Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Renovations => Topic started by: Tim Fiedler on March 10, 2013, 04:24:26 pm

Title: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Tim Fiedler on March 10, 2013, 04:24:26 pm
Considering residential refrigerator for the 2001 U-320 4010 (Ice Compressor making noise , yes there is a little compressor I found out in the RM1282 installed in m y coach - apparently a very rare Dometic model outside of Foretravel)

Considering this refrigerator on sale this week at HHGreg for $1,199.  Wife has French Door in Sticks and Bricks, would like one in Coach - this one is counter depth - Samsung/Haier - not the best reviews - decent energy use?

HB21FC45NS | Haier 20.6 Cu. Ft. Stainless Steel French Door Refrigerator | (http://www.hhgregg.com/haier-20-6-cu-ft-stainless-steel-french-door-refrigerator/item/HB21FC45NS#qaFocusTarget1)

RM1282 Dimensions 59 1/16 tall, 36 1/2 wide, 24 Inches deep

This refrigerator 69 3/4, 35 3/4, 27 9/16 deep.

Interested in thoughts and comments from smart folks on this board.

Also looking for advise re two burner electric  cooktop replacement to replace factory propane unit, wife would prefer induction, not sure available/practical.  Would like o go all electric and lose propane tank
Again, thoughts/comments/suggestions welcome
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Michelle on March 10, 2013, 04:33:56 pm

Also looking for advise re two burner electric  cooktop replacement to replace factory propane unit, wife would prefer induction, not sure available/practical. 

Gaggenau now makes a 2-burner induction unit.  Not sure how powerful, but likely possibly a drop-in, cutout-wise.  Needs some wiring work since it's 240V, not 120.  I think John and Linda S. are having this done by Flanagan next month.

VI 421 | Cooktops | Gaggenau (http://www.gaggenau.com/us/product/VI421?sourceCat=cooking)

If you're upgrading the other appliances, check out the new 120V OTR Advantium - it has 2 full-width racks so you can bake 2 rectangular pans at the same time (and no issue with not being able to stop the turntable).  Comes in Monogram, Profile, and Cafe trim.  Leo and Ineke Volkert had one installed in place of the Sharp 1830 (work done by David F. as well).  We're planning to do the Cafe-trim one in ours this year.

CSA1201RSS | GE Cafe Advantium® 120 Above-the-Cooktop Oven | GE Appliances (http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=CSA1201RSS)

Michelle
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Tim Fiedler on March 10, 2013, 04:53:19 pm
OK, may need to add to the wish list - notice that it has a "proof" setting. Baking four loaves right now, guess the worst thing is that I would have to fid space on board for the kitchenaid mixer......
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Patricia on March 10, 2013, 05:00:40 pm
I would have to fid space on board for the kitchenaid mixer
Seems to me that Michelle has squirreled one away in their coach... can't imagine having to lift it though!!  :o
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Michelle on March 10, 2013, 05:09:06 pm
OK, may need to add to the wish list - notice that it has a "proof" setting. Baking four loaves right now, guess the worst thing is that I would have to fid space on board for the kitchenaid mixer......

One word, ABin5 :D  I can't remember the last time I had to knead a loaf.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)

Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Peter & Beth on March 10, 2013, 06:01:55 pm
One word, ABin5 :D  I can't remember the last time I had to knead a loaf.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)


You're a genius with them recipes...But, I digress...
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: John S on March 10, 2013, 06:18:21 pm
Yes we are putting in a Samsung French door and an induction stove. Pulling the propane tank and adding a battery.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Peter & Beth on March 10, 2013, 06:27:38 pm
Yes we are putting in a Samsung French door and an induction stove. Pulling the propane tank and adding a battery.
John,
No inverter change from all these mods?
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Tim Fiedler on March 10, 2013, 06:59:41 pm
Pictures upon completion please
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Dave M (RIP) on March 10, 2013, 07:42:40 pm
While I had the Samsung 24 cu ft two door with ice & water, I do like it alot, however it is a bit much for the 36', on the 40' it would be a much better fit.  The best part, while it took out the space below, it added much for internal pantry, so keep dry soups, cherrios etc. in it, so the lost space is larger than I lost.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: John S on March 10, 2013, 08:04:57 pm
I think the fridge takes 11 amps so that is not a huge draw. I think it is more efficient than my current unit too.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: John S on March 10, 2013, 08:05:32 pm
The stove will be a 220 and will only work on the generator or being plugged in.  That is the only thing that will change.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Dave M (RIP) on March 10, 2013, 08:19:36 pm
If your generator is setup like mine, if runs both 120 volt fields together for total 120 volt output, so the wiring will need changed in the generator, seperated for 2 lines at 120 each to get the 240 from the genset.  Look at the coach wiring, it might show that.
On mine, it would be simple, from genset to transfer switch is two hots, one on each side of the transfer relay, so easy at genset to seperate into the 240 v.
The down side of this gives you two 5 kw legs, so you need to start paying attention to the loading, called balancing the load. why having the legs tied together for the full 10 kw @ 120 makes for very easy @ simple, also you will notice the volt drop when an a/c unit starts, glad they have built in time delays to eliminate the head pressure prior to starting.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: John S on March 10, 2013, 08:26:10 pm
They are going to have to do it from the breaker box and run an extra line. The generator will feed the same transfer switch so it is going to be fine I hope.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Dave M (RIP) on March 10, 2013, 08:30:17 pm
JOHN, if they just connect up to the circuit breaker panel, the 240v will only work while plugged into the 50 amp post, unless your generator has already been reconnected for 240v.
Easy to check, open up the transfer box, using a volt meter, disconnected from outside power, start genset, check the voltage from it,  Simple, it is either 120 only or 120/240 v.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: John S on March 10, 2013, 10:06:50 pm
OK thanks. I will check it.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: P. Wyatt Sabourin on March 11, 2013, 12:32:00 am
Hey guys be careful here.
I studied the idea of converting the generator to 240 volts and load balancing but could not determine a reliable way to do that. The problem is you could have two legs of 120VAC, one at 80 volts and one at 160 volts. The things on 80 volts will run veeeery slow, while he things on 160 volts will start smoking.

The only reliable way to provide 240 VAC is with a 240 volt inverter run from 12 volt batteries being charged by the generator or a small seperate 240 volt generator.

Just my Opinion


Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Dave M (RIP) on March 11, 2013, 03:16:46 am
Wyatt has a point, that situation would only happen when the generator is very over loaded,  since the voltge regulator is only sensing one 120 v side, not both, when you load down the leg/side that has the regulator, the other leg with lighter load, the voltage will go up.  The other situation could be the load being on the non sensed leg, the voltage will go down some as it is not being sensed by the regulator.  We are splitting hairs here, but yes balancing the load is a concern.  In Johns case, he has three a/c units, think about two being on the non sensed leg, just food for thought.
ME, I would stay 120 volt as was setup and find a 120 volt cooking method OR go with a larger generator. John already has the 12 kw I think.
JMDAO
Dave M
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Ted H on March 11, 2013, 09:42:59 am
If I remember right a unbalanced load will also overload the common ground leg. When I did my Prevost conversion it was hard to keep the load balanced, I enden up changing back to 120 volt. Maybe Dave can answer if my gray hairs are remembering right...
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Tim Fiedler on March 11, 2013, 12:05:25 pm
Was originally thinking shore power for 240 induction cooktop only, and a fry pan or hot plate on 110 in a pinch when not on shore power, or my outside two burner propane stove (which I prefer anyway, I have the bottle for the grill) if parked.

Assume since FOT is going to go all electric for John S (and have in their new builds) they know how to knock this one down - may just have them do the cooktop and electrical mods.
Title: Re: Candidate for Refrigerator Swap
Post by: Paul Wildenstein on March 11, 2013, 12:14:39 pm
After we bought our 2000 U320 I decided that I would like to use the genertor as a standby generator for our house.  When we built the house we had a transfer switch installed.  I learned quickly that we had a 120v generator and not a 240v unit.  i also learned that the generator could be reconfigured to a 240v unit.  The next time we were in Nacogdoches that was on my list for Foretravel to do for us -- they refused.  They would never tell us why, just that they would not do it.  So, the next time we were in Florida we made an appointment at Power Tech in Leesburg and they willingly made the conversion.  The total cost for labor, parts and tax was $172.39 and included a short extension to plug into the 50 amp RV outlet that they installed on the coach and changed to the 50 amp plug that was installed on our transfer switch.  That was in 2002 so the cost today would be different, but it clearly was a pretty straightforward project.
Paul
36' 2000 U320