Using a small apartment fridge instead of an RV Fridge

Matt Colie

Matt Colie

Well-known member
Aug 15, 2008
11,101
807
113
South East Michigan near DTW
Steve,

When the Nocold went inop, I first replaced it with a little Frigidaire single door that was not up to the task.
About a year later we found another Frigidaire that was a separate freezer above. That one has been great. Mary gave up 0.9 CUft for it, but loves
it all the more. Current is 3.6ft**3 and it takes some planning, but it works. It keeps a frozen pizza, ice trays and lots of other stuff just fine.
There is no way to fit a gallon jug in there.

It is powered by a 49$ 750/1500 modified square wave inverter from Hazard Fright. I carry on onboard as a spare because one lost some smoke one day.
Other that that, the fans need to be replaced about every other year. It is fed right from the house bank through a 100 (IIRC) switchable breaker.
That is suggested in case smoke leaks out again. Buy the service plan.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - '73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan
OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
Off the grid I haven't had much luck making an electric refrigerator run for more than a couple of days.
I had two gold cart batteries and a pure sine convertor running an old refrigerator.
Then I bought a new 2 way, propane/120VAC. It runs a long time off of propane.

--
Bill Wevers GMC49ers, GMC Western States
1975 Glenbrook - Manny Powerdrive, OneTon
455 F Block, G heads
San Jose
 
We have a 6 or 7 cubic foot apartment fridge in our rear bath Royale. Its a magic chef I think. Separate freezer up top. The original Dometic was
non operable when we bought the coach. I had this fridge in our garage and took some measurements. Sure enough with a little wiggle room it fits in
the same hole as the original fridge. As there was a power outlet already there no extra wiring was needed.

I do not run it on an inverter. Either shore power, or when the generator is running.

The highs. I bought the fridge from a neighbor for 50 bucks. New ones are usually 280 or so on sale. If it dies Im not really out much. It keeps
icecream frozen. Holds 30 pounds of ice if needed. There is a ton of space for everything in the fridge. I dont have to be as concerned about being
off level for it to run. I can open the door and instantly tell its working as the light comes on. I can hear the fan run as well when its quiet, so
again I can tell its working. With little ones constantly in and out of the fridge, it does not take that long to recover and keep things cold. No
pilot light to worry about and the potential hazards associated with that.

The lows. Its sticks out about 2 inches farther than the original. Since we are all fairly slim people its not an issue, but it also is a somewhat
tight squeeze around the dinette just due to the rear twin configuration of the coach. Unless your on shore power or running the generator you have
no fridge. Just like your house fridge, as long as the door is closed things stay pretty frozen / cold for several hours before I feel the need to
power it up and cool it down again.

Once this fridge dies, I will probably go back to a propane unit. But at the time I could not spare +/- 500 for a used unit, or 1K for a new one,
knowing I had several thousand in maintenance that was higher priority.

Bottom line, if your mostly at campgrounds with power, or dont have issues with running a generator a while its a good way to go.


--
77 Royale, Rear Dry Bath. 403, 3.55 Final Drive, Lenzi goodies, Patterson carb and dizzy.
Mid Michigan
 
The only drawback is for boondocking. I'd love a residential fridge propane sucks in comparison for cool down times and cold holding ability, but for
what we do we don't always have electricity so a residential fridge is out.
--
Justin Brady
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
1976 Palm Beach 455
 
So to preface, I rarely if ever Boondock or go off the grid. The few times I've had to go that way was when I had breakdowns, and had to either hole
up in Walmart or a parking lot. So from my experience, I'll never be going several days without land power.

When I bought my coach it had a 40 year old fridge that didn't work. So for the first several months I used an ice chest and stored things in the
broken fridge with ice too. This last fall I pulled out the fridge, pulled out the non functioning water heater, and went tank less (as laid out in a
few posts on the forum). When I did that, I decided to convert the refrigerator space to shelving on top, and then I went to Home Depot and bought a
$100 dorm fridge. So far it's been great. It cools up really quickly once I get to my destination, and I never need much more storage than that.
And I just got some extra storage! But that's me. I'm a semi-single, 56 year old man too.
--
Brian K
1977 Eleganza II, TZE167V100261
Bellevue, WA
Rebuilt 455, New brake system, a lot of Original Equipment ready to fall apart (discovering more as I go along....)
 
Ah Brian? Just what is "semi single" Some new gender description I am
unaware of? I know I am kind of out of touch, but.....WTH?
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403

> So to preface, I rarely if ever Boondock or go off the grid. The few
> times I've had to go that way was when I had breakdowns, and had to either
> hole
> up in Walmart or a parking lot. So from my experience, I'll never be
> going several days without land power.
>
> When I bought my coach it had a 40 year old fridge that didn't work. So
> for the first several months I used an ice chest and stored things in the
> broken fridge with ice too. This last fall I pulled out the fridge,
> pulled out the non functioning water heater, and went tank less (as laid
> out in a
> few posts on the forum). When I did that, I decided to convert the
> refrigerator space to shelving on top, and then I went to Home Depot and
> bought a
> $100 dorm fridge. So far it's been great. It cools up really quickly
> once I get to my destination, and I never need much more storage than that.
> And I just got some extra storage! But that's me. I'm a semi-single, 56
> year old man too.
> --
> Brian K
> 1977 Eleganza II, TZE167V100261
> Bellevue, WA
> Rebuilt 455, New brake system, a lot of Original Equipment ready to fall
> apart (discovering more as I go along....)
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Justin are you guys still out on the road? Or back up north?

Sent from my iPhone

>
> Ah Brian? Just what is "semi single" Some new gender description I am
> unaware of? I know I am kind of out of touch, but.....WTH?
> Jim Hupy
> Salem, Or
> 78 GMC ROYALE 403
>

>>
>> So to preface, I rarely if ever Boondock or go off the grid. The few
>> times I've had to go that way was when I had breakdowns, and had to either
>> hole
>> up in Walmart or a parking lot. So from my experience, I'll never be
>> going several days without land power.
>>
>> When I bought my coach it had a 40 year old fridge that didn't work. So
>> for the first several months I used an ice chest and stored things in the
>> broken fridge with ice too. This last fall I pulled out the fridge,
>> pulled out the non functioning water heater, and went tank less (as laid
>> out in a
>> few posts on the forum). When I did that, I decided to convert the
>> refrigerator space to shelving on top, and then I went to Home Depot and
>> bought a
>> $100 dorm fridge. So far it's been great. It cools up really quickly
>> once I get to my destination, and I never need much more storage than that.
>> And I just got some extra storage! But that's me. I'm a semi-single, 56
>> year old man too.
>> --
>> Brian K
>> 1977 Eleganza II, TZE167V100261
>> Bellevue, WA
>> Rebuilt 455, New brake system, a lot of Original Equipment ready to fall
>> apart (discovering more as I go along....)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GMCnet mailing list
>> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
>> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
 
Jim H,
I can't believe how semi out of touch with the new lingo you have become...
Now that I have decided to not care what my semi friends may think about me being semi hard to be around and being semi over weight, it just semi
bothers me now..
BTW Brian, I'm joking!!
--
Scott Nutter
1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi.
Houston, Texas
 
I saw a portable (smaller) fridge on sears website, it was just a bit over
400. :)

> Jim H,
> I can't believe how semi out of touch with the new lingo you have become...
> Now that I have decided to not care what my semi friends may think about
> me being semi hard to be around and being semi over weight, it just semi
> bothers me now..
> BTW Brian, I'm joking!!
> --
> Scott Nutter
> 1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final
> drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi.
> Houston, Texas
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
O.K, yesterday, I just got a new cell phone. It still has SIRI, but in
addition, it has Bixby, and I consulted he/she/It? about "semi single" To
put it simply, I ain't the only one who is out of touch. Whoa Mama, talk
about TMI. Not going back there for a while! (Grin)
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or

> I saw a portable (smaller) fridge on sears website, it was just a bit over
> 400. :)
>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 18, 2018 at 3:30 PM, Scott Nutter

>
> > Jim H,
> > I can't believe how semi out of touch with the new lingo you have
> become...
> > Now that I have decided to not care what my semi friends may think about
> > me being semi hard to be around and being semi over weight, it just semi
> > bothers me now..
> > BTW Brian, I'm joking!!
> > --
> > Scott Nutter
> > 1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21
> final
> > drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi.
> > Houston, Texas
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > GMCnet mailing list
> > Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> > http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
> >
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Well...divorced for 10 years, 2 dogs, and a girlfriend. That's how I define "semi-single"!
--
Brian K
1977 Eleganza II, TZE167V100261
Bellevue, WA
Rebuilt 455, New brake system, a lot of Original Equipment ready to fall apart (discovering more as I go along....)
 
Yeah, when I get it, I finally get it. I didn't mean to get personal. Some
people have different interpretations of that term. No reason or blame for
it, really. Just the way it turns out after all is said and done. At least
you have a couple of faithful 4 legged companions. They don't judge, they
just give love unconditionally, no matter what.
Glad you are part of the GMC mix.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or

> Well...divorced for 10 years, 2 dogs, and a girlfriend. That's how I
> define "semi-single"!
> --
> Brian K
> 1977 Eleganza II, TZE167V100261
> Bellevue, WA
> Rebuilt 455, New brake system, a lot of Original Equipment ready to fall
> apart (discovering more as I go along....)
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
Just to hear Jim say " Whoa Mama" was so outta sigh. No, better than that. It was Groovy!!!
But glad to hear he finally got rid of his flip phone!!
--
Scott Nutter
1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi.
Houston, Texas
 
Flip fone went the way of pagers. You remember them I am sure. Had one on
my hip for longer than I like to remember. My flipper went away for a
Galaxy Note 3 in 2012. Now it is a Galaxy 8. Another bell curve to ascend.
Love it.
Jim Hupy

> Just to hear Jim say " Whoa Mama" was so outta sigh. No, better than that.
> It was Groovy!!!
> But glad to hear he finally got rid of his flip phone!!
> --
> Scott Nutter
> 1978 Royale Center Kitchen, Patterson 455, switch pitch tranny, 3.21 final
> drive, Quad bags, tankless water heater, everything Lenzi.
> Houston, Texas
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
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