A member asked me (in a PM) for details of my installation of the Isotherm Cruise 130 DC-only compressor fridge that I bought to replace my Norcold N300 3-way fridge that ruptured and tried to poison me. So I figured that I might as well share publicly. As shown in my signature, this is in a 2005 FWC Hawk.
Ummm....I'm really not a handy-man (as my workmanship shows
) , but I know how to figure things out, and it's functional.
(Full disclosure: this is actually a re-installation 3 months after I bought the CR 130 from XPMarc. When I picked up the fridge from Marc July 4th weekend I was in a hurry, and the method we used to secure it in the box was not optimum. But I figured I'd re-do it when I got home...and, sure enough, just 3 months later I did it!
)
This is the empty plywood box that's left when the Norcold N300 is removed (after removing the propane tubing that fed it fuel):
This is a close-up of the bottom of the empty box:
This is a close-up of the top of the empty box:
Securing the fridge in place.
Seems like the feet would be a likely place to secure at the bottom. Unfortunately, the feet are stainless steel, so after dulling one bit I bought one intended for SS and succeeded:
Then drove a screw through the hole into the plywood bottom:
It was kinda tight to get the screw on the right in place 'cause the door was in the way...but I had to have the door in place because I wouldn't be able to put the door back on after the fridge was in the box:
There was empty space between the top of the fridge and the top of the box, so I put a piece of 3/4" thick wood in place as a shim:
There is a strip of metal frame across the top-front of the fridge, and I used that frame as a mounting/securing point:
(Originally there was frame around the sides, too, but there was no room to fit that in the existing space, so we removed it.)
Frame screwed into the shim:
Installed!
Looks like it was made to fit here, doesn't it! And yet, this CR130 has 50% more interior volume than the N300...must be some kind of super-dimensional space-warp involved.
I took a photo of the back of the Cruise 130 before I installed it -- pretty simple: 2 wires:
The instructions said that the power leads should be connected directly to the battery, so I decided to follow those directions rather than using the existing dc wires that had connected to the Norcold. This meant I had to thread wire from the fridge location over to the battery, but that wasn't hard.
I need to seal up some open gaps around the edge and top...maybe use some strips of closed-cell foam and/or Reflectix that I have...
Ummm....I'm really not a handy-man (as my workmanship shows

(Full disclosure: this is actually a re-installation 3 months after I bought the CR 130 from XPMarc. When I picked up the fridge from Marc July 4th weekend I was in a hurry, and the method we used to secure it in the box was not optimum. But I figured I'd re-do it when I got home...and, sure enough, just 3 months later I did it!

This is the empty plywood box that's left when the Norcold N300 is removed (after removing the propane tubing that fed it fuel):

This is a close-up of the bottom of the empty box:

This is a close-up of the top of the empty box:

Securing the fridge in place.
Seems like the feet would be a likely place to secure at the bottom. Unfortunately, the feet are stainless steel, so after dulling one bit I bought one intended for SS and succeeded:

Then drove a screw through the hole into the plywood bottom:

It was kinda tight to get the screw on the right in place 'cause the door was in the way...but I had to have the door in place because I wouldn't be able to put the door back on after the fridge was in the box:

There was empty space between the top of the fridge and the top of the box, so I put a piece of 3/4" thick wood in place as a shim:

There is a strip of metal frame across the top-front of the fridge, and I used that frame as a mounting/securing point:

(Originally there was frame around the sides, too, but there was no room to fit that in the existing space, so we removed it.)
Frame screwed into the shim:

Installed!

Looks like it was made to fit here, doesn't it! And yet, this CR130 has 50% more interior volume than the N300...must be some kind of super-dimensional space-warp involved.

I took a photo of the back of the Cruise 130 before I installed it -- pretty simple: 2 wires:

The instructions said that the power leads should be connected directly to the battery, so I decided to follow those directions rather than using the existing dc wires that had connected to the Norcold. This meant I had to thread wire from the fridge location over to the battery, but that wasn't hard.
I need to seal up some open gaps around the edge and top...maybe use some strips of closed-cell foam and/or Reflectix that I have...