Installing a new counter depth fridge to replace my dometic rm7832
Am looking at a LG fridge with the same dimensions as the Samsung rf 18 which a lot have installed. Has any one seen these, installed this LG or know anything about it?? The LG pic is the one with the 2 freezer drawers compared to the one draw samsung
No handles = more room to walk past
Just curious: Is there supposed to be any advantage in having two freezer drawers? It seems (at least to me) that having the two drawer mechanisms would waste space and leave less useable freezer space.
Not sure if the two drawers make a difference except to separate certain food! I just,personally like the look of the two drawers and the quality(in general) of LG. Both models have no handles
Ease of finding things, probably, since the depth something can get buried in is roughly half. Some models that have 2 separate drawers can program the upper drawer to be either fridge or freezer.
One downside in an RV is now you need another drawer lock device. Regarding those locks, drilling into doors generally voids the warranty on the fridge.
I have a Haier that looks identical to the two freezer drawer unit pictured on the left in your first post. No issues with performance, but if I was to do it again, I would get a unit with single swinging doors for both fridge & freezer. It makes locking mechanism integration much simpler. I am not a fan of the dual opening door on the fridge either. Fridge on top and freezer on bottom is definitely the way to go though. Just my experience.
Ok so that being said,does anyone have examples of "locks" to prevent opening while driving? I certainly would like to look at the commercial brands as well as the home made ones...
We use a patio-door latch like the one shown from Home Depot to secure the freezer on our Samsung RF-18. We use screws to attach it to the cabinet and VHB tape to attach it to the freezer door. We use a Velcro strap to secure the refrigerator doors but could also use another latch like the one shown. Works well!
I have this one. Works great.
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Everchill/324-000149.html
Hi Jeff
Looks like you would require two them. One for each top door?
I've got a two door fridge, freezer up top, fridge below. It's mounted between the doors and locks both.
I made the one out of stainless steel the same as the one Jeff posted.
Peter
Do you by chance have pic of your fridge lock as well as the fridge you installed?
Update: this lock looks like it is for a single door fridge only not for an upper double door fridge, because it appears to use the holes used for the door if you were to switch sides with the door...correct?
It is for a single opening door and correct I used the holes that are already there. The advantage of
the singe opening door is when its open I don't have to walk around an open door to get something
out of the fridge.
We have a Samsung with the two top doors and bottom freezer divided into 2 sections. We use a 8x12 magnetic flexible plate that is designed for signs on cars. We put a pleasing contact paper over the white surface and have had zero problems with doors opening in transit. Coach is in the shop for a trans swap but will post a pic when we get it back.
Jerre
Why is the transmission being swapped? Haven't seen any posts on the 4060 going bad.
I too am curious!
Not to hijack this thread, see my comments in Techtalk thread on oil sensor.
Jerre
Can anyone advise if the residential fridge I am installing will run off my coach batteries when driving, provided I have the inverter on? I currently only have two 8D batteries, (for some reason the PO only put two in instead of the three that will fit)
Yes
You will need to plug it into the inverted outlet. The default for the OEM fridge is to be plugged into a non-inverted outlet. There should be one of each behind the existing fridge (accessible from the exterior panel as well). The inverted circuit it's on is often labeled "ice maker".
Or you can add a stand alone pure sine wave inverter for a cleaner power source with less loss.
I have the fridge on a dedicated circuit that runs 24/7.
I added a stand alone dedicated victron 1000 inverter for my residential fridge. It's always on.
I have decided to go with the 2 drawer freezer LG fridge. I will post pics when installed as I am having a coach remodel shop here in Alberta do the work.
Do I need to tell the installer to leave or take out the insulation that was in for the OEM dometic rm 7833 fridge? And should the vent(s) be left open or plugged up?
I pulled all the insulation that was around the old fridge to help the new fridge vent better and
closed up the roof vent and the side vent I put insulation in the side vent and bought a hatch cover
for the hole. I went with the side hatch for the side vent as it would give me access to the back of the
fridge. As you will experience colder weather than me you would have a huge draft coming
beside the fridge. Residential fridges are designed to run on room temperature.
^ Excellent points on insulating where needed and maintaining access to the back of the fridge - makes it much easier to plug in and unplug if needed (vs. pulling the fridge out of the cabinet to access the plug). ^
The Renovations board has some good tips
Residential Refrigerator Insulation and Venting (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=38427.msg373907#msg373907)
Our new residential fridge and other remods (split from What did you do to... (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=22392.msg170393#msg170393)
Residential Fridge (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=37041.0)
If you are interested in the fridge vent cover type in fridge vent in search and the first thing
that come up will be a picture of Larry Town and 2 pictures of my vents. I don't know how to
move post from there to this post. The roof vent I fiberglass it in.
When I installed the Samsung RF18 refrigerator I sealed the roof and side vents and used insulation that essentially matched the original roof and sidewall insulation. I used stainless steel panels from www.cut2sizemetals.com . The residential refrigerator is designed to opting an interior environment and so that's what I provided for it.
Peter
Can't seem to locate your post or picture...
If you completely seal the Samsung RF18 fridge (or any refrigerator) into an enclosed space, it WILL fail prematurely. The laws of physics do not cease to exist just because you want an aesthetically pleasing appearance and feel it necessary to insulate your coach from the cold. The heat removed from the cooled space in the fridge must be exhausted somewhere. All failures of residential refrigerators into motorhomes are predominantly due to misguided and failed installations that cause overheating of the compressor and internal electronics. Prove me wrong.
I finally got the fridge vent replaced with a Challenger Door and it worked out great. Thanks to Larry Town
as he sent me his order form so it fit perfectly. The first picture is Larry's door.
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I hope this works Peter. It took me a few tries to find this.
Sorry the pictures didn't work. I tool quite a few tries using fridge vent for me to find it again.
When installing the fridge there needs to be enough room around the fridge for proper venting.
The problem of leaving the venting as if it's -30 f the fridge won't be happy and when it's in high
outside temperatures the fridge will have to work extra hard to cool.
It's easy to prove you wrong! A residential refrigerator is designed to operate in an indoor environment. Therefore it needs to be provided an indoor environment in our motorhomes! That does *not* mean sealing it in a box—and that's not what I did. There's plenty of open space below, beside and above the Samsung RF 18 in our U320 and it has been operating well since 2018. It is *not* vented to the outside and it doesn't need to be!
Fridge vent (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=46041.0)
Hot air rises and needs an exit point. In your house the warm air simply moves up and away from the fridge .
In a confined area, the warm air needs a channel/ duct away and above the unit. It also needs and channel feeding cool air into the bottom area.
Opening up the oe fridge ductwork allows the required btu exchange. Is the stock vent system too large ? I doubt it. To make cold air you must also make the same btu warmer . So , if the airflow is confined. You will overwork the unit .
I recommend you download and carefully read the installation manual for your prospective fridge. The manual will specify the minimum airflow for top, sides, back and bottom. Look for the coils, they may be at the bottom, back or hidden in a side wall. The manual will stipulate operating temperature range. Don't recommend screwing into the cabinet to mount it unless you can see where that screw will go.
You may need to block off outside vents but provide airflow to inside of coach depending on your model. I removed insulation on each side of the enclosure to achieve recommended airflow for my make and model along with air gaps at top and bottom. Also feed it with a dedicated pure sine wave inverter if you don't have a pure sine wave inverter-charger.
Best practices for one make and model may not work for another. Hard to generalize. In my research I found considerable variation from model to model.
Anyone have experience with the amount of time a residential fridge will run on 2 8D batteries without charging them?
Depend on the fridge, and batteries
I get 7-8 hours from my 6 year old 8D's, dedicated inverter and 10QF fridge.
Certainly 10 hours every night to run a residential fridge on 2 8D batteries without charging them. Would estimate about 24 hours if starting with a full battery. But getting a battery to 100% full is not simple and takes several days. As battery charge increases, battery resistance to accepting charge increases with maybe ff less than 10 amps being accepted for the last day or so. Solar is great for topping as they generally put out fewer amps than a 100-amp charger and do it quietly and at no on-going cost. Also, battery type comes into play as GEL charging requires a lower charge voltage then AGM & unsealed batteries. The higher the charge voltage, the faster the charge time to 100%. There is a general rule that we can only use 30 to 40% of a lead-acid battery because below 50% can shorten battery life, and we may not be able to charge it over 80-90% during the day. It is a balance as the more we discharge, the longer it takes to recover.
Short answer, not overnight.
Hi,
@Peter ! We're so glad you started this thread, as we, too, are preparing to install a residential fridge and are deciding between the LG (Model # LRMXC1803S), Samsung, and Fischer & Paykel (Model #RF170ADUSX4 N).
Since you have already decided on the LG Model # LRMNC1803S (2 freezer drawers, no external water/ice, no handles) have you done the installation yet? We are curious as to how it fits? The Samsung is 32 1/8" wide and the LG is 32.87" wide. It doesn't seem like that much of a difference, but the Foretravel manual says the hole for the RM 7832 is 32 11/16" wide. I am thinking we will need to make the hole bigger for this fridge by literally millimeters, which seems like it might be a lot of extra work, but worth it if this is the fridge we want.
I am so grateful you are a few weeks ahead of us on this project. Perfect timing! :) The RM7832 fridge hole is very very specific, and a lot of these residential fridge install threads are people with Grand Villas or 1999/2000s and newer - not the same size fridge openings. Very very specific measurements and I am suuuuuuuuper interested how the LG fits in the hole.
You also need to know where the coils are and how much room you need for cooling.
The vents for this fridge are in the bottom back.
As far as the hole goes, I have seen MANY post of fridges in the same width fit.
You are correct that the LG is 1.18 inches wider
Maybe someone can chime I here as to the actual hole they discovered when removing the rm7832
In checking with various others who have installed the RF 18 Samsung they have stated there is about an inch on each side of the new fridge, which, if correct, would mean the LG would fit with mm to spare...lol
I guess we will see when it is installed in couple of weeks!
PICS to follow.
I wanted to provide an update on the LG 1803 fridge install I was intending to do.
There was some concern that the fridge at larger than the Samsung RF18 would NOT fit in the "hole" the RM 7832 was in.
The LG fridge is about 3/4 inch wider.
I can tell you, the install of this fridge went without any complications or modifications.
PICS to follow.
OH and the fridge looks amazing!
As far as powering a refer off of house batteries and an inverter it helps to know what exactly is your current setup?
Your 98 like mine came with a partial sine wave inverter. I extensively modified my sister 97's to make a house refer use easier.
None is inexpensive if you want to run a household device off batteries. Most run their excellent gen on plug the coach into a power pole.
I did mods first and still have my rm7832. I have a chest refer/freezer which allows some flexibility in capacities.
How do you intend to use this new setup;?
I changed out the original Heart invereter to a magnum 2812 simply because I wanted a pure sine wave inverter. I had recently installed all new smart TV's and did not want any of the electronics to be affected.
I am powering my fridge directly from that inverter.
I am only running two 8D coach batteries ( the PO did not get a third one installed when replaced because the shop said it would not fit.......[they had the batteries in the wrong way...sigh..I eventually will get a third one...] but 99 per cent of the time am shore power or generator running.
Whe I travel I turn on the inverter and let the coach charge up the batteries as I go so the fridge stays on, and when parked, just plug in to shore power
For your use seems like a good setup. I also added the 2812. Excellent unit. The system is capable of being dual setback full auto gen start and stop and mix in solar.
As promised attached are pics of the fridge installed. It fit like a glove. Some of the pics show the Fridge Fixer pieces to secure the door while travelling they too work fantastic and were literally 10 minutes to install
That looks factory to me. Well done.
Nice job!
I like no handles to snag you or jab you when you walk by.