Just back in from the national dealer's convention and had a chance to talk with several manufacturers. Some of you may be seeing the new Atwood refrigerators as they are being used in several Keystone models.

The obvious difference is the Atwood's use helium rather than hydrogen in their cooling coils and I asked about the difference in serviceability and function. These models have been used in Europe for several years, so the bugs should be worked out. Atwood says if you can work on a Dometic or Norcold, their fridges will look the same.

The helium, of course, eliminates the fire hazard due to using hydrogen in competitor models, but the cool down time is much longer due to the difference in molecule size, nothing at all for at least three hours.

Atwood is also pushing their instantaneous water heaters and thinks they have eliminated the problems that have plagued instantaneous heaters for so many years. Personally I think this solves a nonexistent problem with current water heaters, but that is just my opinion. Adds a load of complexity to a system that is currently remarkable in it's simplicity.

Steve

 

My concern with the helium system would be how its going to handle a loaded fridge on a hot day with its significantly reduced BTU capacity. At the risk of sounding like a smart alec, (whoever that was) I don't recall seeing campers bursting into flame due to cooling coil leaks. I'm sure some safety or environmentally related bureaucrat had to justify his/her job by creating this latest crisis. Another solution in search of a problem- in my never to be humble opinion!

 

Reportedly performance after cool down is comparable to current models.

Totally and absolutely respectfully disagree. Regarding refrigerator fires, I believe a quick search of the Internet will convince you otherwise. There are several major lawsuits pending against dealers due to this issue with serious burns resulting. I know of one personally. There have been dozens of fires. The reason, of course, was the bump up in btu input, which in turn started cracking welds dues to the rapid heat up after cool down. Temps on the Norcold 1200 coils are reportedly reaching 1100 degrees in some cases. This is all well documented and openly discuss in tech training sessions, so I am not simply trying to blow smoke.

I hate the darn things because of the liability issue they pose to me in my work. Unless you just gotta have propane to boondock, I think most folks would be far better off with a household model and an inverter with a couple of extra batteries, which of course is what a number of manufacturers have gone too. That way you get better cooling and better reliability.

Steve

 

Agreed! I installed a $400 residential fridge and couldn't be happier with the performance.

 

Since most owners use their campers in campgrounds that have power, the propane system may only be used when they are underway, when many in the RV industry actually advise against due to the possibility of an accident, while the propane is turned on.

The first thing I always ask callers who request a cooling coil replacement is how they use their camper. Cooling coils are expensive and in some cases replacement coils fail within a matter of weeks or arrive as leakers so you can often install a residental model for far less than it costs to have the fridge pulled and the coil replaced. Buy a replacement coil from anyone other than the OEM and you may well find youself having to shave the foam plug to fit the coil making for an extra fun day.

I agree with what you did and would do the same, if my cooling coil fails.

Again just my opinon,

Steve

 

I switched to an all electric 10 cubic foot fridge a couple years go. Wish I had done it when I bought the camper. I pack into a cooler for travelling. The fridge is cooled and ready to use within 20 minutes of plugging in. And the useable space is probably twice what was in the old dual mode fridge for the same footprint.

I've seen a fridge fire take out a camper this past spring. Luckily the owners were not in it. I did also see a video not too long ago of a rig sitting at a truck stop burst into flame and burn to the ground. The fridge was blamed.

 

I think a lot of folks forget the lineage of RV frigerators goes all the way back to before there were good options and I think they have developed a life of their own. It is so automatic no one really gives it a thought.

In an RV fire, you will have less than 5 minutes to get loved ones, yourself, and companion animals out of your camper and, in many of those cases where there is not a second door, using the exit window or the roof hatch in, for example a toy hauler, is really going to be a problem for a lot of folks. I have replaced the exit hatches on the roofs of a number of toy haulers and I want someone to answer me this. You are on the roof, the camper is on fire, there is no ladder, and you are way up off the ground. What next?

Steve

 

Steve.... it may be time to update the REFER notes in the READ FIRST section. Everything up there is pretty much outdated. I don't mean to just ADD to it, but to remove, modify and correct/delete a lot of what's there. What I'm reading in this thread is VERY GOOD INFO to share!

 

Some good food for thought. I have thought about a residential mostly due to the increased capcacity

 

Here is my before and after. Much roomier, quicker to cool when first plugged in, & more pleasant to look at also

 

Thanks for the pics. It is generally an easy swap.

Steve

 

If you remember I had the grey water tank venting into the confined space behind the original fridge. The new fridge had to come out again so that I could run the vent up thru the roof.
I also sealed the rear vent and the roof vent for the original fridge to keep outside air from coming into the camper, but now I'm on the fence about framing in the new fridge with some nice trim. I'm not sure how much air flow it needs.

 

One thing worth mentioning here in regards to your concern about air flow is some residential refrigerators do very poorly in RVs and the manufacturer specifically says not to be used in RV, so researching before install is important. I have never seen a problem with any of the small models from Lowes and Home Depot. Larger models may be a problem. When in doubt check with manufacturer.

Steve

 

Franko, what brand and model is the fridge? It looks good, I may have to do the same soon as my fridge was acting up this summer. If it goes it would be the most inconvent time I'm sure. I met a guy several years ago that made the conversion and he said it worked well for him when traveling he just got it good an cold before he left to travel and was still cool enough when he got to the next RV park.

 

I'm posting from my phone, so I'm sorry that I don't have a link for you. The fridge is a Whirlpool model # ETOMSRXTQ02 It's a 9.7 cubic foot unit. I bought it at Lowes for somewhere between $300-$400
It's been doing fine for over a year. I bolted it down, and I've had no issues with the doors opening while traveling. I do empty it before going mobil.