WOW! Absorption fridge vs compressor fridge

[grizzzman]

many absorption fridges are terrible installed by the RV builder. Not a fault of the technology.
They need airflow in the back and in the compartments. My absorption fridge had issues getting below 40F on hot days - on setting 5 out of 5.

I added a $12 computer fan in the back - which runs 24/7 on 0.12A and now the fridge sits at 32F on setting 3 out 5. at 95F outside.

If you install DC fridge without taking care about the airflow - it will not work either.

So true.

 

[alfaeric]

If you install DC fridge without taking care about the airflow - it will not work either.

True. but the compressor vent can be indoors. Our trailer is sealed- if I want air to move in, I have to open it.

I'm not dissing you because you have an absorption fridge, so at least accept that others don't want one for whatever reason. I didn't want gas in my camper, and I also eliminated outside vents that had to be there for an LPG fridge. Realistically, there's no way I'm going to be convinced to go back.

 

[eXodus]

I'm not dissing you because you have an absorption fridge, so at least accept that others don't want one for whatever reason. I didn't want gas in my camper, and I also eliminated outside vents that had to be there for an LPG fridge. Realistically, there's no way I'm going to be convinced to go back.

Fully agree, and hope that RV manufacturers will put in more DC fridges in the future.

 

[RichAP]

I'm in the same boat, it made sense to me for several reasons, the increase of space in the fridge (going from 18cu/ft to 21cu/ft), and the fridge was atleast 6 inches deeper, but I also got more features, a better layout of shelves etc, an ice maker and water/ice dispenser in the door, it auto defrosts (big deal to me as I hate having to defrost my old fridge every couple months), and my ice cream is actually rock hard at -5* instead of the garbage 22* freezer. My fridge also was hit directly with the sun for 4-5 hours a day, and it plowed through propane. I was getting 14gal of propane (2x 7gal tanks) every 2 weeks.

10/10 would do it again. Never going back to an absorption fridge.

I am looking to do the same in our Momentum 395MS. The Notcold 2118 is a horribly built fridge. I added 5 fans to it, both inside & out just to get it to cool OK in temps above 80f. Already have 1320w of solar, 400ah of battery & a 3000w inverter. Our fridge is in the slide as well and any handles would likely hit the sink island. I've considered the JC conversion but would like to have the addition of an ice maker.

Was it hard to run a water line into the slide?

BTW the NeverCold 2118 Double door fridge is a propane hog. It sounds like the propane heater when it's running.

 

[eXodus]

Our fridge is in the slide

that is the issue. Like I said before, it's the installation - not the technology

When the fridge is in the slide - they never get any good airflow. Those fridges had been designed for being used with a roof vent - which they don't have in a slide. Just RV manufacturers not following the installation guidelines of absorption fridges.

RV Fridge Slide Out | RV Fridge Fan | Fridge Efficiency | Slide Out

RV refrigerators that are installed in the slide-out have a high failure rate, the Fridge Defend solves these problems and increases efficiency in hot weather.

www.arprv.com

Lot's of dangerous things when you put the fridge in the slide. 2 different power wirings going to the fridge and a propane line!! Now they are using a flexible propane line - which might with all the bending at some point.

In this case I would definitely recommend going for a DC compressor fridge. Absorption fridges in slides really hard to make work good.

 

[Lt.Dan]

I am looking to do the same in our Momentum 395MS. The Notcold 2118 is a horribly built fridge. I added 5 fans to it, both inside & out just to get it to cool OK in temps above 80f. Already have 1320w of solar, 400ah of battery & a 3000w inverter. Our fridge is in the slide as well and any handles would likely hit the sink island. I've considered the JC conversion but would like to have the addition of an ice maker.

Was it hard to run a water line into the slide?

BTW the NeverCold 2118 Double door fridge is a propane hog. It sounds like the propane heater when it's running.

I had the same problems with our handles and the center island. I went to 6 different appliance places with a tape measure. The norcold 2118 is 24" deep (and a lot less inside!), and I measured from our island (with the slide in) to the back wall at around 29" if memory serves correct. I found a few that would fit, but ended up falling in love with one that was 28.5" if I took the handles off. So thats just one thing I added to our check list whenever we travel, is to remove the handles. They come off very easily with 2x set screws.

The water line was not hard, I found an adapter fitting at Lowes to go from the outside shower to 1/4" line and I ran it right along side the propane line. Took about 20 min to fully install.

EDIT: I snapped a few pics:

At the shower:

Going into the slide and running across the armature support. I wrapped it in split loom and was able to sneak it right into the expanding foam hole with the propane line

 

[jack.o]

that is the issue. Like I said before, it's the installation - not the technology

When the fridge is in the slide - they never get any good airflow. Those fridges had been designed for being used with a roof vent - which they don't have in a slide. Just RV manufacturers not following the installation guidelines of absorption fridges.

RV Fridge Slide Out | RV Fridge Fan | Fridge Efficiency | Slide Out

RV refrigerators that are installed in the slide-out have a high failure rate, the Fridge Defend solves these problems and increases efficiency in hot weather.

www.arprv.com

Lot's of dangerous things when you put the fridge in the slide. 2 different power wirings going to the fridge and a propane line!! Now they are using a flexible propane line - which might with all the bending at some point.

In this case I would definitely recommend going for a DC compressor fridge. Absorption fridges in slides really hard to make work good.

I had added additional fans to my absorption fridge in the slide. They didn't help much. My first travel trailer had the fridge on the door side exhausting through the roof and we never had a performance issue. Also, being in the slide there is less insulation and more sun exposure exposing the fridge to more heat in general.

 

[grizzzman]

I had added additional fans to my absorption fridge in the slide. They didn't help much. My first travel trailer had the fridge on the door side exhausting through the roof and we never had a performance issue. Also, being in the slide there is less insulation and more sun exposure exposing the fridge to more heat in general.

My father-in-law did the same thing with the same result. He removed the fridge, found that it had 3" between the wall at the condenser. Should be only 1" also a baffle that guides the heated air from the top of the fridge to the top of the vent.( wasn't there, just a large above the fridge heat trap) works great now.

 

[eXodus]

My father-in-law did the same thing with the same result. He removed the fridge, found that it had 3" between the wall at the condenser. Should be only 1" also a baffle that guides the heated air from the top of the fridge to the top of the vent.( wasn't there, just a large above the fridge heat trap) works great now.

I had added additional fans to my absorption fridge in the slide. They didn't help much. My first travel trailer had the fridge on the door side exhausting through the roof and we never had a performance issue. Also, being in the slide there is less insulation and more sun exposure exposing the fridge to more heat in general.

Absorption fridges are not bad technology, just more difficult to install. Many RV designers I found have in general disregard for good engineering principles and rather draw a new fancy floorplan every few weeks.
If you want great RV - you need to pick one of the manufacturers which are building the same floorplan over years. They usually get feedback from customers about that kind of issues and fix them in the next round.
Having a kitchen, with plumbing, propane and electric in a slide - is an accident waiting to happen.
A empty fridge is already heavy, a fully loaded double door fridge? That's a massive amount of weight. It probably weighs more then the whole slide-out

 

[Plecoptera]

I did a 24 hour test of my 2 fridges in my toy hauler. this is measured at the 12v battery using a 1000w inverter no other DC loads.

Absorption fridge - 514ah (6737wh)
compressor fridge - 74ah (984wh)

people have said absorption is more efficient... no way.. maybe in the 70s when natural gas was so cheap..
I do realize the compressor fridge is 60% so add 30% more energy still way less
View attachment 47332View attachment 47333

We have a small travel trailer, one of the original T@bs (an uber-Teardrop). They came with a tri-mode Norcold. The LPG mode is a frequent topic on the group site, usually on the futility of trying to make it work. The DC mode is 140W, for a very small ~40 qts. AC mode ties you to grid, which sort negates all the advantages of a highly mobile teardrop. Thus has been a cycle of discussion now running over a decade.

I finally bought a little "trucker freezer", and an education occured. My 35 qt compressor FREEZER, takes 70W to dive to below 0F, and my absorbtion

 

[Plecoptera]

I hit the fat-finger key.

... my absorption Norcold takes 140W to keep things luke-cool. I now simply use the Norcold as an icebox when no shore power is available, and freeze blue-ice bricks in the freezer. The blue-ice keeps the beer cooler very cold, and drives the Norcold to actual cold mode. The trucker freezer is AC/DC so it starts a trip at below zero, and solar drives it back down periodically when we are on the road. Took over a decade of working on the problem.

 

[camelCase]

My old Dometic absorption never worked right on electric power as long as we've owned it. Propane, however, has always worked great, though the difference between 4 and 5 on the dial is from 20f to 50f so it took a lot of fiddling to dial it in.

 

[HoosierGeoPro]

First post here, I will have to dive deep into this thread.

My 2020 GeoPro trailer was used once before I bought it. Dometic 2351 is dead will not cool at all. getting power fine and both propane and electric work fine. Used my thermal camera on it, and it is clearly blocked at the top. No heat is getting through the system. Don't think I can warranty it unless dometic does not check my ID. I have original receipt from a year ago. Warranty does not transfer.

So looking at 12v or just a dorm fridge. Quality seems lacking in my unit at least.

 

[eXodus]

First post here, I will have to dive deep into this thread.

My 2020 GeoPro trailer was used once before I bought it. Dometic 2351 is dead will not cool at all. getting power fine and both propane and electric work fine. Used my thermal camera on it, and it is clearly blocked at the top. No heat is getting through the system. Don't think I can warranty it unless dometic does not check my ID. I have original receipt from a year ago. Warranty does not transfer.

So looking at 12v or just a dorm fridge. Quality seems lacking in my unit at least.

read up on "burping" a propane fridge

“Burping” Your Propane Refrigerator

Over the years, we have heard many different reasons for “burping” a propane refrigerator. Some believe it to be the cure for all problems of a propane refrigerator. The reason behind the burping…

www.gas-fridge.com

The Best Ways to Burp a Trailer Refrigerator

If your recreational vehicle refrigerator isn't keeping as cold as it used to or has stopped working altogether, you may be able to revive it with a process called "burping." This process doesn't always work, but you should at least try it, because it might save you the cost of a new RV ...

goneoutdoors.com

somewhat common issue

 

[triplethreat]

I am looking to do the same in our Momentum 395MS. The Notcold 2118 is a horribly built fridge. I added 5 fans to it, both inside & out just to get it to cool OK in temps above 80f. Already have 1320w of solar, 400ah of battery & a 3000w inverter. Our fridge is in the slide as well and any handles would likely hit the sink island. I've considered the JC conversion but would like to have the addition of an ice maker.

Was it hard to run a water line into the slide?

BTW the NeverCold 2118 Double door fridge is a propane hog. It sounds like the propane heater when it's running.

I too have the Nevercold 2118 in my Momentum 394M. I've done the door flap mod (it was hanging up and not closing fully), I added Titan fans to the inside of the upper vent, and I tried the Muddypaws hack on the thermistor in the fresh food compartment.....all to no avail. The 2118 is functionally defective as far as I'm concerned and basically has a mind of it's own as far as what temperatures you are going to get on any given day or time. One day you will have mid 40s in the fresh food compartment and 22-23 degrees in the freezer area, the next day the fresh food will be upper 30s and the freezer 15 degrees....there is just no rhyme or reason to the way it works.....or doesn't work. I will going to JC Refrigeration this next spring and having them install the 12VDC Dual Compressor mod to ours. I've already start planning and working on the project as I am going to build a 12V LiFePO4 battery pack with 304AH and a new Progressive Converter/Charger for LFP batteries. We don't really boondock and even on long trips of 8-9 hour travel days, the 304AH battery should be more than enough to power the fridge while traveling. JC refrigeration has told me that I should be able to see 24-27 hours of runtime without any additional charging of the battery bank. I don't have solar anything and I don't plan on buying/installing a d DC to DC charger.

Oh, and one other thing I wanted to add......you might check around a bit as the Nevercold 2118 does have an ice maker option, but I have no idea if that is something that can be added onto an existing non ice maker fridge or not.

 

[K8MEJ]

I, too, considered doing the JC DC compressor fridge mod to my absorption fridge. But, for just a few dollars more, I bought a new 12v DC compressor fridge that fit the same space as my old absorption fridge, but gave me nearly twice as much internal volume for the same foot print. If you're content with the space you already have then awesome, but if you ever wished you had more interior space in your fridge and freezer, then I'd suggest skipping the absorption mod. Either way, good luck with your project. Let us know how it goes.

 

[RichAP]

I too have the Nevercold 2118 in my Momentum 394M. I've done the door flap mod (it was hanging up and not closing fully), I added Titan fans to the inside of the upper vent, and I tried the Muddypaws hack on the thermistor in the fresh food compartment.....all to no avail. The 2118 is functionally defective as far as I'm concerned and basically has a mind of it's own as far as what temperatures you are going to get on any given day or time. One day you will have mid 40s in the fresh food compartment and 22-23 degrees in the freezer area, the next day the fresh food will be upper 30s and the freezer 15 degrees....there is just no rhyme or reason to the way it works.....or doesn't work. I will going to JC Refrigeration this next spring and having them install the 12VDC Dual Compressor mod to ours. I've already start planning and working on the project as I am going to build a 12V LiFePO4 battery pack with 304AH and a new Progressive Converter/Charger for LFP batteries. We don't really boondock and even on long trips of 8-9 hour travel days, the 304AH battery should be more than enough to power the fridge while traveling. JC refrigeration has told me that I should be able to see 24-27 hours of runtime without any additional charging of the battery bank. I don't have solar anything and I don't plan on buying/installing a d DC to DC charger.

Oh, and one other thing I wanted to add......you might check around a bit as the Nevercold 2118 does have an ice maker option, but I have no idea if that is something that can be added onto an existing non ice maker fridge or not.

I considered keeping the Notcold 2118 and doing the JC upgrade, but I am concerned with the general Notcold quality(door hinges) and the inability to set different temps for the fridge and freezer. Right now I am looking at this Whirpool 19.4 cu ft for around $1850 which a few others have installed: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlp...tant-stainless-finish/6422487.p?skuId=6422487

 

[triplethreat]

I considered keeping the Notcold 2118 and doing the JC upgrade, but I am concerned with the general Notcold quality(door hinges) and the inability to set different temps for the fridge and freezer. Right now I am looking at this Whirpool 19.4 cu ft for around $1850 which a few others have installed: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/whirlp...tant-stainless-finish/6422487.p?skuId=6422487

The fellow I talked to the other day at JC refrigeration told me that the Dual Compressor conversion for the 2118 would have a separate control (thermostat) for the freezer section since there are in fact two separate compressors. To me, that means that the 1-9 settings on the front of the fridge will control the fresh food section, and then the other thermostat (which would be located on the rear of the fridge) would control the freezer. Located on the rear obviously isn't as handy as something on the front, but then I started thinking about it and asked myself, when is the last time I changed my freezer settings on the refrigerator in my house..........almost never. So that part is not a deal breaker for me.

My biggest issue with going residential is that I do not want to add an inverter for it to be able to operate while moving. The cost of an inverter, the additional wiring, breakers/fuses, etc. Now if the JC conversion didn't have separate controls for the Fresh food and the freezer, then I might consider it......but according to him, it will. And who knows, I might be able to move it to a more convenient location at some point.....I just don't know right now what all it would involve.

 

[K8MEJ]

My biggest issue with going residential is that I do not want to add an inverter for it to be able to operate while moving. The cost of an inverter, the additional wiring, breakers/fuses, etc. Now if the JC conversion didn't have separate controls for the Fresh food and the freezer, then I might consider it......but according to him, it will. And who knows, I might be able to move it to a more convenient location at some point.....I just don't know right now what all it would involve.

There are a number of 12v compressor fridges on the market. Check here for some examples. Note that some on that page are 110v so pay attention to the voltage. I bought the 11.4 cu ft model because it was almost a perfect fit replacement for my original 6 cu ft absorption fridge.

 

[eXodus]

Just have my absorption fridge running through my Growatt inverter.

Runs about 30 minutes in a one hour, pretty regular. needs about 350w while doing that at 70F outside.