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residential refrigerator vs rv gas/electric refrigerator?

Bob_Vaughn
Explorer
Explorer
If given a choice of the residential refrigerator or an rv gas/electric refrigerator which would you choose? It seems like all the new 5th wheels come with the residential model. I suppose if you never drive more than 5-6 hours and never dry camp then the residential would be ok...but if you make long drives and dry camp or boon dock then the rv refrigerator would be the logical choice....
70 REPLIES 70

Lspangler
Explorer
Explorer
theoldwizard1 wrote:
theoldwizard1 wrote:
Dutch_12078 wrote:
Lspangler wrote:
I have an 18 cu ft res fridge in a travel trailer. I have 2 6v GC batteries. We have to run the generator about 1.5 hours in the AM and 1.5 hours in the PM

If the trimetric says 100% when we head out, it says 100% when we get to our destination so my truck must be keeping up OK

Linc


That's similar to what we see when boondocking. A 1-1.5 hour generator run morning and evening, depending on what other loads we're using, and our 10 cu ft residential fridge does nicely on two Group 29 12-volt batteries. Going down the road, our 130 amp alternator easily keeps up with it.


Those are very useful numbers ! If your boondocking in hot weather, you will likely be running the A/C part of the day/evening so the batteries would be recharged anyway.


Going down the road, a TV alternator should be able to keep up with the inverter (assuming it will restart after a momentary shut down from low input voltage) although I don;t think it will properly recharge the house battery bank (long discussion elsewhere).


We just finished up a 12 night drycamping trip. Batteries were low in the morning. After hitching up my trimetric showed 24 amps going into the batteries. This was with the truck idling. This was with the fridge running

Linc

tinner12002
Explorer
Explorer
rjxj wrote:
tinner12002 wrote:
MrWizard wrote:
Our residential fridge, had been on and running and moving for 7 years
I have never seen a 'won't hold up to travel' comment on this board until now
Whoever told you that, does not know what they are talking about


It was a couple dealers I was talking to, when asked about the res frig vs the RV frig they said, 2 different dealers mind you, that they'd had lots of issues with the res frig not holding up well to the bouncing of the RV when traveling. Both were Keystone dealers.


The good thing is that we know they dont lie.


Well, true or not I have no issues with RV frig so was just passing on what I was told. I guess a person just needs to determine which unit serves them the best.
2015 Ram 3500/DRW/Aisin/auto/Max tow/4.10s,Cummins, stock Laramie Limited--Silver
Tequila Sunrise 2012 Ultra Classic Limited
2018 Raptor 428SP

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
From the viewpoint of rough road surface G-Force affects on RV refrigerator reliability ... probably absorption technology wins over compressor technology for least amount of moving parts. I have no "proof" with respect to refrigerator moving parts being bothered by G-Forces ... just thinking out loud about Murphy's law and other things.

However, Good Enough usually wins over Perfection when it comes to getting by in the short to medium term. ๐Ÿ™‚
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

azrving
Explorer
Explorer
tinner12002 wrote:
MrWizard wrote:
Our residential fridge, had been on and running and moving for 7 years
I have never seen a 'won't hold up to travel' comment on this board until now
Whoever told you that, does not know what they are talking about


It was a couple dealers I was talking to, when asked about the res frig vs the RV frig they said, 2 different dealers mind you, that they'd had lots of issues with the res frig not holding up well to the bouncing of the RV when traveling. Both were Keystone dealers.


The good thing is that we know they dont lie.

tinner12002
Explorer
Explorer
MrWizard wrote:
Our residential fridge, had been on and running and moving for 7 years
I have never seen a 'won't hold up to travel' comment on this board until now
Whoever told you that, does not know what they are talking about


It was a couple dealers I was talking to, when asked about the res frig vs the RV frig they said, 2 different dealers mind you, that they'd had lots of issues with the res frig not holding up well to the bouncing of the RV when traveling. Both were Keystone dealers.
2015 Ram 3500/DRW/Aisin/auto/Max tow/4.10s,Cummins, stock Laramie Limited--Silver
Tequila Sunrise 2012 Ultra Classic Limited
2018 Raptor 428SP

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
The duty cycle is 2:3, so in my 6 cubic foot Dometic that means 40 minutes out of every hour. This happens even at temperatures below 20 c (68 f).

The boiler temperature runs between 173 and 189 C. When mine "misbehaves" it goes higher than the ARP can display but I have seen 225 C. It only reaches those temperatures whey I have bypass the shut off feature.

pnichols wrote:
I wonder if Norcold and/or Dometic absorption refrigeratros just happen to use the same cooling size unit for their various different cubic footage size models? :h

If they do, that might explain some of the absorption refrigerator complaints (plus rare fires from over-heating) from the owners of larger size RVs - thus driving them to switch to residential refrigerators.

It seems like the same size cooling unit would be cycled ON a lot more trying to keep a big box cool versus - say - a 7 cubit foot box ... thus maybe not doing so well, or worst case failing completely - due to higher temperatures from longer burner run-times.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
I wonder if Norcold and/or Dometic absorption refrigerators just happen to use the same cooling size unit for their various different cubic footage size models? :h

If they do, that might explain some of the absorption refrigerator complaints (plus rare fires from over-heating) from the owners of larger size RVs - thus driving them to switch to residential refrigerators.

It seems like the same size cooling unit would be cycled ON a lot more trying to keep a big box cool versus - say - a 7 cubit foot box ... thus maybe not doing so well, or worst case failing completely - due to higher temperatures from longer burner run-times.
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
Hi,

Best to go to the ARP website. No your fridge doesn't have it.

It measures the flue temperature and if it exceeds the save value shuts the fridge down.

I've had it installed for 2 years. Lately the shut down is happening more frequently. I've used small vibrating sander (with no sand paper) to vibrate the tubes to try to dislodge the clog that happened prior to the ARP. It works for a while.

pnichols wrote:
pianotuna wrote:
It has the ARP over heat prevention device and that has saved my bacon several many times.


Don,

Thanks in advance ... please provide some details on what has happened in the past regarding the ARP preventing overheating.

Should have this safety device installed on our Norcold - or does it already have it?
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
We have a friend (well friend of a friend) that pulls his Nissan Leaf on a trailer (maybe a dolly) behind his moho. He has a Sinewave inverter somehow hooked up to his 12 volt accessory battery. It in turn is fed from the DC to DC converter which gets its power from the main 30 KWH traction battery. Not sure if he has to have it in accessory mode or what but he can go weeks off this setup. Don't think he powers everything in the coach though. I think it is just the fridge. Kinda cool. Not something we plan to do with either of our EV's but its kinda neat. I think the DC to DC converter has some pretty small limitations though. From what I have read on the leaf forum it is around 1400 watts. I can see future EV's with 70 to 100 KWH batteries like the Tesla being really handy for dry campers. Maybe an inverter connected directly to the traction battery thru the fast charge port. Who knows.
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
pianotuna wrote:
It has the ARP over heat prevention device and that has saved my bacon several many times.


Don,

Thanks in advance ... please provide some details on what has happened in the past regarding the ARP preventing overheating.

Should have this safety device installed on our Norcold - or does it already have it?
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
pnicols,

My Dometic (small size) is costly to run on 120 volt using 5.7 kwh per day.

It has the ARP over heat prevention device and that has saved my bacon several many times.

I'm at an out of level campsite at the moment and had to use six boards (two on each driver's side wheel) to get to 1/2 bubble.

If it were a residential I'd not have to do that.

My fridge is clearly "on the way out". I'll do my level best to keep it running for as long as I can.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

pnichols
Explorer II
Explorer II
pianotuna wrote:
And when it fails (not if but when)


Don ... huuuuuhh ... maybe your past experience was with poor absorption build quality or poor absorption installation ... instead of "absorption technology, per se"?

rjxj wrote:
After installing my resi I quit organizing my keys and wallet and clothes and shoes near the door when I went to bed.


rjxj ..... I do that anyway for a quick response while we're in the middle of trying to potty-train our new pet. :B (We have a fire extinguisher right by the door, anyway. ๐Ÿ˜‰ )
2005 E450 Itasca 24V Class C

Dance_Chick
Explorer
Explorer
Our Norcold (or Dometic-can't remember which) died. We were going to install a residential refer anyway. In answer to those who think you have to install a bunch of different items to make it work, we didn't install anything extra. We already had an inverter-a MSW. According to Samsung, whom I called, that is fine. Having said that, we've also run the fridge while traveling for 5-6 hours without the inverter. Everything was fine once we stopped for the night and then could hook up. Yes, we ran the genny for about 30-45 minutes while stopping for lunch, but we would've done that anyway to have A/C. I will say we never boondock and never will - not even an overnight at Wal Mart.

I will never go back to a RV fridge. Deal breaker.
Gene, Gayle, & Oliver (the dog)
2006 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 40 PDQ/2012 Honda CRV toad
Blue Ox tow bar & base plate/Air Force One braking

azrving
Explorer
Explorer
After installing my resi I quit organizing my keys and wallet and clothes and shoes near the door when I went to bed.