Upgraded 3 way fridge to 2 way

subfreq111

Midway through our second summer of camping, we decided we were fed up with the 3 way Norcold enough to find something better. This is in a 2018 T@B 320S. Its only saving grace was the ability to run on propane and now that we are rocking 530w of solar, I was on the search for compressor powered 2 way fridge. After reading another install here, I went with the Isotherm Cruise 65 Elegance. I paid $1034 on sale from West Marine and had it shipped to store to avoid shipping, as the store in Spokane is about a half hour away. It needs ventilation from below, so I trimmed some 2x4's to raise the bottom and create an air channel. It then exhausts out the side vents of the trailer. I'm very pleased with its performance, uses 60W when running and only cycles on about 25% of the time once it is at temp. No more difficulty lighting off or blowing out while on the road. It only uses about 10% battery capacity overnight and we're back to 100% by 10 am. Clearance is tight on the top, but it just barely clears the stovetop. The rear also barely fits thanks to the shape on the lower back corner. We also now have a bonus cabinet to the left of the fridge. It has about 50% more volume inside, as well as a freezer section, but it's smaller on the outside due to not needing the huge absorption system. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with the outcome and would highly recommend it. (Also if anyone's looking for a 3-way to replace a broken one, I'm open to selling it. Otherwise it will be a beer fridge in the garage.)


Out with the old.


In with the new.


The new cabinet is hard maple stained with fruitwood. It still needs a coat of clear polycrylic.


Spacious inside with freezer and a light!


Inside our new bonus cabinet


Air channel underneath. It's a bummer the original fridge mounting screws split the wood. I'll likely try to glue and clamp it back together. 


Clearance in back


Clearance above


Raised platform detail

Dutch061

Very nice! Your experience with the absorption refrigerator mirrors mine, not heavy enough to be a good boat anchor either. So grateful that I chose the 12 VDC on our 2020 400 BDL.

Brad

Grumpy_G

I'm still leery of electric-only fridges. I guess I'm somewhat of a luddite. For the record, I've owned an Engel/ARB fridge for over 15 years and it has been awesome on countless Jeep trips across the famous trails in the West. But I also know that 36-40 hrs is the limit without recharging a regular car size battery. Of course higher capacity batteries and solar charging extend that significantly (or not, if camping in a wooded area). In comparison an absorption fridge running on gas will run several weeks before gas runs out, and puts less strain on the battery as well. They are more finicky though in terms of airflow and leveling. 

subfreq111

All good points @Grumpy_G. We have 340Ah of Lithium in addition to the stock battery, so we could power the fridge for about 300 hours without any solar input. Definitely would be tough with just the single lead acid though. Our biggest issue with the 3 way was poor performance in 80+ degree weather. Several times coming back from day hikes when it's 90 out we would find the fridge between 50-60 degrees and wonder if we were going to get sick from spoiled food. As you know with your ARB, this is not an issue with a compressor driven fridge. 

Tabaz

One of the nice things about the Norcold running on propane was how quiet it was.  How loud is this new frig compared to the old?

webers3

Looking to do the same, thanks for posting 

gulfarea

@subfreq111 GREAT JOB! What hinges did you use on the new door, thanks so much Art

dsfdogs

@subfreq111 I can't love this enough!! I have several pain points with my '18 320S and the refrigerator is a biggy. I travelled 12 nights in Eastern Oregon last month, temps 90+, w/hook ups, and was constantly having to adjust the temp to keep fridge near 40. And, for long drive days, had to move key foods to my cooler to ensure food safety. I'm vegan so without animal products to keep cold, that helps, but still the small stock fridge doesn't hold much.

Question: since the side vents are now more open to the cabinet space, did you add any mesh? 

Thank you so much for posting!

jredder

@subfreq111 Thanks for sharing the details. How are you powering the Isotherm from the lithium ion battery? I have a smaller 60Ah lithium backfeeding (with the home battery isolated by cut-off) into the 12v outlet and it stops powering the frig after ~3 hours with 80% remaining. Voltage 11.0-11.5  

subfreq111

@Tabaz , it's not loud at all. I can only hear if it's running or not by opening the cabinet door or if I put my ear up to the upper vent outside. Quieter than the fridge I'm currently setting next to in my kitchen at home by a long shot. It has not kept me awake and I'm sensitive to ticking clocks, watches, etc. 

subfreq111

@gulfarea I used cabinet hinges and a door pull I found off the shelf at Lowe's. Hinges were $8 for the pair.

subfreq111

@dsfdogs
We just got back from Glacier NP this afternoon, and after considerable driving on gravel roads, it did get a bit dusty inside the new cabinet. I might try to see if there's a mesh like you say that can help cut down on the dust, though I wouldn't want to impede air flow for cooling. It might be impossible to have both. I would say only an issue on really dusty roads though. My truck bed has a sealed hard tonneau cover and it was at least as dusty in there too, so there might not be much that can be done. If anyone originally equipped with a knows of a factory solution with 

subfreq111

@jredder
My 340Ah Li feeds a 3000W inverter that is connected in line with shore power via an automatic bus transfer switch. This prevents anyone from accidentally paralleling the inverter output with shore power. When I turn the inverter on, all AC loads are provided power just like I plugged the trailer into shore power. This gives 120V to the fridge and also runs the 12V converter to recharge the single house battery. I leave the inverter on all day to power the fridge and keep the house battery topped up, and then before we go to bed I turn it off and let the house battery power the fridge via 12V until the sun comes up again. The 12v stock battery is fine to get us through the night and there's enough solar to get everything topped off again by the end of the next day. It sounds like you may have too long or undersized cables coming from your Lithium battery if you're seeing 11V. Or just the wires feeding the 12V outlet you're using are undersized to feed back that power. The smaller wire hurts both the wire's capacity to carry current as well as its ability to resist voltage drop. Even when I'm running the A/C off the battery and pulling 40+ amps, the lithium battery is still at 13.1V all the way down to around 10% when it starts to drop off. For me, Lithium voltage ranges from 13.1 in use to 14.5 when fully charged. I have seriously big cables coming from the battery though, 2/0 AWG. 

gulfarea

@subfreq111 Thanks for the reply about the hinges, Art

RMo

subfreq111 said: I leave the inverter on all day to power the fridge and keep the house battery topped up, and then before we go to bed I turn it off and let the house battery power the fridge via 12V until the sun comes up 

Hi!  Just curious, why do you run the fridge through the inverter all day and not just run it directly from the battery?

Sharon_is_SAM

@subfreq111 - to avoid the dust from entering the bottom vent, can you use a computer fan blowing out?  Would that entrain enough air flow from the side vent and exhaust out the bottom or will dust just enter from the side vent?  

subfreq111

@RMo
I wanted to keep the lithium batteries isolated from my original lead acid battery since they charge and operate at significantly different voltages. I could power the 12v system from the lithiums too, but would need to eliminate or upgrade the original battery to lithium as well. It works well for me to have two independent systems, with the lithium side charged by solar and the lead acid charged by the tow vehicle or converter. I may experiment though with just removing the original battery and see if I miss it as it doesn't offer much capacity anyway.

subfreq111

@Sharon_is_SAM
I don't think I can redirect the dust with a fan enough to keep it out, I have the upper and lower vents on the side. Maybe a dry static swiffer type cloth behind the grill would catch dust but still let enough air through? I don't foresee it being a big deal though.

Tabaz

Thanks so much for the feedback regarding noise levels.  This makes the 2W that more an attractive option in high heat conditions.

jredder

subfreq111
Thanks for the system details, Nick. Clever failsafe using the bus transfer switch. And a good diagnosis on my voltage drop due to wire gauge - appreciate the help.

RMo

subfreq111 said: I wanted to keep the lithium batteries isolated from my original lead acid battery since they charge and operate at significantly different voltages. I could power the 12v system from the lithiums too, but would need to eliminate or upgrade the original battery to lithium as well. It works well for me to have two independent systems, with the lithium side charged by solar and the lead acid charged by the tow vehicle or converter. I may experiment though with just removing the original battery and see if I miss it as it doesn't offer much capacity anyway.

Maybe this wouldn’t work for you, but I replaced the battery off switch with an A/B switch so I could switch between my Lithium or original AGMs.  The Lithium has separate charger and solar connections but I can give it some charge from the converter if needed.  I typically use the Lithium (400ah) for everything but have the AGMs as backup for the DC circuits.  Might work for you.

webers3

@subfreq111 How did you terminate the gas line?

subfreq111

@webers3 I found a male tapered brass plug at the hardware store in the fitting section that was made to plug that type of fitting.