mr_andyj wrote:
Im not in the group that thinks a household fridge is the way to go for camping.
OPs example is a 17 yr old RV, a new cooling unit will easily exceed the value of said RV. Cooling units cost more than $600 and that isn't including shipping or installation.
Slapping a cooling unit into a 17yr fridge should not be taken lightly as you do have other parts of the fridge that can also have issues and some or most of those parts are discontinued and not available.
I faced the same situation, with a then 30yr RV that I paid $700 for, replacing with new RV fridge was well over $1500, cooling unit for that fridge was $800 plus shipping back 12yrs ago.. I highly doubt that cooling units have come down in cost.
My choice was clear, residential fridge for $300, $300 inverter and a pair of GC2 batteries ($180). I wanted an inverter anyways so basically the cost of inverter doesn't really count towards the conversion.. So for $480 I got a residential fridge that can operate 24hrs before needing to add shore power or generator to charge the batteries.
If I added in 300W of solar panels I could easily stretch that to 48 hrs..
One of the biggest bonuses I have found to my fridge conversion is the lack of propane use.. Have two 30 lb cylinders, takes me 10 yrs to empty one.. Cost $25 to fill the last tank that went empty.. Previous TT with RV fridge would consume 30 lb tank every other yr.