Our Norcold 900 series absorption fridge has not been keeping up with the demands of full timing in hot weather. We bought a BougeRV 30qt 12 volt compressor fridge to help out in the storage bay. Finally got around to installing a JR two fan unit on cooling fins inside the fridge and a Valterra external cooling fan at top of external coils.
I ended up snaking the power line for the inside fan through the condensate line as recommended by fan manufacturer. I dropped the wires for the Valterra down through the vent box. I moved the main 12 volt supply to the fridge onto a battery terminal stand off, then connected the fans to this and then ran a short jumper to the fridge. The interior fan comes with a built in on/off switch, the Valterra has a manual switch to turn it off, but it also has a temperature sending switch at the fan that's built in. I can turn them off easily individually, or let them run all the time.
We are currently camped at Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, NM. The fridge temperature has dropped 20 to 25 degrees. I have had to adjust the fridge to a higher setting three times. The interior fan moves a LOT of air, maybe 10 times as much as the old plastic battery operated fan.
I have added exterior fans before to RVs, but always used the little battery fans inside. There is simply no comparison.
Our 1998 36 foot U270 has very little room for a residential fridge. The current fridge sit on top of the furnace with a large intake grill. The fridge box (hinges, handles, etc.,) are on their last legs, but this may get us through the year. We are considering a new Norcold 12volt compressor fridge model as it fits in our space without modification, gets cooling air from the rear, would not require a new inverter (our Xantrex is a modified sine wave), and just might run on my existing solar and battery set up. It would also provide 10 cubic foot storage in the same space as our current 8. Every single residential model I've been able to find recommends cooling space on sides, top and bottom. We have ruled out the Furrion as too many complaints from owners and manufacturers.
We do lots of boondocking with 900 watts solar and 2 8d flooded cell batteries, mostly in National Forest, COE, and State Parks. We just bought the annual State Park pass for NM.
Magic Chef has a 10 cubic foot that would fit in that spot. We added about the same size to Glen Kinneys 36 foot coach
Patrick,
Not trying to hijack this thread, but we bought the New Mexico State Parks pass a number of years ago and loved it. New Mexico has (or had back then) a lot of really great parks. Enjoy!
Richard
We've spent a week at Manzano Mountain State Park. It was fantastic. The host was amazing and we made many wonderful side trips. Limited space for a 36' motorhome, but they had a few spaces that worked. Hope your travels are going well. Spent a day with your brother Bob, it was a great day at Fenton Lake State Park.
Patrick,
I converted our fridge to AC only using the retrofit part from Home | JC Refrigeration (https://jc-refrigeration.com) about 9 months ago. We are very happy with it and it was relatively easy to do. I noticed you mentioned other parts of your fridge may prevent you from going this route. For our previous FT I had installed a $400 fridge and was very happy with it too. Good luck,
Al
RE: "Our 1998 36 foot U270 has very little room for a residential fridge. The current fridge sits on top of the furnace with a large intake grill."
Sounds like our coach, where 10 years ago Cindy & I removed the OEM fridge and inserted $400 (Lowes) 10cuft Whirlpool. Fridge cabinet opening is 2'x5', and the new household fridge is 2'x5'. Many similar coaches have made this change. BTW, the new was a bit larger inside the box.
There are reasons to prefer absorption over compressor, but size of fit is not one of them.
We also had the small fridge and installed the magic chef 10SF. It's awesome, sorry we waited so long to convert to residential.
Edited to add: no woodwork was required on our conversion but they did lower the cabinet floor by 2 inches.