Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Renovations => Topic started by: Frontier Camping on July 17, 2024, 03:08:11 pm
Title: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on July 17, 2024, 03:08:11 pm
Looking at the options to replace the Dometic 1492 in our 2004 36'... I keep looking at the height as a major discriminator since the fuse panel is below the current unit. I see some units from 60.6" to 68" high and I also see some reported to be Garage Ready with more extreme temperature environment capabilities. That sounds like a good thing with the back of the unit up against the outside wall. Apparently they have additional insulation. Any experience and thoughts is appreciated. Thanks.... Tyson
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Michelle on July 17, 2024, 04:16:09 pm
Don't forget that depth and door swing also need to be considered. The existing Dometic 1492 is 23-24" deep. If against a wall or a situation where the door swings into the pocket door space, you need to watch that issue (not being able to open the door past 90 degrees can make pulling bins out difficult to impossible).
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on July 17, 2024, 04:30:20 pm
I'm only looking at the counter depth units and paying attention to the depth. With the 1492 being 36" wide and all of the frig's I'm looking at are 30"W so there will be a gap on the side I can put pantry shelves and accommodate the door swing. Thanks for your reminders.... Tyson
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: oldguy on July 17, 2024, 04:44:14 pm
I have a 13 something cubit foot Frigidaire that we are really happy with it and we can remove all the shelves. We have a pantry beside the fridge which we would hate to be without.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Dennis H on July 17, 2024, 05:09:45 pm
Did you consider and calculate the power requirements? Do you normally plug in at campgrounds? How long are your typical trips? Do you have enough Inverter, battery and alternator capacity to run it and still charge the house batteries? Check the name plate for running watts and include defrost and icemaker requirements. Every 100 watts is 10 A/H from the alternator/batteries.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: tothetrail on July 17, 2024, 05:56:55 pm
I have the same Dometic 1492 fridge. I've spent the couple of years trying to figure out the best replacement. Mine is still working pretty good, after dialing in the fans. But it still poses a fire risk, and I worry every time it is running. Yes, I could put in a fire suppression system, but that's not a failsafe solution either. And it still takes a whole day to come to temperature, and is temperamental in extreme temperatures or if a warm gallon of water or left-overs are placed inside.
I have looked at every possible residential and DC powered fridge currently on the market to find a good replacement. None will fit in that space without either giving up the cabinets below, or doing cabinet work to accommodate the void that would be left on one side.
I even looked into custom made DC fridges. They never returned my call or email, and I really don't love the style of that fridge anyway. It was going to be something I was willing to live with, but if they don't respond, that won't work.
Even though so many have mentioned the replacement cooling units from JC Refrigeration, I just really wanted a new box, something that would be efficient and has a little better layout than the 1492. The seal on my fridge is great, and the inside is still new looking. I don't love the wood paneling on the outside, but that can be updated with stainless, if I really wanted.
JC also manufactures complete DC refrigerators, but they do not make one to replace the size of the 1492, (36" wide and 58" tall) and don't ever intend to make one.
They sent me a couple of photos of installs of their stainless fridges, one of which was in a Foretravel. But even with their smaller unit, the Dutchaire 2417, at 23.5" deep (which is slightly less than the standard 24" counter depth) the fridge box still sticks out past the fridge opening by a couple of inches, and then the doors are another couple of inches past that. There are a bunch of plumbing and electrical lines behind the cabinet below the fridge that will not allow a full height, counter-depth fridge to sit flush with the front of the opening. And the latches they use to keep the doors closed leave a little to be desired, not exactly factory looking. But the nice thing about theirs, they are 33" wide, so they would fit nicely in the 36" opening with minimal cabinet work, and allow the doors to open nicely.
All of this to say, I just got the JC Refrigeration dual compressor 12 DC Dometic 1492 replacement cooling unit delivered today.
A significant downside of this dual compressor 12 volt cooling unit is it is rated at an average draw of 140 watts (11.6 amps at 12 volts) versus their 2417 DC fridge, rated at an average draw of 51 watts (4.2 amps at 12 volts). Quite a difference, and probably mostly just due to using it with the old design fridge with the cooling fins and a 20+ year old box. And this is why I decided to install 1,840 Amp hours of lithium batteries, instead of the initial plan of 920 Ah.
I'm kind of glad it took so long to decide, as I understand they originally used a single compressor for these replacement units, and you used your old fridge control board and electronics, neither of which worked very well. Now they are dual compressor and they supply their 3D printed control board with each unit.
It should be a fun project to get this replaced! I'll start a new thread for that.
Attached are the photo examples sent by JC Refrigeration for their manufactured 12 volt fridges and door locks, in case anyone is looking to go that route.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Dennis H on July 17, 2024, 07:28:18 pm
What are your plans for charging that size battery bank?
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: tothetrail on July 17, 2024, 11:08:42 pm
What are your plans for charging that size battery bank?
I'll start another thread for my updated electrical system.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on July 18, 2024, 10:43:32 am
Jennifer thanks for sharing your decision and the reasoning behind it! I too have been in touch with the Dutchaire folks and have experience with them. I replaced the cooling unit with their unit in our last 2006 Nimbus. The replacement process was a fun project with nothing too difficult. The electrical connections were the most confusing part since my unit was a little different from the pictures in the instructions but if you are getting new electronics it should not be an issue for you. We had some moving blankets to lay the unit on on the floor of the coach so it was easy to work on and no damage to anything.
We live in Alabama and spend a lot of time in high humidity areas so we specifically want a frost free unit. Their new refrigerators are frost free and a good option but quite a trip to get it installed. I'm not up to wrestling the old unit out and a new 220lb unit in. I'm talking to MOT about residential options and since we don't dry camp a 115V residential unit could work well. Tyson
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Protech Racing on July 18, 2024, 11:49:49 am
That's a lot of amps for a fridge. Any modern resi fridge is a lot less power that that 12 volt monster imho You could run a cheap inverter and the fridge and save some electrons. And a lot of money in batteries/ charging systems. I just don't get the math. In my case with a 24 wide fridge box, I bought a Best Buy , inverter style and it's powered by a 1000 watt pure sine inverter and a few solar panels . It is seldom plugged in. Runs fine. The batts cycle from 14.2- to 12.9. On a measly 380ah. Edit I have 1440 amphr
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Bill B on July 18, 2024, 03:44:53 pm
MOT installed our res fridge, 18 cu/ft Samsung. The fuse/relay panel was under our fridge as well. They removed the two doors and lowered the refrigerator floor and used one of the doors to make a short drawer front. A little less room to change a fuse but can be done. We are happy with the install.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: evantwheeler on August 23, 2024, 04:13:51 pm
I have the same Dometic 1492 fridge. I've spent the couple of years trying to figure out the best replacement. Mine is still working pretty good, after dialing in the fans. But it still poses a fire risk, and I worry every time it is running. Yes, I could put in a fire suppression system, but that's not a failsafe solution either. And it still takes a whole day to come to temperature, and is temperamental in extreme temperatures or if a warm gallon of water or left-overs are placed inside.
I have looked at every possible residential and DC powered fridge currently on the market to find a good replacement. None will fit in that space without either giving up the cabinets below, or doing cabinet work to accommodate the void that would be left on one side.
I even looked into custom made DC fridges. They never returned my call or email, and I really don't love the style of that fridge anyway. It was going to be something I was willing to live with, but if they don't respond, that won't work.
Even though so many have mentioned the replacement cooling units from JC Refrigeration, I just really wanted a new box, something that would be efficient and has a little better layout than the 1492. The seal on my fridge is great, and the inside is still new looking. I don't love the wood paneling on the outside, but that can be updated with stainless, if I really wanted.
JC also manufactures complete DC refrigerators, but they do not make one to replace the size of the 1492, (36" wide and 58" tall) and don't ever intend to make one.
They sent me a couple of photos of installs of their stainless fridges, one of which was in a Foretravel. But even with their smaller unit, the Dutchaire 2417, at 23.5" deep (which is slightly less than the standard 24" counter depth) the fridge box still sticks out past the fridge opening by a couple of inches, and then the doors are another couple of inches past that. There are a bunch of plumbing and electrical lines behind the cabinet below the fridge that will not allow a full height, counter-depth fridge to sit flush with the front of the opening. And the latches they use to keep the doors closed leave a little to be desired, not exactly factory looking. But the nice thing about theirs, they are 33" wide, so they would fit nicely in the 36" opening with minimal cabinet work, and allow the doors to open nicely.
All of this to say, I just got the JC Refrigeration dual compressor 12 DC Dometic 1492 replacement cooling unit delivered today.
A significant downside of this dual compressor 12 volt cooling unit is it is rated at an average draw of 140 watts (11.6 amps at 12 volts) versus their 2417 DC fridge, rated at an average draw of 51 watts (4.2 amps at 12 volts). Quite a difference, and probably mostly just due to using it with the old design fridge with the cooling fins and a 20+ year old box. And this is why I decided to install 1,840 Amp hours of lithium batteries, instead of the initial plan of 920 Ah.
I'm kind of glad it took so long to decide, as I understand they originally used a single compressor for these replacement units, and you used your old fridge control board and electronics, neither of which worked very well. Now they are dual compressor and they supply their 3D printed control board with each unit.
It should be a fun project to get this replaced! I'll start a new thread for that.
Attached are the photo examples sent by JC Refrigeration for their manufactured 12 volt fridges and door locks, in case anyone is looking to go that route.
That Dutchaire stainless fridge looks nearly identical to the 14.5cu ft 120v Haier that I put into my coach, except larger in size. I like it alot, other than the fact I wish it had more fridge space and less freezer space. I am going to reach out to JC for some of their door locks, I have not yet found a solution I love for keeping the doors closed while under way. Thanks for sharing those photos!
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on September 06, 2024, 07:10:12 pm
Quick update, We ended up with the Samsung 18F installed at MOT. Their solution was to put the fuse drawer on the right side between the frig and washer wall. I do some woodworking so I said I'd do finish work. Once I got it home I realized the wire harness wasn't long enough to be able to pull it out and get at all the fuses so I took it all apart and moved the drawer to the left side where the harness is long enough. To leave the drawer below meant making an elevated floor for the 200lb empty weight refrigerator and cutting a bit from the top frame... Leaving it on the coach floor leaves good air gap on top and the side mount of the slide works great. I bought a 10 foot piece of cheery at MOT and did the finishing at home. We are happy campers with no frost lots of ice and hard ice cream. See you at GrandVenture 2024! Tyson
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: bpal on September 13, 2024, 02:25:47 pm
Do you have to pull out the refrigerator to get to the fuses and Intellitec modules? Or did you move it below the drawer under the stove? If you could post a picture of where you moved it, that would be great.
We have the same configuration that you started with and I'm collecting ideas for a future refrigerator swap.
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on September 14, 2024, 12:43:37 pm
Bruce- I don't think you can tell from the picture I posted but on the left of the refrigerator I have a 5" cherry removable panel behind which the whole original drawer is positioned vertically. It is simply rotated from the floor to the vertical position and the left side is mounted to the floor and the top side is attached to the side wall. The fuses face toward the sink side and it uses the same drawer slides that came on it. I can pull the drawer out from its new position on the slides and reach all fuses. The harness isn't long enough to put it on the right side so the refrigerator is against the right wall but because it extends out a bit the right door opens fully but not beyond straight out.
The coach is at my storage spot so I can take pictures in a day or so once the stormy rain moves on.
It works well and I hope this helps... Tyson
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: Frontier Camping on September 15, 2024, 01:54:41 pm
Here are a couple of pictures so you can see how it fits.
The big job was handled at MOT with a forklift to take the old unit out and put the new Samsung 18F in.
I hope this helps. The back of the cover panel shows the block on the bottom that locks the base into the spot behind the tile. Half way up the panel I have a regular door latch that holds the panel in place. I haven't removed the protective plastic off the doors yet...
Title: Re: Joining the residential refrigerator clan...
Post by: bpal on September 17, 2024, 10:59:30 am