Measuring and Recording Refrigerator Temperatures

[howson]

Howard - According to Battle Born's Blog, the battery capacity should be set at 99Ah for each battery. So a bank of four batteries would be set at 396Ah. Here is a link to the blog:

https://battlebornbatteries.com/conf...etooth-dongle/

Jim

Well dang--how did I miss that? I'll correct it in my settings.

[ncitro]

Well dang--how did I miss that? I'll correct it in my settings.

This may be a bit off topic, but Howard, you’ve discovered one of the many reasons I switched to a residential fridge. The main was my Dometic just wasn’t getting it done wrt cooling, but the other was that it’s so inherently inefficient on electric. Given you have the inverter and Battlborns already this could be a valid option for you as well.

[howson]

Cate&Rob,

I started the Whirlpool residential refrigerator test at 10:50. I'm going to run it until approximately 5pm tonight and then get the results.

The frig is much smaller than the 12 cubic foot Dometic, but it will be an interesting comparison. Here's the exact refrigerator being tested:



The frig was at room temperature (been unplugged for days) at the start of the test. As done with the Dometic, I put cold drinks in the refrigerator and 3 ice packs in the freezer. I set the temp on "4" and put in the Elitech temperature sensor to measure the cool down over time. The trailer itself is much warmer as it is in the 70's outside and very humid, but other than that the conditions are as close to identical as I can get them.

Before turning on the refrigerator I turned off shore power, turned off all the distribution panel circuit breakers, and ensured nothing powered by 12V (that I could control) was on. Here's what the BMV was showing as the draw from the batteries:



I turned on the refrigerator and the picture below is what the BMV shows as the frig is cooling down. The numbers are so low I had to run back out to the trailer and look again before posting as I thought I'd made a mistake. I didn't--the refrigerator is only drawing 5A of 12vDC from the batteries. Incredible! I can't wait to see the numbers later today.

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Howad,

There is quite a discrepancy between the info plate on the fridge and the Victron reading. 0.96A x 120V = 115 watts vs the 64 Watts (111-47) indicated by the Victron.
If this is a compressor fridge, it is quite possible that the 0.96A is the startup current.

Rob

[howson]

Test is complete.

According to the Elitech temperature measurement device log and what was captured in my notes and pictures, the refrigerator ran for 7.5 hours. The BMV recorded 57Ah of battery consumption leaving 87% battery capacity.



The Elitech device's first measurement was 74.1F (23.4C). The refrigerator was down to a food-safe 39.9F (4.38C) in 3 hours. It settled and maintained 33F (.55C) at the 6.5 hour mark.

For the last hour I moved the Elitech into the freezer. It registered the freezer at a super cold -8F (-22C)!

Conclusion
Assuming linear consumption, the Whirlpool consumed 7.6aH (or "7.6 amp hours per hour" which is an incorrect way to say it but sure reads easier) versus the 30aH consumption from the Dometic that I've documented numerous times in varying conditions. Some will argue the comparison is not fair due to the refrigerator size difference (4.6 vs 12) and that argument has some merit, but based on all the other test results I've viewed on YouTube and read about it is further proof (for me) that the absorption-based Dometic is an energy hog.

One more data point. A Facebook user, Walter Brandenburg, with a 315RLTS (my wife frequents the 315 page on Facebook) has installed a 17.5cuft Samsung in his 315RLTS. (17.5 cuft!) The RF18HFENBSR is a "counter depth" model. He had quite a job getting it in the trailer, but he got it to work. Below is the picture of the data plate on the back of his frig. Note the max amp draw is only 1.1A. For a 17.5 cuft refrigerator! The Whirlpool's dataplate shows .96A. Incredible.



I think I know what's next on my list after my current projects are complete. If anyone lives, or is near, the Florida panhandle there will be an operational Dometic with the Fridge Defend and auxiliary fans installed for sale soon...

-Howard

[howson]

In case anyone is curious, the Dometic 1350 weighs 255 lbs (per the specs on Amazon's website) and the Samsung is 231.48 lbs. So even that's better! (My DW asked me the question so I had to research.)

[ncitro]

In case anyone is curious, the Dometic 1350 weighs 255 lbs (per the specs on Amazon's website) and the Samsung is 231.48 lbs. So even that's better! (My DW asked me the question so I had to research.)

I got a Samsung RF22KREDBSS open box with a couple dents in it at a local appliance store. I was going to go with the Samsung Grand Design installs in the Solitudes, but this was a lot nicer for not much more money. The smaller one they use would have been a bit easier to fit in the cabinet, but in my 28bh the fridge is all by itself, not in the middle of the counter or anything, so I just removed the cabinet. Once I did that I could fit any counter depth fridge I wanted. I can honestly say it's nicer than the side by side fridge I have in our house lol.

I would say the weight between the two is similar, for significantly more cf of space. Also it cools down much quicker, and uses a fraction of the power. The only downside is power usage when boondocking, but we were at the Balloon Fiesta for a week with no hookups, and the solar pretty much kept us in check. I ran the generator on a few cloudy days, but only for 40 minutes or so.

I would strongly recommend the upgrade. For me the hardest part was figuring out how to seal up the hole from the old fridge. I started off with black spray foam into the old vents, and black gorilla tape to close it off until I figured something better. I finally sourced a company that would custom cut matte black plexiglass panels. I filled the hole with styrofoam insulation, and then drilled and mounted the panels over it. With that work done I think it looks great on the outside.

Here is a link to some photos of the project.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...5Fa2hoZTRjSFp3

[howson]

I got a Samsung RF22KREDBSS open box with a couple dents in it at a local appliance store. I was going to go with the Samsung Grand Design installs in the Solitudes, but this was a lot nicer for not much more money. The smaller one they use would have been a bit easier to fit in the cabinet, but in my 28bh the fridge is all by itself, not in the middle of the counter or anything, so I just removed the cabinet. Once I did that I could fit any counter depth fridge I wanted. I can honestly say it's nicer than the side by side fridge I have in our house lol.

I would say the weight between the two is similar, for significantly more cf of space. Also it cools down much quicker, and uses a fraction of the power. The only downside is power usage when boondocking, but we were at the Balloon Fiesta for a week with no hookups, and the solar pretty much kept us in check. I ran the generator on a few cloudy days, but only for 40 minutes or so.

I would strongly recommend the upgrade. For me the hardest part was figuring out how to seal up the hole from the old fridge. I started off with black spray foam into the old vents, and black gorilla tape to close it off until I figured something better. I finally sourced a company that would custom cut matte black plexiglass panels. I filled the hole with styrofoam insulation, and then drilled and mounted the panels over it. With that work done I think it looks great on the outside.

Here is a link to some photos of the project.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...5Fa2hoZTRjSFp3

Very helpful post--thanks. Hope you don't mind a tsunami of questions...

1) When you "removed the cabinet", there wasn't any trim work to do inside? (If that's true I sure hope it is also true in my 315RLTS!)

2) Did you cap off the propane line at the back of the cabinet or remove it (going back to what I think is a "T")?

3) Those panels do look good. They definitely aren't going to fly off. Do you mind sharing the contact info for the company that cut the panels?

4) How much solar do you have (wattage)?

5) Did you secure the refrigerator in any manner to the floor or wall?

[ncitro]

Very helpful post--thanks. Hope you don't mind a tsunami of questions...

1) When you "removed the cabinet", there wasn't any trim work to do inside? (If that's true I sure hope it is also true in my 315RLTS!)

2) Did you cap off the propane line at the back of the cabinet or remove it (going back to what I think is a "T")?

3) Those panels do look good. They definitely aren't going to fly off. Do you mind sharing the contact info for the company that cut the panels?

4) How much solar do you have (wattage)?

5) Did you secure the refrigerator in any manner to the floor or wall?

No problem!

1. Kind of. If you look at this picture of my rig, my refrigerator sits all by itself.


When I was done the side of the cabinet was gone, leaving the fridge exposed, but since its a finished edge of the fridge we decided it was fine. We used the pieces we removed to make a trim piece for the top, mainly to cover the glue and hole there from some wiring. There is a bit of a gap on the left side that I may close in at some point, but for now we store our broom and mop there. If it were located less "on its own" then more carpentry may have been needed.



2. Yes, it passed through a hole in the slide out that was filled with silicone. Was easy enough to pull that plug out and then pull the propane hose through. I then used this hole to run a water hose for the ice maker and water dispenser through. I removed the propane hose and rather than cap it, installed another quick disconnect port, which works well for my generator.

3. No problem, it was TAP Plastics. I used their matte acrylic. I thought it would match the best, and have the least chance of a scratch from a wayward tree branch. I checked with them and they agreed it would be good for this purpose, and would do well with the UV from the sun. Only caution was it expands with heat, so I overdrilled the holes and used screws with built in washers to give it room to expand. It was a bit tough to drill, and we cracked one corner when we drilled the first hole. I read later they make special drill bits for it, or some people file down the flutes on a drill bit. We were just more careful with the pressure when we drilled the rest of the holes. I expected it to drill like a piece of plastic, and it was more like drilling tile. We siliconed in the broken corner and you can hardly tell. Was $153 for both by the time I was done, not exactly cheap, but I really like how it looked, and I paid a little extra to have rounded corners and a beveled edge.
https://www.tapplastics.com/product/..._p95_matte/513

4. I have six 200 watt panels, so 1,200 watts. I should caution that when we are on the road we both work from the rig, so that ups our inverter usage quite a bit. Also we have a 18 month old (15 at the time of the fiesta) and it got pretty chilly at night. He sleeps in the rear bunkhouse, which does not get great heat from the furnace (a research project for this summer), so we were running a space heater off of the inverter at night for him. Given all that usage we were running the generator pretty much nightly for 40 minutes to an hour to make sure we would have plenty of battery to run the space heater overnight for the little guy, even with the solar. All that said, watching my battery monitor, and looking at my usage on other parts of the trip I am very confident that if not for the space heater our solar would keep up, and with no solar at all and only the batteries it should go for at least 48 hours. This winter will actually be an interesting test, we decided to leave the rig in storage in Florida from Christmas to when we get back in February. It has full sun, so I will be curious when we get back how the fridge does. I wish I had one of the monitors you guys have been using but did not get one ordered in time. I will have to rely on the old ice cubes in a tupperware in the freezer test.

5. Yes, we put a few screws through the front leveling feet, and before we closed up the back a few screws through the rear bottom plate of the fridge. It is really stable, but I do find that since it is on the edge of the slide out that when the slide out is in it wobbles quite a bit. Its not loose in the slide, but the whole slide wobbles. I think the rollers for the slide are more towards the middle rather than under the fridge. I had a piece of 1/2" plywood laying around that I slide under the slide floor under the fridge to give it a bit of support and it takes the wobble out. I also installed a couple straps that come from the side of the fridge to the side of the drawers, and use a velcro strap between the handles when underway. As long as we remember the straps (only forgot once lol) we have never had an issue. Our fall trip was Chicago to Yellowstone, to Anaheim, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Destin, and Orlando and had no issues with movement.

Let me know if you have any questions, I try not to sound like a preacher on Sunday, but its one of the best mods I have done to the rig. Its absolutely cavernous for space now, makes ice and dispenses water, and cools down super fast. I am a huge fan.

[howson]

ncitro -- I like the idea of installing another quick disconnect on the street side of the camper. I'm going to "steal" that one! I know almost nothing about propane connections, so I'll have to do my homework. It's probably like that really long version of a four letter word: "plumbing".

For the cabinetry I guess I'll find out how much work I'll get to do once I rip out the Dometic.

What brand solar panel do you have? Will Prowse's (DIY Solar on YouTube) focus always seems to go to 100W panels and I don't know why, except for weight. But isn't two 100W panels the same or more than one 200W panel? I'm still researching and learning about the solar stuff...

Thanks again for all the information. When I get to this project (the DW is very excited to be getting a "real" refrigerator), if you don't mind I may hit you up with more specific questions.

[ncitro]

ncitro -- I like the idea of installing another quick disconnect on the street side of the camper. I'm going to "steal" that one! I know almost nothing about propane connections, so I'll have to do my homework. It's probably like that really long version of a four letter word: "plumbing".

For the cabinetry I guess I'll find out how much work I'll get to do once I rip out the Dometic.

What brand solar panel do you have? Will Prowse's (DIY Solar on YouTube) focus always seems to go to 100W panels and I don't know why, except for weight. But isn't two 100W panels the same or more than one 200W panel? I'm still researching and learning about the solar stuff...

Thanks again for all the information. When I get to this project (the DW is very excited to be getting a "real" refrigerator), if you don't mind I may hit you up with more specific questions.

Yeah I have added a bunch, one on the back bumper for the generator before I did the refrigerator project, and one on the passenger side towards the front for my propane firepit. Its just like plumbing, I can promise if you do not like one you will not like the other lol. All the propane lines are hoses, so I just got some brass tees and had additional hoses made up at a propane dealer.

I went with the Continuous Resources ones, 200 should be the same as two 100, I had the roof space so I figured there would be less wiring and easier except for the weight.

Definitely reach out to me. Be glad to answer any questions you have.

[Canyonlight]

Jim TucsonJim - what's next (if anything) relative to further testing by you an/or others; GDRV possibly using these 12V DC fridges; etc. ? I saw an article on RV Business today where Mike Sokol talked about his preference to see these used in RVs. This made me think about your testing and GDRV possibly using these.

Here's the link: https://rvbusiness.com/qa-sokol-expo...tricity-usage/

Dan