six pac info?

Tiger4x4RV wrote:
Keep the ice box for now, re-evaluate later. Use your existing portable to freeze more ice as needed? That's what I do when my 3-way refuses to do its job in hot weather. Small portable 12V unit sits between the cab seats, runs when I drive, freezes small reusable Blue Ice units.

In answer to someone who questioned the need for this:

My refrigerator issues probably do not apply to most TC campers. The Tiger's design has two sidewall frig vents, one right above the other, instead of one side vent and a roof-top chimney vent. Dumb design flaw causes poor updraft, which some owners solve by adding multiple little fans and various other things. Add in the leveling issues (3-way frigs have to be close to level) of camping dispersed or in very primitive camps and you have poor refrigeration in hot weather. I have no generator, no solar, and a CPAP machine to support. The electrical system charges from the truck's heavy-duty alternator or from the very rare times when I have shore power. It isn't big enough to supply a permanent compressor frig. The best solution to my hot weather frig problems right now is re-freezing Blue Ice in a small portable Dometic CDF-11 which runs off the truck's 12V dash plug when driving. It suits me because I rarely stay in one camp more than a night or two.

You needs and results probably will vary.

Ive got a new F350 with an impressive tow capacity. The slide in is only like 1800 pounds I think. Its a 6 footer in an 8 foot bed. The truck is overkill for what im doing.

I measured the door. Its 22" wide. I think I can make the fridge fit as it ships, but if needed thought I may pull the door off the fridge. I am considering it however, so thank you for the heads up.

The camper IS set up for a fridge. Gas, 12 volt and 110 are all there. As well as both the wall and roof vent cutouts in the framing. Cutting the siding, installing shrouds and fridge, and that should be it so long as I can get it through the door.

The only things Im trying to determine are, did they come with a super small fridge (20 by 21 ish) or do I need to cut the upper cabinet out and install a (29 by 21 ish). Im guessing the larger fridge, as the small one is like 1.7 CF where the larger is closer to 3. Tiger4x4 was super helpful with some info. I believe SP used a norcold fridge, so that narrows it down a little, not that brand matters........... But I dont or cant find a super small norcold unit. Just Dometic.

For what it's worth, we have a $230 EdgeStar compressor fridge. We chose it because of the price and the quite large separate freezer as well as the fact that it maxes out at 80 watts and draws 1 amp. The compressor only runs about 5 minutes every hour if you don't keep opening the doors. It weighs 59 lbs. We run it off an inverter which gets power from a 100 AH AGM battery that charges while driving so the battery is always fully charged when we get somewhere even after running the fridge all day.

The freezer holds a 24 inch pizza, 4 lbs of frozen shrimp, 8 servings of frozen salmon, 8 frozen dinners and 6 frozen burritos with room to spare. I realize that this is a household refrigerator used predominantly in dorms and may not stand up to rigorous duty but it's traveled about 3000 miles so far without a hiccup. After plugging it in it gets down to correct temps in about 40 minutes (0 degrees freezer and 35 degrees fridge).

I’ve used standard propane RV fridges for years out in Black Rock Desert, Nevada in August and my ice cream was always frozen. You guys have my curiosity up, was it a more humid and hot environment where the propane fridges had trouble?

It sounds like that camper is set up to have a fridge, putting in the vented hatch isn’t that hard, nor is running a propane line. Remember you also need a roof vent.
What IS hard about installing RV fridges is getting them through the door! Often you have to remove the door frame from the camper.

My campers have always had ovens and they go unused. I wish I didn’t have it, a cabinet would be more useful. Those RV ovens are a little touchy to bake in.
I do use a microwave a lot in my camper. Big plus - it doesn’t heat up the whole interior. I use a 2000-watt pure sine wave inverter and a couple six-volt batteries. It’s a huge power draw but it’s only for a very short time.
If you do this, pay attention to the inverter type. Get a “pure sine wave” unit. Microwaves don’t function well on the cheaper “modified sine wave” type.
I bought a set of 2-gauge, 25-foot jumper cables just to get the wire (cheapest way to do it), cut the clamps off and used it to run a heavy duty charge line from my truck to the camper. Google “Anderson connectors” for the heavy duty plugs to use between your truck & camper.
You can fire up your truck for a bit of extra power while microwaving if you don’t bring a Honda EU2000... but don’t tell anyone if you don’t bring a Honda EU2000 or you’ll be booted off of the forum. :)

I would be careful - of weight added, you tow a car on a trailer - that is also weight on the truck.I tow with an F 150 ford - now am considering a 6 pak.

Keep the ice box for now, re-evaluate later. Use your existing portable to freeze more ice as needed? That's what I do when my 3-way refuses to do its job in hot weather. Small portable 12V unit sits between the cab seats, runs when I drive, freezes small reusable Blue Ice units.

If you do decide to swap out your icebox, measure to be sure that both it and the proposed replacement will fit through the camper door. Someone on this forum posted a video on this a couple of years ago. It was not the simple plug-and-play that "pre-wired" implies.

thanks for the info. I have considered it, and have one I use in the offroad car similar to an ARB, but dont want the complexity of taking a generator with me. Not sure solar would work well enough as we are usually camped in the trees, and the truck/camper wouldnt likely be run for a few days at a time.

Are a single or even dual group 24's gonna be able to keep the compressor style fridges running long? I know my portable tanked my old truck batteries in about 24 hours.

dhaas wrote:
I neglected to mention that the camper is prewired for fridge and water heater. Cutouts are all there too. Just need to cut the siding and install the appliance. In fact, its seemingly prewired for AC, stereo, electric jacks, etc.

I'd still go with a compressor fridge over the propane. They are much more efficient, don't have to be level (big thing with me running off road) and the just work better.

I'm always on the fence about replacing our 3 way with a 2 way compressor unit. Finally, the cost of a compressor unit will be less that an Amish fridge of comparable size.

We carry an Danfoss cool box unit in the backseat of the pickup when we camp and it's an amazing unit. When the propane unit is struggling in the heat, the compressor unit is keeping stuff frozen in one side and ice cold in the other. Once you get one, you don't go back.

Like I said, keep thinking about kicking the Amish unit to the curb.

I neglected to mention that the camper is prewired for fridge and water heater. Cutouts are all there too. Just need to cut the siding and install the appliance. In fact, its seemingly prewired for AC, stereo, electric jacks, etc.

Six-Pac was on my short list in 2005 while shopping for RV's. I even visited their factory. Nice product, but I decided that a small C was better for my camping style.

I still have a Six-Pac owner's manual from that time period in my files. It is a 17-page PDF, and I don't see a way to attach it to a post here. If you PM me and give me your private e-mail, I will send that file to you.