 225 miles today over interstate roads.  Some construction zones.  Our bungee cord fix secured the door closed.  My inner stretcher spacer bars held the plastic bins I purchased nicely.  My only  complaint was that the door holds so many jars of stuff ( mayonnaise,  pickles, mustard, Ketchup etc etc) that the bottles rattled a bit  against each other.  I will fix that today with the Noodle I bought from Wal Mart.  I  will cut the noodle to fit inside the door compartments and slide it in against the  bottles to take up slack and then they will avoid hitting each other. 

The refrigerator is sitting on a wooden  platform and the back " wheels"  have a board screwed down into the platform which is right against them and hold it in place.  We have two screws set in at a diagonal screwed directly  into the frame that surrounded the front of the refrig. This was behind the filter cover that snapped right over the front frame so you can't see it.  So it is secured both front and back.  It did not budge while in transit.  I guess time will tell if  the shaking  of a drive will make a difference. 
I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with the capacity of that thing.!

Betty

You would notice that Dual  ban panel  cell phone  antenna hooked to a Wilson  amplifier.  So yes it is a repeater .  It had only been up 15 minutes before he took  photo.  I plan to paint it so that it blends into the wall.  He hopes it will amplify our cell phone reception in rig. 

Click to expand...

I think you will be happy with it.  I put one in my house and went from a one bar to a four bar signal on my AT&T cell.  It allowed me to cancel the land line. Of course I put the antenna on the roof of a two story house, so my results may be better than in an RV.

My only  complaint was that the door holds so many jars of stuff ( mayonnaise,  pickles, mustard, Ketchup etc etc) that the bottles rattled a bit  against each other.  I will fix that today with the Noodle I bought from Wal Mart.  I  will cut the noodle to fit inside the door compartments and slide it in against the  bottles to take up slack and then they will avoid hitting each other. 

Click to expand...

Another great idea.  We always have trouble with stuff moving around.  Doesn't everybody. ;D  Getting a few foam insulation 'noodles' and snaking them between bottles/cans will be an interesting idea to try.  Thank you, Betty!  An additional thought is to get some of the foam piping insulation and cut it to length to take up space on shelves.  Could be used in short vertical sections or longer sections in a horizontal manner.  8)

I'll admit, I didn't think about the residential fridge doors popping open.   It makes sense that they would.  A visit or two to a home center or good hardware store and one might come up with a nice looking functional solution?  Mechanical or magnetic... Meanwhile, what would RV'ers do without bungees?   Heck, maybe a bungee as you've employed them is THE solution...

As for the durability, my tech mind was thinking about the refrigeration unit unit itself.  The compressor particularly.  When the fellows design these things, they have a quiet, vibration free residential floor to work with, as opposed to our bumping and vibrating on the road.  Compressors are usually suspended to help isolate the NVH(noise, vibration, harmonics) from the home.  The absorbtion units found in the RV refrigerators don't have any moving parts save for the valves and such, so there isn't much to vibrate apart.  No 'alarms' going off, just wondering.

All refrigerators have to be designed to let a child kick the door open from the inside - including the ones with the RV travel latch.  I think they have to pop open at 25 lbs of force, or something like that.  In any case, I found the magnetic seal around the door of my home unit held the door closed about as well as the travel latch in my old Norcold.  I rigged a bungee cord on my Arctic Fox home refrigerator, but kept forgetting to string it and the doors never popped open.

The mfg installed residential fridges have external latches.The mag seals do a pretty good job, but a bungee or some sort of aesthetic-ly pleasing catch might be wise.  On new coaches they install a 2800 watt inverter and extra batteries, but that is also on a bigger fridge. 

Oh, and the cabinetry looks fantastic.  I was thinking Terry was quite a cabinet maker!  Then I remembered conversations about Davis.

Terry, since the new refrigerator is self-defrosting, I was wondering how much current it draws in defrost mode (if you happen to know), how often it self-defrosts (is that a daily thing?), and whether defrosting was included in your refrigerator's daily current draw figures? Also, what was done with the refrigerator outside access panel and stack vent, was that left as was (open to the outside air) or what?  Could that be a potential problem?  Thanks for all the info you're giving us.

Rolf

>>whether defrosting was included in your refrigerator's daily current draw figures? Also, what was done with the refrigerator outside access panel and stack vent, was that left as was (open to the outside air) or what?<<


Yes it was included in the 25 hr draw...not a problem & another big benefit that I forgot to add to the pro"s list. So far I've just duct taped the ventilation holes on the access panel but I'm going to add insulation to the back & top cap.

Rocky

>>As for the durability, my tech mind was thinking about the refrigeration unit unit itself.  The compressor particularly.<<

Coach builders have been putting residential refrigerators in their all electric coaches since the 90's. i follow several high end coach forums & can't remember the last time I heard of someone complaining about them.