In late November last year, days from the end of our season the Capital refrigerator in the outside kitchen died. It started making terrible grinding noises and eventually stopped cooling. Being transient + seasonal campers, we've had issues with the GFCI tripping while we're away from our seasonal site. When we travel, the fridge didn't have AC and would warm quickly in travel. To solve those issues I've been wanting to replace it with a 12v fridge for some time.
This is the original Capital refrigerator from our second season with the camper in 2019.
The 30.5MLOK has a small outside kitchen and the cutout for the fridge doesn't leave room for a lot of options. The Capital fridge was about 1 cubic foot, which was enough to store a few cans and bottles and some assorted condiments but was otherwise too small to be of any real use. I took the rough opening measurements and scoured the internet for the largest model that would fit.
I settled on the Bodega Cooler, 64 quart, 12v refrigerator. It's a relatively new brand and a new model, so there wasn't a lot of history or reviews to go on. The width matched the OEM fridge perfectly. The added useable space is due to the extra ~2 inches of height and ~3 inches in depth. The added depth and height along with a smaller compressor section doubled the useable interior space to 2.1 cubic feet. The rated current draw is 4.6amps @ 12v DC. The cost was $459.
The unit seems well made. It comes with a righthand swing, so the first this I had to do was reverse the door swing, which was a very easy task that is covered well in the manual. It has a latching door which should prevent the contents from spilling out when we travel. Installation was a bit tricky.. The fridge comes with really heavy duty L-brackets to hold the unit down. I use self-drilling #8 sheet metal screws to hold the unit to the metal base. This required the use of 2 x 12" extension bars. I was just barely able to maintain the recommended clearances for ventilation but the fridge did fit, barely.
I tapped into the 12v circuit that feeds the CO/Gas detector which is just on the other side of the wall. This circuit powered only that plus the outside kitchen lighting and USB outlet so there was plenty of capacity left on this 15A branch.
The fridge is several inches deeper than the one it replace, and the door itself is also about 1/4" thicker. To maintain clearance and prevent the compartment door from scratching I had to set the unit back a little further than I would have liked. The unfortunate result is that we can't fully open the door, although it can opened enough to remove or readjust the shelves.
I'm pleased with the fit and finish. The digital controls are handy and the latching door should really keep everything contained while traveling. There's a light inside, which is something the OEM fridge didn't have, which is going to be great this summer. I'm heading out to start the season on Monday. I'll be very curious to see how this thing travels as it's at the very back of the camper.
This is the original Capital refrigerator from our second season with the camper in 2019.
The 30.5MLOK has a small outside kitchen and the cutout for the fridge doesn't leave room for a lot of options. The Capital fridge was about 1 cubic foot, which was enough to store a few cans and bottles and some assorted condiments but was otherwise too small to be of any real use. I took the rough opening measurements and scoured the internet for the largest model that would fit.
I settled on the Bodega Cooler, 64 quart, 12v refrigerator. It's a relatively new brand and a new model, so there wasn't a lot of history or reviews to go on. The width matched the OEM fridge perfectly. The added useable space is due to the extra ~2 inches of height and ~3 inches in depth. The added depth and height along with a smaller compressor section doubled the useable interior space to 2.1 cubic feet. The rated current draw is 4.6amps @ 12v DC. The cost was $459.
The unit seems well made. It comes with a righthand swing, so the first this I had to do was reverse the door swing, which was a very easy task that is covered well in the manual. It has a latching door which should prevent the contents from spilling out when we travel. Installation was a bit tricky.. The fridge comes with really heavy duty L-brackets to hold the unit down. I use self-drilling #8 sheet metal screws to hold the unit to the metal base. This required the use of 2 x 12" extension bars. I was just barely able to maintain the recommended clearances for ventilation but the fridge did fit, barely.
I tapped into the 12v circuit that feeds the CO/Gas detector which is just on the other side of the wall. This circuit powered only that plus the outside kitchen lighting and USB outlet so there was plenty of capacity left on this 15A branch.
The fridge is several inches deeper than the one it replace, and the door itself is also about 1/4" thicker. To maintain clearance and prevent the compartment door from scratching I had to set the unit back a little further than I would have liked. The unfortunate result is that we can't fully open the door, although it can opened enough to remove or readjust the shelves.
I'm pleased with the fit and finish. The digital controls are handy and the latching door should really keep everything contained while traveling. There's a light inside, which is something the OEM fridge didn't have, which is going to be great this summer. I'm heading out to start the season on Monday. I'll be very curious to see how this thing travels as it's at the very back of the camper.
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