Residential Refrigerator Installation

[rorr1821]

I have a 2008 Monaco Diplomat 36PDQ motorhome. We are not full timers. This motorhome came with a Norcold 12 Cu Ft 4 door gas absorption refrigerator. Like many owners of this type refrigerator I have been less than satisfied with the performance of this unit especially in hot summer months when temperatures approach 100 deg F. I had considered replacing the unit but the thought of removing the windshield to do the replacement was unacceptable. I read an article “Out goes the Norcold in with the Maytag” on www.iRV2.com which provide a ray of hope that I could get the old Norclod out the entry door. I measured my door and found that it was 26 3/8” wide. Wow! The Norcold according to the specification sheet is 24” deep and according to the article it would fit though the door.

My next step was to determine which residential refrigerator might work for my motorhome. Keep in mind my Norcold is in a tight area and I have no room to increase the width or depth. I can increase the height with some minor cabinet work. The only refrigerator I could fine that will work for me was a Samsung model RF197ACBP which is 18 cu ft. The Samsung is 32 ¼” wide which will provide a ¼” clearance on both sides. It has a depth of 24” which will provide a 2” clearance between the back of the refrigerator and the motorhome wall. This unit comes in four finishes including stainless steel, white, black, and stainless platinum. We choose Black finish. I was able to buy this unit through AAFES for $949 delivered. My next consideration was the inverter.

I currently have a Magnum Energy ME2012-20B modified sine wave. I concluded after investigation that the modified sine wave would most likely work. However, I like thing to work the best, therefore a pure sine wave is the way to go. I decided to purchase a Magnum Energy pure sine wave model MS2012-20B unit. I found this unit on the internet for $1410. The install will be a plug and play operation. I had considered a larger unit but the rewire was more than I wanted to deal with at this time. I had also talked with Magnum Energy tech support and they said this unit will work find for my application.

I read an article “Residential Refrigerator Power Requirement” on the www.happy-wanderers.com. In his article he provided some enlightening information on power requirements for his OEM installed refrigerator. I currently have 4ea 6 volt flooded batteries at 232Ah per battery. My total Ah at 12 volts is 464 Ah. I concluded that 6ea batteries would be better but I am going to try this conversion with the 4 batteries. My reasoning is that adding two more batteries would require a major rework of my battery compartment and I would need to buy 6 new batteries because you never want to mix new and old batteries.

As of this writing I have removed the Norcold from the opening and now I am waiting for some help to carry it out of the motorhome. My plans are to sell this unit and the inverter at a deep discount to help recover some of my conversion cost.


My next concerns will be removing the old support floor and lower it about 6 ¼”. The only thing that I have not resolved is whether to seal off the back opening and the roof opening. I talked to Steve at Texas Custom Coach, Pipe Creek, Texas and he said when they do a conversion they seal off the roof and side opening. Regardless of my decision to seal off the opening I will be adding some rigid insulation to the roof ceiling above the refrigerator. This was a modification I was going to do with the Norcold before I decided to remove it. Even thought the ceiling in my motorhome is approximately 8” thick there is a 6” air space between the ceiling and the top of the Norcold. I had read an article where someone had insulated this area and it made a significant improvement in the performance of his Norcold.

As I progress through this adventure I will try and provide updates as they occur. Since the motorhome is parked in a building next to my house and not currently in use I tend not to get in a big hurry. I appreciate any constructive comments concerning my unresolved issue of whether to seal off top and side vent. Thanks.

["007"]

Welcome to irv2 rorr1821.
Will be following your thread with interest as I'm sure others will be.
The top vent I would leave open for the new fridge to draw cool outside air down through its coils. Side outside vent could be sealed.
Enjoy the forums and will be looking for further postings.

[mfire1339]

As to vents. Remember all the heat the refer is removing from the interior has to go somewhere. If you close off the vents that means all the heat stays in the rig. In the summer this does not seem good to me.

Mike

[Techie]

When we replaced our Norcold 1200 with a Residential we left the roof venting as-is and had the inside of the removable side vent sealed so that dust, etc coudl not come in that way but it was still removabel for access to teh rear of the fridge for items like winterizing the icemaker line.

[az bound]

We have a residential refer and it is not vented to the outside. Went with two 245 AH AGMs and an AGS system. Most all residential refers will work on MSW as long as they do not have microprocessors. Decided to keep the original 2000 watt MSW inverter and go with the AGS system. Works great when off the grid. We chose the Amana model ABR1922FES with bottom freezer and icemaker.

[rorr1821]

Quote:

Originally Posted by az bound We have a residential refer and it is not vented to the outside. Went with two 245 AH AGMs and an AGS system. Most all residential refers will work on MSW as long as they do not have microprocessors. Decided to keep the original 2000 watt MSW inverter and go with the AGS system. Works great when off the grid. We chose the Amana model ABR1922FES with bottom freezer and icemaker.

How many 245 Ah AGM's do you have in your battery bank? How often do you need to charge the bank, on a typical summer day at say 90 deg. I am assuming you charge before reaching a 50% state of charge?

I may be spending unnecessarily $1400 dollars on a pure sine wave but I was unable to confirm if Samsung had any microprocessors.

Thanks for your reply.

RO

[az bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rorr1821 How many 245 Ah AGM's do you have in your battery bank? How often do you need to charge the bank, on a typical summer day at say 90 deg. I am assuming you charge before reaching a 50% state of charge? I may be spending unnecessarily $1400 dollars on a pure sine wave but I was unable to confirm if Samsung had any microprocessors. Thanks for your reply. RO

I have 2-245AH AGMs for a total of 490 AH. The AGS system is programmed to start the genset at 12.2 V not allowing the batteries to drop below 80%. Very hard to estimate the length of time between recharges with all the variables in power usage. I will say that running the furnace with temperatures in the teens and and maintaining 70 in the coach the genset would run 2-2-1/2 hrs. per day including the float charge.
Some of the Samsung refers are compatable with MSW. Saw one in a Tiffin but don't know the model.
If you do spend a lot of time off grid an automatic generator start system is a worthwhile investment.
I might add that my inverter is 2000 watt.

[TechWriter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rorr1821 I currently have 4ea 6 volt flooded batteries at 232Ah per battery. My total Ah at 12 volts is 464 Ah. I concluded that 6ea batteries would be better but I am going to try this conversion with the 4 batteries. My reasoning is that adding two more batteries would require a major rework of my battery compartment and I would need to buy 6 new batteries because you never want to mix new and old batteries.

Or buy 4 bigger batteries.
For example,
- 4 Lifeline GPL-4CT 6V AGMs would have 440Ah.
- 4 Lifeline GPL-6CT 6V AGMs would have 600 Ah.
- 4 Lifeline GPL-L16T 6V AGMs would have 800 Ah.

The 4CTs & 6CTs have the same length and width, but the 6CTs are taller.

So I you have room to go up, look at higher capacity batteries.

[az bound]

There is no substitute for a larger battery bank but all it realy does is add to the interval between recharge and the amount of time it takes to charge. A programable AGS will eliminate the need for constant monitoring as everything happens automaticaly. Just adding batteries may not be the answer if the charge system is not adequate and may require an upgrade. Its kind of a trade off, longer recharge interval, or shorter run time on the genset.