Has anyone fitted a bog standard electric fridge?

[Gordon-G]

Having just found out that our thetford N180 is scrap due to wiring loom problem, and having been quoted nearly £2000 to replace with a new one, which my wife says “No effing way!”, I have looked at the prospect of fitting a normal electric one. Seen one on AO for £169 that fits in the slot, is ten kilos lighter and has a freezer separate. My question is, has anyone fitted a standard fridge to their motorhome? I can imagine that it’s straightforward to do?

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes as long as you always use sites with ehu. No good for flt's

 

[DBK]

You will need an inverter too if you want it to operate when driving. Add say 300W of solar on the roof at it should work off grid when the sun is shining. vwalan has one in his truck.

 

[Gordon-G]

That was my thought, if I buy a fridge at a tenth of the cost we can upgrade the solar to be able to run it ?

 

[pappajohn]

Are you a heavy sleeper, they make a fair row when they start up and aren't exactly quiet when running

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[Lenny HB]

You will need a much bigger battery bank as well if you want to run it overnight and on dull days. Also a good quality inverter is not cheap.
£2k sound excessive, Jacksons have the N3175 which should fit for £1200.

 

[MrPpp]

I put a thermostat in our thetford just below the freezer compartment. Hit 19 degrees in the french sunshine last week. With two back fans fitted. I'm sure a conventional would run better?

 

[vwalan]

i have been using a household fridge for years . mind a few years ago i swapped it for an under counter fridge freezer.
yes you can get a slight noise from them.
i do have 6x80wt panels on the roof and about 500amp of battery power.
works a treat in spain ,morocco etc in winter.
at home run a lead into the house and power a fridge and a big freezer when at home in summer if the suns shining.
small table top fridges seem noiser than full size house hold fridges , a few mates use them .

 

[Jim]

Caravan/Motorhome Dometic RMS8400 3 Way Fridge ex display model left | eBay

Need any advice just ask.

rover.ebay.com

 

[Gordon-G]

Thanks, just the info I was looking for ?

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[tacr2man]

I fitted a fridge freezer (Beko A+ Outside rated) in my RV , run thru 1500 psw inverter . with 450ah batteries and 900w solar . https://www.beko.co.uk/frost-free-combi-fridge-freezer-everfresh-cng1672e-black-white
Once down to temp power usage was pretty low. I think they are rated 80w HTSH Also very quiet .

 

[Wissel]

I use a standard domestic fridge. Albeit a very efficient one. No way I'd change back for the following reasons:

1. The one I have is silent all the time - far quieter than any 3 way or 12v compressor model I've ever had.
2. Due to it's efficiency, it uses less power (including the inverter) than the last Vitrifrigo I had.
3. It works better than any fridges I've had in the past (keeping temps).

Oh, I'm rarely on EHU. But do have a lot of 12v power.

EDIT: This is the fridge I have:
Amazon product ASIN B01E02P3PK
Was running it off this inverter:
Amazon product ASIN B01M159467
Which was fine, but swapped it for a bigger Victron to power a Tassimo as well

 

[vwalan]

i forgot to say i use a ring pure sine wave inverter these days . used to use a modified sine wave one years ago but modern fridges need pure sine wave inverters .

 

[Charlie9038]

If your going that route most domestic fridges & freezers will stop below 14 degrees ambient ( coming from a fridge engineer ) you can find this info on the rating plate SN means sub normal temp have a look at Broken Link Removed
They can also draw a lot of current so will need big batteries & invertor when off grid, and by the time you have fitted all this you might as well have bought the proper job.

 

[RandallC]

First off, before writing of the old fridge.
We had same issue fault number 11 or some such, was awhile ago so forget exactly.
Symptoms were wiring loom failure or 1 or more board failures.

So removed all the pcbs connectors etc, cleaned all the contacts, sprayed with wd40 or equivalent. Reassembled, all ok.

Very happy.

Latter had issue with damp control board in the winter, gas ignition failed to detect flame. Found if left on mains for a couple of days prior to trip all was ok.

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[Gordon-G]

Have tried cleaning contacts as there was a water issue at some point, technician also changed both pcb’s before giving me the bad news having had a few like it through the years.....

 

[Charlie9038]

Have tried cleaning contacts as there was a water issue at some point, technician also changed both pcb’s before giving me the bad news having had a few like it through the years.....

Whats wrong with the fridge, will be surprised if its a wiring issue unless the wirings in the door or something else that moves, cant understand how it would get worn, can it not be rewired?

 

[Richard n Ann]

If your going that route most domestic fridges & freezers will stop below 14 degrees ambient ( coming from a fridge engineer )

The problem the "engineer" is talking about is when a fridge-freezer has a single thermostat on the fridge evaporator plate. It's set to cut in at 3.5c so it auto defrosts the fridge plate. The freezer has no thermostat and the refrigerant flows through it first, making it much colder than the fridge by the time the thermostat trips off. If the ambient temperature doesn't get up to 3.5c the compressor never runs, this is ok for the fridge... But the freezer defrosts ?

 

[Charlie9038]

The climate classes:


SN = Subnormal: suitable for use in ambient temperatures of +10°C to +32°C


N = Normal: suitable for use in ambient temperatures of +16°C to +32°C


ST =Subtropical: suitable for use in ambient temperatures of +16°C to +38°C


T = Tropical: suitable for use in ambient temperatures of +16°C to +43°C

 

[Duckato]

I have bought two A+ mains fridges one is in my current van and one that will be going in the van I will be building next year.

The key is a good Pure Sine Wave inverter preferably with an energy saving mode and a rated output that is far in excess of what the fridge actually draws to cope with the initial inrush current!

I produced this review of my setup and Inverters that you may find interesting.

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[Wissel]

Interestingly video Duckato

I have the same (larger) fridge and had the same small Victron inverter. Guess we both followed the same (excellent) thread on another forum

I also had the start-up noise, but barely noticed it and couldn't tell if it was the inverter or fridge compressor at the time. A deep "bong" for about a second?

Must have been the inverter as not heard the noise since removing it (running van on EHU whilst upgrading elecs).

Found your video useful as I've bought a very good inverter now, with programmable Eco mode, but not run tests yet. Your findings are encouraging

Want to run mine all the time as long as inverter is efficient enough at different loads. Be testing very soon to find out. Fingers crossed.

(Went for the most efficient I could find, a new model by Victron - Phoenix Smart VA2000. Quoted as 92%, 8w zero load, 0.6w zero load in Eco)

 

[Duckato]

Yes same other thread!

The extremely noticeable transformer hum from my Victron when the compressor starts spoils an otherwise acceptable bit of kit.

The Cotek makes an occasional beep which is far less intrusive.

And as you saw using a modified sine wave inverter is not efficient at all.

 

[Jamesh]

Interesting video.

Definitely going PSW

Anyone used this one?

Green Cell® Power Inverter 12V to 230V Pure sine 300W/600W

Green Cell® Car Power Inverter Converter Transformer 12V to 230V Pure sine 300W/600W with USB. 24 month warranty. 30 day return. Modern electronics.

batteryempire.co.uk

Cheers James

 

[Duckato]

If you plan to run a fridge that model will probably not be powerful enough, it’s also very cheap which rings a few alarm bells