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Replacing RV Fridge with Haier 10.1cu Residential


jc2

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We recently made the decision to replace our Dometic NDR1062 rv fridge with the Haier 10.1cu residential after numerous does/don'ts of the rv one over the past several years resulting in a no confidence feeling. The rv fridge was checked for proper installation, cooling fans were installed and I even replaced the OEM coils on the back with the Amish unit. That sprung a leak last Sept(2014) while we were enroute to a rally at Myrtle Beach, SC.

 

1. I will occasionally want to run the fridge when on the road using our existing 2000w inverter/charger in place of running the genie, however, the receptacle in the outside fridge compartment is one of the few that is not powered when the inverter is on. Can the wire from the rear of the receptacle be rerouted to receive power from the inverter?

 

2. To those that have replaced their rv fridges, whether those with the big double doors or the smaller single doors, what type of trim/molding did you use on the sides and across the top of the fridge? Pics, if possible, would be nice. :)

2010 Newmar Dutch Aire 4304-Spartan Chassis-Cummins ISL 425hp-2013 Chevrolet Equinox AWD Towed-SKP# 120487-FMCA #402879-

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We replaced our dead 8cf Dometic with a 10cf Sears Kenmore 14 months ago. A normal travel day is 4 to 6 hours with a few 8 hour days too. We have no inverter (don't boondock) and have never traveled (8 years) with a fridge operating. This is based on the Life on Wheels training we took our first year. The Dometic always kept stuff frozen and cold and the Sears is even better. The freezer and fridge goes up about 3 degrees and DW is very picky that her food is good. As for trim, there was very little wood (1/4" on one side and two notches for the fridge hinges) removed so a 3/4" piece of pine trim with 5 coats of cherry stain was all that was needed. I'm sure this will vary by how much needs to be done on different RVs cabinets and fridge models. Greg

Greg & Judy Bahnmiller
Class of 2007
2014 F350
2007 HitchHiker Champagne

Both sold 2/19, settled in Foley, AL after 12 years on the road

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I replaced our 4-door Nor cold last year. The refrig outlet on our coach IS waited to the inverter, but we do not run it on the inverter as it requires pure sine wave power and we have a modified sine wave inverter.

 

In addition to creating a new trim piece under the new refrig where there is a door, speaker, and lip detector, I also added solid oak trim on the right side and top of the new refrigerator, finishing red oak stock to match our original trim. On the sides of the trim in contact with the refrigerator I added Velcro strips to add stability (in addition to anchoring the new refrigerator to the floor in both front and rear). It is rock-solid in place. You can see my write-up of the conversion here http://www.pjrider.com/ReferReplace.htm

Paul (KE5LXU), former fulltimer, now sometimer...

'03 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage 40E

'05 Honda Odyssey

Escapees, FMCA, WIT, SMART

http://www.pjrider.com

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Haier fridges need pure sinewave power and most RV 2000 watt inverters are modified sinewave. Use a Kill-A-Watt meter to determine the fridge power usage to size a smaller pure sinewave inverter. A Kill-A-Watt is under $20 from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/P3-P4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU, or you can get one locally for a few dollars more at many hardware stores. I suspect a 400 to 600 watt inverter is all you need. Good pure sinewave inverters in that range are under $200, with a good place to buy being http://www.donrowe.com/. You can mount the inverter by the batteries and run a line to the back of the fridge. Just remember to move the plug when you get ready to travel. It can even be an extension cord taped to the outside wall, just for a start. You only need to power the fridge if it will be off over 4 hours and if you have good thermometers in both the freezer and fridge, you might find yours can go 6 to 8 hours.

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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Thank you AFC for taking the time to respond to my post. I've saved the link you posted for further reference as there was information I can use. :)

2010 Newmar Dutch Aire 4304-Spartan Chassis-Cummins ISL 425hp-2013 Chevrolet Equinox AWD Towed-SKP# 120487-FMCA #402879-

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I read your recommendation for using a pure sine wave inverter with interest Mr J and agree. I originally was going to run the Haier from my existing 2000w msw inverter and install a 1000w psw one for the fridge later but will now be calling the folks at the DonRowe.com link see about ordering a psw inverter for installation at the same time. The Xantrex PROWatt sw1000 PSW inverter looks promising and is on sale to boot. Thanks for your input.

2010 Newmar Dutch Aire 4304-Spartan Chassis-Cummins ISL 425hp-2013 Chevrolet Equinox AWD Towed-SKP# 120487-FMCA #402879-

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I'm no electrical buff but you should be able to fish a circuit from somewhere but be careful. Don't want to overload what you hook up to.

I'd switch things on one at a time to find what is on which breaker and measure each item. Some circuits may not have much of a load.

 

Re trim, check specs on fridge to see clearance required. Heat generated needs to have a place to escape. Does yours still vent outside with a vent at the top and bottom. We closed those off on mine and fridge now vents inside trailer. Too much cold air would come in trailer because fridge wasn't a tight fit.

Mine runs off a 2500 watt inverter/charger when on the road.

 

Also switching all interior and some exterior lights to LED's pulled some load of some circuits.

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Similar to a post I made recently, I have a small Haier 1.7 cu ft 120 VAC fridge I successfully power 24/7 (I have 200 watts of solar panels and four golf cart batteries) with a 1000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter (a smaller would have worked). I placed a meter on it for 24 hours and found its max wattage on startup was 234 watts but it ran at around 0.6 amps typically and required only 30 Amp hrs of energy per day to operate. Id suggest a watt hour meter to determine its start up and running amps plus energy required to run it for 24 hours, after such time you can more accurately assess the size of Inverter required (1000 or 2000 watts perhaps???) I located my Inverter right next to my batteries to shorten 12 VDC cable length as much as possible (to reduce voltage drop) and ran a cord and plug up to the fridge. Piece of cake and not all that expensive. Go for it

 

PS I operate mine while driving as my 100 amp engine alternator has no problem supplying the 6 to 12 extra amps my inverter draws from my battery bank to run the fridge, and if dry camped my solar pretty well keeps up subject to sun and angle and intensity and time and weather etc. I also have my Norcold LP Gas/Electric Fridge as my main cooling source. The extra fridge is handy for drinks and barely soda pops and water.

 

John T

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I used to move furniture. If only 6 hrs or so, the fridge will stay cold if you don't open the door for that long. A boater's tip- if you are concerned with food spoiling (like when you're away & leave the rig plugged in for a few days), put an ice cube in a cup in the freezer. If it is melted, you had a power outage even if it is now running. Dump the food.

2000 Volvo 635 A/S, N-14 Cummins
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'03 KA 38KSWB

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We changed out our Norcold to an 18 cu ft Samsung residential refrigerator last November. To power it we purchased a Samlex 600 watt PSW inverter from Don Rowe for $200 with free shipping. I pulled the120 volt outlet that was behind the gas fridge into the compartment right below the fridge and also have the new inverter there. So, while dry camping or rolling down the road we plug the fridge into the inverter. When we are in a CG we switch to shore power.

 

I have four 6 volt house batteries and 375 watts of solar and just finished spending 2 weeks dry camping in Quartzsite without any power issues. The only thing I did was to turn off the ice maker at night.

Full time since August 2010

2002 Itasca Horizon

 

One fur kid - a Shih-Tsu rescue

Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd

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I've been thinking of replacing ours, however there's the small detail of the furnace being right under the fridge on our Newmar Dutch Star. I'm not an expert in these things and have yet to do my thorough research, so I'm still scratching my head over whether the installation of the new, residential unit would be as simple as one would hope....

We had our inverter rebuilt last year and upgraded to a perfect sine wave, so at least that's not an issue....

2003 Newmar Dutch Star 3802

'98 Ford Ranger

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I've been thinking of replacing ours, however there's the small detail of the furnace being right under the fridge on our Newmar Dutch Star. I'm not an expert in these things and have yet to do my thorough research, so I'm still scratching my head over whether the installation of the new, residential unit would be as simple as one would hope....

We had our inverter rebuilt last year and upgraded to a perfect sine wave, so at least that's not an issue....

We made this change to a large side-by-side based on this document - http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/Residential_Refrigerator_Install.pdf. It will show you what is possible and how to reroute around the furnace. The fridge used was for a Maytag that was no longer made, but we found a Whirlpool that was almost exactly the same size. A couple months ago Samsung changed their models and one of the new ones would have fit even better. We already had a pure sinewave inverter.

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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A good old electric frig...there is joy in Mudville....the wobbly pop is cold and the Blue Bell Ice cream is frozen.

 

Ken

Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot

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We made this change to a large side-by-side based on this document - http://www.rvforum.net/miscfiles/Residential_Refrigerator_Install.pdf. It will show you what is possible and how to reroute around the furnace. The fridge used was for a Maytag that was no longer made, but we found a Whirlpool that was almost exactly the same size. A couple months ago Samsung changed their models and one of the new ones would have fit even better. We already had a pure sinewave inverter.

Thank you very much for that PDF! You've answered quite a few questions. Our Dutch Star is a 2003, so there are a few small differences, but nothing insurmountable so far as I can see. I have plenty of good, strong help, including the wife. This looks like a plan. Right after we install the new Armstrong Ashlar floating floor next month.....

2003 Newmar Dutch Star 3802

'98 Ford Ranger

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