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
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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.
