My residential fridge swap/build thread

[vito.a]

Originally Posted by rmacdon61

There is a lot of heat given off at the rear of the fridge and venting in a RV is extremely important. On the install here (Samsung) I have 3 inches above and behind which includes the old fridge exterior vent as well as the old furnace (removed) which allows even more venting up the back and out the existing roof vent.

I agree a residential fridge needs to have air circulation, but not outside air. Exposing the fridge to sub zero or 100+ outside air is not the answer. You will not find any homes or apartments with vent holes in the wall or ceiling for the fridge.

Our last motor home came from the factory with a residential fridge and the side vent was a special version with the louvers completely blocked and insulated.

Just follow the manufacturers recommendations for clearance around the fridge perimeter and you'll be fine.

[bamarider]

Originally Posted by BigLar368

Well I guess I am not quite the engineer of conversions that I thought I was....lol. This fridge worked great in my garage but not so great in the RV. It seems like the cycle times are way off. The thermostat will not kick the fridge on until the temp reaches 40 degrees. Then it pulls it down to around 34 and it will cycle. All this on the coldest setting the fridge has. I did open and close it several times checking things out and it is empty. I am gonna leave it unplugged for a day or so and make sure it is well defrosted. We do live in a very high humidity area.

Also after checking some temps in the back with a temp gun I found it to be kinda warm. Going to put the original style vent back on top with two small fans that will be controlled by a relay off the condenser fan on the fridge. Also going to put a three speed switch so I can control how much air it pulls.

All in all I will try a different brand next time if it comes down to it.

Put some water in the fridge & ice in the freezer and let the temps settle before you make any changes. If you have the mfgs recemmended clearences around the top & sides you should be ok. I wouldn't bring in outside air to cool it. I've installed a whirlpool frig in our mh with no issues

[veraken]

Originally Posted by vito.a

I agree a residential fridge needs to have air circulation, but not outside air. Exposing the fridge to sub zero or 100+ outside air is not the answer. You will not find any homes or apartments with vent holes in the wall or ceiling for the fridge.

Our last motor home came from the factory with a residential fridge and the side vent was a special version with the louvers completely blocked and insulated.

Just follow the manufacturers recommendations for clearance around the fridge perimeter and you'll be fine.

I installed a Frigidaire FFTR1022QB which, once removing the doors, fit thru my door opening.

I did a ton of research before replacing my Norcold RV refrigerator and this one came out #1 by far. If you plan to make the conversion, there are some issues.
1. These fridges are not built-ins and will require clearance for air circulation. The Frigidaire needs only an inch on either side, which is probably all you'll have anyway. The back only requires 2" clearance. Other brands wanted far more. Don't be tempted to skip that. They do call for 12" on top, which is impossible for a MH. Instead I installed fans.
2. Operating temperature. Other brands I looked at said their fridge wouldn't operate below 60 or above 90 degrees, and warned against using in a garage. No such restriction on the Frigidaire. Just keep it between 10 and 110 degrees, per the manual.
3. It fit my existing opening with only minor modification.

[BigLar368]

Originally Posted by vito.a

I agree a residential fridge needs to have air circulation, but not outside air. Exposing the fridge to sub zero or 100+ outside air is not the answer. You will not find any homes or apartments with vent holes in the wall or ceiling for the fridge.

Our last motor home came from the factory with a residential fridge and the side vent was a special version with the louvers completely blocked and insulated.

Just follow the manufacturers recommendations for clearance around the fridge perimeter and you'll be fine.

I agree. All my clearances are good except the top. I only have 3/4" and it calls for 3". I figured it would work but it did not. I also agree with no pulling in outside air to cool it off.

I ended up mounting an original style roof vent with two small 110V fans with a variable speed controller. I sealed off rest of the vent so it would pull the majority of the air from behind the fridge. Today it has worked pretty good keeping the temps where I want them. The roof fans were much better built than I thought. They were not like the cheap plastic fans I have used in the past.

Here is the link to the fans and controller:

https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-C...gateway&sr=8-1

[rmacdon61]

Originally Posted by BigLar368

I also agree with no pulling in outside air to cool it off.

You might be surprised where all that air you push out with those fans comes from? It is all leaked into your RV through access points the manufacture didn't seal or access points needed for your furnace/old fridge. You ever open a window in your RV? These are all outside air sources. Using your existing one from the old fridge is just common sense as more air is needed to keep a resident fridge operating properly. So no matter if it is -40 or +40 outside, outside air is coming in and you are not choosing where it comes from. You can't vent inside air without replacing that air.

[BigLar368]

Originally Posted by rmacdon61

You might be surprised where all that air you push out with those fans comes from? It is all leaked into your RV through access points the manufacture didn't seal or access points needed for your furnace/old fridge. You ever open a window in your RV? These are all outside air sources. Using your existing one from the old fridge is just common sense as more air is needed to keep a resident fridge operating properly. So no matter if it is -40 or +40 outside, outside air is coming in and you are not choosing where it comes from. You can't vent inside air without replacing that air.

Yes....I understand that the way I have mine set up it will inherently pull in outside air. Not sure about everyone elses RV but ours is not sealed up like a new house. It's going to leak in air regardless. With that being said it's a very small amount of air. I can turn those fans down to a slow crawl. On low each fan is rated at 40 CFM and I would probably guess it's less than that because the fan is pushing against the top cover of the vent then redirecting it down to port holes for the air to escape. I bet it's such a small amount we may never notice.