Community Forums

TimLoon · 05-21-2021, 05:21 AM

Was leaving yesterday for weekend trip and when I climbed in the MH, strong ammonia smell. Opened the windows, shut off the fridge and grabbed a couple of coolers. Assume at this point the old faithful Dometic RM2852 is done.
Decision time. Note that I am technically able to take either path in replacing and we boondock approximately 1/2 of our trips. Although my MH is older, it is in great shape and we plan on keeping a few more years.
- Do I install replacement cooling unit? If so, which one? What is best source for purchase?
- Do I install residential unit? For the Dometic model, what residential fridge has fit best? What is ideal MSW inverter? I have space for 3 batteries in my compartment and my 2-6 volt are due for replacement. Am I better off with (3) 12 volt with a residential fridge? I have 100 watt solar panel on roof for battery upkeep. Should I add another panel? Will it make a difference?
Would appreciate input from the many folks that faced this same decision.

c_oneil · 05-21-2021, 07:08 AM

We went through this last spring. First you need to decide what kind of refrigeration works best for your style of camping. Go to the JC refrigeration website and they have some very good information to help you decide. They make direct replacement cooling units for Dometic and they also make a compressor style retrofit for Dometic. Last spring replacements from Dometic were back ordered for several months.
https://jc-refrigeration.com/

MSHappyCampers · 05-21-2021, 12:13 PM

If your old fridge has adequate storage capacity for your needs then I would suggest you look into replacing the cooling unit with one of the compressor-type from JC Refrigeration!

Falconeer189 · 05-21-2021, 12:30 PM

I installed a JC Refrigeration compressor cooling unit late last year, best thing I ever did to the coach. Cool down time is quick, unit was almost noise free and most of all the ice cream is hard now. Shore power or inverter powered works great.

TimLoon · 05-22-2021, 06:23 PM

Going to reach out to JC on Monday to see if unit is in stock

TimLoon · 06-14-2021, 05:16 PM

Just to close out where I ended up, we decided on the JC Gas/Electric cooling unit.
75% of our camping is without power so this made the most sense. (At least it did to my better half. I wanted residential with upgraded solar and batteries)
Installation went fine and fridge is now running on 120V and easily keeping 35 degrees in the fridge and freezer contents are rock hard. Only thing I do not like is the fan kit I purchased from them. It places the heat sensor directly over the heat tube so goes on no matter what the temp is behind the fridge.
Found this out after fridge was installed so just put another in series and a little lower down as a lower on temperature sensor. All seems good.
Thanks for everyone's help.

Mr_D · 06-14-2021, 05:32 PM

Don't go with a MSW inverter, get a full sine wave inverter. More efficient and your appliances and electronically controlled units will work better.

saddlesore · 06-14-2021, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Don't go with a MSW inverter, get a full sine wave inverter. More efficient and your appliances and electronically controlled units will work better.

^^^What He Said^^^

TimLoon · 06-15-2021, 04:03 AM

Folks,
Appreciate the advice on the inverter but I have already installed the gas/electric unit. Only plan on keeping the RV another 2-3 years so hopefully this will make it

paul65k · 06-20-2021, 10:14 PM

The only thing to note on MSW vs PSW inverters is if using one of the newer Residential refers (Samsung, GE, ETC..) that use inverter compressors, it won't matter as these set-ups already convert the incoming electricity and it won't make a difference as it would on other sensitive electronics like TVs, and computer chargers

JC2 · 06-21-2021, 08:30 AM

I remember reading in the past several years that Samsung fridges were supposedly not as fussy as other brands on using electricity from MSW but this is a first for me on others also. Do you have a link to where this can be read/copy for future reference?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul65k

The only thing to note on MSW vs PSW inverters is if using one of the newer Residential refers (Samsung, GE, ETC..) that use inverter compressors, it won't matter as these set-ups already convert the incoming electricity and it won't make a difference as it would on other sensitive electronics like TVs, and computer chargers