Residential Fridge or Not?

[Bellpr]

the Wife and I are shopping and we see a lot of fivers with residential Fridges and Inverters in them now. Are they really more prone to breakdown because of the bouncing around in the trailer or it is just folklore? Should I just go with a Large Gas/Electric fridge? Do the Residential fridges last long on the inverter and dedicated 12 battery? Should I consider a Onan generator? How the heck do you winterize a residential fridge with Ice and Water in the door? I know a lot of questions for one thread... Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your input.

[pcm1959]

tvman44 wrote:
Do you have a picture of your setup, sure would like to see one as I cannot quiet visualize what you did?

Check original post on page 3 now. Got pix posted.

pcm1959 wrote:
I didn't want to drill into the attractive wood around the fridge and deal with straps and such. So I fabricated my own travel lock for the fridge. I got the 3 small screws, the threaded rod, bracket, the washer and knob at Lowes. I simply screw the threaded rod with know into place and I'm all set. So simple and no unsightly straps and hooks visible while enjoy the trip.
On the subject of service, securing the unit into place, winterizing, etc.....Since I converted mine, I still the exterior access panel (now totally blocked) which allowed me to easily secure the bottom to the floor. I did NOT hook-up the ice maker. I didn't want o hassle with the stale water in the lines between trips or winterizing even in N FL. I use traditional ice trays which freeze quickly and then I just dump them into the ice bin in the freezer.
I will NEVER own another RV with an absorption fridge. I don't dry camp, so power is not an issue.
I could buy 4 Samsung fridges for what the 12 cu ft Norcold cost. No thanks.

[Mile_High]

magic43 wrote:

routemaster wrote:

magic43 wrote:
One item for consideration that has not been mentioned is that true residential refrigerators deposit the heat from the cooling (compressor & condenser) into the living area where it is then cooled again by the RV's air conditioning unit(s). Double cooling. This could really matter in hotter areas of the country.

Of course it aids with heating.

We live in our 5er, travel and stay in CA, AZ Yuma and Southern NM and have had the Samsung now for 27 months I have the 2ins spacing around the fridge runs fine.

I was not questioning whether it would work, but that the roof AC's have to cool the heated air expelled from the residential refrigerator. Folks contemplating changing over need to take this additional heat source into consideration.

I've heard that complaint from some in our group. It kicks a bit of heat out the top, which may not make much difference in a large house but in 400 sq ft you can feel it.

[magic43]

routemaster wrote:

magic43 wrote:
One item for consideration that has not been mentioned is that true residential refrigerators deposit the heat from the cooling (compressor & condenser) into the living area where it is then cooled again by the RV's air conditioning unit(s). Double cooling. This could really matter in hotter areas of the country.

Of course it aids with heating.

We live in our 5er, travel and stay in CA, AZ Yuma and Southern NM and have had the Samsung now for 27 months I have the 2ins spacing around the fridge runs fine.

I was not questioning whether it would work, but that the roof AC's have to cool the heated air expelled from the residential refrigerator. Folks contemplating changing over need to take this additional heat source into consideration.

[RustyJC]

DanB-ON wrote:
Ours has a round handle with a piece of threaded rod attached to hold it closed. The female end is glued to the fridge in the space between the doors and you just thread it in where all 3 doors meet and it holds it nice and tight. I would take a picture but it's put away for winter already.

That's what ours had as well - until a trip across I-10 through Louisiana popped the glue loose from the base. I think you'd have to weld that sucker on to get it to hold on that stretch of road.

We're using velcro straps through the handles and a Z-bracket from the freezer drawer to the fridge doors to hold everything closed now.

Rusty

[routemaster]

magic43 wrote:
One item for consideration that has not been mentioned is that true residential refrigerators deposit the heat from the cooling (compressor & condenser) into the living area where it is then cooled again by the RV's air conditioning unit(s). Double cooling. This could really matter in hotter areas of the country.

Of course it aids with heating.

We live in our 5er, travel and stay in CA, AZ Yuma and Southern NM and have had the Samsung now for 27 months I have the 2ins spacing around the fridge runs fine.

[DanB-ON]

One thing I didn't notice anyone else mention is the massive size advantage to the residential. For my trailer it was a 12 cubic ft RV fridge or a 23 cubic ft residential. With our old trailer I could never fit more than 5-6 beers or other drinks in the fridge because we needed the room for groceries. Now I can set several cases in there with room to spare.
Ours has a round handle with a piece of threaded rod attached to hold it closed. The female end is glued to the fridge in the space between the doors and you just thread it in where all 3 doors meet and it holds it nice and tight. I would take a picture but it's put away for winter already.

[tvman44]

Do you have a picture of your setup, sure would like to see one as I cannot quiet visualize what you did?

pcm1959 wrote:
I didn't want to drill into the attractive wood around the fridge and deal with straps and such. So I fabricated my own travel lock for the fridge. I got the 3 small screws, the threaded rod, bracket, the washer and knob at Lowes. I simply screw the threaded rod with know into place and I'm all set. So simple and no unsightly straps and hooks visible while enjoy the trip.
On the subject of service, securing the unit into place, winterizing, etc.....Since I converted mine, I still the exterior access panel (now totally blocked) which allowed me to easily secure the bottom to the floor. I did NOT hook-up the ice maker. I didn't want o hassle with the stale water in the lines between trips or winterizing even in N FL. I use traditional ice trays which freeze quickly and then I just dump them into the ice bin in the freezer.
I will NEVER own another RV with an absorption fridge. I don't dry camp, so power is not an issue.
I could buy 4 Samsung fridges for what the 12 cu ft Norcold cost. No thanks.

[magic43]

One item for consideration that has not been mentioned is that true residential refrigerators deposit the heat from the cooling (compressor & condenser) into the living area where it is then cooled again by the RV's air conditioning unit(s). Double cooling. This could really matter in hotter areas of the country.

Of course it aids with heating.

[pcm1959]

I didn't want to drill into the attractive wood around the fridge and deal with straps and such. So I fabricated my own travel lock for the fridge. I got the 3 small screws, the threaded rod, bracket, felt, the washer and knob at Lowes. I simply screw the threaded rod with know into place and I'm all set. So simple and no unsightly straps and hooks visible while enjoy the trip.
On the subject of service, securing the unit into place, winterizing, etc.....Since I converted mine, I still the exterior access panel (now totally blocked) which allowed me to easily secure the bottom to the floor. I did NOT hook-up the ice maker. I didn't want o hassle with the stale water in the lines between trips or winterizing even in N FL. I use traditional ice trays which freeze quickly and then I just dump them into the ice bin in the freezer.
I will NEVER own another RV with an absorption fridge. I don't dry camp, so power is not an issue.
I could buy 4 Samsung fridges for what the 12 cu ft Norcold cost. No thanks.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/632/21354640005_ee3556eefc.jpg

[Gib3633]

Winterizing Residential Fridge:
I didn't want to put antifreeze through the system so I did the following.
First I shut off the water at the valve feeding the line to the fridge.
Then I disconnected the line at that valve. Through the outside door on the Rv there is also a disconnect which I disconnected and blew the water out of that line.
I then got the wife to depress the lever and pump out all of the existing ice from the ice maker. Then I had her continue to depress the lever which opens the water inlet valve for the ice maker and with the air hose blew the water up the other way to clear the valve of water so nothing to freeze.
We left it dry and use regular ice cube trays that worked well for 50 yrs.
We find the ice maker made ice but not quality cubes anyhow.
On the other hand if I decided to use we wouldn't spend half the winter trying to get non antifreeze tasting ice.

[azjeffh]

I believe one poster on this forum was told LG would not warranty their refrigerators that were installed in RVs. I asked if they said the same with their TVs. He didn't know.

We are headed to Hershey next week and that will be one of my questions.

[CarlT100]

I have had three FW's all with RV fridges. I have had no problems with any of the three.

[zb39]

RustyJC wrote:

zb39 wrote:
Been Rving since 1968. 9 diff units, only had 1 problem with a RV fridge in that time.

I've had 3 5th wheels with absorption fridges (1996 and 2000 Jayco Designers; 2004 DRV Mobile Suites). The 2000 Jayco's Norcold cooling unit failed within 4 months of delivery; the 2004 DRV's Dometic cooling unit failed within 8 months of delivery. I'm glad your experience has been different.

As I said, I personally know of 2 rigs belonging to friends that have been totaled due to RV fridge fires. That's not info garnered from the internet or the press.

Rusty

I believe you. I just don't see a problem with the millions of Rv fridges out there doing there thing. If a res fridge is what you want, awesome. Here is America we still(sort of) have a choice. Have a great day.

[RustyJC]

zb39 wrote:
Been Rving since 1968. 9 diff units, only had 1 problem with a RV fridge in that time.

I've had 3 5th wheels with absorption fridges (1996 and 2000 Jayco Designers; 2004 DRV Mobile Suites). The 2000 Jayco's Norcold cooling unit failed within 4 months of delivery; the 2004 DRV's Dometic cooling unit failed within 8 months of delivery. I'm glad your experience has been different.

As I said, I personally know of 2 rigs belonging to friends that have been totaled due to RV fridge fires. That's not info garnered from the internet or the press.

Rusty