Any reason I can't just buy small elec. fridge and put in Compact

[mary and bob]

I had to build a wood platform in our Uhaul for the dorm fridge to sit on. Then attached some metal "L" shaped standard hardware brackets to the bottom of the fridge and bolted them to the platform. Kind of figure it out, see what will fit, as you go, type of thing.

[Dave Fish]

Originally Posted by maxypantsinyk

Hi Rick,

How did you secure the compact fridge so that it stays in place?

Thanks,

Maxine

We have a dorm fridge in our Campster. It's not really secured but sets on a shelf with a ridge I front. The prior owner that installed it has put in some foot things but they no longer effective. I need to pull it out this winter to check the 12v wiring behind it (I'm looking for a short) and may add a board with holes for the feet to keep it more stable.

I added a fridge baby lock to the door to keep it closed on the road. There is also a bungee across the front while traveling.

[floyd]

This one worked very well. it was around $80 at Walmart, and it works on 12V.

I hard wired it to the trailer 12V and installed a vent panel above it as shown.
Also notice the on/off switch on the panel for when you want it off (likein storage.

[floyd]

Here is a dorm fridge resistance (no compressor) which I installed in this project ... It is 110V only. Also Walmart VERY fast cool down! lots of room. also needs venting around it as it produces heat at the back.

[k corbin]

If the side of the refrigerator is protruding a little ways from the face frame of the cabinet you could use removal pin cabinet door hinges on both vertical sides of the fridge to secure it in place. This is an easy to find item at your local hardware store. One half of the hinge mounts to the outside of the cabinet face frame, the other half to the fridge body forming an L shape. You might want to do two on each side depending on how tall the fridge is. For your convenience you could replace the standard pin with a steel rod you have bent into an L.

Taking the pin out will release it from the cabinet face.

On the fridge body panel side I myself would use both VHB tape under the hinge as well as some short sheet metal screws.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Really only downside to the dorm fridge vs the RV 3-way is the inability to boondock and run your fridge on propane. After 3 years of Scamping we know our camping involves many occasions where we need the fridge on propane so the dorm fridge doesn't work for us.

If you know you'll always have juice and never dry camp or would be happy with carrying a cooler when you dry camp then you can put in a dorm fridge for a good bit less $$$

That would be my only concern. I think it's been about 4 years since I spend 2 or 3 nights with electric hookups. Before that it was close the same amount of time. FYI We camp in excess of 100 nights per year so the propane fridge works for us.

[Buggeee]

I used a dorm fridge for years and it was great.

Some shed heat through coils, or a grid, on the back. Many don't have that and shed heat through the walls on the sides of the fridge, which happens to be less efficient but doesn't matter unless you are working off of batteries and want to conserve electrons.

If you're going to cut holes out of the shell you might as well install the vents that are for a propane fridge so that part is ready for a 2 way if later that makes sense.

Or, instead, people leave gaps around the sides and top of the opening they slide it into to allow air to flow around it.

If you want to run it off batteries, you can, but you will need a substantial size pure sine wave inverter (the more expensive kind), and a substantial battery bank. If you go that route there is a fair amount of learning involved and a financial commitment that will have you more than half way to a 2 way fridge. My first battery set-up used a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter with 4 golf cart batteries (430 amp hours) and it was good for a 3 day weekend boondocking.

Before that set-up we'd just plug in easy and cheap. For the odd trip that didn't offer electric we'd pack a cooler like the tent days.