About to pull trigger on danfoss fridge

[lewster]

Sorry, I should have read your requirements a bit more closely.

The Me-SBC is for battery to battery charging, but it does have settings to prevent draining the main bank while charging the auxiliary one. Alternator to DC is a whole 'nuther issue.

[CA_Tallguy]

Big truck bearing gifts! Well not even close to a gift...

[lsbrodsky]

Looks nice but I have thought long and hard about your plan and I think AS had the right design with a propane reefer. I have almost no experience with RVs but I have a lot of experience with cruising sailboats.
The reefer on a sailboat is the biggest DC load and forces you to always be concerned about battery charging and discharge. Moreover, battery technology is over 100 years old and is just not ideal. Yes, I heard Lewster's concerns about ammonia safety, but ammonia refrigeration has been around longer than batteries, almost.
What I like is having an alternate fuel for my heat and refrigeration, with minimal demand on the batteries. Once you start needing high amp-hour duty on your batteries you end up spending time and money charging those suckers and solar will not be enough.
The beauty is, the choice is yours, but I like the original design.
Larry

[CA_Tallguy]

I hear ya... I stressed out over the decision for a few days. But a few things helped sway me over the edge toward electric. One, people saying I this thread and others that it has worked out great for them. And two, when I figured out that it would pull fewer amps than a fantastic fan... That really made me comfortable that if be able to keep up with the power needs, especially as when I am on the road, I generally don't stay in one place for long so there is plenty of drive time to charge the batteries while towing and/or to power the fridge off the tow vehicle.

I believe that these danfoss units are tremendously more efficient than traditional rv fridges, so I kind of wonder if it will end up being easier and cheaper to run a planned propane generator now and then vs burning the fuel directly to cool the fridge. Especially considering the surplus solar capacity I have that can offset some power needs.

Also I am kind of a geek for newer technology. But it isn't the right decision for everyone, I'm sure. It just fits my needs well-- at least in theory.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by CA_Tallguy

I hear ya... I stressed out over the decision for a few days. But a few things helped sway me over the edge toward electric. One, people saying I this thread and others that it has worked out great for them. And two, when I figured out that it would pull fewer amps than a fantastic fan... That really made me comfortable that if be able to keep up with the power needs, especially as when I am on the road, I generally don't stay in one place for long so there is plenty of drive time to charge the batteries while towing and/or to power the fridge off the tow vehicle.

I believe that these danfoss units are tremendously more efficient than traditional rv fridges, so I kind of wonder if it will end up being easier and cheaper to run a planned propane generator now and then vs burning the fuel directly to cool the fridge. Especially considering the surplus solar capacity I have that can offset some power needs.

Also I am kind of a geek for newer technology. But it isn't the right decision for everyone, I'm sure. It just fits my needs well-- at least in theory.

For what it's worth.............I think you made the RIGHT choice.

[CA_Tallguy]

Well thanks Lew!

Now I need to decide how I'm going to handle the roof vent. I've got a bunch of wires coming down it right now, so I don't want to seal it up completely. The unit won't provide much clearance in the back to vent a lot of heat out the top, at least unless I want to build it in to provide that. I suspect the vents in the fridge door might be sufficient and better venting than a lot of boats provide.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by CA_Tallguy

Now I need to decide how I'm going to handle the roof vent. I've got a bunch of wires coming down it right now, so I don't want to seal it up completely. The unit won't provide much clearance in the back to vent a lot of heat out the top, at least unless I want to build it in to provide that. I suspect the vents in the fridge door might be sufficient and better venting than a lot of boats provide.

I've made this recommendation a couple of times before, for different applications, but how about a Nicro solar-powered fan vent?
3" Stainless Steel Minivent 1000 | Marinco

[CA_Tallguy]

Interesting... Things like that could help the fridge run even more efficiently. I wonder if I could retrofit something or build something like that to use the existing vent. To make it work, I might actually have to create a new flue in the cabinet next to the fridge as I likely will be blocking the normal channel along the back unless I move the fridge out slightly from the wall.

[timzog]

Originally Posted by truckasaurus

The trailer has 2 6V batteries and a nice monitoring system, after all the endless calculating and worrying about usability it turned out to be a non concern. The batteries get a charge whilst driving and or from my Honda EU3000 or shore power; I don't have any solar yet. I have not even come close to using 25% of the battery bank yet as my trailer is pretty efficient, even after several days boon docking. Next I'm adding LED flat panel lights which I haven't seen anyone else use on here yet so that will help too. On the Sovereign (33') I'm doing next I'll install a larger variant much like you are discussing no question. As an added bonus the Isotherm is a beautiful piece of kit unlike the RV appliances I checked out.

I am close to getting a 4.2 cu foot Truckfridge. I currently have only 1 12V battery (˜100 AH) and 200W of solar panels on the roof. I'd rather not add a bunch more of either and typically camp in the southwest with good sun. All my lights are LED and I don't have an inverter since we don't use any 110V appliances while camping. Do you think I'd be all right for boondocking or should I go for the dual golf cart battery and/or more solar power?
Thanks

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by timzog

I am close to getting a 4.2 cu foot Truckfridge. I currently have only 1 12V battery (˜100 AH) and 200W of solar panels on the roof. I'd rather not add a bunch more of either and typically camp in the southwest with good sun. All my lights are LED and I don't have an inverter since we don't use any 110V appliances while camping. Do you think I'd be all right for boondocking or should I go for the dual golf cart battery and/or more solar power?
Thanks

100ah is only half of that since you can't deplete the battery all the way. So you have 50Ah. I personally would look into adding a second battery. You don't need a lot of power right now from your statement, but a second battery will keep your system always in the green.

A Danfoss is on my spring time upgrades list too. Cheers.

[timzog]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

100ah is only half of that since you can't deplete the battery all the way. So you have 50Ah. I personally would look into adding a second battery. You don't need a lot of power right now from your statement, but a second battery will keep your system always in the green.

A Danfoss is on my spring time upgrades list too. Cheers.

Thanks. I went ahead and bought the Truckfridge unit. I'm going to install it with extra insulation around the sides and ventilation in the back. I'm going to do some experiments to see how much power it actually draws and then make a decision about the extra battery. My goal is to be able to go three days without sun so I think you may be right about another battery. Have fun with your project.

[Mark of SJC]

Originally Posted by CA_Tallguy

Interesting... Things like that could help the fridge run even more efficiently. I wonder if I could retrofit something or build something like that to use the existing vent. To make it work, I might actually have to create a new flue in the cabinet next to the fridge as I likely will be blocking the normal channel along the back unless I move the fridge out slightly from the wall.

Now that it’s been a number of years, how did the long term performance of your all electric fridge go? And what about the accompanying battery upgrades and related chargers? In hind sight, would you have done anything differently???