Propane to Household fridge conversion

Propane to Household fridge conversion - Printable Version

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Propane to Household fridge conversion - encantotom - 10-01-2012

hi all,

after reading about the tragic fire of a 99 wanderlodge this week and that it was being attributed to the propane fridge as the most likely reason for the fire, it has renewed peoples interest in converting from a propane rv fridge to a household fridge.

since i did that not too long ago on my 1990, i thought i would share my experience with it.

darlene was never happy with the dometic 2820 fridge we had. it was small, it didnt cool very well when it was hot outside (this is a debate on forums, but until you live in the phoenix area, you dont really know what hot is.) by hot i mean 110-120 degree ambient. and you say, why would we want to use the fridge when it is that hot? because we want to load it up and since it takes a better part of day to get cold, we fire it up the day before we are leaving to be able to stock it up.

i have studied ammonia gas fridge specs, and no matter what any of you say, if it is 115 degrees outside, your fridge is NOT going to get down to 40 degrees. particularly if you turn it on and the interior of the coach is 125 degrees. i talked to a tech at campingworld service and he said he believes people have them change fridges in the summer not understanding that it just cant cool like a compressor fridge can.

if you look at specs, the best operating ammonia fridge will cool 55-60 degrees from ambient. so, for those of you who live in normal parts of the world and it is 95 degrees, yea your fridge will get down to 35 degrees and you are happy as a lark. if it is 115 degrees and your fridge is even a little less than perfect, you now have a slightly cool fridge temp of 55-60 degrees. and the freezer is not good enough either.

i have discussed this with many people who are claiming their fridges work when it is hot just fine. the problem is that they really dont know what HOT is. it is all relative.

btw, once we would get on a trip and get to a temperature that most of the rest of you believe is hot and we believe is a cold wave, the fridge would work fine....just still be too small.

so....having established that the fridge needs to be replaced with a household one, i went on the quest to find the right one. i had very little room to get too different of a fridge dimension wise. there were several discussion in different places on what fridge replaced their rv fridge and when gordon (who is on this forum) replaced his, i followed his lead and used the same one. although, in typical newell fashion of no two newells are the same, my cabinet work was much more extensive than his was.

i used the whirlpool Model# ET0MSRXTB. i paid $300 delivered from Lowes on it.

it has rear cooling coils that are exposed but that made it easier for me to put a cooling fan there to blow up.

i will tell you it took fairly extensive modifications to the cabinet. i had to trim on both sides and the top and re fabricate the base (cutting down the drawer as well) to make it fit in mine.

in addition i made a removable panel that is accessible from the exterior fridge access door to seal the compartment up since there is no longer a need for outside air. i also enclosed the top roof vent from the inside where the gas chimney went.

i added a computer fan that is switched from a switch in the cabinet next to the fridge to turn the fan on to blow across the coils.

i did current measurements. the biggest current drain was the defrost circuit. so i disconnected it on the fridge. i was not going to use it for more than weeks at a time so that is not a big deal. and if it was, it takes ten minutes to plug it back in from the inside freezer compartment.

when i was done i do not believe you could tell it wasnt done at the newell factory. i have shown several members of the forum and they say the same thing.

1. the new fridge was taller and wider. so i had to cut the sides and cut the top and lower the platform it sits on by 4". that meant i had to make the drawer shorter and shorten all the supports underneath including the plenum for the heat in the bathroom. i made a jig out of aluminum stock to cut straight since it was so close to the wall.

2. i used black edgebanding since the fridge is black. and painted the inside with flat black. it blends perfectly.

3. i drilled five 1" holes across the top for ventilation and painted the inside of the holes black.

4. i made a small plenum about 12" high and mounted a 3 speed computer fan on the top pointed at the bottom of the coils on the back of the fridge. i ran a switch to the inside back of the cabinet over the dinette. just for extra ventilation if needed when really hot.

5. i did the same as yours with full sized house fridges. i made a piece of wood go across the top just behind the hinges that i used the front levelers of the fridge to "jam" the fridge up against to hold it steady. i also put 2 wood screws on the bottom plate of the back of the fridge into the platform. it aint going anywhere

6. i sealed up all former openings to the outside. the roof and the side access panel for the old propane fridge. i made the outside one removable to get at the back of the fridge.

7. i wired the fridge into the inverter circuit.

7.5 i disconnected the fridge defrost circuit. we dont live in it full time so it gets defrosted by turning it off. besides, it consumes 400 watts. the fridge is only 1amp with the compressor running and 2 amps at startup for a few seconds. i am trying to keep it as low a power as possible. the uline icemaker i have draws 2 amps....not counting the heater to loosen the ice cubes before it dumps them out.

8. installed it and turned it on. got from 85 ambient to minus 4 in the freezer in a few hours. love it.

i have to say that it was way more work than i expected, but the results are outstanding.

it cools down in a few hours and is ice cold even when it is 115 degrees outside.

darlene was happy so i was too. and it was a fun project

tom

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - Erniee - 10-01-2012

I have added residential refers to many coaches. I leave the roof vent and side access intact. I do, however, insulate around the perimiter to keep the air from outside migrating inside with the negative pressure we have going down the road. I have just installed the smaller 9.7 cu ft models, but the principles are basically the same.

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - encantotom - 10-01-2012

on the all electric coaches there are no exterior vents for the fridge so i did the same.

whatever works and people are comfortable with.

tom

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - encantotom - 05-20-2013

ernie, the fridge i put in was the 9.7cu ft one as well. the same one that most people put in rv's.

i never did get around to making a latch for it to prevent it from opening when you are driving. there was no way to do the solenoid one like is on my amana in the 02.

i have seen different ways including gordon who put a mechanical pin that he takes in and out.

i ended up buying industrial exterior grade 2" wide velcro with the stickem on the back of the fuzzy side and no stickem on the hook side. then i cut the fuzzy side to about a 6" length and 2 more pieces that were put on the freezer and fridge door on the handle side. i then cut a piece of the loop that was 2" wide and went the entire length of the 6" piece, that would wrap around the side of the fridge to cover the 2 smaller pieces on the doors.

then i put the longer piece on the 6" piece and attached it to the side of the fridge.

pictures show it much easier. but i dont have any.

it works great, is the same color as the fridge and is easily stowed to the side with a smaller piece of velcro i put on the cab.

bill, you will have to let me know how it works long term.

tom

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - roadappels - 05-20-2013

Tom, just getting re-acclimated to home..the strip on the side of the fridge came off so we just attached to the little white strip on the base of the cabinet. It held up well but will probably figure a more permanent solution..
I think there was not enough contact with the side of the fridge as it was a very tight area and not much room to have continued pressure on..
She sure does handle great and the couches both work great for naps Tongue

It was the first time on a road trip I got to ride and not drive and I could get used to part-time driving duty!

b

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - encantotom - 05-20-2013

sorry about the velcro not working. i was very pleased with myself on that....prematurely so.

tom

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - Gordon - 05-20-2013

Tom,
If you still have that pin, I have over 20K miles on mine & no failures. KISS was my motto on the design.

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - cdat - 05-20-2013

Question on the electrical, I have a heart inverter, with a link 2000, so a modified sine wave. Will this effect switching to a household fridge? This has been the biggest reason I have held off doing the switch, as I really don't want to upgrade the inverter at this time.

Thanks
John

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - Gordon - 05-20-2013

John,
While it is a long story, I have been using a Black & decker 1000w Modified sinw wave converer without a problem for years. I have read on this forum that you need a pure sine wave for a frig, & while I'm sure it would be better, mine works fine. I guess if I had a $1500 frig, I might think differently!

RE: Propane to Household fridge conversion - rheavn - 05-21-2013

I have a 2500W Heart invertor with the Amana side X side and it has worked since '99.