refrigerator

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I'm guessing the most compelling reason for 12v is to be able to run the fridge while you're towing on a long trip.

The ice container or frozen orange juice tricks may not be enough on an all day drive or several days in a row. And some of us are nervous about driving with the propane on.

Caution: if your 12v feed from the tow vehicle is wired "always hot" you could run down the vehicle battery in a hurry when you're stopped.

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Our portable cooler is a Coleman 12vdc/120vac. About the same specs as the others listed previously. About 4 amps/hr.

The difference in these coolers is that with no compressor they only work to lower the inside temperature to 30-40 degrees BELOW the ambient temperature (I forget what the process is called). So on a 100+ day it's not going to cool as much as you'd like it to. Also, as they expell heat, it'll be injested thru the intake unless vented to outside air. That heat also heats up the inside of your trailer/car! :E :E

At 4amps/hr, a 50 watt solar panel will almost keep up with it.......for the 5 hours of good daylight (the figure most solar people use) per 24 hour period. So the other 19 hrs its draining your battery. :o and it'll do it overnite, especially if you've been driving late at night with the car lights on. Been there, jumper cables and friendly neighbor to the rescue.

It's handy, but doesn't replace a good 3 way fridge for all round use.

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Orginally posted by Mary F... when we ran the refrigerator on DC like that, the converter/charger ran almost constantly. Nice ambient noise to drown out the sounds from the neighboring campsites, but surely not good for the converter to run so long...

Thanks, Mary. That makes sense. It pretty much just over stresses the converter, right? Since it pulls 8 amps I knew not to run it off the battery when not hooked up to shore power or tow vehicle (in motion); now I understand why you wouldn't do it if you are connected to shore power. Thanks.

About traveling with it on DC. Seems to me that is the best way. Just make sure you take a second and flip it to off when you stop the vehicle. Although my tow vehicle has a time delayed shut off, I wouldn't want to take any chances with a possible weak battery.

In the beginning, I thought the wire that the brake controller was wired into stayed hot all the time, but later discovered that it is only for a little while. Not sure why (never bothered to ask), but I wonder if it isn't a safety feature. I think I heard that some install something that will kill the connection if the engine is turned off. If that is just the DC power and has nothing to do with the electric brakes, then it's okay. But, if it shuts off all power, then, personally, I want to make sure that the trailer has brakes as long as it is rolling...but that's just me.

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I think one of the reasons manufacturers indicate different refrigerators are interchangable , yet have different depths is they are thinking of larger stickbuilt rigs. The installation space in an egg is restricted front to back as well as top and side directions. I pulled the Fridge in my 24 ft. Nomad, and I estimate I could easily add 4 to 6 inches to the depth and still clear the rear wall. You might consider making a cardboard model of the fridge and try placeing it and see what you get for clearance plus can you easily walk past it sticking out into the aisle. Hitting your head on the fridge in the middle of the night is no fun.

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If I'm not mistaken, Norcold is owned by Dometic, so I question if their units are truly dimensionally different, in spite of what sales literature may say.

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Maggie, what are you trying to put this fridge in, what kind of trailer? We managed to fit a Norcold 323 into out 77 Scamp 16, even though the given dimensions showed it wouldn't fit, it did.

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We were going to put it in a 1975 trillium. We decided we could live with it sticking out 4 inches from the cabinet. Since we ordered it from camping world we took it to them to have it installed. We drove three hours to get to our 11:00 am appointment. They didn't look at it till 2:00 pm. They estimated it would cost over $700.00 to install it. I could make this a very long story...maybe some other time. We told them we would like to return the fridge and left. We wanted improvements done and would have spent the money but the guy they put working on it kept saying things like," it can't be done, I can't do that, this isn't my job," etc. The manager there was nice but the work is only as good as the guy doing it. So we decided to try our luck elsewhere. I think we may have been overly ambitious with starting with the fridge anyway. We need to get the new style propane tank and battery shelf on the tongue and battery and converter. Right now I'm back to considering a coolmatic.

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[quote]Orginally posted by Maggie O.

I'm sorry we threw out the original fridge maybe we could have gotten it rebuilt? [quote]

Several years back I took out our leaking frig from our 28' trailer and took it over to Elkhart, Ind.
I can't remember the shop, but there is only one in Elkhart that rebuilds these things. He trained some people in California to do it also. They all rust out at pretty much the same point (where the water gathers) and the stinky ammonia stuff leaks out. As I remember it was pretty reasonable in cost too as opposed to a new one.
The inside of the shop reaked of ammonia, my eyes watered the minute we walked in. There are stacks of parts everywhere.
I'm sorry I can't find his number or name. But if you call around Elkhart I'm sure you'll find him.

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Orginally posted by Maggie O.

We were going to put it in a 1975 trillium. We decided we could live with it sticking out 4 inches from the cabinet. Since we ordered it from camping world we took it to them to have it installed. We drove three hours to get to our 11:00 am appointment. They didn't look at it till 2:00 pm. They estimated it would cost over $700.00 to install it. I could make this a very long story...maybe some other time. We told them we would like to return the fridge and left. We wanted improvements done and would have spent the money but the guy they put working on it kept saying things like," it can't be done, I can't do that, this isn't my job," etc. The manager there was nice but the work is only as good as the guy doing it. So we decided to try our luck elsewhere. I think we may have been overly ambitious with starting with the fridge anyway. We need to get the new style propane tank and battery shelf on the tongue and battery and converter. Right now I'm back to considering a coolmatic.

Ew. Sorry.

I was afraid of the same thing when I found out our Scamp's fridge was no longer available. What I found out was that if I raised the Norcold up, by putting it on 2x4s, it would fit. The reason was the wall of the Scamp is curved and by lifting the fridge it went into the hole further. Some slight trimming of the foot/plate of the fridge and it went in! Whoo-Hoo! Go to my site and you can see I also re-did the tank and battery shelf too. Those 12v coolers are O.K. IMO, but if it is 95 degrees out, it is only 65 inside the cooler. Trust me, a 65 degree beer is LAME.
There is an EXPENSIVE yet very versatile alternative:
ARB refrigerator
I want one of these!

There are others, too.
Epinions Koolatron
Yuk.

Fridge Freeze
$$$


AJ Madison 12-volt Appliances

Good luck!

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Hi Don,
Have you seen the coolmatics? The new trilliums come with them. They sound good. I'm still trying to find someone who has one. Thanks for the suggestions.

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I Googled up some foriegn (European) sites using Coolmatic. Seems they predominantly make the compressor and sea water cooled units, marine stuff. I think we bought our refurbished Norcold unit fr RV surplus in Elkhart Ind. (my memory is going) I think. Like I said, I was certain it was not going to fit cause of one of those "Conversion Tables -what fits & what hits". It was deeper than the hole, narrower and shorter. I was sure it was going to stick out 4 inches into the room. But my wife and I made it work. I framed it, to cover the gaps. I raised it to make it go all the way in.

You can see my adventure:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/read.php...p?TID=1007#9040

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/read.php...?TID=1207#11076

http://sprite.viptx.net/~moomesa/Scamp.html

the bottom of this page shows the gap, which we easily covered!
http://sprite.viptx.net/~moomesa/scampafter3.html

I was adament about having the 3 way, I'm glad I was. We often boondock and need the gas. So far it works like a charm. Good luck on finding the OEM unit!