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Old 05-31-2018, 10:33 PM   #1
whutfles
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Residential Fridges

We have a gas/electric fridge in our old Montanna and like it. Our RV is stored a few miles away from our house. So when we get ready to go on an RV trip, we go out the day before and turn on the gas to let the fridge cool. The next day when we show up to load the RV the fridge is cold and the freezer is frozen. And yes we run the fridge on gas while traveling.

As we shop for new RV's we are turned away when we see a residential fridge. What is your experience if you have a residential fridge?

Can you go out the day before and turn on the inverter and will the fridge be cold the next day? And if so, will your batteries still be good or dead? And will you have enough battery left to open slides or run your hydraulic pump while hitching up?

Does your fridge and freezer stay cold while traveling?

Does your residential fridge take the bumpy roads without problems?
 
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Old 06-01-2018, 12:29 AM   #2
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During our PDI, the tech said with a single battery the Res. refer will run 10-18 hours on battery. We bring ours home before loading.

Residential will cool down much faster than RV style. Fridge and freezer stayed at set temp during a 13 hour day's worth of driving. Out side temps were 50's - 60s. Real test will be driving across Texas in summer.

Drove the US69 roller coaster in OK. Fridge handled it better that driver and passenger.

So far we are happier with res refer. Okay ice and water in the door may be nice to have.
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Old 06-01-2018, 12:34 AM   #3
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Frig gas or elec?

I always owned a RV frig. I think it's more versatile. That's the only one we know. What is the consensus out there? I'm afraid of draining the batteries with a residential unit. We campout for a night in walmart on the trip south. What do you think??
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Old 06-01-2018, 05:23 AM   #4
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We continue to be happy with our Norcold 1210. Others may not be but when the power goes out at our usual summer site, which it does fairly often, it just switches over to gas. A for instance, the power, for as yet unknown reasons, went out over a big section of our area last Saturday at about 11:00 AM and didn't come back until 7:30PM. We were not limited in any way opening or closing it nor were we battery poor for other needs. It was an unexpected boondock experience. We also travel with it on gas (except when refueling)



If we purchase another new 5er, it will be with a conventional RV gas/electric reefer.
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Old 06-01-2018, 06:12 AM   #5
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This is our first res unit, i was never comfortable running gas going down the road as it is technically illegal.
The fridg is much better at keeping temp, the freezer is fantastic, having an ice maker is great. We had no problem with overnights with single group 27 deep cycle, but have now switched to 2 6v 450 golf cart Interstates, essentially quadrupling reserve power. On the road in 90deg heat the ice cream even stays hard, truck charging going down the road is a nonissue.
We will not be going back to an RV fridg in the future.
Samsung in our 3811 and loving the capacity and function.
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Old 06-01-2018, 07:05 AM   #6
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We had Norcold frigs in both of our Montana fivers. They worked okay but never were as good as a residential one IMHO.

In our last two RVs we have now had residential frigs. Depending on how big your house battery bank is you can still get by if you don't have power.

It is nice to have a larger capacity, ice maker, and water dispenser in a residential frig instead of just a basic RV style one.
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Old 06-01-2018, 07:24 AM   #7
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Our Residential Fridge is 3 years old now and has just over 30K miles on it and hasn't given us any problems. It's on 24/7. We have four 12V batteries and can go several days before we would need to fire up the Genny. We also won't go back to an RV gas/electric fridge.
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Old 06-01-2018, 08:31 AM   #8
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I was curious about them, but two friends so far have advised me against it and wished they didn't have them. Mostly it's a boondocking problem. I know a lot of people like them, but we'll stay with what we have for now.
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Old 06-01-2018, 11:18 PM   #9
JohnandJoyce
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Thank you for the honest comeback. We are happy with the RV frig in our Montana 3810. Looking in to installing an inverter to poweer my CPAC unit while boondocking. My have to add another ,12V battery to handle the load. What do you think. The unit comes with one ,12V deep cycle. Love this site!!!!
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Old 06-02-2018, 09:13 AM   #10
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We currently have two and in your circumstances I would add a second for sure. Better to have it and not really need it than find out you occasionally do need it.
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Old 06-02-2018, 10:50 AM   #11
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I have a 1hp air compressor in my garage so I installed a 1000W inverter to run it. It wouldn't start the compressor so had to exchange it for a 3500W inverter. Mounted it to the ceiling joists in my garage. I made a U-shaped bracket out of 1/8 inch thick metal that the inverter sits in and is slightly larger than my inverter to protect it when I'm poking around in the garage with other items. I drilled 2 holes in the front wall of my garage for the cables to access my battery. I lined these holes with 2 PVC 60 degree couplers to protect the wire. The wire is 0 guage which is like heavy battery cables. I borrowed a crimper from Napa to install the brass ends on the wires. They didn't recommend my inverter be more than 3 feet from my batteries or it would degrade the performance of the inverter. I changed out my batteries for 2 12V Interstate dry cell batteries. It takes twice as many watts to start the compressor with cold oil in it as it does to run it. A C-Pap will run on a lot smaller inverter. I installed 2 paddle switches near these holes which allows me to turn both legs of the electricity off to the inverter when it is not in use so that there is no electricity in my garage when it is not in use.

My inverter is not pure sine wave which is a measure of how clean the electricity is that it produces. Some newer electronics will not run on inverters that is not pure sine wave. A pure sine wave inverter is a lot more expensive than one that is not. I purchased my inverter from Napa. I'm going to test run my C-Pap on my inverter and if it works, I'm going to install an outlet in my bedroom wall and run a wire from it to my inverter. Then when the power goes out, all I have to do is turn on the switches in my garage and I should be able to sleep for days.
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Old 06-02-2018, 11:35 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by whutfles View Post
I have a 1hp air compressor in my garage so I installed a 1000W inverter to run it. It wouldn't start the compressor so had to exchange it for a 3500W inverter. Mounted it to the ceiling joists in my garage. I made a U-shaped bracket out of 1/8 inch thick metal that the inverter sits in and is slightly larger than my inverter to protect it when I'm poking around in the garage with other items. I drilled 2 holes in the front wall of my garage for the cables to access my battery. I lined these holes with 2 PVC 60 degree couplers to protect the wire. The wire is 0 guage which is like heavy battery cables. I borrowed a crimper from Napa to install the brass ends on the wires. They didn't recommend my inverter be more than 3 feet from my batteries or it would degrade the performance of the inverter. I changed out my batteries for 2 12V Interstate dry cell batteries. It takes twice as many watts to start the compressor with cold oil in it as it does to run it. A C-Pap will run on a lot smaller inverter. I installed 2 paddle switches near these holes which allows me to turn both legs of the electricity off to the inverter when it is not in use so that there is no electricity in my garage when it is not in use.

My inverter is not pure sine wave which is a measure of how clean the electricity is that it produces. Some newer electronics will not run on inverters that is not pure sine wave. A pure sine wave inverter is a lot more expensive than one that is not. I purchased my inverter from Napa. I'm going to test run my C-Pap on my inverter and if it works, I'm going to install an outlet in my bedroom wall and run a wire from it to my inverter. Then when the power goes out, all I have to do is turn on the switches in my garage and I should be able to sleep for days.

When you say 2 12VDC Interstate dry cells, are you referring to AGM style batteries?
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Old 06-02-2018, 12:09 PM   #13
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I believe that is what they are. I just looked up on Interstate Batteries site and it looks like their MTZ series but mine were the long ones. They cost $350 each. Their site says free replacement for 48 months but I think the salesman said they would last about 10 years. They are really heavy.
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Old 06-02-2018, 12:22 PM   #14
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We are on FHU 99% of the time but often travel 12 hours daily. The 18 cu ft Dometic 4 door serves us well. In nearly 50 years we only had a problem with one RV fridge and that was in the early 70s. BUT ~~ we have only owned 12 or 15 units.... pulled all over the US. We also live in an area that on rare occasions is prone to lose power for 1 - 8 days so the 5er can be get away place if needed.
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Old 06-02-2018, 01:19 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by whutfles View Post
I believe that is what they are. I just looked up on Interstate Batteries site and it looks like their MTZ series but mine were the long ones. They cost $350 each. Their site says free replacement for 48 months but I think the salesman said they would last about 10 years. They are really heavy.
At $350 a piece they should be AGM. Will look them up thanks.

I am thinking of adding batteries and Inverter to power compressor. Plus would like to have the ability to asphalt boondock.
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Old 06-02-2018, 01:27 PM   #16
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https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...ategoryid=true
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Old 06-02-2018, 05:19 PM   #17
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One 12v battery wont run the fridge very long. I have two and overnite will leave you wanting more juice when you try to hookup the next morning. If the two batteries are going on two years old and haven't been well-maintained, even worse.
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Old 06-02-2018, 06:20 PM   #18
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Thank you for your honest response. I love this site!!!!!. I will add another 12V battery to the mix. This will give me more freedom on bondocking!!!. We spend a couple of days in Walmart on our way down fron NJ to FL. Should I parrallel connect or series wire the battery cable connections and why?. Thanks John
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Old 06-02-2018, 06:28 PM   #19
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if both are 12 volt, connect them in Parallel. if you get 2 6vdc batteries tehn you connect them in series.
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Old 06-03-2018, 07:58 AM   #20
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if both are 12 volt, connect them in Parallel. if you get 2 6vdc batteries tehn you connect them in series.
Yes, be careful. Two 12v in series = 24v; not good. I recall there are some youtube videos showing how to set up and use RV batteries.
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