Magic Chef 10.1 Residential Fridge Install
This is my experience on installing a Magic Chef 10.1 residential refrigerator in my 36' 1998 U270. I capped the propane line with a ½ inch male flair plug, unplugged the 110 connection at back of fridge, and disconnected the 12 volt to the control board in the back. I got distracted and did not tape off the 12V + lead and managed to short to ground, which in turn tripped a 30A 12V breaker located in the driver's side bay large storage area. I found two hex head screws holding the fridge to the floor at the back and about four to six Phillips head screws around the frame at the front. My fridge sits above the propane furnace at about 14 inches, got a two wheel dolly that had a removable handle and a set of smaller casters that could be placed below the fridge. It was about 13 inches high with a piece of ¾ plywood sitting on top. Removed both doors from the fridge, front control panel, all shelves and plastic organizers and then wiggled it out onto the dolly. I then laid it down on a pad and removed rest of door hinge brackets, turned it face down and removed the ammonia cooling system as if I were replacing it with another. These efforts reduced the weight to less than half.
Preparation of coach for removal and installation: removed inside oak grab handle at right of door; removed screen door; lifted up dash cover and middle dash cover with worthless drink holders and propped them open; moved passenger chair back as far as it would go, and then turned it at an angle toward the driver's chair. Carried doors and interior items of fridge from coach, removed the cooling unit, and then removed the empty box.
The Magic Chef 10.1 clearly states in the operation manual in bold print: not for use in an RV and not to be operated with an inverter. It also does not recommend placing in a "built in" cabinet or operating outside of a conditioned space. I bought a 1500 watt pure sine inverter from Windy Nation with a 3,000 watt surge capacity (store brand). It is installed next to the main battery buss in the driver's side large storage cabinet. The inverter is connected to the battery buss with 2 gauge welding/battery cables and a 150 AMP fuse all supplied with the inverter.
I then ran a 12 ga extension cord from the inverter, up into the kitchen cabinets and followed the path of my solar wires to the back of the fridge. The extension cord already had a replacement female socket, so I removed it to make it easier to thread it back up behind the cabinets and to the fridge, cut the cord to length and reattached the plug. I am powering the inverter from a 600 A lithium battery pack supported by 900 W solar. I did some research and one recommendation from an electrical engineer is to size your inverter at 5x the annual electrical consumption of the appliance. The sticker said 297KW per year, so 1500 seemed adequate. This will hopefully make the dire warning not to operate the fridge from an inverter a moot point.
Air flow: Foretravel installed multiple layers of Styrofoam insulation board in my cabinet to make a snug fit on the sides of the original Norcold. I removed one layer of insulation from both sides which gave me an air gap at both sides, fortunately the gap on the left side of the fridge is twice the size and that's where the coils run in this fridge. I also have air gaps at the top and bottom of the fridge, but the cabinet framing around the left and right side of the fridge is tight to the fridge which actually helps hold it in place. The original roof and side wall vents have been closed off. The fridge now gets its airflow from the interior of the coach. I can feel some convection at the top where the air is warmer. I've placed a remote thermometer at the back of the fridge to monitor the temperature and will add a circulation fan if needed.
Mounting: Bottom front, two 1/8" by 1" by 3" metal straps are attached to the bottom cabinet frame and into the bottom hinge bolts of the fridge. Top front: Two 1.5 x 1.5 x 3" aluminum angle pieces were attached to the top of the fridge with VHB tape and then screwed into the top cabinet frame. Back bottom: two similar aluminum angle pieces were screwed into the bottom lip of the fridge and attached to the fiberglass covered floor of the fridge compartment with VHB tape. I've already traveled some Arkansas and Oklahoma hairpin turn roads with no problems. It seems very secure.
Securing doors while driving: An Okie Engineering project in test mode consists of custom made ¼ inch bungee cords affixed to a padlock hasp (the none hinge portion) that was attached with VHB tape. I'm using clear Command hooks in unobtrusive places on the visible side of the cabinet. It's working so far, very easy to use and hangs out of sight (nearly) at left side of fridge.
Power consumption: Bought a Harbor Freight watt meter and it indicates 65W running and after 10 days I'm average 31 watts per hour in 60 to 100 F temperatures.
I stripped the new fridge to bare bones to bring it into the coach – no doors, shelves, hinges, bins, etc. Fit through the door and then set it on the four-wheel dolly used to remove old fridge. Had help lifting the fridge into the coach but inserted it into the cabinet by myself. Install all shelves before you attach the doors, or you get to install them twice. Pain in the rear.
Color choices: Purchased at Home Depot and they offer it in stainless, black and white. We would probably save the money and buy black because the stainless shows more fingerprints, but what's done is done. Very happy with a frost-free fridge that required no cabinet work in our coach and has two more cubit feet of storage capacity in the same footprint as the old Norcold. Appreciate all the responses and advice offered in my previous post about replacement.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a trained RV tech, engineer, or product specialist. This is a description of what I did, follow it at your own risk and peril. These fridges nearly outweigh me, so I did everything I could imagine to reduce the physical requirements. Suggest you get a good strong, younger, fit friend or two to help.
Topic: Magic Chef 10.1 Residential Fridge Install