Community Forums

JDT · 02-11-2018, 08:21 AM

Amen, Russell. We had slide toppers on a motorhome and when we sold it they were beginning to sag and really flap in the wind. We don't have them on the Excel and never missed them in the 6 seasons we have had it. The residential fridge is a preference, granted, but having had both and numerous cooling issues with a Norcold 1200, my choice is residential style. Samsung fridges are very rv friendly as they can tolerate both a modified sine wave and pure sine wave inverter. We have driven all day with our Samsung running and never had an issue. The lowest voltage on our 2 6 volt batteries I have ever seen at the end of one of those days was 12.3. Finally, ours is well anchored but since I have never had it out not sure how it is done.

oldbird1965 · 02-11-2018, 08:25 AM

I say YES to both.

Gigattime · 02-11-2018, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C2tuck

Thanks for the info guys! Think I’m gonna go with his one and get the deal going tomorrow. I like camping but again, this one is going to be a work home that stays put most of the time.

Sounds like a great decision for you. Hope the purchase process is smooth and you are set and ready once spring arrives.

Safe travels.

C2tuck · 02-11-2018, 11:00 AM

Spring? I’ll be bringing it back to West Texas in a couple weeks lol

WagonMaster · 02-11-2018, 05:42 PM

I don't know anything about slide toppers but I would highly recommend the residential fridge. If the fridge is in a slideout than I almost guarantee you that it will not work right. I replaced my norcold with a Samsung and it is really secured properly.

W.J. Demo · 02-11-2018, 07:34 PM

The RV fridge is not just for boondocking. Where we store our trailer we do not have access to 120 VAC. If not for the propane option, we would not be able to precool the fridge before leaving on a camping trip. We typically visit the Storage lot 1 or 2 days before our trip and turn the fridge on. We can then load the fridge either the evening before we leave or the morning we leave.

C2tuck · 02-11-2018, 08:32 PM

When I had my shop built I had the electrician put 30 and 50 amp plugs on the rear corner just for that purpose. So it’s a non issue for me.

WagonMaster · 02-12-2018, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.J. Demo

The RV fridge is not just for boondocking. Where we store our trailer we do not have access to 120 VAC. If not for the propane option, we would not be able to precool the fridge before leaving on a camping trip. We typically visit the Storage lot 1 or 2 days before our trip and turn the fridge on. We can then load the fridge either the evening before we leave or the morning we leave.

I understand your dilemma. It's a shame they can't seem to make a 4 door RV fridge that is safe and long lasting. The old 2 door RV fridges used to last forever. Also, before they started putting slides in everything (I love them) the propane fridges vented straight up through a vent in the roof, which worked great. Now that more of them are in the slides (like mine was) they have to vent out the side and if the RV manufacturer doesn't really closely follow installation procedures (like mine didn't) then the propane fridge is bound to fail. Actually, the Samsung RF18 I installed in mine gets cold so fast that I think you could safely load food into it pretty quick after turning it on. I haven't timed it but it is FAST. I promise you that they don't take 24 hours to cool down. Good luck.

grindstone01 · 02-12-2018, 07:38 AM

To solve the refrig pre cool issue for weekend camping, we would put frozen items in the refrig and treat it as a giant cooler. This allowed the food to thaw that we planned to cook and also cooled the refrig w/o turning it on until we arrived to the cg. This was years ago when the past practice was to not run the LP refrig while traveling.

highsticker · 02-13-2018, 09:51 AM

Yes to both the slide keeps all debris out From inside coach or RV refrigerator is great you got big freezer , for ice cream none of the other ref keep ice cream

Gray01 · 02-13-2018, 01:59 PM

Here is a long thread regarding the facts of modern residential reefers, including photos and issues such as power consumption.

And yes, they are secured into place using steel brackets preventing movement.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...pging/1/page/1

1960C182 · 02-13-2018, 06:33 PM

We won't ever have another RV that doesn't have slide toppers. We camp a lot in pine tree covered spots & I was getting too shakey on a step ladder blowing them off when packing up.
No experience with the fridge, only had the standard norcold/dometics .

Mac99 · 02-13-2018, 06:39 PM

Slide toppers are a must have. Never had any problems
with Norcold 1200. 8 years, 84,000 miles, 500+ nights
on the road.

Oldelevatorman · 02-24-2018, 10:51 PM

I wish I had slide toppers on my Landmark. I had to scrape ice off of 2 of the 3 and that's not fun since it's easy to tear the roof. The other one had thawed out already. I'd never have another absorption fridge as long as I RV!