RV to Residential Refrigerator Mod.

[cbvp]

Original Dometic RM1350 gas/electric 4 door on right.




New Samsung RT21M6213SR/AA residential 2 door.



(sorry dirty camera lense)



Samsung has 7.6 cu. ft. more inside space. 32.1 lbs. lighter.



C.B.

[KFX450RXC]

Impressive!

[Jeff6146]

Shut up, are you for real. I’m getting one this week then. Care to post how you took it out and put the new one in?

[cbvp]

I started by getting rid of the single 12V battery.

Went with 2- high amp hr 6V deep cycle battery's.

I then installed a Xantrex Freedom xi 1000 inverter.

You want the inverter as close to the batteries as possible.




Homade battery cover with vent hose.



From there I cannot take a lot of credit.

The actual removal of old Dometic, install of new Samsung, 120V wiring was done by Brandon and Eric from Quietwoods South RV in Neenah,Wi.

You will notice we brought the frig up 4" off the floor. I wanted it as high as possible.

I also had them wire it so only th refrigerator operates off the inverter.

Brandon is suppose to be E-mailing me progress photo's of the work.

Will post them a a later if possible.

Be sure of ALL your measurements!

We came real close to the kitchen island due to increased depth of Samsung!

C.B.

[traindrv]

How is the fridge secured to the RV, there have been a lot of issues with household fridges mounted at the factory falling over. Just curious.

[cbvp]

Originally Posted by traindrv

How is the fridge secured to the RV, there have been a lot of issues with household fridges mounted at the factory falling over. Just curious.

On the inside it is screwed down through the leveling pads. On the outside there are 2- L brackets securing top of frig to to 2 studs behind frig.



C.B.

[traindrv]

That sounds good, that should do it.

[Ray Friend]

How many amps does the new one pull? How long do your batteries last?

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by Ray Friend

How many ams does the new one pull? How long do your batteries last?

I bet it draws 6 amps average (continuous)...with 100 AH available (2 batteries) or around 16 hours with no charging to 50% SOC.

[jeffnick]

Originally Posted by traindrv

How is the fridge secured to the RV, there have been a lot of issues with household fridges mounted at the factory falling over. Just curious.

I did a similar conversion in my boat. I didn't want to put any holes in the dorm fridge when I installed it. I secured the new unit in the old space with a reverse clamp setup.

I soldered some long nuts to a piece of brass angle. Then using bolts of the appropriate length, I ran them up out of the long nuts until the fridge was wedged in place. The wing-nuts keep the bolts from working back down. The brass angle was a handy place to mount the controller. This setup has been bulletproof on the road for thousands of miles on the road and hundreds of miles on the water.


I can keep this fridge going for a couple days on a group 31 battery via an inverter.

For a longer term solution to refrigeration, I made a refrigerator out of a chest freezer. While on shore power I freeze a 5 gallon container of brine into a brick. Then on the road or water I have refrigeration for 6 or 7 days without power.
One More Time Around: Freezer/Refrigerator Findings

[Jeff6146]

Originally Posted by cbvp

I started by getting rid of the single 12V battery.

Went with 2- high amp hr 6V deep cycle battery's.

I then installed a Xantrex Freedom xi 1000 inverter.

You want the inverter as close to the batteries as possible.




Homade battery cover with vent hose.



From there I cannot take a lot of credit.

The actual removal of old Dometic, install of new Samsung, 120V wiring was done by Brandon and Eric from Quietwoods South RV in Neenah,Wi.

You will notice we brought the frig up 4" off the floor. I wanted it as high as possible.

I also had them wire it so only th refrigerator operates off the inverter.

Brandon is suppose to be E-mailing me progress photo's of the work.

Will post them a a later if possible.

Be sure of ALL your measurements!

We came real close to the kitchen island due to increased depth of Samsung!

C.B.

did you happen to get those pictures and procedure from your installer

[Mr Canoehead]

did you cap the propane line or pull it out?

[Jeff6146]

Originally Posted by Mr Canoehead

did you cap the propane line or pull it out?

Oh good question. I’ve been told by installers that they all just cap it. Here’s another question the frig that as pulled out should b 120vdc just as the new one should have been. I wonder if they ran any new breakers or ran any lonesome other that to the inverter?

[cbvp]

Originally Posted by Jeff6146

did you happen to get those pictures and procedure from your installer

install is all my own work

[Mad Cow]

Not intending to shotgun the OP's mod, just add additional options.

The only way I would go is with a 12v refrigerator freezer that is designed up front for tough mobile use. They can be had up to 10 cube..... 2.1 cube freezer, 8.2 cube fridge... and will fit where a 8 cube 3way fridge is. Runs totally on 12v and will switch to 120v when on shore power. More pricey than a residential type unit, but no more than those goofy 3way units that come from the factory. And far more efficient on 12v than using an inverter on a residential fridge. So while they are a little more, it is one area where it is true that you get what you pay for.

I have used them for most of this century. My current one in my semi truck has about 800,000 miles on it, been operating 24/7 for almost 6 years, and will keep frozen foods good and frozen even in over 100F heat with the truck shut off. Never lost any dairy in the fridge section either. And on decent days... 70F type... it can run for a couple of days on 12v alone before knocking the batteries down too far to start the truck.

What truly amazes me is that the RV/TT OEM's don't offer these units or even make them standard. Far better than the ancient crap they are putting in trailers, especially since it wouldn't cost any more to do it.

[cbvp]

Originally Posted by cbvp

install is all my own work

Sorry for delay in responding. Medical problem.

1) No pics available yet.

2) They did cap the propane line.

3) They did make some breaker changes in the electrical panel.

Will probably not be on line for 3 to 4 weeks due to surgery.


C.B.

[Jeff6146]

get better. that’s all that matters.

[Mad Cow]

^^^ x2