RV Fridge or Residential

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Puddle Pirate

I have a 321RSTS 2017 unit, I have put 0n it about 18,000 miles, from FL to Alberta Canada to Maine etc, we ordered the residential side by side, no problems with the fridge working , but you will need a healthy battery bank, and not car batteries, T-105's or even better Lithium, and if you travel a lot, a Sterling Battery to Battery Charger would be even smarter choice , and if you want to go over the top Lithium Phosphate - like Battle - Born Battery's even better with solar, now that being said-- I have took out the residential fridge, and relocated it made more space for the kitchen, and down sized to half the size and love it, plenty of space for the 2 of us for sure, the weight of the residential fridge caused problems in for the slide, lot more to that story.....so I relocated the smaller fridge between the frame rails just forward of the kitchen slide---happy camper--- heres some photos. And yes you can in this model 5th wheel take the fridge out, I did it by myself-- it fit no problem threw the camper door-- just take everything off the unit---its now at our home doubling as a second fridge--and yes I have solar--but just 400 watts, and this little fridge with just 400 watts of solar only producing 250 ish daily this time of yr, lasted 14 days un hooked--so I am in good shape--and if I was traveling down the road--the sterling battery charger would also charge the battery bank.

Nice job how many bottles of bourbon did that take?

[breckenridge2003]

wow--you did an amazing job!

[breckenridge2003]

Wow, amazing work!

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by F350guy

My 20 Pinnacle has an outside access door to the back of the fridge. Hopefully that would eliminate the need for removal for most repairs. Do the newer Eagles also have the access door? I think the door was introduced on the 20 models, at least for the Pinnacles. We didn't really look at a NP or Eagle.

Sweet! Nice to see Jayco doing something with foresight. Our 2019 does not have that. But we have had no problems with our Whirlpool. In fact we like it so much we will likely buy an identical one for the house we are building.
Angus

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by WV Camper

I have the same question as the OP in general. We have ordered a 321RSTS but it hasn’t started production yet so we can still make a change. We did order it with The residential refrigerator but I am just concerned about not having the dual mode capability. We do not do any serious Boondocking but we do travel across country every year and when we’re traveling we will normally just sleep in a rest area or a truckstop. So my question is how long will a residential refrigerator go before it runs a battery down? I know there are all kinds of variables in that question what kind of battery how many batteries etc. but if we have just the standard RV battery that will come with the camper how long will that run the refrigerator?

We did order it with the generator prep and it is my intention to have a generator put in it.

Thanks

We have the residential and nothing special like solar to support it. Two group 27 AGM's @ only 92Ah. Our longest travel day is normally 3 1/2 hours, rarely 4. The Xanax inverter has a low voltage cut-off to protect the batts and we know from black-outs at the old house that a fridge can coast for hours without food spoilage.
Angus

[Bookemdanno]

I've had my my '16 NP with the res fridge and haven't had any problems...of course I probably just cursed myself! I started off with 1 lead acid 12volt battery (which wasn't near enough!). Once I cooked that battery with the 1st trip, I went to three 12 volt AGM batteries, but they were "used" batteries from the office...about 2yrs old when I put them in. I never had a problem with them, but last year I went to two 12v Lithium (Battleborn) batteries and haven't had any problems. We don't typically boondock, but I have been known to drive 12+ hours in a day.

[JeffofBoise]

Originally Posted by breckenridge2003

Hi All-

After much research, and your help, we are close to pulling the trigger on an Eagle 319MLOK. Best combo of weight, length and features for us.

The last decision is the religious one about fridge type. We will be camping in the midwest during summers. I've seen a lot of comments pro and con for both types of fridges. We don't really need a giant fridge, so the 12-13CF RV fridge is big enough.....however, we're seeing that they don't necessarily cool as well.

Also on the other side, we're hearing the residential fridges can be more prone to vibration types of breakdowns. That 319RLOK has a rear kitchen, so this fridge will get some vibration.

Yet the residential fridges cool well, are spacious, and maybe good for resale value.

Do any of your experienced types have any good real world advice for us???

Thanks for your help as always!!!! 2021 camp season cannot get here soon enough!

We have a residential refrigerator in our 319MLOK and while I enjoy the water in the door and the other benefits there is a downside. The refrigerator is at the back of the RV so every bump turns into a bounce. The shelves in the fridge set on a lip so that when you hit a bump, pothole or go over railroad tracks the shelves and everything on them moves up and down. We found that after a long day on secondary roads the shelves had fallen off the lip and everything was at the bottom of the refrigerator. If the refrigerator shelves were secured rather than just sitting on a lip it would be much better.




JeffOfBoise
2020 319MLOK
2019 F350DRW

[AKRUEBBE]

Originally Posted by JeffofBoise

We have a residential refrigerator in our 319MLOK and while I enjoy the water in the door and the other benefits there is a downside. The refrigerator is at the back of the RV so every bump turns into a bounce. The shelves in the fridge set on a lip so that when you hit a bump, pothole or go over railroad tracks the shelves and everything on them moves up and down. We found that after a long day on secondary roads the shelves had fallen off the lip and everything was at the bottom of the refrigerator. If the refrigerator shelves were secured rather than just sitting on a lip it would be much better. effOfBoise
2020 319MLOK
2019 F350DRW

I bet there is a way they can be secured. Even if you used some packing tape.

[RipinSC]

When traveling with the refrigerator shelf empty, I put the spring refrigerator bars down against the shelf towards the front to keep it in place

[RipinSC]

Also, we use the spring bars to hold the food in place when traveling. I have never had an issue with them falling down. I take I95 to Florida and it is terrible thru SC. Some of the dips and bumps are so bad I am surprised nothing in the FW doesn’t fall apart.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by F350guy

We had 2 6V batteries on our last fifth wheel with a Samsung fridge and never had an issue. We did have to go about 24 hours without power on one occasion and still had over 12 volts but that was with very little use of anything else other than a few lights. We had 2 6V batteries installed on our Pinnacle with the Whirlpool 21cf fridge but have not had a reason to test them. We have done a couple of all day drives but the charge line from the truck kept the batteries up.

If you look at a battery chart 12 volts is below 50% charge

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by JeffofBoise

We have a residential refrigerator in our 319MLOK and while I enjoy the water in the door and the other benefits there is a downside. The refrigerator is at the back of the RV so every bump turns into a bounce. The shelves in the fridge set on a lip so that when you hit a bump, pothole or go over railroad tracks the shelves and everything on them moves up and down. We found that after a long day on secondary roads the shelves had fallen off the lip and everything was at the bottom of the refrigerator. If the refrigerator shelves were secured rather than just sitting on a lip it would be much better.




JeffOfBoise
2020 319MLOK
2019 F350DRW

You could just take a small block of plastic, aluminum or something else and screw it just above the shelf.

[oh355mbqs]

I guess I'm simple, we have 2 of the 12V Insterstate brand deep cycle batteries, they were installed by the dealer. I have had the camper since April of 2017, traveled all over west of the Mississippi from Ohio and I have never had an issue with batteries. As far as driving, we did 24 hours straight this past summer coming home to Ohio from Oregon (3 drivers). The generator was only run a couple of times for the microwave to make something to eat. Batteries still showed a full charge, according the Jayco display. As far as stuff moving around, wife uses some small plastic bins, sides are maybe 2" tall and some the of no slip stuff that you put under rugs..... seems to work better than anything else. She even has the no slip stuff on the top shelf, no bins because milk jugs etc wouldn't fit.

[CraigBU]

In 30 years of owning an RV, I have never had a residential fridge and have never had a problem with the propane powered fridge. Yes its true, they may not get as cold but I have alway been able to maintain a fridge temp in the low 40s. The selection of the new pinnacle we just purchased was based on floor plan and availability of the propane fridge. A high percentage of the time I am boondocking and I would not even consider a residential fridge based on that. I have not put a thermometer in the new propane fridge but I can tell you that it got cold enough to partially freeze a half gallon of milk.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by CraigBU

In 30 years of owning an RV, I have never had a residential fridge and have never had a problem with the propane powered fridge. Yes its true, they may not get as cold but I have alway been able to maintain a fridge temp in the low 40s. The selection of the new pinnacle we just purchased was based on floor plan and availability of the propane fridge. A high percentage of the time I am boondocking and I would not even consider a residential fridge based on that. I have not put a thermometer in the new propane fridge but I can tell you that it got cold enough to partially freeze a half gallon of milk.

I agree my new motorhome is so much colder than any before it. Everything is frozen in the freezer and the fridge will freeze things if your not careful. They are 100 percent better than in the past even when temperature is in the high 90s

[edatlanta]

I full time and do spend most of my time with 120v power available, but I do enough bookdocking during the year that I would not ever consider being stuck with a residential fridge. I do have a built in generator, but to have to run it enough to keep the fridge working daily just isn't in my future. And batteries are expensive as we all know. Run your bank down dead a few times because you forgot to run the generator and see how long those batteries last.

And not to forget your RV as a lifeboat when the 120v fails. We have had storms in our area several times in the past 10 years when we didn't have power for days. The most recent was a couple of months ago when our power was out for a week. I ran my generator long enough in the mornings for coffee and a little TV watching in the evening, but my propane fridge just hummed along all week just sipping a minor amount of propane and even less 12v.

No residential fridge for me.

[Puddle Pirate]

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

Nice job how many bottles of bourbon did that take?

I am still drinking---lol

[deepsea5]

Originally Posted by Don MH

I'm confused, when I've read the term "residential refrigerators" within the context of RVs, I assumed that they were refrigerators designed for RV's using compressor technology instead of the absorption principles and that they could run the compressor directly on 12V systems. I didn't realize that apparently some folks were literally installing traditional 120V home refrigerators in their RVs.

Are they 12V compressor cooled refrigerators designed for RVs? Are they worth the effort to install?

After having my propane refrigerator burn up my first travel trail back in 1981, I can't say that I'm a big fan of propane refrigerators.

Thanks!

Don H.

Originally Posted by F350guy

A residential means just that, a fridge that you could purchase in an appliance store for your stick and brick home. I am not aware of any changes made for use in an rv. The use of residential types in rv's has been going on for a number of years. Our last 3 rv's have had one. The first was in our motorhome in 2010, then ordered an Excel fifth wheel with a Samsung RF18 and now our Pinnacle with a 21cf Whirlpool side by side. No problems with any of them so far. They run off shore power when it is hooked up and an inverter when going down the road.

I think a more recent development is fridges which have a 12V compressor but so far all I have seen are models in the smaller sizes.

The 12 Volt compressor refrigerators have been used for many years in the marine industry. The 12 Volt compressor refrigerators do not need to be perfectly level to function properly.

Propane adsorption refrigerators will not work on a boat, due to the boat's pitch and roll movements in rough water.

If the 12 Volt refrigerators can survive the marine environment, they should thrive in the RV environment. LOL

[SkyBound]

I wouldn't trade the propane function... aside from the benefit of boon docking, I also like to be able to switch over to propane cooling when the campground fills up on the weekend, and everyone is running their air conditioners and electric grills and the resting voltage is 100V. Drives me crazy but at least I can get through it with propane.

[sharon w]

We had to replace the residential style frig in our 2016 Pinnacle 36FBTS. Of course it was out of warranty. Both a Jayco representative and a service mechanic for the brand of frig came to look at our issue - stopped cooling - and said the problem was a leak in the side of the frig. We went through hell getting that out of the camper. BTW the ice maker never worked. Doors had to be removed and we had to take the entry door and frame off to get the old frig out. Plus, 2 men had to lift it over the island. We went with a smaller whirlpool that fit into the place where the old frig was - not a perfect fit but it works, no ice maker - tired of dealing with that problem - and the new frig runs great. Of course no help from Jayco. We sold our 2001 Designer to buy the 2016 Pinnacle. BIG MISTAKE. We have a definite lemon and have spent $$$ to get the camper in working order. We NEVER had an issue with our old Designer - including the smaller frig. Sorry we sold it. Thor has brought down the Jayco name. Would never buy another Jayco.

2016 Jayco Pinnacle 36FBTS
2019 Ford F350 SRW 6.7 liter diesel