3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Blue. have you ever posted a picture of yours? Might be a nice addition to this thread. Well I'd like to see it anyway.
Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
2004 Premier V10
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Im back home from Shenandoah. Ran the frig on propane all the way home and over night in the campsite. When I got home, I went right out and bought a frig thermometer and left it in the frig for several hours. Temp reading was at 44, so I upped the cooling level from 3-5 (highest). Next morning, the temp was a cool 36 degrees! Yea! Seems like I dodged a bullet...for now. I then plugged the Rig into shore power and turned the cool setting back down to 3. Its been running that way for more than 6 hours now, and the temp is still a cool 36 degrees. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
David
David
-
caconcourse
- Senior Member
- Posts: 510
- Joined: October 31st, 2014, 10:25 pm
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
That's great news. I am always a little skeptical that being a little off level occasionally causes permanent damage. Otherwise it seems that after 20 years none of the refrigerators would be working. I did have a similar experience where my fridge stopped cooling on propane one night on the Natchez Trace. I was a little panicky because we were about half way through a six week trip and I thought we had plenty of propane. The next day, I stopped at a U-Haul to get more propane, and it hardly took any to fill the tank. The good news is that the refrigerator worked fine ever since. I still don't have an explanation for the one night, but perhaps venting and filling the tank cleared up the problem.deppstein wrote: July 13th, 2020, 4:32 pm Im back home from Shenandoah. Ran the frig on propane all the way home and over night in the campsite. When I got home, I went right out and bought a frig thermometer and left it in the frig for several hours. Temp reading was at 44, so I upped the cooling level from 3-5 (highest). Next morning, the temp was a cool 36 degrees! Yea! Seems like I dodged a bullet...for now. I then plugged the Rig into shore power and turned the cool setting back down to 3. Its been running that way for more than 6 hours now, and the temp is still a cool 36 degrees. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
David
Anyway, sounds like you are good for now.
Clay
2001 Concourse
Santa Barbara, CA
2001 Concourse
Santa Barbara, CA
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Hey Blue- mind sharing the make and model of the fridge your installed? I've read a lot of great things about them, such as more capacity to space ratio, efficiency and the tilt factor. Thanks!Blue~Go wrote: July 10th, 2020, 7:38 am If you do decide at some point that you want to install a compressor model, there are definitely some that come right in the back door (I have one). There are quite a few choices and because you are not hosting a combination fireplace/pachinko machine on the back, you can either end up with around the same size in cubic feet but have more room for added insulation; or take up the same space but gain a couple of cubic feet of refrigerator interior space. (Or do something different like I did which was put in a 4.7 cubic foot model and it sits under a ~46" bar height counter that is my "set things down by the door" space, a visual open space, and a few shelves. Also it's less deep so I have a full width hallway (ahhhh).
Anyway, your absorption refrigerator will probably be okay, but just saying there are some other options. That's why I cut up my old one. I wasn't about to remove a window or something like that *just* to get the old one out when the new one would come right in the door.
BTW, I'm not at all sure I could have gotten the original two-door Dometic out in one piece because of the kitchen counter "ell" that the Concourse has on the sink side. Not that I tried too hard because cutting it in half was so easy and satisfying; but by my measurements that ell might have been a problem.
Sidenote: I have the Premier with the shorter fridge. I would LOVE to replace it with a taller, higher capacity one. BUT- my wife would leave me over the loss of the liquor cabinet that exists above the shorter fridge. Hmmmm...decisions, decisions. Yours sounds like the best of all worlds. Mine is 4cf.
2001 Premier aka "Anookie"
Dallas, TX area
Dallas, TX area
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Can you pull the shorter frig out without cutting it? I just feel that it is good to have the info from Blue, but it will be a bit of a waste if you have to cut up a perfectly working frig. The newer compressor frig is definitely the way I will go when mine give up the ghost. But so far, it has be very reliable.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Just so it's clear, I'm not saying anyone should remove an absorption refrigerator if they don't want to. It's a personal choice. For me, I knew it was coming out before I bought my Concourse. My reasons were thus:
1) Although I'm a big fan of properly installed propane systems (and still use mine in the Chinook happily), I've never been super comfortable with the design of the absorption refrigerators. I knew I would worry about it if I had one.
2) I really, really disliked the way the original Concourse refrigerator stuck out into the hallway, making me feel like I had to turn sideways just to get in and out, and blocking the door window visually.
3) I tend to park at trailheads and other unlevel places, and I didn't want to have to think about the refrigerator being damaged (they say as long as the rig is comfortable to live in, but I often day park in places that are more slanted than that).
4) I wanted to eliminate the lower vent if possible, since it's prone to taking in water.
5) I'm comfortable setting up DC systems and I already knew I'd be re-vamping the DC distribution system.
So, given my priorities, I went with a Vitrifrigo C130 (4.7 cubic feet of which .6 cubic feet is freezer). I chose this one for a few reasons.
a) Its depth allows it to pretty much sit right in line with the stove counter (no more missing hallway space).
b) The height of about 30" means that once it is on top of the generator box, has some insulation top and bottom, and a counter on top of it, that counter is about 46" tall. So I have visual open space and a "set down" spot (so handy!) with shelves against the outer wall, plus I have an upper cabinet (basically the size of the ones over the couch) above that.
c) It has a remote compressor (it is available with a built in compressor at a loss of 15 liters of fridge capacity), so I was able to eliminate the lower vent (I put the compressor in the little upper cabinet right under the existing roof refrigerator vent which has never let water pass through). I could also have put it in the niche just aft of the wheelwell under the stove (using internal air).
d) it uses the Danfoss/Secop BD35 compressor which has a good reputation and for which parts and information about any tweaks or diagnostics are readily available.
e) Because it is 4" narrower than the original, I was able to add quite a bit of insulation on both sides, and some to the rear. Also since it is just a "box" (compressor is elsewhere), I was able to just insulate the heck out of it, not worrying about airflow.
f) Decent sized freezer for a smaller unit.
A downside is that it is only a single door with a "flap" freezer door. Also the remote compressor adds some complexity (fiddling) to the installation.
But there are some other options:
1) Vitrifrigo DP150 (5.3 cubic feet of which 1 cubic foot is freezer)
This was my second choice, and would have been my first if more volume was my priority. It is basically the body of the CF130 (which is now all fridge), with a separate freezer on top of it (not that it looks like two pieces). The freezer has it's own door, is very well insulated, and is about twice as large as on the 130. I helped a buddy put one of these in two RV's in a row (so I guess he liked it).
So this unit still gives you the narrowness to add a couple inches of insulation on each side, still gives you a wider hallway (but it would stick out a bit more than the 130 due to door style and the fact that the rig gets narrower as you go up, plus you need to have some sort of chimney space between lower and upper vent), and still gives you an upper cabinet (it is about 43" tall).
This uses the Danfoss/Secop BD50 compressor, which is the next size up from the BD35. It's probably the smallest unit that uses the larger compressor so will be able to crank out the cold!
The DP 150 has a built in compressor, and it's at the bottom so would sit right where the original vent is.
2) Or, if you want the big daddy there is the DP2600, which is a whopping 8.2 cubic feet, with a 2.1 cubic foot freezer (separate door of course). Member here pdemarest put one in his 21' Chinook so we know it fits. I believe it would take up the same amount of space externally as the original, so no new wide hallway. But you can stock up for eons
***********
There are also many similar units by companies such as Isotherm and Nova Kool (and others). Many of these also use the same compressor, so it can come down to size and feature details. Since I liked the external compressor, the Vitrifrigo was a clear choice (although Nova Kool makes some too). There are also companies that make custom units in case you want to make these seem cheap
Sure Marine (good peeps) has a page where you can sort all brands by dimensions - that can be super useful.
https://www.suremarineservice.com/Galle ... omparison/
BG
PS: Also not to be ignored as a choice, is using an "apartment sized" regular 110 unit with an inverter, a la Scott and others. It wasn't my choice but clearly works and is less expensive.
1) Although I'm a big fan of properly installed propane systems (and still use mine in the Chinook happily), I've never been super comfortable with the design of the absorption refrigerators. I knew I would worry about it if I had one.
2) I really, really disliked the way the original Concourse refrigerator stuck out into the hallway, making me feel like I had to turn sideways just to get in and out, and blocking the door window visually.
3) I tend to park at trailheads and other unlevel places, and I didn't want to have to think about the refrigerator being damaged (they say as long as the rig is comfortable to live in, but I often day park in places that are more slanted than that).
4) I wanted to eliminate the lower vent if possible, since it's prone to taking in water.
5) I'm comfortable setting up DC systems and I already knew I'd be re-vamping the DC distribution system.
So, given my priorities, I went with a Vitrifrigo C130 (4.7 cubic feet of which .6 cubic feet is freezer). I chose this one for a few reasons.
a) Its depth allows it to pretty much sit right in line with the stove counter (no more missing hallway space).
b) The height of about 30" means that once it is on top of the generator box, has some insulation top and bottom, and a counter on top of it, that counter is about 46" tall. So I have visual open space and a "set down" spot (so handy!) with shelves against the outer wall, plus I have an upper cabinet (basically the size of the ones over the couch) above that.
c) It has a remote compressor (it is available with a built in compressor at a loss of 15 liters of fridge capacity), so I was able to eliminate the lower vent (I put the compressor in the little upper cabinet right under the existing roof refrigerator vent which has never let water pass through). I could also have put it in the niche just aft of the wheelwell under the stove (using internal air).
d) it uses the Danfoss/Secop BD35 compressor which has a good reputation and for which parts and information about any tweaks or diagnostics are readily available.
e) Because it is 4" narrower than the original, I was able to add quite a bit of insulation on both sides, and some to the rear. Also since it is just a "box" (compressor is elsewhere), I was able to just insulate the heck out of it, not worrying about airflow.
f) Decent sized freezer for a smaller unit.
A downside is that it is only a single door with a "flap" freezer door. Also the remote compressor adds some complexity (fiddling) to the installation.
But there are some other options:
1) Vitrifrigo DP150 (5.3 cubic feet of which 1 cubic foot is freezer)
This was my second choice, and would have been my first if more volume was my priority. It is basically the body of the CF130 (which is now all fridge), with a separate freezer on top of it (not that it looks like two pieces). The freezer has it's own door, is very well insulated, and is about twice as large as on the 130. I helped a buddy put one of these in two RV's in a row (so I guess he liked it).
So this unit still gives you the narrowness to add a couple inches of insulation on each side, still gives you a wider hallway (but it would stick out a bit more than the 130 due to door style and the fact that the rig gets narrower as you go up, plus you need to have some sort of chimney space between lower and upper vent), and still gives you an upper cabinet (it is about 43" tall).
This uses the Danfoss/Secop BD50 compressor, which is the next size up from the BD35. It's probably the smallest unit that uses the larger compressor so will be able to crank out the cold!
The DP 150 has a built in compressor, and it's at the bottom so would sit right where the original vent is.
2) Or, if you want the big daddy there is the DP2600, which is a whopping 8.2 cubic feet, with a 2.1 cubic foot freezer (separate door of course). Member here pdemarest put one in his 21' Chinook so we know it fits. I believe it would take up the same amount of space externally as the original, so no new wide hallway. But you can stock up for eons
***********
There are also many similar units by companies such as Isotherm and Nova Kool (and others). Many of these also use the same compressor, so it can come down to size and feature details. Since I liked the external compressor, the Vitrifrigo was a clear choice (although Nova Kool makes some too). There are also companies that make custom units in case you want to make these seem cheap
Sure Marine (good peeps) has a page where you can sort all brands by dimensions - that can be super useful.
https://www.suremarineservice.com/Galle ... omparison/
BG
PS: Also not to be ignored as a choice, is using an "apartment sized" regular 110 unit with an inverter, a la Scott and others. It wasn't my choice but clearly works and is less expensive.
Last edited by Blue~Go on July 14th, 2020, 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1999 Concourse
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
I only have a few years left with my Chinook so I am staying with the stock fridge. I would probably go the compressor route if I had solar and another 5-10 years of traveling left.
FWIW We are leaving in the morning for a 3 day trip. I turned the fridge on at noon on "4" and it was cold (38) by 5pm. I was surprised how fast it cooled. Outside temp was 75.
FWIW We are leaving in the morning for a 3 day trip. I turned the fridge on at noon on "4" and it was cold (38) by 5pm. I was surprised how fast it cooled. Outside temp was 75.
Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
2004 Premier V10
Re: 3-Way Frig not level, not cooling
Sounds like a good choice - and your fridge is working great!
1999 Concourse