Refrigerators - Page 3

kzemach · 10-15-2007, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammyauto

Without any recharging my house batteries will run the fridge for a week. I also have an ARB portable fridge/freezer that we bring full of frozen food for longer trips. The isotherm is very quiet.

Seriously? A week? Do you have one or more 4D AGMs? If you really get a week with one 4D, then I'll forget my plan of solar panels and just replace the fridge!

Let me know if you're ever up in San Fran area. Would love to do a quick instrumentation on your setup to see how much current it's really pulling and get the data for comparison.

Greg In Austin · 10-15-2007, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammyauto

I have the isotherm cruise85 ASU in my van.

Seth,

Did SMB do the install on your Isotherm Cruise85? or did you install it?

If you installed, did it replace another fridge?

Thanks,

Buji · 10-15-2007, 10:16 AM

On a side note, I've been considering building a custom cooler/seat to go between my benches in the back and use as a seat when camping.

I have to dinette benches in the back, and having a '7th' seat facing forward in the back would be nice for when we're sitting around the table in the back etc, as well as providing one more place to store either dry goods or extra ice. Ideally with a padded top it would match the height of the benches in the back and look incorporated.

BC · 10-15-2007, 10:54 AM

On our rig, the wife spec'd the 4cu unit and I thought it was nuts; wanted the smaller one. It has turned out to be one of the best upgrades, a smart choice. Awesome capacity, really nice to have, and true freezer capability. And I can run it for days on the house battery. Yes the compressor vibrates the whole van, which sucks and initially irritated me to no avail. But I've gotten used to it, and the way you use these things is get them cold then adjust and simply turn it down a bit to shut off the compressor, at night for instance. It will retain temp well, so compressor does not always need to be running.

jage · 10-15-2007, 11:33 AM

BC, I think your sig should be "Listen to your wife"

jage · 10-16-2007, 10:18 AM

I'm only about halfway through but this thread on RV.net has a lot of good Norcold info. The first post says there should only be about 1" of deadspace behind the fridge to draw air over the coils-- makes sense. I wonder how the 3-5" I have, and the big side hole from the driver's seat affects this and if having channeled air would be more efficent than a big airspace...

The second thing I've come across as interesting is he claims the duty/cycle and amp draw is better on 12v only rather than 110v.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/20303164.cfm

jage · 10-16-2007, 11:25 AM

More stuff:

"If you really want to stretch an electric fridge as far as practical for a class B, get a small freezer and run it as a fridge. Freezers have much better insulation than fridges (so they don't sweat). From the data I've seen running a freezer at fridge temperatures should cut typical power costs in half."

http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/f...g/1/page/1.cfm

**BroncoHauler** · 10-16-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jage

More stuff:

"If you really want to stretch an electric fridge as far as practical for a class B, get a small freezer and run it as a fridge. Freezers have much better insulation than fridges (so they don't sweat). From the data I've seen running a freezer at fridge temperatures should cut typical power costs in half."

http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/f...g/1/page/1.cfm

The challenge here would be proper temperature control. I use a full size standalone freezer at home, primarily at refrigerator temperatures, as my beer brewing fermentation control (e.g. ales, lagers). The temperatures are controlled with an independant temperature controller with which I can select a set temperature. This requires a thermocouple inside the freezer.

Herb

jage · 10-16-2007, 01:16 PM

From Thetford.com (Norcold makers):

Quote:

When AC and DC power are both supplied on a DE refrigerator what mode will the refrigerator operate on?

When both power sources are supplied to the refrigerator it defaults to AC power. When the refrigerator is disconnected from shoreline power and AC is no longer available the refrigerator switches to DC operation.

Jammyauto · 10-16-2007, 05:49 PM

My van uses 2 NSB-M12-130 Northstar batteries. http://www.northstarbattery.com/hd_marine.php
I installed both the batteries and the Isotherm ASU fridge. I know that they will run the fridge for a week because I used the van for more than a week before I had the electrical system finished and I had the batteries just temporary wired to the fridge so we could use the fridge.