Re: WANTED: 3-WAY PROPANE FRIDGE
MountainBikeRoamer, I like the fridge a ton. I will probably have to owe you a long-term report, as I've only recently installed it, but so far I'm very happy. I was initially a bit nervous about the switch, but research revealed that the VW Westfalia guys have been swapping these in favor of the old Dometic 3-way fridges for years and having really good luck. (The TF49 is basically a direct replacement into the Westy Vanagon cabinet, but holds more food, the TF63 can be made to fit with a bit of rework.)
As I said above, the form factor was the major issue for me: my van is smaller than most here (I'm a DIY non-sportsmobile interloper with a 4x4 Pop-top GTRV Astro), so finding room for a chest-style fridge was doable but inefficient. Switching to a front-open fridge let me recapture a bunch of lost space that's made a big difference.
As far as performance, it's worked really well so far. As said, I can make ice cubes in the freezer section, although I'm still using a digital probe thermometer to try to dial in the most efficient setting where I can get the temperature I need without having the compressor run more than necessary.
The noise isn't bad, certainly no louder than my previous Edgestar FP430 chest fridge. I vented my cabinet forward to the driver's seat, so I actually hear it less (vs the chest fridge) when you're in the lower bunk. (When driving it's insignificant compared to road noise, etc.) The fan is about as loud as the compressor, so I will probably do what others have done and swap out to a higher-quality (computer) fan that moves similar air with less noise, and also adjust how it mounts. Factory solution is to zip-tie the fan to the heat exchanger - I will replace with PC-style rubber mounts to isolate it a bit more.
__________________
--
2003 Chevy Astro 4WD
GTRV Transplant
|