We are FT and just finished the AL CAN. After washing the rig in Fairbanks we got the dreaded "temp switch fail". We also had a new cooling unit installed 8 months ago. I would like some feedback from those dry campers who have done RES Fridge change-out. We have a 07 HR Ambassador. The house batts we have are the common 4x6v with 2 12V chassis bats.Because we are FT we sometimes go 2/3 or more days without shore power. War Dept uses a C-Pap machine so when dry camping we must run the Gen for 2 hours am and 2 hours pm.When dry camping how long can you go off 4 6vs, how much gen time do you run. Lots of varibles I'm sure, but input would be helpfull.Thanks in advanceJWFYI the entire AL Can experience has been wonderful. This trip should be on everyone's RV bucket list.

Hi,Add enough solar to run the fridge. Between 600 and 800 would be good. If you have deep pockets go to Lithium ion battery chemistry.

What inverter/chager do you have now and how many amps charging do you get when running the generator to charge the batteries? My 2000W MSW Zantrax will only put out 60 amps charging on the generator instead of it's rated 100A. I was able to lower the house battery rack so I could add another rack and double my house battery bank and this was before I decided to go residential. With 800 AH of batteries I have to run my generator 2 hours at night and one in the morning... mainly because of poor charging rate of my Inverter/Charger. Looked at replacing the I/C with a 3000W PSW one but my remote control cable is a four wire telephone and the newer I/Cers use a Cat 5 cable.I would figure out how to double your battery bank and see how much charging you get from your I/C.

We installed a Samsung RF197 last November and really love it. We have four 6 volt house batteries and 375 watts of solar. I added a separate 600 watt PSW inverter dedicated to the refrigerator which allows to shut down the main inverter and save power. We dry camp a total of about 8-10 weeks a year. I do run the generator for about an hour in the am when we're making coffee, toast and using the microwave. This is usually enough to get through the bulk mode in charging. If we didn't watch TV in the evenings our solar would just keep up with demand. I usually run the genset for an hour in the evenings to top off the batteries. I would recommend that you add 400 watts of solar and a good MPPT controller to help with your power demands.Go for it, you'll really like the size and convenience.

"prstlk".....First, washing your coach most likely caused the switch to fail.....that has been reported hear several times.You don't provide some needed info.....what inverter do you have, size and MSW or PSW? The Samsung refers work well with MSW inverters. I did the same as "horizon36" and added a Magnum 600 watt inverter which has pass through capability. I like the idea of running the refer on it's own inverter, pus it gives you a back up.Many people are converting the Monaco coaches to a residential refer and most are using the original four 6 volt batteries and do fine. On my Monaco, I also added a rack above the four 6 volt batteries and added two more. Typically, the refer will do fine with a couple of hours of charging in the AM during breakfast and one hour in the PM.

Pretty sure the C-Pap machine requires 120V so having two inverters is not going to save any energy... running one for both the refer and C-Pap machine at night will be more efficient.

Residential Fridge | Good Sam Community

John___Angela
Explorer
Jun 14, 2015
To the OP. We did the switch. Not sure I can help you with your question though. Our coach has 8 X 6 volts so power isn't a problem. We also have a robust system and are kind of in the habit of running the genny during meal prep at breakfast and supper, usually for microwave, coffee pot and toaster. Maybe 45 minutes to an hour a day. I don't know anyone who regrets making the switch from the norcold. We did it ourselves. Took a little work and some trimming. No big deal.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Jun 14, 2015
dougrainer wrote:
moisheh wrote:
hartb: Why would your insurance company care if you had a residential fridge?? Besides can you tell me how many RV fires have been caused by residential fridges? You are confused it is the Norcolds that cause fires!

Moisheh

Can you tell me how many years and how many residentials have been used in RV's(motorhomes and Towables)?? Not that many years and lets wait till 2030, because the 1200 has been out for 20 years. Lets see what the result is after 20 years of residentials. There are MILLIONS of 1200 Norcolds, and very few fires. Doug

It may be true that there are less residential refrigerators out there by my GE Profile has been running like a champ for 16 years in my bus conversion. Even if I had to replace it every 15 years I would still be happier with the no-fire, no-defrost, ice and water through the door, 20+ c.f. wonder than any RV fridge ever made.
moisheh
Explorer
Jun 13, 2015
Doug: What makes you think that residential fridges might cause a fire? Of course it could happen but the systems are entirely different. Your logic is twisted.
tstryk
Explorer
Jun 13, 2015
dougrainer wrote:
There are MILLIONS of 1200 Norcolds, and very few fires. Doug

I had one of those fires and wont buy another Norcold. Insurance company would not replace it, so think I will get a residential one unless Norcold comes through with a free new one.
dougrainer
Nomad
Jun 12, 2015
moisheh wrote:
hartb: Why would your insurance company care if you had a residential fridge?? Besides can you tell me how many RV fires have been caused by residential fridges? You are confused it is the Norcolds that cause fires!

Moisheh

Can you tell me how many years and how many residentials have been used in RV's(motorhomes and Towables)?? Not that many years and lets wait till 2030, because the 1200 has been out for 20 years. Lets see what the result is after 20 years of residentials. There are MILLIONS of 1200 Norcolds, and very few fires. Doug
moisheh
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
hartb: Why would your insurance company care if you had a residential fridge?? Besides can you tell me how many RV fires have been caused by residential fridges? You are confused it is the Norcolds that cause fires!

Moisheh
FULLTIMEWANABE
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
Our Nevercold went kaput a year ago - for what it was going to cost to replace with RV fridge we bought a residential fridge, and applied the couple grand plus savings towards installing 1000w solar and 880ah batteries. Love, love, love the independence and so far never had to start the generator and we boondock/dry camp almost all the time without any hookups. Ice cream now is frozen not soft slush like it was in the RV fridge, and so much more usable space is fabulous = pizzas fit without removing from the box = YEAH!
nevadanick
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
2 hrs am and pm has been more than enough time to keep our 4-6v batteries charged with res fridge and using everything else in mh. We have no solar but have appt in Oct to get solar.
hartb1999
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
anyone check with ins company if still covered if residential causes fire or loss by chance
prstlk
Explorer
Jun 11, 2015
Yes we learned the "everybody knows the wash water issue" after the fact. What poor design. Our inverter is a ME 2012 2000 watt
thanks to all for the great input

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