omjones
Stoney Point, Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 06/19/2004
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Hi Shunpiker
When my 16 year old Dometic 3 way gasped it's last gasp, I replaced it with a Danby 110v from Walmart for $134.00 U.S. It works great, cools quickly, looks great, and the price was right. It took an afternoon to R & R. I always use CGs and if it gets warm while I drive I just put a bag of ice in the 'Crisper' drawer at the bottom. That and my little 'fridge mate' seem to be adequate to keep things cold. It fit pretty well, I only had to cut a couple pieces of matching paneling to fit around it.
john 'I am Canadian'
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thriftydutch
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 12/27/2003
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tandemrider wrote:Thriftydutch, how big is your all electric fridge? Are you running it on 12V, or through an inverter?
I'm pretty sure the fridge is 4.3 cu.ft. I don't have the manual at home right now. I run it off the 2 #27 deep cycle batteries, no inverter.
1990 L.E.R. Dodge B 250 Class B 17'
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thriftydutch
Ontario, Canada
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Joined: 12/27/2003
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candlback wrote:thriftydutch: In addition to how big is your all electric fridge, do you have solar panels or just batteries? I too am getting tired of a warm fridge in hot weather and also having to worry about how level I am. I do a lot of "urban camping" and cannot put leveling blocks about or I will not be stealthy anymore.
2002 Roadtrek 190 Popular Chevrolet
I have no solar panels. I can run my fridge for 4 to 5 days without charging the batteries. My fridge has never failed me on hot days. When we decide to go somewhere I turn the fridge on about a half hour to an hour before leaving. That is all it needs to get to the right temperature.
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Ray1012
Florida
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Joined: 11/05/2009
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Our 14 yr old 3 way dometic just couldn't do the job (1995 RT). We bought the Synder kit but to no avail. Opted for the Nova Kool 4.3 cu fridge (r4500). When we set it up it says to set at 3 - 4 on thermostat. This setting brought the unit to 22 degrees with an outside temp of 75 - 80. We now have it set to 2 and it stays at 35 degrees. Will never go back to an absorption fridge again. Unit is pricey but fits exactly in oem opening for our roadtrek dometic. Uses aprox 25 - 35 amps a day depending on usage. We have 440 amp bank so we can go quite a while before the genny is started.
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thataway
Pensacola, FL
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Joined: 05/25/2002
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Sounds like the compressor refigration units are doing better in RV's than in boats. They are known as "never colds" in the marine world. All kidding aside I have owned both types, and the Dometic in my 1993 Road Trek seems to work great in all weather--not sure why mine works and other's dont. I have used the fans on both evapertive and compressor driven units--the fans will also increase the effeciency of the Danfoss compressor driven refrigrations also. A good air flow is certainly important.
Bob Austin
2001 H R 30 Admiral
Toad 2003 Honda Pilot
1993 Roadtrek popular Dodge chassis
2000 Ford Excursion 7.3 Diesel
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landyacht318
Near a large body of water
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Joined: 07/11/2007
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thataway wrote:Sounds like the compressor refigration units are doing better in RV's than in boats. They are known as "never colds" in the marine world.
I believe the Norcolds developed the Nickname because for a while, they did not come with the external Fans on the compressors, and the compressors would overheat. Also It was assumed the boat factories who installed them would allow for necessary ventilation. I've worked in a boat yard. After smelling resin fumes 8 hours a day in a cloud of fiberglass dust, a worker cares not one iota about fridge's ventilation, and the designers see it as the fridge's problem that it cannot exhaust the heat it generates, not an enclosure design problem. The newer designs not only incorporate the compressor fan, they make the ventilation idiotproof.
Mine did come with a fan mounted under the compressor and it says it kicks on when the temps reach 110 degs F. It is a 24 volt fan. I wound up removing this fan from the fridge, and mounting it below the compressor, on a drawer under shelf the fridge rests upon that I can remove completely and clean the blades. It runs 24/7 on 12 volts and is very quiet. It also gets caked with dust pretty quickly. I clean it about every 5 weeks.
In it's place I have added 2 smaller but louder fans. I have heard those kick on only once, on a very warm day when I piled the fridge with beer that was not in the supermarket's fridge long enough.
I also located my fridge so that the sliding conversion van window is aligned with the compressor air column. If I have this window closed, and stick a lighter in front of the grill at the front of the fridge, the flame bends 60 degrees, indicating the significant amount of Airflow.
More than once, I noticed my compressor running more than usual for the ambient temps. I found a loose connection at the 24 volt fan and it wasn't working.
Another time I noticed it running differently cycling off and on more quickly, I noticed the connector on the small interior fan I added was loose, and the food on the door was 12 degrees warmer than the beer in the back.
Ventilation, interior and exterior are very important for maximum efficiency. Also making sure the door seals are tight, and the mating surfaces are flat and clean.
My gaskets had some gunk left over in the corners from the factory. A fresh razor blade eliminated them, and in the top right corner, the fridge's metal box was uneven, and I ground this flat with a flap sander on an angle grinder.
One modification I'm proud of is having utilized is my old sofa bed motor and screw jacks so that I can use the original rocker switch to open or close the window behind the fridge electrically, from the drivers seat.
If I have the sliding window open, and a front window open at highway speeds, huge volumes of air move in through the sliding window, and I could freeze everything inside, given a long enough drive, on a setting of 4 out of 5 while the compressor motor remains nice and cool, and when I stop, and turn the dial back down below 2, it has about a 5% duty cycle for many hours afterward saving my batteries and making my cheap American beer so cold it hurts my teeth.
So I can see how an Unventilated Norcold earned the 'Nevercold' nickname.
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kmessinger
Bay area but NOT San Francisco or Berkeley
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Joined: 01/13/2008
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After years of worrying about being level, it is great now to pull into a spot late at night and not even get out of the bus.
Our Norcold is on all the time and works great. I did do several mods to make it a little quieter.
Regards,
Keith
The excellent adventures of Keith and Debbie. Observations about life, at home and on the road in our 2008 Sportsmobile Sprinter. (Warning: Occasional sharp turns to the right.)
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