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sammebuck

Residental Refrigerator Problems?

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We are thinking of replacing our current Dometic unit with a residential unit.

Has anyone experienced problems with this changeover I.E. failures due to vibration, power variations , etc.

Thanks for your input.

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We added a 21.7 CF Whirlpool about 2 years ago, not a peep out of it so far, and we live in the coach fulltime. We travel from Alabama to the west coast at least once a year, and root around the rest of the country in between. Do about 10K miles per year. It is the best improvement that you can make to your coach.

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I tried to run a Frigidaire 10 cu ft on my pure sine wave inverter and it would not keep running. The compressor quit and became hot. Plugged it into the house and it ran fine. Glad I didn't install it first.

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I tried to run a Frigidaire 10 cu ft on my pure sine wave inverter and it would not keep running. The compressor quit and became hot. Plugged it into the house and it ran fine. Glad I didn't install it first.

What size PS inverter do you have? We have a 2.8K PS inverter (with 6 AGM Batterys) and it runs the RR just fine.

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I tested it with a Xantrex Prosine 2000, Xantrex RS2000. both pure sine wave and a cheapy 750 watt just for kicks. I don't know it the model I tested was defective or the compressor was not compatible with inverter use.

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If the Xantrex inverters were working as advertised, the refrigerator should not know the difference between inverter power and residential line power! A modified sine wave inverter is another story. The 750 might not put out enough juice to run the refer.

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We have a 21.3 Cu. Ft. Frigidaire in our unit that came stock from the factory. Have over 16,000 miles without any problem. Inverter keeps it going fine when not on shore power for apx. 14 hours before AGS kicks in. Of course, while driving the alternator keeps the batteries charged. Like someone else said, the best thing you can add to your MH!

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We are thinking of replacing our current Dometic unit with a residential unit.

Has anyone experienced problems with this changeover I.E. failures due to vibration, power variations , etc.

Thanks for your input.

Do you have room to get the old refer out and the new one in without going through the windshield? Will they fit through the door?

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Most likely no on the door. Either the windshield or a side window. My coach as a large window in the drivers side slide which was used. A forklift was used to get the old Notsocold out and the new Whirlpool in. A small refer might go in the door if you are replacing a small, say 6 - 8 cf gas refer. The twelve footers won't go out the door, and a 21.7 footer sure won't go in.....

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'Have checked all dimensions on both old and new and with doors removed will fit thru entry door with 1/2" to spare. Not keen on idea of having wind shield removed.

That's 1/4" on each side. It's going to take a really precise effort to get it through the door without damaging something!

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We are thinking of replacing our current Dometic unit with a residential unit.

Has anyone experienced problems with this changeover I.E. failures due to vibration, power variations , etc.

Thanks for your input.

I installed a residential refrigerator a year ago in my Monaco Diplomat. I posted to this forum a detailed account of the installation and a followup with power requirements. I have had no problems but we are not fulltime and only use the unit 6 months or less each year. However that being said many OEM manufacture's are installing residential refrigerators as standard equipment. I would submit that these units are not going to fail because they are in a MH. I personally believe using a pure sine wave inverter over modified sine wave provides an added degree of assurance of not having an electrical issue. However, I have seen several post of person's who are using modified sine wave inverters without a problem. I would also say I would never own another MH unless it had a residential refrigerator. Good luck and do your research before you make a decision.

Ray

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The Whirlpool I installed was not at all happy with the Xantrex 3kw modified sine wave inverter in my '01 Monaco Exec. I bought a 1kw pure sine wave inverter just for the Whirlpool. It's adequate since the Whirlpool draws around two amps or less after it starts. However, the initial start, particularly if you don't wait a few minutes before switching from shore power to the inverter, will often trip the GFI on the inverter.

I should have gotten a larger unit... the 2kw would have been perfect.

Love the Whirlpool! Ice cream every night!!!

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We replaced our Norcold 1200 with a Whirlpool refrigerator in 2011 and have traveled with it since. Summer and winter, it works great. We haven't altered the original 4 x 6V battery setup that came standard with our rig. The refrigerator runs all night with no problem. If we're using the furnace the batteries will be ready for a full charge in the morning but on a normal temperature night it is no problem. I wrote up the whole process in detail complete with photos. See http://community.fmca.com/topic/2606-replacing-a-norcold-refrigerator/ in this forum for details. I'd never have a coach with anything but a residential refrigerator again.

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