RV Fridge

[Najax2@aol.com]

Hello, everyone. I am a newbie to FMCA. I recently purchased a 1997 Fleetwood Southwind. The motorhome is a Class A and is in good condition; however, the fridge is a magic chef house fridge not meant for an RV. I cannot afford a new RV fridge at the moment and I am wondering how I can make the fridge work without the generator having to be on at all times or being hooked into an electrical outlet. Or, does anyone know of any used or refurbished fridge appliance store?

Thank you, Natasha =p

[wolfe10]

Natasha,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Three ways to power a residential style refrigerator: Shore power, generator or a large battery bank powering an inverter (that turns 12 VDC from the batteries into 120 VAC).

The size of the battery bank needed depends on amp draw of the refrigerator (should be posted on sticker in refrigerator), amount of time it runs-- in winter, perhaps 40% of the time, and how long you want to run it without shore power or generator.

What size/number (or amp rating) house batteries do you have? Do you already have an inverter?

Brett Wolfe

[tbutler]

As a general guide, 6 batteries of the normal 6v deep cycle (golf cart batteries) should be enough to power the refrigerator for several hours which will give your generator some rest. How long they will power the inverter to run the refrigerator depends on the amount of power needed and percent of time the compressor runs as Brett mentions.

You can lengthen this time by making sure that you have everything in the refrigerator at a cold temperature before traveling. Don't stop at the grocery store after leaving the campground and put a bunch of warm things in the refrigerator or freezer to chill, that will make it run more often and use more power. If you want to stop at the grocery before reaching your next campground make that a stop just before you arrive at the campground and plug in. If you find that 6 batteries aren't enough, you could add several more if you have room for them. Most people who are converting to household refrigerators are finding that six batteries work well in most cases.

P.S. I assume that your coach has an inverter. If it does, it must be of sufficient capacity to power a refrigerator. Find the model of your inverter if you have one and then compare its capacity to the power needed by your refrigerator. We recently replaced our old inverter with one with greater capacity in anticipation of replacing our refrigerator with a household model in the future. If you don't have an inverter or it is small capacity and unable to power the refrigerator, you will find replacing it to be an expensive proposition. In that case you might try this suggestion...

Household refrigerators are well insulated and leaving it off for several hours shouldn't damage the food inside or allow any frozen goods to thaw (try not to open it unless you absolutely have to). You could set the temperature to maximum cold the night before you leave home or an RV Park. In the morning when you unplug from shore power, simply turn the refrigerator off and leave it off for several hours before running the generator. You might put a remote reading thermometer in the refrigerator so you could monitor the temperature. When it starts to get too warm, run the generator long enough to cool it down and then shut off the refrigerator and let the generator rest for a while.

[Guest Wayne77590]

Depending on how much room you have, place a container of ice in the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment. Doing this when you first place your food in the refrigerator will assist the system in the cool down process. Ice is 32 degrees. Refrigerators should be 40 degrees or a little less. The ice helps in cooling and maintaining the lower temperature.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[sjmondl]

Most refrigs should stay cool for at least 6 hours (unless you are in the desert). So, when you arrive at your campsite, plug into shore power or turn on your genset - your household frig will cool down quite fast. Also, keep in mind that household appliances usually use LESS power than RV style appliances, so you may be able to also run your house frig using your RV's inverter while driving. Most household frigs use less than 10 - 12 amps AC. All of my RV appliances are household appliances - they COST less, too.

[glennroberta]

I can't speak as to how much DC power it takes to run the home-style fridge but from what I've been reading elsewhere (Monocoers site), there seems to be an ongoing problem with Norcold RV fridges catching on fire. That concern, plus the extra cost of an RV fridge, may be why your original owner installed a residential. If it's been in there awhile, it apparently must work OK with whatever DC power you have. Good Luck.

Glenn Martin 07 Monaco Camelot 42', 09 Saturn Outlook. (Norcold refrigerator).

[elisowski@sbcglobal.net]

Like you, we are new FMCA members with a 2010 Phaeton. We are looking at putting in a small residential chest type freezer in the basement, but have no idea which type to use, and which type will work for RV travel.

To make matters worse I have no idea how to set up a new blog. I'm a IBM selectric person.

[garykd]

Hi elisowski@sbcglobal.net,

I too am from the Selectric era. I'd do the following:

1. Call Tiffin and see if your coach is wired for a chest freezer in the basement.

2. Ask them what they install.

3. Go to http://www.rvupgradestore.com/search.jsp?searchTerm=freezer and http://familymotorcoachrvmarketplace.com/r...y=&heading= and take a look at some of the choices.

4. Now you know if you want what Tiffin installs or one of the after market units.

The freezer will require installation of a pull out tray. Don't forget this when you take your measurements.

If your coach is not prewired for a basement freezer, post here. That is another set of tasks.

[wolfe10]

To make matters worse I have no idea how to set up a new blog. I'm a IBM selectric person.

If you are talking about a Blog on FMCA, here is the "how to": http://community.fmca.com/index.php?act=He...E=01&HID=17

Brett

[Guest Wayne77590]

For the Freezer you may want to try Novakool

They have a freezer that is 1.9 CuFt and 20 5/8x15 5/8x17 3/4 inches in dimension.

Don't forget to measure the compartment twice, or even 3 times, before buying one that fits.

[wolfe10]

For the Freezer you may want to try Novakool

They have a freezer that is 1.9 CuFt and 20 5/8x15 5/8x17 3/4 inches in dimension.

Don't forget to measure the compartment twice, or even 3 times, before buying one that fits.

And, as Gary mentioned be sure to reduce available basement dimensions for fitting the freezer by the size of the slide out tray you will mount the freezer unit on.

Brett