Changing a refrigerator

[bkalin]

Thinking of taking out the Dometic out of our Pace Arrow and replacing it with a 120V household fridge. Anyone have any experience doing this, and if so, how big a job is it?

[paz]

bkalin, welcome to iRV2.

I seem to remember a thread on this subject somewhere here on iRV2. Try doing a search.

If I recall, the biggest problem is getting the fridge into the motorhome. Many times, a window will have to be removed. If you don't have a big enough side window, it will have to be the windshield.

Weight is another issue. The motor and compressor in a residential fridge make them heavier than RV fridges. This isn't a problem if you have enough cargo carrying capacity.

Most RVs that come with a residential fridge also have extra batteries and a larger inverter, so you may need to upgrade. However, if you only use your RV for weekend travel, it may not need to run while you're on the road. It may stay cold enough to get you to your destination while shut off.

If you do want the fridge to run while traveling, another problem I have heard about is some refrigerators don't like the modified sine wave that is put out by most inverters. Some fridge makes and models are OK, but I don't know which ones. Otherwise, you will need a pure sine wave inverter.

["007"]

Here is a thread that will give you an idea on what you may get into.
Take a look at this thread even res fridge will have cooling problems.
If your Dometic is having cooling problems read this thread may solve all your problems.
Welcome to irv2 by the way.

[bkalin]

Thanks for the advice guys. I knew there was more to this than just changing out the fridge and plugging it in.

Chassis is no issue as far as the additional weight. Don't need it running while on the road, and if we do, can always use the gen set. I am going to check into the pure sine wave inverter.

My existing one works ok for the most part, just doesn't cool as much as we'd like (yes we've tried the circulating fans, spacing of food items, etc), the wife is looking for something with a bit more space and better cooling when we're in warmer climates.

Thanks for the help and advice. I want to go into this project with my eyes wide open.