Fridge replacement

[Grandpere]

Finally got rid of that useless residential fridge and got it replaced with an RV fridge that runs on propane, 120 volt and 12 volt. Now we can get back to dry camping and going down the highway without having to listen to the generator.

[Grandpere]

hone eagle wrote:
For those that claim 15 years on a RV fridge ,is that 24/7 ? , or only vacation use?
I seriously doubt a RV fridge would last 4 years in continous use.
Snowbirds get 5-6 years on average,then another 2500 camping bucks.

In our first TT, the fridge ran 24/7 for the first 10 years we lived in it and then 24/7 for 6 months of the year for the next 10 years. The second TT, was 24/7 for 6 months of the year, fire it up in early spring and shut it down in late September.

Maybe I would not be so biased against residential fridges if ours had not been a lemon from the word go, but we wasted a lot of money on food because we never knew when it was going to work and when it would decide to not work. A very annoying situation at best and a real PITA at worst.

[hone_eagle]

For those that claim 15 years on a RV fridge ,is that 24/7 ? , or only vacation use?
I seriously doubt a RV fridge would last 4 years in continous use.
Snowbirds get 5-6 years on average,then another 2500 camping bucks.

[EsoxLucius]

My 12 volt Nova Kool compressor fridge uses about 30 AH overnight. No problem to make that up with modest solar. Hence, it does makes sense to have a compressor fridge for dry camping.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Grandpere wrote:
Our first TT was a 1968 Kencraft, it had a propane only fridge in it and when we sold it in 1988 that fridge was still working perfectly. Our next TT was a 1990 Forest River. We ran that fridge on propane only for 15 years and never had a problem. The POs of our current MH changed out the RV fridge for this residential GE thing that has not worked right for us in the 3 years we have had it. Based on past experience I will go with an absorption fridge and run it strictly on propane and should be years before anything needs to be done again.

I've had similar service out from my rigs' propane-fired refers over the past several decades too. My Vogue MH had a Dometic that was nearly bulletproof too! If you need to be driving the RV for the AC regrigerator to work? That makes a lot of sense - it only works when you are driving down the road. lol A residential refrigerator makes no sense for an RV that is used for dry-camping and extended periods of time away from AC power - none at all.

[Gdetrailer]

Skid Row Joe wrote:

Grandpere wrote:
Finally got rid of that useless residential fridge and got it replaced with an RV fridge that runs on propane, 120 volt and 12 volt. Now we can get back to dry camping and going down the highway without having to listen to the generator.

My thoughts as well on having a residential, AC only refrigerator - makes no sense for those of us that don't want to jockey running the generator endlessly when doing a lot of dry camping or boondocking when out and about.

What brand and size refrigerator freezer did you buy, and where/what was your source for it?

Boy what disdain for things you don't know or understand..

We have no cares or wants to go back to a RV fridge, our residential fridge has more space and it does something an abosorbsion fridge CAN'T do.. Keep a consistent COLD temperature IN THE SAFE ZONE.

Our residential fridge easily keeps the fridge section 34F-36F day and night now matter how hot it is outside.

No more battling solid frozen milk in the morning but yet by evening the fridge temps were in the UPPER 50s (well above the safe temp for refrigerated foods) when the outdoor temps reached 90F+.

We battled that losing battle in our first TT, but no more..

We no longer need to wait 24hrs for the fridge to get to temp before loading.. Nope, it is at operating temp in less than 1/2 hr!

We have NO PROBLEM running our residential fridge FOR 24 HRS on ONE PAI of 6V GC batts plus furnace and lights.. Heck if we added two 200W solar panels we could easily go nearly two days on the pair of GC batts without the need for a gen..

We also no longer need to worry about leveling.. Residential fridges don't mind at all being operated off level..

We also now enjoy having ROCK HARD ice cream, our RV fridge would just melt the ice cream into a lump of mush..

When our residential fridge dies it will only cost $340 to replace it instead of a $600 cooling unit or a new $1500 RV fridge..

What ever floats your boat, glad you like your RV fridge..

[Grandpere]

Skid Row Joe wrote:

Grandpere wrote:
Finally got rid of that useless residential fridge and got it replaced with an RV fridge that runs on propane, 120 volt and 12 volt. Now we can get back to dry camping and going down the highway without having to listen to the generator.

My thoughts as well on having a residential, AC only refrigerator - makes no sense for those of us that don't want to jockey running the generator endlessly when doing a lot of dry camping or boondocking when out and about.

What brand and size refrigerator freezer did you buy, and where/what was your source for it?

We got a Dometic 6 cubic foot from a person who set up their TT as a park model. They do no pull it anyplace. They, in my opinion, rightfully replaced their fridge with a residential fridge. The Dometic has been in his brother's garage for 2 years. If we had purchased a new one we would have gone with an 8 cubic foot helium gas Norcold. But, $500 for a basically brand new fridge we could not pass on.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Adam H wrote:
Unless it burns the rig down

:hWhy would it "burns the rig down?"

[Bill_Satellite]

Not getting my bride into any coach with an RV fridge. Enough said!

[Matt_Colie]

If you are made out of money, that is fine, but when the administration decided to abrogate the bankruptcy laws, some of us lost big. I didn't know I was rich, I just remember working my ass off for about 50 years so I could retire comfortably. BOOM

A residential reefer can usually run on a MSW inverter that can be powered from either the main engine alternator or the house bank for a day or more. The cost of the two was 1/10th the cost of a replacement RV unit. We choose to spend the money on travel.

Matt

[Adam_H]

Unless it burns the rig down

[Grandpere]

Our first TT was a 1968 Kencraft, it had a propane only fridge in it and when we sold it in 1988 that fridge was still working perfectly. Our next TT was a 1990 Forest River. We ran that fridge on propane only for 15 years and never had a problem. The POs of our current MH changed out the RV fridge for this residential GE thing that has not worked right for us in the 3 years we have had it. Based on past experience I will go with an absorption fridge and run it strictly on propane and should be years before anything needs to be done again.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Grandpere wrote:
Finally got rid of that useless residential fridge and got it replaced with an RV fridge that runs on propane, 120 volt and 12 volt. Now we can get back to dry camping and going down the highway without having to listen to the generator.

My thoughts as well on having a residential, AC only refrigerator - makes no sense for those of us that don't want to jockey running the generator endlessly when doing a lot of dry camping or boondocking when out and about.

What brand and size refrigerator freezer did you buy, and where/what was your source for it?

[MrWizard]

Grandpere
You are One of very very few... to remove a residential in favor of an RV absorption fridge
Your happy.. so enjoy
Many of us run the generator when we need the roof top or basement a/c while driving
We don't need to do that for the fridge, the inverter with batteries and alternator do just fine to keep the fridge going

[pianotuna]

Adding solar would have worked well. When the absorption fridge dies I'll be doing residential.