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 Electric Compressor refrigerator optionJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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BigRabbitMan |
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Expert   Location: Cottage Grove, OR | The following is a copy of a post I made on the Yahoo group site regarding he above subject. Denny,I would be happy to respond. My evaluation after a year is about 85-90% positive. The refrigerator installed easily as, contrary to the statement below, I ended up getting the DC only unit. Nothing was gained by getting the ACDC unit as it simply converted the 110 to 12 volt. The compressor always operates on 12 volt DC. I decided to just let the main converter do it’s job. It also made the installation easier as DC should already be at the rear of the compartment to operate the original gas absorbsion unit on DC. I had to open up the top of the cabinet hole for the unit by about ½”. Other than that, it just slid in. Overall, I am pleased with the unit as I have accomplished what I set out to do which was to go to a compressor based unit from a gas absorbsion unit. It doesn’t have to be level to operate and can be serviced by any normally qualified AC service technician. I no longer have any possibility of gas fumes inside the coach (my wife is particularly sensitive to fumes) and two outside vent holes can be eliminated. What makes a compressor type unit possible without excessive current usage is the Danfoss compressor that it and the other brands also use. That compressor was developed by Danfoss to operate on solar power in remote locations to cool medical supplies where no power exists and so it was designed as and is a very energy efficient unit. In the driveway, I have disconnected land power and let it run on the domestic batteries (2ea 6 volt) and it was still going after three days when I plugged the coach back in. Now the missing 10-15%. When I installed the unit, it would run but didn’t cool down properly. I called NovaKook and they were quick to react and sent a technician from the San Francisco bay area (about 60 miles away) very soon. He was eminently qualified as he has installed, built and serviced boat systems for about 30 years. He contacted NovaKool while checking the unit out and they decided it may not have gotten the prescribed amount of Freon so it was evacuated and measured. That wasn’t it so that was put back in with about 15% additional Freon. That did the trick and it has run fine since. I might say that he said that he does warranty work for all of the manufactures and the NovaKool is the most reliable and the easiest to service in his opinion. The others apparently have considerably more problems and are more difficult to repair. The cooling capacity of the unit is designed to be just enough to do the job and no more and that is how it works. It does the job, but doesn’t have excess cooling capacity in an RV environment. A boat environment is normally with cooler ambient temperatures do to being on an ocean. There is room to put a 2-3” Styrofoam board between the back of the unit and the outside wall but I haven’t done so. From a warm start, it takes about 24 hours to completely cool down. I have the coach in the driveway so we just leave it on and keep overflow in it. My freezer goes to about 20 degrees and no lower. That may just be my unit. The bottom tray/compartment of the refrigerator section is one unit instead of two and the wife would have preferred double drawers. The door shelves are well designed. I like the bottom freezer and it’s larger capacity. There is no separate control for the freezer. There is a fan noise when it is running like all compressor refrigerators, but it is not objectionable and while I noticed it initially vs the silence of a gas unit, I no longer notice it. If I had it to do over, would I choose the same unit? The answer is Yes. While it got off to a bad start, all has been well since. The shelving could be a little better but it’s ok. It is nice to be able turn it on and forget it. No more turning it from one power source to the other or turning it off at gas stations and then forgetting to turn it back on, etc., etc.. Don’t hesitate to call NovaKool in Canada to get any questions you have answered. They were happy to take my calls and never dodged any questions and when they couldn’t answer a question, they got the answer and called me back. Hopefully this information has been helpful. Send them a copy of this “report card” and ask them for any reaction. Stephen Heinrichs, #1046 -----Original Message----- Stephen; Can you share your impressions of this refrigerator after a year of in service? I am going to replace mine in the next couple of months and the NovaKool RFU9000DC (or ACDC) appears to be a winner. Any installation comments? TIA, Denny//0890 --- In FMCMotorCoach@yahoogroups.com, "Stephen Heinrichs" <Stephen@...> wrote: Well, my refrigerator stopped working on gas. Still works on electric, but I decided it was time to replace the Dometic RM2601 with one of the modern electric ones designed for marine/RV applications that use a compressor instead of gas absorption. While the gas units have some advantages, so do the new compressor based units as well. The one I have ordered is the NovaKool RFU9000ACDC which can be seen on the bottom of this page HYPERLINK "http://www.novakool.com/products/two_doors/rfu6200_6800_8000_9000.htm Whether this was a good or bad decision, I will find out sometime in the future! If you come to Indiana you can look it over. I also considered the Tundra TJ85AC by Dometic, but decided on the NovaKool in the end. It uses 5.6 amps or 67.2 watts of power when running on 12 volt. It is estimated or designed to run about 50% of the time. This particular unit is fully vented at the floor level inside the coach. This opens the possibility of eventually eliminating the outside wall and roof vents. Since it has no flame it doesn't need the outside venting. It also increases the capacity from 7.0 to 9.1 cu. ft. I eliminated the Norcold unit due to some negative comments in a marine discussion group as well as all of their recall problems of late. Wish me luck or give me condolences!! Stephen Heinrichs, 1046 | ||
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| MCR |
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Veteran Location: Illinois | Stephen - The original refrigerator in the FMC Coaches was a DE728 Norcold which is a dual electric compressor model unit. There were no external vents on the coach in this original setup. I have kept the NORCOLD dual electric refrigerator in various model changes since the lack of vents and lack of levelling the coach. I change the refrigerator at 8 year intervals since I run the refrigerator 24/7 to be ready to go whenever I feel the urge. NOW, why did you decide on the unit you describe and not the latest NORCOLD dual electric model??? Was it price, design convenience, or??? HAPPY TRAILS - Leslie - FMC A#0938 | ||
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| BigRabbitMan |
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Expert Location: Cottage Grove, OR | The following is a copy of the contiuation of the discussion of this subject on the Yahoo group site: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Primarily the bottom freezer with the added benefit of 2.0 more cubic feet of capacity. Stephen Heinrichs -----Original Message----- From: FMCMotorCoach@yahoogroups.com Stephen - This unit had two more total cubic feet of volume???? This is compared to the latest model Norcold dual electric model???? Leslie ---------------- Yes, according to the information I had, the Norcold was 7 cu. ft vs 9 cu. ft. for the NovaKool. A year later, this may or may not be true today. Stephen Heinrichs --------------------------- Leslie, This is the description of the Norcold as just obtained from the internet. The voltage draw is the same as the NovaKool as they both use the same compressor. "Norcold DE-0061T. A Marine, Truck, or RV refrigerator that features a full 7.0 cu.ft. of storage space in an AC/DC 2-way refrigerator which can be operated up to 30 degrees off level. This is a top-of-the-line, flush mount refrigerator that is very quiet with its hermetically sealed compressor. This marine refrigerator features a new thermostat on/off switch, 12 volt fan, and adjustable temperature control. It also has adjustable and removable door bins for storage flexibility. The shelves are white powder coated for long lasting beauty. It has reversible doors that allow it to be installed whatever your space arrangement is. Two-way with 110 volt AC and 12 volt DC. Draws 1.3 amps at 110V AC. The cut out dimensions are: 52 7/8" H x 23 1/4" W x 23 3/4" D. " Stephen Heinrichs ---------------------------- Stephen - Very interesting. I thought the latest Norcold model was 8 cu.ft as they made some changes to interior,etc. - BUT evidently not so. NovaKool must have thinner walls, deeper dimension, or a combination of both. I will have to check features - looks, convenience, and price. Thanks for info. Leslie - FMC #0938 -------------------------------- Leslie, Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Been out of town. my coach, (on ebay motors) is in Brookings, Or.We spoke about a year ago about putting my coach on the market. Re the refrigerator conversation, be sure to take into account that these refers were designed primarily for marine use where the ambient temps are nothing like you will experience on the road.Twenty degrees in the freezer with a 24 hour cool down,in the long run , is an invitation for tomaine (spell?) poisining.In my opinion, if anyone gives a #*&%, an LP/110 with an inverter back up, should you need it, works great and it is less costly. I have installed millions, well, maybe 50 or 60 of them over the years and found that to be a popular, workable solution to alot of different traveling senarios.Anyway, regards to all, Rich [Tetzlaff] ---------------------- Rich, etal - The Norcold units have done well in the FMC Coaches. Many FMC Coaches have the original refer and many have kept the dual electric with newer models which has been greatly improved for efficiency in the last several years and have vent fans built on. The one thing that must be done is to increase the size of the interior vents to provide increased cooling. There is a warning in the installation manual which must be adhered to religiously. BUT in the early going, 30 plus years ago, I was concerned when the sun was beating down on the drivers side of the coach on a HOT day like 85 to 100 degrees Farenheit. I never found the unit to falter. The ice cream lovers bitch about the freezer in the dual electric refers not being cold enough. But now with the newer model dual electric units, the ice cream is as hard as a brick. The only time I would reccomend an absorption LP/electric refrigerator would be for boondock camping where you do not desire to run Genset. If one has a solid state converter 50 0r 75 AMP model then you can run the Genset for one hour at Noontime - cook your meal and charge your batteries. A few years ago an FMC Owner went to Alaska and ran the Genset for one hour daily and had no electrical difficulties. The price of the Norcold dual electric refrigerators is less than the absorption model units. HAPPY TRAILS - Leslie - FMC #0938 -------------------------- I agree with Leslie in that I am happy with the temperatures and convenience of the electric compressor unit. We do not do long term food storage in it so spoilage is a non-issue. It was summertime temp that I gave. The absence of the need for any maintenance or switching of modes of operation is great. Stray gusts of wind from a whirlwind can no longer blow out the flame only to be discovered when the food has already started to get warm. That is where food storage issues arise and I have had that happen to me. My gas refer started to give me issues, so I evaluated what was available and chose the features I liked. If yours is working there is no reason to change from one to another. With the Danfoss compressor (both brands), power consumption is a non-issue. I have removed and sealed (with a screwed down ss plate) my roof vent and it reduced the sound level in the coach when traveling as well as restoring a clean line to that side of the coach. I have yet to glass over and paint the opening that was cut in the side wall for the gas unit. >>"The one thing that must be done is to increase the size of the interior vents to provide increased cooling."<< This reminds me of another reason I picked the model I did. The unit I have is self vented at the bottom. It doesn't need any venting of the cabinet at all. The condenser coils are below the bottom freezer and so the small fan draws air in the left side of the lower grill, across the compressor area, through the folded up condenser coils and out the right side so no venting is needed at all. There aren't any coils on the back of the unit as they are all below the bottom freezer. That design allows the deeper dimension and increased cubic capacity of the unit. I now have the option of converting the upper interior vent area to additional storage if I so desire. Stephen Heinrichs, #1046 ------------------------------------- Stephen, etal - The late model Norcold dual electric refrigerators vent out the top front of the unit. Therefore the increased vents are for the inlet air. The great efficiency of the units from the last 10 or more years allows the unit to operate at a setting that is a fraction of the early DE728 and DE828 models. So with all this info only a price comparison will be required to determine whether we can sell the Norcold or the NovaKool Unit. HAPPY TRAILS - Leslie - FMC #0938 | ||
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