Refrigerator question

[mark grady]

Greetings all --

One of this year's projects is the replacement of the original refrigerator
in our '77 Kingsley. It has 'sticky' compressor valves that allow it to run
without producing any head pressure and thereby cooling.

I've heard from a number of people who swear by LP units, but we seldom dry
camp long enough to deplete our battery string (a total of 4 6 volt golf
cart units, two front and two rear.)

New RV style units are $1,000 and up, but I've seen some very nice looking
GE 6.5 and 9.1 cu ft household refrigerators that only consume an amp to 1.5
amps. We don't use the built in vacuum, and a little wood working would
easily make one of these units fit nicely.

There are now some very efficient modified sine-wave 12 to 110 volt
inverters on the market. I even took a portable power back and an inverter
along and found that a 600 watt unit will easily handle the load (although I
didn't try it in a locked armature condition). It would seem easy enough to
put the inverter in the closet and power the refrigerator using 110 on that
circuit through the existing wiring.

Anyone else out there have any thoughts or suggestions? Pitfalls I haven't
considered?

This seems like such a simple solution. Have I missed something?

Thanks for your replies.

Mark Grady

mgrady

 

[thomas g. warner]

I think that you are going to find that the cost of the DC to AC inverter is
going to cost you more than the refrigerator. I have prices for
Alternativew solar inc inverters and the model freedom 10, 1000 watt is
$569. And Dave is right there are space requirements both back and top that
you have to adhere to. I would check on the startup current for these
refrigerators and I think you will find that they are quite high, absolutely
not 1.5 amps.

>Mark, I agree with David that DC is a waste. We really like our Gas/AC fridge.
>As to using a household type, I'd suggest you check with the dealer to see if
>there are any air circulation space requirements for that particular unit. If
>there are coils on the back, you know the space behind the fridge gets pretty
>hot in the summer.
>
>

 

[bartz paul]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: davegreenberg1 [SMTP:davegreenberg1]
> Sent: Sunday, May 03, 1998 8:38 PM
> To: gmcmotorhome
> Subject: Re: GMC: Refrigerator question
>
> Mark:
>
> I think that is the way to go. I am surprised there aren't more
> household fridge's installed in RVs these days. I see them being used
> on bigger boats all the time so keeping the fridge level shouldn't be
> a major issue.
>
> I have to say though...gas works great! When I install my next new
> fridge (we are now on 3rd or 4th-lost count) I will NOT bother with
> the DC version. What a waste.
>
> It will be interesting to get opinions from those more technically
> competent than me.
>
> P.S.. For the Registry let me know who owned your Kingsley before you
> or are you the original owner?
>
> David Lee Greenberg
>
> On Sat, 2 May 1998 12:18:44 -0500 "Mark Grady"

>
> One of this year's projects is the replacement of the original
> refrigerator in our '77 Kingsley. It has 'sticky' compressor valves
> that allow it to run without producing any head pressure and thereby
> cooling.
>
> I've heard from a number of people who swear by LP units, but we
> seldom dry camp long enough to deplete our battery string (a total of
> 4 6 volt golf cart units, two front and two rear.)
>
> New RV style units are $1,000 and up, but I've seen some very nice
> looking GE 6.5 and 9.1 cu ft household refrigerators that only consume
> an amp to 1.5 amps. We don't use the built in vacuum, and a little
> wood working would easily make one of these units fit nicely.
>
> There are now some very efficient modified sine-wave 12 to 110 volt
> inverters on the market. I even took a portable power back and an
> inverter along and found that a 600 watt unit will easily handle the
> load (although I didn't try it in a locked armature condition). It
> would seem easy enough to put the inverter in the closet and power the
> refrigerator using 110 on that circuit through the existing wiring.
>
> Anyone else out there have any thoughts or suggestions? Pitfalls I
> haven't considered?
>
> This seems like such a simple solution. Have I missed something?
>
> Mark Grady
>
> mgrady