Haier Refrigerator Install in a 2019 315RLTS

[Calbar]

howson Sorry to hear that this did not work out so well for you. Seems like the slideout slickers is really the only way to go. I agree with Cate&Rob about the floor flexibility. I can see the table and chairs move around when I move my dining slide in and out and that is not nearly as much weight as you have on yours with the fridge.

Thanks for the awesome documenting that you have done on this. If I ever need to replace the fridge I will remember this and either go with the same dometic type that is in right now or as you said go with a 12V compressor fridge like Dometic and Norcold now make.

Rob

[howson]

howsonDid the plywood reinforcement stay tight to the original slide floor and bow to follow the “smile” . . .

Yes, the wood stayed tight. I went overboard to ensure the wood pieces were secured together. No way that was separating!

If the new piece of wood (and slide floor) was bending due to the weight of the refrigerator where it sits on the wood there's be a "frown" instead of a "smile". The "smile" is, I think, a result of the overall weakness in the slide floor and the lack of support underneath.

The box frame shelf that supported the Dometic did a good job of distributing the Dometic's weight across a wider area. The Haier does not have this benefit, so even though it is the same component weight it is pushing down on a smaller load bearing area. (I don't know if that makes sense.) The contact points (support) for the forward edge of slide floor are rollers I previously mentioned. You can see the roller near the hutch in the picture below. The next roller is in front of the stove. If I had one or two more of these rollers under the Haier there'd be no issue.

[Country Campers]

Howard

Over extending the slide is not that big of a deal. You have a concrete driveway. Build a couple supports for the slide and then remove the inside trim and slide the slide out onto the supports. This is how RV shops do it so if they can you can too. With the slide out of the way you can add as many rollers as you need.

Just trying to help you with some more projects , if you needed one more to do right.

Brian

[howson]

Howard

Over extending the slide is not that big of a deal. You have a concrete driveway. Build a couple supports for the slide and then remove the inside trim and slide the slide out onto the supports. This is how RV shops do it so if they can you can too. With the slide out of the way you can add as many rollers as you need.

Just trying to help you with some more projects , if you needed one more to do right.

Brian

Shoot--and here I thought I was gonna get an invitation to come up to your place to knock this out.

You know better than to invite me. I'd probably show up.

[ncitro]

Shoot--and here I thought I was gonna get an invitation to come up to your place to knock this out.

You know better than to invite me. I'd probably show up.

I have no idea how to do this, but have a shop with a forklift. Come on out lol.

[Country Campers]

Shoot--and here I thought I was gonna get an invitation to come up to your place to knock this out.

You know better than to invite me. I'd probably show up.

You are always welcome here.

Brian

[howson]

A follow-up after using the refrigerator while camping: the DW loves her new refrigerator.

The problem with the doors opening due to items shifting inside was solved with the addition of playing "Tetris" with the contents and using expansion rods to hold everything in place.



Still have a few cleanup items to accomplish, so expect at least one more post in the future with updates.

Howard

[Guest]

Haier also makes excellent de-humidifiers, for those in high humidity storage environments. They will automatically cycle on after a power outage.

Jim

[howson]

Using what she learned from her stain experiment, the DW finished up the refrigerator install by staining and tacking up trim. Looks great, if I say so myself!





I still need to figure out an alternative to the dual-lock "velcro" to keep the doors closed when traveling...

[Richard]

I was encouraged by your project and ultimately installed a Samsung RF-18 in my 337 RLTS along with a 1200 watt Xantrex invertor with auto switch over. The system works beautifully. With the slide fully closed the right hand door of fridge is completely unobstructed and there is about 5" of clearance between the left door and the island. BTW, there is a company that makes a nifty transit lock for the RF-18. The stainless line behind
d
the fridge is for the ice maker.

[howson]

I was encouraged by your project and ultimately installed a Samsung RF-18 in my 337 RLTS along with a 1200 watt Xantrex invertor with auto switch over. The system works beautifully.

You made my evening with your post. So glad a thread has helped, if even just to inspire.

I can't express how much of a positive difference the residential refrigerator has made to glamping in my 315RLTS. No more worries about spoiled food or unfrozen ice cream. The DW has a lot of space to store munchies...and 12oz bottles of golden brown campfire goodness.

Howard

[howson]

UPDATE 22 MAY

A mistake I made during the install of the Haier was assuming it had an On/Off switch. It doesn't. That meant to turn it off (when home) the options were to unplug (not easy as the plug is in the back) or throw the breaker. The problem with throwing the breaker is that a lot of the other outlets in the living area (circuit 4) don't work as they are all on the same circuit.

The purpose for this post is to get someone considering upgrading to a residential to ensure they won't run into this issue, and if they do show how to overcome it.

WHY NOT A WIRELESS (RELAY DRIVEN) OUTLET?
I tried various wireless outlet solutions but gave up--too many issues. The worst being the relay defaults to "OFF" when power cycles. Unacceptable.

SOLUTION
The solution was to add a switch to control the outlet powering the refrigerator.

Below is how the circuit was initially configured. Fortunately the wire terminated at the outlet near the stove, so this made the modification easy to wire.



Below is how the new circuit is wired.



The modification required temporary removal of the microwave to allow the installation of the new switch next to the microwave's outlet. This is an easy to reach location but it is not in the way (or obvious). The shallow work box was the only option with the standard household switch installed since the refrigerator is right on the other side of the wall. (A standard work box would not fit.)



The only hard part to the project was securing those shallow work boxes. There should be backer wood strips behind the box to help secure it in place. The switch doesn't require much to keep it in place, but the new outlet installed in place of the original RV outlet (near the stove which is below what you see in the picture above) was a pain to secure. I adapted the "wings" from a larger standard box to work with the shallow box and eventually got it to hold securely. (The DW uses this outlet a lot.) I may have said a few not-allowed-on-the-forum words while securing that lower shallow box. There are probably a dozen other ways to secure this shallow box but I used what I had on hand.

Below is the finished project. The switch is down (Off) so the frig is off, but all the rest of circuit 4 is powered in the trailer. If I had thought about the On/Off requirement before installing the refrigerator this additional modification wouldn't have been much of a nuisance, but after the fact is another story. (I did not want to remove the refrigerator to accomplish this task!)



Howard

[ncitro]

Well done Howard! I went with the much less elegant solution of running an extension cord up the side of the fridge so I could reach it to unplug it lol.

[ncitro]

You can’t see it here but it’s under that stool and broom.

[Jlawles2]

howson Howard, Could you have built a pair of brackets that went from the top and bottom hinges to the walls to secure the fridge in place?