Fridge Performance

[Manitou]

The original board worked for a while, but has inherit design problems. By the time it was known, they didn't make that board anymore. Have you ever heard of the problems ford has/had with the 6.0 Diesel engine? An entire company spawned out of trying to "bullet proof" that engine with aftermarket parts.
The original manufacturer reputations are hurt, but as long as it's not a repeated issue.. They generally survive to screw up again (haha).

[Blue~Go]

What I find hard to grasp is if the stock Dometic board is faulty,why didn't the company replace it with an upgrade,you don't see dinosaur boards for Samsung Tv,etc but that said It is tiring to constantly reset the refer,so I broke down and ordered a dinosaur board. Rooney

That's a good point. You'd expect the company (that must have) a huge R&D department to be able to do better. Then again, when the tubing was corroding and contributing to fires they recalled them and put in a shield to try to contain the resulting fire, so their logic seems questionable. And Norcold seems to be about the same, from what I understand.

I resisted responding to Hoosier's hail to the compressor refrigerator, and I'm sure they can have problems too; but I have been SO glad to find that with a small solar setup I basically have no worries powering one (granted it's not as large as the stock one, but that's because I didn't want something that bulky).

But anyway, yeah, shouldn't they be a bit embarrassed that you "have" to buy a board from a relatively small company who's doing so much better than they "could"?

[pdemarest]

Finally went on our "maiden voyage" with our Chinook. A few hiccups (broke the latches that hold the dinette seatback in the up position, some wood molding fell off while driving) but all in all it was a success. My fridge did well - most of the time. We camp at Lake Don Pedro near Sonora, CA and the daytime temps can hit 100 and above. During the heat of the day the fridge got up to 50 degrees but would cool back down to the mid-30s by evening. Freezer ranged between 10 and 20 degrees - enough to make ice cubes and keep ice cream. Not sure what's left to do to keep the fridge temps down as I already have a new board and two fans on the coils. I'm not sure if any LP fridge will maintain temps in the 30's when its over 100 outside but if anyone has any ideas bring 'em on.

[Dano]

Paul;
Not sure if you are still looking for ideas for your fridge but I am going to be installing 3 computer fans in the exhaust chamber at the top under the vent cover, they will fit in there quite nicely. Hooking them up to a small thermostat will automatically turn them on when the temps rise too hot. It helps your fridge stay much cooler by sucking the hot air up and out, drawing cold air in from the bottom and cooling things off. Seen a number of videos, worth the time to investigate in my opinion. Fans were less than $20 as I recall and whisper quiet...Dano

[chin_k]

The previous owner installed a tiny solar fan for the fridge (I think she paid $80 for it), but the solar panel got yellowed and crazed, while the fan lost all its blades, so I removed it and will look for something that is more suitable. So far, I have no issue with the fridge keeping cold without the fan, but we only open it maybe half a doze times a day.

I feel that three fans maybe a bit excessive, since some of them can move quite a bit of air, and may make a difference in how long the battery last. You may not want the fan to keep drawing electricity (some can draw a few Amps, but they are mostly for computer servers) when the fridge is not running, so there is a trade off between how generous you are with electricity and how sophisticated you want the circuit to be.

[Blue~Go]

If I'm not mistaken, I think Paul went to a compressor fridge (which was covered in a long thread). I believe a Vitrifrigo DP2600. They have a handy feature right on the compressor controller where you can add a fan that comes on when the compressor does (although it already has one fan).

But they are a whole different beast from an absorption (propane) fridge.

[Dano]

Good info Chin, I'm going to find the draw of the fans and will report back. Having the thermostat turns it on and off so at least it isn't a continuous drain. Maybe reducing the number of fans will be better...I'll check!

[pdemarest]

Hey Blue - Yes, I did go to a 12/110 volt Vitrifrigo marine refrigerator-freezer. It fits in the same space but capacity is 8.2 cubic feet and the shelves are deeper thanks to the absence of the LP set up found in a 3 way fridge. I now have a freezer that gets down to 0 degrees and fridge that stays cool regardless of the outside temperature. I got tired of the 3 way fridge performing poorly in hot weather and the associated risk of fire by having a flame on at all times. The Vitrifrigo has a fairly low current draw and cools down quickly - about two hours from off to cold. I do have my entire roof covered with solar panels and 2 - 150 amp. hour AGM batteries and have never been below 60% of battery capacity. I can't say if my setup is right for a rig without a lot of solar power but its worked out for me.

[Blue~Go]

If you have the power (and it needn't be massive) then a compressor refrigerator is very easy to get used to, isn't it? I have a smaller one right now (but it's a portable, so there is virtually no insulation whereas when I install my "real" one there will be room for quite a bit of added insulation) and have been fine with 200 watts of solar. That said, I don't hang around rainy or totally cloudy places for more than a day or so, typically.

[Dano]

Paul; How many watts of solar panels do you have on the roof?