Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill
Like Dave, I'm finding this very interesting on a couple levels. First, we have not found the TM's OEM fridge to be especially lacking in cooling capacity, though it has pretty poor temperature control. (I keep thinking I should do something about that, but haven't made the mods suggested on this board.) As we crossed the country on our recent trip, we kept the thing switched to the AC power setting, at a dial setting of "3", so it was actively cooling whenever AC power was available. Late afternoon, and all night. Then we simply turned it off as we drove through the day. This approach worked pretty well - we didn't freeze as much lettuce as we used to. It maintained temperature pretty well all day - part of that is from fixing the freezer door spring, I think. I would love to have more capacity, though - that 2.4 cu ft isn't much.
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Last summer, our Norcold was allowing interior temps to reach nearly 60F in 95-100F weather conditions - even with my PID-based electronic regulation making sure that the Norcold heater ran 100% of the time. Even in camp, with the upper vent available to exhaust heat. And I have a large (140mm) auxiliary fan to pull air out through upper vent - also PID controlled, and turning on when temps in the of heat exchange reach just 85F. Probably, for some unknown reason, the ability for fluid to flow properly and/or exchange heat has become compromised within my Norcold Fridge, It did work A LOT BETTER in years previous to last summer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill
The second issue is that Danfoss compressor. We have a 10-year-old Engel 45-quart chest-style frig/freezer (which uses the Sawafuji "swing motor", a slightly different compressor than the Danfoss). We carry it on the back seat of the Explorer, and in the first five years, we used it a lot, setting the temperature to the lowest it would go so we could lug Maine seafood to Arizona, and Arizona tamales and peppers to Maine. Then about 5 years ago, we started using it as an extra freezer in our home, so it has been running 24/7 for 5 years! It seems absolutely bullet-proof. I would offer one caution, though. One night at Chiricahua National Momument, I left it plugged into the cig lighter in the Explorer. We set up camp at 3PM, and next morning at 8AM, the Explorer battery was dead. So although it does not consume a lot of power, 17 hours of freezer operation was too much. Most likely, solar would not have solved the problem, since the unsupported drain was at night. I would expect the bigger refrig that Rick installed to have a somewhat higher drain, although running it as a refrig instead of pure freezer would help a lot.
At any rate, it makes me wonder if TM could be persuaded to deliver a trailer with no refrig. Just cap off the propane and electric lines. I don't think they would install this new Dometic for you, but your own installation would be easier if you didn't have to deal with the Norcold.
Bill
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I agree about the value of TM delivering a "fridge-not-included, no fridge propane connection" option for someone who knows that they will install an electric-only, compressor-based Fridge after delivery. From the "Cross" connector near the tanks, they could pull the WH/Fridge supply line all the way to the Water Heater, with no "T" installed underneath at all. Less work for them, far less work (on my back) for me - and no chance of seeing bubbles in the 'dish-soap' test of the replacement Union joints. (I was, thankfully, somewhat "skilled" in my flare assembly, and didn't have a leak. That part of the job just consumed most of the time, and consumed substantial muscle power.)
If the Engel cooler and Dometic fridge are "tied" for power consumption (which I think to be unlikely, due to your "freezer temp" usage - and also because the insulation probably isn't as good) - 17 hrs * 6 Amps ~ 100 AH. My Solar 'available power' is, unfortunately, currently less than that - probably less than 70 AH. So, running flat-out through the night, I'd need the MPPT upgrade (or a panel upgrade) AND a 3rd battery, in order keep up with demand through multiple nights. But I think that there's no way it would need to run flat-out through the night to hold fridge temps - Desert ambient temps gets quite cool at night. A daily range of from 95+ down to low 60s common around here.
Our readers can keep in mind that the SUV battery is a starting battery: A pair of deep cycle RV batteries, even el-cheapo Walmarts at 80 AH each, could easily handle the 30 AH deficit for a day. (Although they would be well under 50% red-line if asked for 100AH overnight, with no Solar charge capability taking part of the load during the last hours of the day, and the early AM.)
If my fridge ever DOES need to run continuously, at high amperage, through long nights - then I'll need to do the MPPT upgrade
and add a 3rd battery. But I think that the Dometic won't need to run that hard. Just SWAG, of course.
BTW, the Dometic 1110 fridge door has "active" clamps for shutting both the top
and bottom of the door, helping to maintain a very effective seal. And the speed of cool-down, with 120V mains available, was amazing -- I no longer have a need to open up and pre-cool overnight.
