2007 Casita 17' Fridge replacement

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by computerspook

Have to disagree with John's compressor idea. I find the propane option to be useful regularly. But I do a lot of dry camping and don't want to depend on a generator all of the time. Also I find the 12 volt option to be very useful for going anywhere. But that is a choice to be carefully considered.

That said chances are the make information might be useful. The model information probably would only be useful at this point to find the size as that model is likely long gone. So what you are likely going to need to do is as John said measure the opening and then find one that fits compressor or absorption. Based on what you think your needs will be.

We also feel absorption refrigerators are far preferable for long duration dry glamping...which is mostly what we do...but when we do have a hookup, we have 120/240VAC 14,400 Watt power capability and we use all of it... When dry glamping, we only use our propane modified Honda EU2200i generator to operate our air conditioning on the very rare occasions it is needed given where we glamp and our trailer awning shading capability.

Our 100AH LIFEPO4 battery, 3000 Watt Inverter and 200 Watt portable solar panel suitcase provides us with 120VAC 20A 2400 Watts of dry glamping power capability which is about 3 times more than we actually need for our dry glamping appliances which include our coffee maker, hairdryer, microwave oven, Starlink Internet, toasters, toilet heated bidet seat and vacuum cleaner as each uses less than 800 Watts and only operate for very short durations. Perhaps more importantly, we can always replenish our daily battery depletion in less than 4 hours even with poor solar conditions. So when traveling, we operate our refrigerator on propane and we don't allow our TV alternator to charge or power our Casita trailer either. For us getting, 23 MPG towing performance was a primary objective since we travel from Southern Oregon to Costa Rica on an annual basis.

I believe Casita transitioned from 4 CF to 3 CF refrigerators a couple years ago when their refrigerator manufacturer stopped manufacturing the 4 CF model. 3 CF is more than adequate for us as we mostly eat freshly prepared meals when doing long duration dry glamping...and we go to fine restaurants for meals when in more populated areas too. When initially departing from one of our homes on long road trips where we often just do short touch and go stops, we prepare several meals in advance, freeze them and then load up our refrigerator to minimize our cooking time.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

If you have any of the common dc converters, switching to lithium charging from shore power is as simple as swapping the electronics pod inside your existing power center, about $250 for a PD4655L (or 35 or 45 based on what you have now), its 5 wires and bolts right into WFCO, Progressive, and other such units. My trailer came with a smaller solar panel, so already had the wiring, I just upgraded the panel to 360W (was about $400) and swapped the solar controller from the crappy GoPower PWM it came with to a Victron SmartSolar MPPT (about $120). Thats really all you need to do. of course, 3 years ago, the 2 x 206AH batts were nearly $1000 each, but they are half that today. We camp a lot, mostly boondocking, so I've considered that all worth every penny of the investment. It all started when our absorption 3-way fridge died, and replacement controller parts were unobtanium. The Norcold N2175 which was an exact fit for our fridge cutout was about $2000.

So a lot of money and changes. If you have the money and knowledge it may be worth it but my trailer does not have any solar stuff on it and I'd have to pay to get everything put on it. Cost most likely $3000-$4000 or more for parts and labor based on your costs. Now way more most likely.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

So a lot of money and changes. If you have the money and knowledge it may be worth it but my trailer does not have any solar stuff on it and I'd have to pay to get everything put on it. Cost most likely $3000-$4000 or more for parts and labor based on your costs. Now way more most likely.

Our Casita trailer didn’t come with solar stuff either. Cost to add our 200 Watt portable solar panel suitcase was about $300. Cost to add our 3000 Watt Inverter was about $400. Cost to add our 100AH LIFEPO4 battery was about $400. Cost to replace our crappy WFCO AD Charger/Converter was about $300. Cost to upgrade from 30A 120VAC to 50A 12/240VAC was about $300. We did all the work ourselves.

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[daveandalice]

Casita and most other RV manufacturers now offer the 12 volt compressor fridge as options in their trailers, several Oliver and Casita owners have installed the NovaKool R5810 in place of the Dometic RM2454 absorption fridges, especially down south for hot humid climates.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

We have a 2007 Casita also. I would stick with a AC and LP hookups. We find the 12 volt to be useless unless we are just going 3-4 miles to a gas station. Then after fueling we put it on LP for traveling. Some people don't like to run with the fridge on LP but if you get in a wreck and the hose breaks on the tank the new tanks shut down. That is why they have to have the newer valves. I've seen several trailers roll over plus had a friend that totaled 2 Casita's and none of them have had a problem. Electric only fridges are useless if you don't have all the right things while traveling.

I wonder what would happen if you drove into a plume for park next to a plume of propane. Not an idol question because it happens. It's one of the reasons at least it used to be illegal to do this.

[computerspook]

Now one thing I have found about the 12 volt option is that you need to have good 12volt from the TV AND!!!! a good ground.



I have seen a number of friends who have had problems with the 12 volt option and it quickly turned out to be not enough power coming from the TV. And some times that was in the 12 volt connnection, IE the positive from the TV. But mostly they had checked and got that working, but still have a problem. It turned out to be the ground.


Ground in the connection from the TV is overlooked a lot. And it creates a lot of problems. Note the number of times on here it is discussed in regards to the tail/turn/stop lights on the trailer. But this can also be another place where the ground can cause a problem.



Want to test for this, it is pretty easy. Disconnect the battery. Turn on the turn signals. Make sure they are working. Then turn on the 12 volt for the frig. If that makes the turn signal stop working then you have a ground problem.