Tweet
After our Dometic 1350 4-door refrigerator failed causing us to have to return early from our winter trip in February, DW declared the refrigerator dead to her. Even though it came back to life, we decided to replace it. I considered going with a residential refrigerator but decided to go with the JC Refrigeration conversion since a DC compressor is energy efficient and they have been very reliable for us throughout our long boating experience. The best approach is to have them do the install if you are in the area as they will install it for about the price of shipping it. We did not want travel to Indiana from NC and chose to install it ourselves.
The critical issue with the replacement unit was whether it would fit in a 303 slide. It does, barely, and it takes some special work but the refrigerator is in the same position it was in originally. I prepped the rv to do the conversion inside by removing the couch and building a 4x8 platform out of cheap wood to work on in the rear of the room. I built up my furniture dolly to the same height so we only slid the refrigerator and never had to lift it.
There are multiple videos from both the supplier and Mortons on the Move so I won’t go into the conversion process in detail. The first unit I received from the supplier had a defect but they promptly sent a replacement and overall their support has been fast and excellent. Removing the refrigerator doors is straightforward but in removing the unit, I noticed that the tabs holding the screws that fasten the top of the refrigerator to the frame were broken off. The refrigerator was wiggling back and forth up top and had damaged the trim. I mentioned it to a friend who also has the same vintage 303 and, they were broken on his rv also when he inspected them. I am guessing it is a wide spread but easily fixable problem.
The removal of the old unit and replacement went as described in the videos. Ignore the electrical hookup in the video as the 1350 is different and there are specific instructions with the unit. The trick is to get the holes for the screws holding the cold plates lined up right. We did many test fits before foaming and chose to mount the refrigerator fins before the install leaving only the freezer screws to do after the install. With lots of practice fits, it went in easily. They did it a lot faster in the videos. We spent a half day at it. The one wrinkle was that a pipe connecting the two freezer cold panels interfered with one of the freezer shelf brackets and we had to work around that.
After letting it sit upright overnight, we powered it up. There were a couple of issues trying to get it going. The first is that the refrigerator control board relay requires AC to work. They provided a small inverter to power the relay. Unknown to them, the latest 1350 control boards require pure sine wave AC to work for some reason. When we fixed that, we had to short a propane safety sensor that was not there anymore. Finally, it tried to turn the compressor on but it would only start and then shut off. It didn’t take long to figure out it was a voltage drop issue. The DC wiring to the refrigerator cabinet isn’t big enough to handle the current. The compressor draws around 7 amps running and probably 10+ during startup. I ran a 10 awg wire from a separate circuit on the panel to the refrigerator cabinet which handles the current just fine with a 15 amp fuse. I did have to re-crimp a couple of connectors on the provided harnesses.
While the refrigerator was out, I filled the empty space with blue board foam insulation. There was room for 3” above the top, 2” on the side that faces out, and an inch on the inside wall. To fit the modified refrigerator in the space, I had to cut a notch in the base plate of the compressor and modify the vent. Basically, around the compressor, I cut off the vents that stick into the cabinet and replaced them with a flat sheet of acrylic (see picture). I ended up leaving the original AC cord on so I can plug it into the rv AC outlet which is also serviced by the rv inverter, or the little inverter they provide. I mounted the provided inverter in the opening and powered it with the original DC refrigerator circuit. The AC draw is nil as it is only used to switch a relay but, without it, the refrigerator tries to switch to propane. The refrigerator control logic is used before with the exact same features. The only modification is to use the AC out that went to the heater to switch a relay for the DC that powers the compressor. They do also provide a set of fin fans that mount in the refrigerator on the fins to keep the air circulating in the refrigerator. it is easy to run the wire for them out the hole that the thermistor wire uses during the installation.
The refrigerator has been running for the last three weeks or so but we haven’t yet taken a trip to test it and it is only beginning to get hot here. We will see how well it works later this summer when traveling becomes possible again.
The critical issue with the replacement unit was whether it would fit in a 303 slide. It does, barely, and it takes some special work but the refrigerator is in the same position it was in originally. I prepped the rv to do the conversion inside by removing the couch and building a 4x8 platform out of cheap wood to work on in the rear of the room. I built up my furniture dolly to the same height so we only slid the refrigerator and never had to lift it.
There are multiple videos from both the supplier and Mortons on the Move so I won’t go into the conversion process in detail. The first unit I received from the supplier had a defect but they promptly sent a replacement and overall their support has been fast and excellent. Removing the refrigerator doors is straightforward but in removing the unit, I noticed that the tabs holding the screws that fasten the top of the refrigerator to the frame were broken off. The refrigerator was wiggling back and forth up top and had damaged the trim. I mentioned it to a friend who also has the same vintage 303 and, they were broken on his rv also when he inspected them. I am guessing it is a wide spread but easily fixable problem.
The removal of the old unit and replacement went as described in the videos. Ignore the electrical hookup in the video as the 1350 is different and there are specific instructions with the unit. The trick is to get the holes for the screws holding the cold plates lined up right. We did many test fits before foaming and chose to mount the refrigerator fins before the install leaving only the freezer screws to do after the install. With lots of practice fits, it went in easily. They did it a lot faster in the videos. We spent a half day at it. The one wrinkle was that a pipe connecting the two freezer cold panels interfered with one of the freezer shelf brackets and we had to work around that.
After letting it sit upright overnight, we powered it up. There were a couple of issues trying to get it going. The first is that the refrigerator control board relay requires AC to work. They provided a small inverter to power the relay. Unknown to them, the latest 1350 control boards require pure sine wave AC to work for some reason. When we fixed that, we had to short a propane safety sensor that was not there anymore. Finally, it tried to turn the compressor on but it would only start and then shut off. It didn’t take long to figure out it was a voltage drop issue. The DC wiring to the refrigerator cabinet isn’t big enough to handle the current. The compressor draws around 7 amps running and probably 10+ during startup. I ran a 10 awg wire from a separate circuit on the panel to the refrigerator cabinet which handles the current just fine with a 15 amp fuse. I did have to re-crimp a couple of connectors on the provided harnesses.
While the refrigerator was out, I filled the empty space with blue board foam insulation. There was room for 3” above the top, 2” on the side that faces out, and an inch on the inside wall. To fit the modified refrigerator in the space, I had to cut a notch in the base plate of the compressor and modify the vent. Basically, around the compressor, I cut off the vents that stick into the cabinet and replaced them with a flat sheet of acrylic (see picture). I ended up leaving the original AC cord on so I can plug it into the rv AC outlet which is also serviced by the rv inverter, or the little inverter they provide. I mounted the provided inverter in the opening and powered it with the original DC refrigerator circuit. The AC draw is nil as it is only used to switch a relay but, without it, the refrigerator tries to switch to propane. The refrigerator control logic is used before with the exact same features. The only modification is to use the AC out that went to the heater to switch a relay for the DC that powers the compressor. They do also provide a set of fin fans that mount in the refrigerator on the fins to keep the air circulating in the refrigerator. it is easy to run the wire for them out the hole that the thermistor wire uses during the installation.
The refrigerator has been running for the last three weeks or so but we haven’t yet taken a trip to test it and it is only beginning to get hot here. We will see how well it works later this summer when traveling becomes possible again.
Comment