You won't have much choice either, the two companies that make them have stopped production and they are only available in the EU for now.

 

I agree... I had to replace my fridge last year because it died, 27 years old and found propane fridge hard to find, they all want to go 12 v or 120 v. , so I bought a propane/120 volt fridge anyways, but guess what, it still needs a 12 volt source to light the propane when in the propane mode... BUT, whatever, I prefer propane 10X more than either 12 volt or 120 v. why...??? because it works the best, no nannying it, no fretting about running out of juice, and so on, I run out of propane in 1 tank, I switch to the other tank...

 

Have always found the propane mode to be the most reliable. In the heat of summer the 120v mode barely keeps up. Switch propane and it'll freeze things. Helps take the load off the 120 system while the AC is cranked.

Some of the new 12v stuff is incredible, I'll likely have a Small/medium portable 12v compressor coole as moving from a toy hauler to truck camper so space saving is key. Rv fridge for food, 12v for drinks.

 

My 5th wheel has a 12v refrigerator and it seems to work well. It cools down faster than an NH3 unit would. As far as I know, the unit always runs on 12v. When plugged into shore power, the AC is converted to DC for the refrigerator.

 

Not quite; as of today Outdoors RV still installs aborption fridges though, sadly, not for long I fear...


Dave

 

Northwoods Mfg appears to put an absorption refrigerator in their Desert Fox toy hauler still. A video walkthrough on YT says gas/electric. The Northwoods website lists it simply as an 8 cu ft refrigerator without specifying the type.

 

There are a few exceptions, but once the supply runs out, thats it. From what I heard, there is about a years supply of them for new installs, and about 2 years of replacements from the two companies. The new 12v ones though do work pretty good. My previous trailer had the LP/120v and I ran that all summer long. While it can't cool down as fast, or get as cold, it still did a great job. During our 9 hour trip today the temps were 1* freezer and 34* reefer.

 

Hello all...new to forum and 2022 FordF350 - and first post. Hope I don't break any rules.

FYI I replaced my 6 cu/ft gas/electric fridge w a 10+ cu/ft 12v Cannon fridge and it's awesome - utilizing pretty much the same fridge space, in case you're thinking of upgrading your fridge.

When doing so, I also installed this power meter above it into the cabinet so I can monitor power usage 100% of the time. Been working awesome. No guessing on power consumption (W/A/V) and it's backlit so I can tell right away if I blew a fuse and the fridge lost power during the day.

I also installed a pretty hefty solar setup too, so that my entire trailer is running fully powered (110v/12v) while traveling. The camper thinks I'm hooked up to shore power 100% of the time. When I plug in shore power, it goes to the Growatt inverter/switcher that's is programmed to prioritize shore power 1st to feed the trailer and then to help charge the batteries at the same time. If anyone is interested in the solar set up I can send schematic.

To have this setup not interfere with my truck electrical hookup, I need to turn my battery disconnect switch to the OFF position, that only disconnects the battery from the inside camper circuitry, but not the battery from the truck. The truck can still charge the stock 12v battery on the tongue (and power running lights, jack, etc). If I don't disconnect the battery, I get a default error on my solar charger/inverter when I plug in my truck to the camper as it sees 2 incoming currents. I say this in case you want to charge/run a separate battery system for your fridge/other camper stuff. If anyone is interested in the solar set up I can send schematic.

I would recommend another panel or 2 on the roof (if you charge controller can handle it) so even on cloudy days you're getting enough voltage to get to a 100% recharge state when traveling by end of day if you're concerned with that.

I would also recommend to everyone a battery monitor. I installed this one and it is fantastic to know what's coming in vs what's going out and the state of battery charge.
There's videos on youtube on setup...pretty easy.

 

@MoneySlinger can you provide a link to where you bought your refrigerator? I Googled it but didn't find a retail source.

 

They may be discontinued, but I did find a GREAT source for lots of camper stuff below as I had to order 2 replacement doors shelves and they knew right away what fridge I had.

I think the Cannon has better "internal air circulation" that the other popular one sold now does NOT have.

There is also a liquidator in Elkart, IN I found that has great deals on brand new stuff the manufacturers are discontinuing and where I got my new Cannon for a fraction of new/retail. I'll try to track that contact down too.

But start below

Contact:
Cari Rickey
Direct Purchase Coordinator
Way-Interglobal Network
574-971-4491 Ext-112
crickey@wayinterglobal.com

 

It's changing quickly but as of today, I'd say probably half still sell them. Anyhow, as I said, times are a-changin' and they won't be around for long......the vast majority of RV buyers are full service campers and the cost of lithium and solar are going down so the writing is on the wall. It helps that the manufacturer's save money using 12V compressor fridges and it would seem that most people think they are getting something better. I'll keep my absorbtion fridges for as long as I can.

Dave

 

I put one of these in last year. It's most complete battery monitor I could find. Works well, very accurate, current measurement within +/- 100 mA.

 

Some off-the-shelf LiFePO4 batteries have a BMS that you can access with Bluetooth. With an app on your phone you can see data similar to the battery monitor that @bowsniper linked to. However, some BMS are notoriously inaccurate. Some cannot report current less than 1 amp. You could be bleeding .5 amp for a week and the BMS would have no idea. About the only data point I get out of my BMS each month is how well the individual cells are balanced.

When I first implemented my two DIY LiFePO4 batteries, I used the app to make sure that the charge/discharge amps were similar between the two batteries.