new retro fridge from home depot!

Started by 1969dc22, June 19, 2018, 11:10 PM

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1969dc22

The previous owner had removed the old propane fridge and left me with a small minifridge that was in very bad shape. I am trying to get ready for a camping trip on the 30th and a new fridge is near the top of my list. its been hard to find a large fridge that will fit in the 22 7/8 cabinet opening. I found a couple online in the 400 dollar range then i stumbled upon this beauty at home depot. perfect width and retro to boot. today was my lucky day 278+ tax later and i had it home.



HandyDan

Now that's just "cool".  Get it? Cool?   :D
1984 Holiday Rambler
1997 Newmar Kountry Star

Rickf1985

BUT? How much power does it suck up? Cheap fridges usually are big energy hogs and that is not good on an RV, especially an old one with limited power capabilities. I assume you plan to be on shore power all the time? My worries are travel time between A and B when the fridge is off. My last two modern fridges at the house would warm up in three hours in a power outage! Dismall. My 45 year old upright freezer will stay frozen for two days without power!

Froggy1936

That's what generators are for , Also a bag of dry ice will keep for quite a while !  Frank  ;)
"The Journey is the REWARD !"
Member of 15 years. We will always remember you, Frank.

Rickf1985

I can't even find dry ice near me and when I do find it then it is so expensive it is just cheaper to wait till I get where I am going to buy food there. If that refrigerator has modern electronics in it which it most likely does then running it on an old style generator might not be a good idea.

1969dc22

never had the original generator. its long gone. planning on getting a little 2000 or 3000w honda and a couple of batterys with an inverter. ill let you guys know how it goes. a nice inverter + a couple of deep cycle batterys+ the cost of the fridge will still run me less than a new propane one

Rickf1985

Make sure you get a true sine wave inverter and also figure at least 25% more power than the fridge will draw. You are going to need more than two batteries I am sure. Running amperage will be low but the starting amperage is the killer and if you don't have enough you can burn out the compressor on the new fridge.


They ain't cheap!
https://www.eastwood.com/2000w-pure-sine-wave-power-inverter-w-remote.html?SRCCODE=PLA00020&gclid=CjwKCAjw9qfZBRA5EiwAiq0AbcNoer1oYrjo1ve0PjfcL6l0EqblgEudCGw-Gn7GmfIUE5Mz43EBWhoCKq8QAvD_BwE

1969dc22

taking a family on vacation isnt cheap. i have a 3 and a 4 year old. camping is about the cheapest thing we can do and still get out of the house. im ok with spending some coin.
correct me if im wrong but if im running the fridge off of the inverter while i am not plugged in on the road and the engine is running the alternator will be powering the fridge?

1969dc22

so i pulled out the booklet.
120v 60hz
1.4amps
1.06kw.h in 24 hour


doesnt seem too bad
https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/ac-to-dc-amperage-conversion-run-through-an-inverter.html
according to this site its only 16 amps dc and 168 watts

TerryH

Quote from: Rickf1985 on June 20, 2018, 09:15 PM
Make sure you get a true sine wave inverter and also figure at least 25% more power than the fridge will draw. You are going to need more than two batteries I am sure. Running amperage will be low but the starting amperage is the killer and if you don't have enough you can burn out the compressor on the new fridge.

The start amperage draw will likely surprise you. Generally far higher than the run draw. One reason why few manufacturers will state it, unless you do a very intense search.
The primary reason that a high draw item/appliance has an off/on switch is to absorb the initial power spike. The item itself is not made to accept such a spike.
if you wish to test this and have a 1500W stand alone heater, turn it on before plugging it in. Then plug it in and observe the blue spark at the socket. Unplug it, same thing. Your wall socket and male end of the cord are not designed to accept the required spike, and likely never will be.
The switch is.
Back to what Rick said, a 1500W AC unit may conceivably need 2000W to switch on. Should your converter, etc. be running you may have a fuse/breaker problem.
Advice only.
Been there, done that.
Didn't bother with the T-shirt.
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are - it is our choices.
Albus Dumbledore

Rickf1985

Quote from: 1969dc22 on June 20, 2018, 10:23 PM
so i pulled out the booklet.
120v 60hz
1.4amps
1.06kw.h in 24 hour


doesnt seem too bad
https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/ac-to-dc-amperage-conversion-run-through-an-inverter.html
according to this site its only 16 amps dc and 168 watts


It's your setup and you already bought it so you are going to have to make it work but drawing 16 amps out of your batteries is going to draw them down very quickly. You better hope that fridge is very well insulated but like I said the last couple I bought, and they were much more money, only stayed cool for an hour without power. With the power on they cycle on every ten minutes or so. NOW, If this is not a frost free model then this is a whole different conversation and you might be in good shape since most of the non-frost free models don't have fans and might have better insulation. Only time will tell. But at a 16 amp draw with nothing else at all in use like lights or pump you will drain your batteries in about ten hours of use. I mean REALLY drain them. you probably only will have 6-7 hours at that rate before you hit 50%. I don't know what size batteries you plan on getting but I am going by the average. One thing you are not adding into that conversion is power loss in the inverter. Your 168 watts will be closer to 200 or more watts.


Here is another calculator from that same site that gives a little more realistic view of what you are looking at. I bumped up the amperage to 18 to account for loss and any other accessories which would not allow for much.


https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/calculator-sizing-a-battery-to-a-load.html

tmsnyder

1 kw-hr per day, at 12V, is about 100 A-hr.   I believe that's more than a typical deep cycle, they are usually around 75 I believe.  So assuming you get an inverter that can handle the start amps, it would run less than a day per battery.




1969dc22

i would be happy to get a setup where i could get 8 to 10 hrs out of the batterys running the fridge. i am going to have to run a generator for my air conditioning anyway. if the batterys can keep the fridge running while we are out hiking or doing whatever the activity is for the day that would be perfect. when i get back fire up the ac and generator. a lot of the places we "camp" at have electric anyway.