18 replies to this topic

[melcooke]

Hey Ronin, it was great to meet a fellow ATCer. Do you have a pic of the passenger side and front of your build? I've not seen anyone do what you have done on the driver's side.

 

 

Hi Mel,

 

We just met at Gold Bluffs last weekend. Here's a pic of my Truckfridge TF51 in my ATC. I just have a preference for it over the 3 ways I had in my previous FWCs. My wife and I pack 4-5 days of pre-cooked meals plus beverages in it with no problem. Yes, it is harder to access with the top down but we always manage to do it. I can't think of any negatives.

[melcooke]

Some very helpful comments from a lot of people. But I have to say the comments have muddied the water for me.

 

My next question is how much solar and power storage am I ultimately going to have to have to run a fridge. So many variable it makes my head swim.

[JaSAn]

I have 200W of solar and 208AH of FLA batteries.  My refrigerator is my biggest draw (by far): ~ 4A when running.

 - Batteries are usually at 80% in AM.

 - When I have full sun I am at back at 100% before noon.

 - I can go 2 days before I get to 50% when I get little charging from solar.

 - I then run a generator and 35A charger for ~ 1 hour and let the sun finish the absorption phase.

 

Everything else is low power: LED lights, phone and laptop charging, cell booster, MaxxFan.

I do not run a furnace.

 

I have an energy budget in post #3 of my build thread ( Renovating Skoldpaddan ).

 

 

 

[Happyjax]

I have the Truckfridge TB41 chest type. It runs 24/7 on my Battleborn 100Ah and 170W solar. Have used it with lights and Furnace running and never had issues but the LiFeP04 does supply more usable power than an AGM of the same wattage....

I love mine

Edited by Happyjax, 30 November 2020 - 03:15 PM.

[larryqp]

I have 2 x 100 watt Renogy solar panels on roof and 2 x 240 amp hour Renogy 6 volt AGM batteries. The key is that the National Luna is well insulated and appears to be very efficient 

[Ronin]

Hey Ronin, it was great to meet a fellow ATCer. Do you have a pic of the passenger side and front of your build? I've not seen anyone do what you have done on the driver's side.

Here's the pics. My Truckfridge draws 2- 2.5 amps in eco mode. I've gone 4 days in mid 90* temps in Saline Valley without charging my 100AH VMax battery. I have a 120v flat panel portable solar charger but seldom use it. I seldom spend more than 2 days in one spot so just charging off my truck system is all I need to top off the battery. I've done 4 weeklong trips in the past 6 weeks and didn't even pack the charger. One thing I might add about the Truckfridge is it is very quiet.

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[steve whiteside]

I have the 3 way Dometic front open fridge in my 2020 Grandby.  I also have a chest style electric "FridgeFreeze" that we put on the floor of the camper and then remove when we get where we are going.  

 

The Dometic is almost worthless for us.  It takes forever to cool something down and like others have said when you open the door of the fridge everything wants to fall out.  On th plus side it uses very little propane while it is barely cooling our stuff.  If you are thinking of loading with drinks and then drinking and replenishing- forget it.  It would probably take 24 hours to cool 2 6 packs.  

 

The Fridgefreeze kicks butt in the cold department.  Although, it is always in the way.  Still, we do a lot of hot weather camping and what we like most is cold drinks.  My wife and I probably go through 1.5 gallons of water per day and we like it cold.  So, our fridge freeze was working over time without breaking a sweat.

 

If I had to do it over I would have deleted the Dometic fridge and tried to make that spot fit the fridge freeze that  already owned.  

 

Steve

 

 

[Fishyhead]

I replaced the Dometic 2 way fridge in my FWC Ranger with a Engel MT17F installed on the floor to a transit plate on the right hand side between the two side dinette seat boxes.  Set to 1 (of 5), it holds 30F and hardly draws any power.  I like the lift out basket which makes packing it easy.  It's a little small but I got it to fit in a specific spot which it does.  In the future, I may get an MT35F and use the 17 as a freezer.

 

I have a single 180W panel and a Battle Born 100AH battery.

[BrianG]

RamblinChet, great write up concerning the National Luna, but where did you get those metal boxes?