Replacement refrigerator recommendation?

[REF]

Yup, get a Truckfridge

[Scalf77]

I had a Isotherm 130 and a Truckfridge 130 side by side and the only real discerning difference was the latch mechanism for the door. And of course the price

-greg

[velo47]

Yeah, we got an Iso 130 because at the time Truckfridge was out of stock and didn't know when they'd have more. They're essentially identical, but the Truckfridge doesn't come with the RV/Boat markup.

[Klompen]

We had a Norcold in our SMB, but Norcold had changed the model from the one pictured at SMB. It also used far more energy than the specs on the SMB site and it was noisy! We swapped for an Isotherm Cruise 65 and have been very pleased. Better layout, quiet, and uses way less energy.

[boywonder]

My Truckfridge has worked for years without issues....and as mentioned it's an isotherm in more pedestrian clothing.

[JoeH]

this thread might be useful. https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...t-18725-2.html

It also has a handy reference for fridge brands and sizes. https://www.suremarineservice.com/Ga...ze-Comparison/

I'm all about plug and play with the least amount of modification. Interested to hear how the Truckfridge goes for those of us that might be replacing the Norcold DC0051 spec'd by SMB in the 2000s.

[Charliesmom]

We have had our 2019 Transit SMB for almost one year. It has an Isotherm 130 installed. We’ve been very pleased with its performance with about 30 amp/day (Ave 1.25 amp/hr) at the #5 setting. The compressor (Secop/Danfoss) cycles every ~2-2.5 hours and is very quiet. Isotherm is manufactured by Indel/Webasto. It comes with a 5 year parts and labor warranty, which is pretty good for the industry (ARB, Engel -3 years; Norcold, Dometic -2 years; TruckFridge, Whynter -1 year). Previously, we had a small, Norcold DC chest unit in our teardrop trailer. It used 3.5-4 amps/hour! Good luck on your choice.

[Bear]

We have 2015 Sprinter 170 Ext and our design built by Sportsmobile-Tx. The change from Norcold DC0051 to the Truckfridge was easy. Didn’t take any pictures. The Norcold was 110v/12v and we decided the 12v Truckfridge was the best option. Electrical was easy that we already had 12 ga wire. Had to cut a piece of wood for each side for the mounting flanges. Had to take about 3/8” off of the fridge mount flange. Raised the fridge about 1/2” to get more air flow. Had extra room in the back and added 1 1/2” of blue board insulation on the exterior wall. Than just slid the new fridge in. If your are handy with a few tools it takes about 4 to 6 hours to do the change over. All depends the room you have to work inside the van. If pictures of the finished install would help let me know.

[Steve C]

Thanks to everyone who added information to this thread! Ordering a new refrigerator has been on my list for a couple of years. I'm replacing my "classic" 2001 Norcold DE-451 with a Truck Fridge 65 AC/DC. Rather excited to get a refrigerator that doesn't cycle on/off every few minutes and will hopefully use less power

[Bongo]

TL;DR: We have not had good long-term reliability with the Indel-Webasto DR-130.



Our SMB, built in 2018, was fitted with an Indel-Webasto Isotherm DR-130 (drawer-type configuration). The previous (original) owner had that replaced with another unit when the first one failed. Then we purchased the RV. The fridge failed again, and we shipped the DR-130 to Florida for repair under warranty. They said it was a clogged freon filter.


That worked for about 2 months, and the fridge failed again. This time, Indel-Webasto decided to simply ship us a replacement unit. I asked if they might send is a CR-130 instead, as it was better suited to our layout. No problem -- yay -- so they shipped us a presumably used CR-130. Aside from a flange damaged in shipping, this one has been running fine, for the last month or so. Fingers crossed.