I have been told by an appliance repair man that the temperature changes in the rvs is not good for the residential refrigerators. He recommended leaving the 5th wheel plugged in with the actual on in summer and heat on in winter.

Anyone else heard this? Is it reasonable?

 

Is he aware a number of manufacturers specifically state their appliances are approved for use in RVs?

Steve

 

yea, I don't buy that either. Just have to make sure you winterize properly if your refer has water/ice maker, or remove water filter if going to sit unused for extended period of time. How do you think they travel in the semi's? Powered off, sitting in whatever the ambient air temp is in there.

 

We have a refrigerator in our garage that has to be at least 10 years old & has been through temps anywhere from 0F to 100F & still works like a charm. Not sure the repairman knew what he was talking about. I know he wouldn't be working on anything of mine after a statement like that.

 

My only question is how does the unit stay cold while traveling? Do they also run on Propane?

 

Normally the residential units rely on inverter power.

Dometic has always taken the position that their refrigerators will maintain cold for 8 hours on a 100 degree day provided the door is not opened. Seems like a stretch to me, but I have never tested one to see.

Dometic also now makes a residential model and as well as a hybrid with a compressor for the lower drawer and traditional absorption for the upper half.

Steve

 

Wandering a small RV show this past spring saw several high mid-level 5ers with residential Samsung reefers. It sounds like a good idea until you want to dry camp and you either don't have enough solar power or golf cart batteries on inverter to keep it going along with any other 110VAC accessories. Of course a gen-set will work too, but feeding that some sort of fuel every few hours is a PITA. Many MHs have residential reefers but the care and feeding those RVs are out of my league.

 

How popular residential models ultimately become will depend on RV buyers. So far they are coming into vogue rapidly, I think in part because compressor models are so much more reliable than absorption model refrigerators. I suspect given the way the majority of folks are "cord bound" when they camp, I am not sure they would miss the dry camp option. Sales will decide.

Steve

 

The lawsuits about the absorption's may also have a factor in the switch.

 

It's hard to know all the motivating factors. I know reliability is better on the household models and it is hard to match the features with absorption models. So far I have never heard an owner with a household model say they wish they had an absorption model, but I am sure there are some.

Ultimately buyers will decide.

Steve

 

Our absorption fridge broke down shortly after we bought our rig (used). Luckily we had purchased a warranty/service plan when we bought the trailer.

Our fridge is a Dometic RM1350 4 door unit. A complete new unit would have cost over $3000! It only needed a the cooler assembly and that was still almost $2000. Thankfully the warranty covered it and it only cost us $100 deductible.

Our warranty/service plan expired in May this year and was too pricey to renew again. So now we're going to be responsible for any/all future repairs.

If the fridge goes out again, I'm not dealing with the absorption unit any more. I'll be swapping it out for a residential unit.

My rig is pre-wired for a generator but doesn't currently have one installed. I'll either install one, or just use my little Yamaha EF2400iS to keep the fridge cool while on the road. I'll just strap the Yamaha down in the bed of the truck and run a cord to the trailer.

We don't really dry camp / boondock so the small generator will be sufficient til we get to shore power. It won't run the AC units though.

 

My 2400 will run an AC. Have you tried it?

Steve

 

No, actually I haven't. Not in my RV anyway.

I know it wont run my 12000 BTU window AC in my garage/shop.

My Yamaha is one of the original ones, not the newer HC ones that are better at handling the high current draw during AC compressor start up.

I wonder if I could manually rev up the engine before turning on the AC if it would be putting out enough juice to start the compressor?

In stock form it idles so low it cant rev up fast enough to generate enough current to compensate for the instant amp draw of the AC compressor.

 

I have the same one. It will start most, but not all RV ACs, no harm in trying.

Steve

 

True. Maybe I'll give it a shot next time I have it out.