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Old 07-10-2022, 03:58 PM   #1
live4fun
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Default 3-Way Dometic Refrigerator During Long Travel

I have a 2019 2720 that came installed with a Dometic, 3-way refrigerator, Model RM-2354. This unit works way better than my older Norwood? refrigerator that was in my 2008 TM. But there is a travel situation that I have not solved yet.

1. When I setup at home or at a campsite everything works great, it automatically switches between propane and A/C depending what is on and plugged in. No complains. All perfect.
2. When folded down and traveling less than 4hrs I usually leave it in propane mode (even though I realize it is not be vented) and I see a 10-15 decrease in indoor refig temps depending on the outside temperature summer/fall/winter. Not good but not bad for me.
3. When traveling 7+hrs with the TM folded down and in the summer, then I don’t like the heat buildup in the refrigerator compartment that I feel. I have tried the DC mode because I have installed two 100ah Lithium batteries. The DC mode knocks down my batteries over 8hrs about 60%+. No good for starting at a new campsite. So I’ve done better by turning down the refrigerator setting to 1 or 2 and that’s improved the situation, but still lowers the batteries more than I like for a camping startup.

Does anyone have a better solution to DC on lowest cooling setting for driving 7+hrs with TM folded down??? Maybe keep all my super perishable items in a iced cooler and not worry about the other refrig items? Is is better on propane or DC?

3A. I recently had this new travel situation. With the TM fully loaded for a month long trip head of us and refrigerator pre cooled and full, we decided to drive two super long days (8-9hrs) and stay in a motel so we won’t have to setup the TM and break it down early in the morning. When I got to the motel after 9hrs (on propane), I got worried about the refrigerator getting to hot, so I needed to open up the TM and let the refrigerator work in the propane mode over night. yuck what a pain in the butt after planning not to open up the rig?

Does anyone have a solution to this when you need to stop the TM overnight but don’t have a A/C plugin nearby? My immediate thought for the next time is to put all my chilled and perishable items into a portable cooler on ice over this time. Then do I keep the refrigerator uncooled during travel? Or does anyone have a really good solution for traveling folded down for 2 days with the refrigerator filled?

thanks for thinking about this because it is mentally challenging me right now. Any thoughts on refrigerator performance welcome.
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Old 07-10-2022, 04:49 PM   #2
AlikoF
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I don't know that I'll be very much help because I wouldn't ever drive 7+ hours in the summer with anything in the fridge so I'd plan to buy the stuff I wanted when I arrived at the destination. Our two years of full-time RVLife taught us many things and working within the limitations of the trailer, as well as our own, made for the best adventures. We have a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer and we keep the outside node in the fridge and the "base" unit up on the console so we could monitor the fridge as we went. Always in propane mode while traveling with the fan on to vent the spent fumes out for best results. We could monitor the fridge easily enough but it is easy for it to run up in warm weather. This is why I can't offer more assistance because if it was in the heat of summer we were on Interstate 90 or higher.

The best to you,
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Old 07-10-2022, 07:21 PM   #3
Bill
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As you know, an absorption refrig in DC mode uses an enormous amount of energy. One solution might be to get a portable compressor-based refrig, and use it in DC mode. It will use much less energy, and your lithium batteries will last a long time.

My experience is with a 40-quart Engel frig-freezer, which we carry in the cargo area of the pickup. Since we bought it, a number of other manufacturers have also come out with their own versions, so the price may be a bit lower now. We run ours in freezer mode, but if you use refrig mode, the power consumption is reasonable. Would it last two days on your lithiums, with the refrig set as warm as you are comfortable with? My guess is yes. easily.

I'm not sure you are going to get there with an absorption refrig.

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Old 07-11-2022, 12:35 AM   #4
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You'll need to evaluate your tow rig along with your future trip needs to find a solution.

As Bill stated, you could consider picking up a DC powered compression frig (which have come down in price considerably) and use it to store perishables during extended tows. Those are far more DC efficient than your current Dometic RM-2354 3-way fridge and can potentially come in handy if you need refrigeration/freezer space around the home year round (like after a big Costco/Sam's club shopping trip)....

But since you've already gone down the path of upgrading your AC power, I'd consider looking into adding a DC-to-DC charger to your TrailManor (along with additional wiring on your tow vehicle) if your tow vehicle will support that. A smaller (20 Amp range) DC-to-DC charger should keep your battery bank topped off without impacting most TrailManor tow vehicles too bad. That would be a consistent charge replenish solution, but you'll always need to make an additional connection to your tow vehicle to support it.

I've faced the exact issue as you're dealing with and have added additional solar along with a larger battery bank to my 2922KB to offset the Dometic power use needs while towing but that obviously only helps when the sun is available.

Not wanting to lose the flexibility of the 3-way Dometic fridge, adding a Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 18 amp 220-Watt DC-DC Charger is the way I'm dealing with the need to replenish my battery bank under tow while the Dometic is set to use DC power. (and there's little or no solar)

- one important thing to keep in mind about the Dometic 3-way fridge: it will auto switch between propane to AC power, but it will not auto switch between propane and DC. That's an inconvenient constraint that you've got to keep in mind when not wanting to have to open the TrailManor for a long tow.
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Old 07-12-2022, 12:40 PM   #5
CnJ4TMs
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Default Dealing with 3-way fridge issues

I have a 2003 2720SL Trailmanor, and over time became frustrated with 3-way Norcold N300 temperature control, operational issues, energy usage, access and running issues when not using the TM overnight, etc,

Like Bill, I finally decided to go electric freezer/fridge. I bought a 35 liter cooler from BougeRV. It has 2 compartments: a deeper one for fridge items and a shallower one for freezer, both compartments have separate temperature control, with freezer temps of near zero easily maintained. We took it on a 25 day roundtrip from Iowa to California in May, and were pleased with its performance, even when boondocking for 3 days (used 100W solar panel to replace some lost capacity on our 12 volt 220AH RV battery in daytime). It draws about 5A max in DC, has ECO modes to save energy.

It does weigh 37 lbs, and has both AC adaptor and 12-volt DC modes.

Traveling. we kept it level on back seat of our pickup, with ample-length DC cord plugged in to the accessory socket on front dashboard. At rest and lunch stops, would keep truck ignition key in accessory position to keep the cooler running whenever possible. At camp, I transfer the cooler to the set-up TM, using AC adaptor if we have power, or DC cord if we are boondocking. For motel stays, I transfer cooler (has wheels and extending pull-handle) to our room and plug into AC.

The original 3-way is now used as an ambient temp food pantry!

Prior to the electric cooler, one solution involved a large food cooler with ice.
Now, the electric cooler eliminates having to deal with buying ice.
The significantly smaller capacity (vs the original 3-way capacity) has not been an issue. The superior overall performance is worth the extra bit of attention to meal planning, depending on length of our camping stays. This 68 yr old does use back and leg muscles properly when
transferring the loaded electric cooler in and out of our Tacoma and TM.
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Old 07-15-2022, 07:15 AM   #6
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Default Thanks for All the Good Information

I really appreciate all the good replies to this issue. On this trip, I could have bought my Yeti-Like cooler but chose not to for some reason. I guess I really didn’t think of that over night situation without any 120v A-C power. Had I brought and cooled down the Yeti, I could have taken the really perishable food and placed it in the Yeti while leaving the refrigerator go warm.
The Victron Orion DC-DC is an interesting solution but after reading the Victron specs it looks like that would charge my Lithium batteries from my truck alternator while driving only. When I stopped over night, lets say, then the Dometic would stay in the DC mode and drain the lithium batteries again without opening up the TM and switching to propane setting. But I really like the idea for charging the lithium batteries during transit. I do plan to put solar on the roof this fall which will additionally help me out. Just a note? Do you think the Victron DC-DC would charge faster and better (while driving) than 300W of solar panels on the roof in the sun? Interesting thought.
I think my best bet is the solar (since I was going to do that anyways) to continuously charge my batteries during most driving and camping. Then if I anticipate a situation like I just experienced, then I would ice down my perishables in the Yeti and purchase more refrigerated food items when I was closer to my camping designation. Often times with I stop over night, at say friends/family houses, I have run 120v extensions cords to the TM just for the refrigerator. That worked for me.
Thanks again for all the ideas and help. Much Appreciated!
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Old 07-19-2022, 06:13 PM   #7
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Default Me too, but will copy these alterative ways

Hello,
when we bought our 2004 2720 used, the owner said the fridg worked. Well, it did on electric. They never used gas and I did not test it before buying. We took it to two TM dealers who could not get it to work saying the NOrwood had a design flaw. So we researched and bought the RM2354 and it works great. What I did not anticipate was the digital display that uses my battery (I had to replace the fuse set up on that too). I bought and hauled a generator to Mammoth cave but never needed to use it. Battery did the job fine for 7 days.
I was disappointed about not having a vent for the fridg. I wish TM thought of that as I was able to use the fridge while travelling with our previous small full trailer. Very convenient and this one not so - and I thought I read in the owners manual that it was dangerous to travel unvented - so we have the cooler and buy what we need upon destination. I wish too that TM would somehow allow access to the storage compartments - that too made be carry things in the vehicle that I normally would not. Oh well. But the towing and space of the trailer is why we bought it.
I liked reading this thread for the other ideas posted which I had no idea about. Thanks all for responding to the original poster. I've benefited too.
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Old 07-19-2022, 06:41 PM   #8
Bill
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A few quick points.

1. Norcold, not Norwood
2. The refrig is vented, assuming you mean getting the heat out of the rear compartment. The compartment has a length of dryer hose running vertically, top to bottom. It is open at the top. At the bottom, the hose is terminated in a fan that exhausts downward through a screened opening in the floor. The heated air is sucked down through the hose and out of the compartment. The switch for the fan is on the apron in front of the refrigerator. It works well.
3. I'm not sure I would consider it a design flaw. The issue is that one of the wires connecting to the mode switch has a push-on connector that comes loose. To fix it, you pull the refrig forward a couple of inches (I know, it is annoying) to get access to the back of the switch. One by one, you pull each wire off the switch, squish the connector a little bit with pliers, and put it back where you got it.
4. The digital display uses a small amount of current, but very small. The 12-volt charge line from your tow vehicle easily provides charge current to make up for it. If you find that it discharges the battery as you travel, it is possible that your 12-volt charge line is not connected.

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Old 07-19-2022, 08:12 PM   #9
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Default Mine worked fine

I had a 2011 2417 and a 2014 2417, and both fridges worked fine on propane on the road. They had the venting as Bill described. I did put a fan in the back compartment of the 2014, but I don't really know if that helped much.

You may try putting a small battery-operated fan (about $15 on Amazon, I think) in the fridge, as that will circulate the air, and allow the thermistor to register a more-realistic fridge temp, which may help it cool more.

Good luck!
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Old 03-10-2023, 04:05 PM   #10
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I always run my fridge on LP when rolling. As mentioned by Bill and others, you MUST turn on the refrigerator fan. That switch is to the left of the fridge where the other switches are located. It doesn't matter if you're using LP or 12 volts, that fan MUST be on. On our latest TM, I found the refrigerator fan had been installed upside down and was blowing the air upwards...not good! I flipped the fan over so it was pulling the hot air downward from the top of the cavity, down the dryer hose and discharged under the camper. I would suggest checking that!

Our previous TM we pulled it over 30k miles in 28 months, all with the fridge running on LP. Even on the hottest of days it never got above 45 degrees.

I am having to do another fridge repair on our current TM related to a thermocouple failure. I will be posting about it shortly.

Good luck!
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