Residential Refrigerator Issue- Isata 5

[formerFR]

correct, Bclemons, I'm not sure I understand the instant 'kneejerk' reaction that some have to 'blame' the manufacturer of the RV for issues they either don't understand, don't try to understand, or just want to blame someone else for, and WHY they come on this forum to 'rant' about it!(or even those who 'blame' the dealer because, 'obviously', they must not have provided a 'quality' walk-thru with the new owner, who, 'obviously', would have certainly remembered every single thing that was pointed out, mentioned, or explained! not.)

It's one thing to simply ask a basic question to the forum, without throwing blame toward anything or anyone, but to immediately add terms like 'junk', or 'crap', or 'cheap' in their first post is annoying, and certainly doesn't endear most of us owners to jump in and help them.

as they say, and it still goes... honey might be better than vinegar.

[halla]

Third rv with a residential fridge, no issues, even with the one that was in our Thor.

[bclemens]

Don't get me wrong...I'm not blaming the OP...just the "techs" that throw stuff out like that, which many people take to be gospel.

That's what cost Atwood all the water heater business. One of their techs said "their water heater wasn't meant for dry camping". OK then, come pick them up.

[pmsherman]

While I don't have a residential fridge in my 2011 Georgetown, I recently had to replace the fridge in my house. Most residential fridges consume similar amounts of power but there are a few that are significantly lower in power consumption. If you can talk your dealer into special ordering the fridge in a rig you're going to buy, it might be worthwhile to see if you can get one of these low power fridges as an alternative to whatever the manufacturer normally supplies.


The one I purchased for my home is an LG with a linear compressor. LG offers an automatic extended warranty on the compressor.


Phil

[SimchaSabre]

One thing is for sure...Dometic and Norcold have surely noticed a down tic in their RV Refer business over the last few years and usually, in the business world, some sort of reaction in likely which could range from a major product breakthrough to chapter 11. The only question is will they act more like Apple or GE.

[Joe_GA]

The 18 cu ft Frigidaire in my camper is between 7 and 8 years old and works like a champ. Never a problem and it has seen many rough roads. It's off when I winterize or when I know I won't use it for a month or two. Otherwise, I leave it on 24/7.
The guy in the video was full of crap.

[tomkatb]

In the refrigeration business it is well known that letting a compressor sit idle for long periods of time is hard on the seals. They tend to dry out and leak.

That is actually the reason modern cars turn the ac on to defrost windows. Runs the compressor to lube the seals. Modern car ac systems are more dependable than in the past. In the 60’s and 70’s replacing the asbestos seals in compressors was common. Adding Freon was often done by home mechanics before it was regulated.

In older buildings that are shut down a couple of years the ac systems need Freon and often a compressor to restart. I remember the panic call I received from a young engineer who was trying to start up a system that was left idle for a couple of years. The big compressor was missing several hundred pounds of Freon. He wanted to know if someone stole it. Wanted to know if he should call the police. I was in the maintenance department. Freon was going for big bucks back then. He was looking for someone else to pay for it. When the building was shut down years ago his management refused to pay the maintenance department to set up a system to run the systems several times a year. They said to just walk away. We did.

If I had a residential fridge I would make sure it ran more than 1 week a year.

Results my vari but, the guy from the rv dealer says some relevant things.

If the rv is used a lot and mostly plugged in the residental fridge makes sense. Especially in a motor home with a generator which most have. They can recharge batteries better.

In a trailer or fifth wheel the batteries are going to get a workout. Few have on board generators. Trucks do not recharge batteries very well. National and state parks often have limited 110 available. Yellowstone is a good example.

It is a personal decision. My fifth wheel can operate for 3-4 days connected to nothing without ac. What I wanted. Get what you want.

[FFred]

The big fridge hassle is it is no longer constructed to be good , it is constructed on both price and government pressure.

Way back we had a cottage that came with an old fridge , off for 6 or 18 months was no hassle , tho the "freezer" section only held 2 boxes of frozen food and an ice cube freezing tray, it never failed.

Todays fridges have tiny tiny compressors as it is more efficient to have a tiny unit run than use a larger unit.

Additionally , since "size counts" the insulation is so thin it must be daily defrosted with heating elements.

With a setup that contains almost no margin for error , a tiny leak is a disaster.

The old days are gone forever , but the marine and off grid folks are still willing to spend the bucks for reliability.

[Joe_GA]

Originally Posted by tomkatb

In the refrigeration business it is well known that letting a compressor sit idle for long periods of time is hard on the seals. They tend to dry out and leak.

That is actually the reason modern cars turn the ac on to defrost windows. Runs the compressor to lube the seals. Modern car ac systems are more dependable than in the past. In the 60’s and 70’s replacing the asbestos seals in compressors was common. Adding Freon was often done by home mechanics before it was regulated.

In older buildings that are shut down a couple of years the ac systems need Freon and often a compressor to restart. I remember the panic call I received from a young engineer who was trying to start up a system that was left idle for a couple of years. The big compressor was missing several hundred pounds of Freon. He wanted to know if someone stole it. Wanted to know if he should call the police. I was in the maintenance department. Freon was going for big bucks back then. He was looking for someone else to pay for it. When the building was shut down years ago his management refused to pay the maintenance department to set up a system to run the systems several times a year. They said to just walk away. We did.

If I had a residential fridge I would make sure it ran more than 1 week a year.

Results my vari but, the guy from the rv dealer says some relevant things.

If the rv is used a lot and mostly plugged in the residental fridge makes sense. Especially in a motor home with a generator which most have. They can recharge batteries better.

In a trailer or fifth wheel the batteries are going to get a workout. Few have on board generators. Trucks do not recharge batteries very well. National and state parks often have limited 110 available. Yellowstone is a good example.

It is a personal decision. My fifth wheel can operate for 3-4 days connected to nothing without ac. What I wanted. Get what you want.

Tom, there is one major hole in your statement. Residential refrigerators do not lose freon due to dried seals. Yes, automotive compressors must maintain seals by running them periodically because they have a drive shaft that exits the compressor housing. The vehicle motor drives the compressor. A residential refrigerator has both the motor and the compressor in a hermetically sealed container and no freon can leak as a result of dried seals. The entire system is sealed. That said, vibration could weaken a brazed connection and cause a leak. However, a good connection should survive.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by Joe_GA

Tom, there is one major hole in your statement. Residential refrigerators do not lose freon due to dried seals. Yes, automotive compressors must maintain seals by running them periodically because they have a drive shaft that exits the compressor housing. The vehicle motor drives the compressor. A residential refrigerator has both the motor and the compressor in a hermetically sealed container and no freon can leak as a result of dried seals. The entire system is sealed. That said, vibration could weaken a brazed connection and cause a leak. However, a good connection should survive.

^^^^^^^ What Joe said. Joe happens to be one of the 3 top RV people I know. I owe him greatly for his help.

I don't have a MH, but I do have a Residential Refrigerator. It is the 2nd biggest reason I bought this fifth wheel. It is on non-stop, just like the one at my home. Other than a current problem with the icemaker apparently leaking some into the ice bin (causing a caking issue), this refrig is the Cat's Pajamas! Four six-volts and an inverter, and 50 amp shore power in my driveway, and this thing never stops running except, as Joe says, to winterize.



In fact........my Fifth Wheel has sort of become a 2nd "shop". It's where I keep my tools stored, and lots of other things that are needed in both RV and house. If I could get satellite tv reception in my driveway, I'd stay in it a lot more, there.


Caveat: I don't boondock. If I did, that would be a different consideration.

[bratbros]

Maybe this question should be under it's own thread but I'm curious. Has anyone actually replaced a residential refrigerator in an Isata 5? Will they fit through the door? If not, how would you replace one?

[bclemens]

Depends...door off, I think it fits through the dinette window. The 3-door 22cu ft, I am pretty sure the slide needs to be removed.

[caseymyers]

Originally Posted by bratbros

Maybe this question should be under it's own thread but I'm curious. Has anyone actually replaced a residential refrigerator in an Isata 5? Will they fit through the door? If not, how would you replace one?

Measure you dinette window, I've had them replaced through that window.

Even the 4 door gas fridge has to go through the window, I've had a couple of them replaced too. Had a class a one time that went through three Norcolds in two years. They were all Norcold problems. Used it as a 12 CF cupboard one summer while traveling and had to use an ice chest for my cold food. Couldn't get it replaced or repaired because the factory was back ordered on parts and fridges.

[bratbros]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Depends...door off, I think it fits through the dinette window. The 3-door 22cu ft, I am pretty sure the slide needs to be removed.

Thanks, Brian. Didn't think it would be a simple change out. When a tech does work on them do they pull them out of the enclosure?

[dannko]

When mine came back from Dynamax, one of the first things I did was attempt to turn on the frig, it would not, tried about 10 times, then finally it started up. As an ex-electronics/appliance person that concerns me as there is no reason for it not to start immediately. Same thing happened with one AC unit. I question some power damage from wherever it was plugged in at the service center.

[bclemens]

Who's service center and why would plugging it in cause damage?

There is a case for something to not start immediately as the system has load shedding built in. It prevents everything some starting up all at once and potentially overloading a gen that is just firing up.

[dannko]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Who's service center and why would plugging it in cause damage?

There is a case for something to not start immediately as the system has load shedding built in. It prevents everything some starting up all at once and potentially overloading a gen that is just firing up.

If there was some potential power issues on the power supply. I don't believe the Frigidaire has a soft start, or does it? Same with the Coleman AC, as I know some add soft starts. Your service center, after it came back, those two items wouldn't start. Then the AC was never fixed.

[bclemens]

Our service center wouldn't have any power supply issues.

Frigidaire does not have a soft start, but our multiplex system has a built in energy management system. So it would soft start on its own depending on the scenarios.

What AC was never fixed?

[dannko]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Our service center wouldn't have any power supply issues.

Frigidaire does not have a soft start, but our multiplex system has a built in energy management system. So it would soft start on its own depending on the scenarios.

What AC was never fixed?

no, but it came back worse than ever. I talked with Coleman, they gave me some troubleshooting items to look for when I described the issue. I will check those before I get anyone else involved. If I can't do it, then I will get back with Dan. FYI, the radio was not touched (they said they replaced it), so I have to change it out. There were a few other issues, not counting the transport dented the generator storage door.

[bclemens]

Yes, it was unfortunate that the driver dented the door. I did see that.