Forum Discussion

bluwtr49's avatar
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Jul 21, 2016

Residential Fridge Misc. Topics

Since I've made the tentative decision to replace my Dometic with a Samsung when we return from our summer trip I've been mulling over a few details. One of those is securing the doors while traveling. I've seen quite a few OEM installation where they used a device attached to the freezer door with a little "J" hook that rotates up and grabs the two fridge doors. What are they called and where can one find them??

Second is the age old question of power use when on the inverter.

I've seen several post where (sometimes)a second dedicated set of batteries and a separate dedicated inverter is used and I don't understand why that is better than just tapping into the the existing inverter and battery bank. Looking at the battery loading it would appear that the fridge would draw roughly 19 amp while running which isn't insignificant but still not that bad since it does't run all that often.

Has anyone played with the duty cycle?? It would seem that raising the freezer temp to....10 to 20 or so and fridge to...42 would really drop the load power requirement and the temps would be in the range associated with an absorption unit.

Thanks for any input.
Class A
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Jul 23, 2016
    The new ones I've looked at have a added door lock of some type, usually metal.
  • RayChez's avatar
    RayChez
    Explorer
    Jul 22, 2016
    I was just wondering if the new motor homes that come out with residential refrigerators if the doors stay closed or are those refrigerators the same as the after market add on's.

    That is one thing I never have liked where if you do not have something to secure the doors on add on residential refrigerators the doors fly open and food all over the floor.

    Seems like the new coaches would have the doors that do not fly open. Not sure!
  • bluwtr49's avatar
    bluwtr49
    Explorer II
    Jul 22, 2016
    Thanks for all the replies.

    Personally I had no intention of changing or adding an inverter or extra batteries. I had just noticed in previous posts that some did something like that and was wondering why.

    I do like that french door clamp and will go that route but will have to make it black to match the fridge.

    The 19 amps current draw I mentioned was my simplified estimate of the battery power necessary to supply 1.9 Amps AC. If the duty cycle is only ~60 percent than changing temps as a power saving measure wouldn't be necessary. I currently have a 3000 watt PSW inverter, 6 220 AH batteries, 300 odd watts of solar, and normally run the get set 2 to 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening for household use.

    Thanks again for the responses they have been very helpful.
  • Alphamonk's avatar
    Alphamonk
    Explorer
    Jul 22, 2016
    2chiefsRus wrote:
    french door latch

    we have the Samsung RF18. We did not add batteries or change out our inverter when we added the Samsung. We still use our 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter with 4 6 volt golf cart batteries that we use for the rest of the coach. We have dry camped for up to 2 weeks at a time. We also have an auto gen start that we set to run whenever the batteries need to be charged. No problems so far, knock on wood.


    This is the latch I installed and it has worked flawlessly.
  • JFC's avatar
    JFC
    Explorer
    Jul 22, 2016
    We installed a residential a couple of years ago. Stuck with four house batteries that came with the coach. Replaced inverter with pure sign wave because old inverter had problems at the same time. Doors held shut with velcro strap around the handles and freezer with elastic straps and velcro. In two years, no problems and DW loves it.
  • Dance_Chick's avatar
    Dance_Chick
    Explorer
    Jul 22, 2016
    Our doors came open easily (Samsung RF18). We cut about 8" off a swim noodle and put it between the handles when traveling to hold the 2 doors in place. We put a velcro strap on each side of the bottom freezer.
  • Bob___Ann's avatar
    Bob___Ann
    Explorer
    Jul 21, 2016
    I would not try to raise the temperature of your refrigerator. We keep ours at 34 with the freezer at 0. We do not secure our doors. We purchased plastic trays that fit nicely on our refrigerator shelves. We have one for our condiments, another for beer and another for bottled water. With most everything stored in trays nothing shifts and no need to secure the doors. Nothing falls our when we open the doors. The trays also make the transfer process from the house to the RV easier.
  • msturtz's avatar
    msturtz
    Explorer
    Jul 21, 2016
    We have a residential refrigerator and have set the temperature as cold as it will go without freezing the refrigerator food. This is due to my prior experience in foodservice. But back to the point. Don't install another inverter you will use more energy. If you do anything add more battery capacity. Depending on the size of your inverter you may need to install a larger inverter. Keep in mind that standard inverter / converters actually produce "Modified sine wave" or "stepped square wave" power. This is very poor power to run motors on and they consume more power. You may wish to upgrade your inverter / converter to a pure sine wave inverter.
  • 2chiefsRus's avatar
    2chiefsRus
    Explorer
    Jul 21, 2016
    french door latch

    we have the Samsung RF18. We did not add batteries or change out our inverter when we added the Samsung. We still use our 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter with 4 6 volt golf cart batteries that we use for the rest of the coach. We have dry camped for up to 2 weeks at a time. We also have an auto gen start that we set to run whenever the batteries need to be charged. No problems so far, knock on wood.

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