Replacing 3-way fridge with compressor fridge

Not to get into the discussion of 3-way fridges versus compressor fridges. For us the compressor style will work better for us. Overall this was a very easy and quick swap. Not including a trip to Home Depot for a piece of birch to fill the upper gap (cosmetic) it took about an hour. I still need to get a plug to cap off the propane line. The fridge I got was a Nova Kool R2600 DC fridge. It was almost a direct external size swap as the Norcold 323 3-way that was in the camper. I needed a 3/4"x3/4" piece of wood to close up the opening at the top.

Well, here's the pics.

Old fridge



Test fitting new fridge



Gap at top



Piece of birch, nailed in place with a crown nailer



Showing top of fridge



Back showing compressor and other parts




Well, I forgot to take any pics all done but it looks like the test fit ones without the gap at the top. The factory FWC wires had the same connectors so I was able to just plug those wires onto the new fridge and fired it up. It's very quiet as we didn't even think it was running until we opened it and could barely hear the compressor. It was really nice being able to run this on my sloped driveway!!!

Other nice thing was I gained capacity. Old fridge was 1.7 cf (47 quart) and the new one is 2.4 cf (65 quart). All in the same basic footprint.

Can't wait to get out and test it more. Thanks to everyone who helped me decide on a DC only versus an AC/DC version. Since the camper has a converter, the fridge still runs on DC even when plugged in yet I saved $150 over the AC/DC version.

Hope this is informative and helpful.

Happy camping!

Thanks for the write-up, Mike.
Did you add the insulation visible in the 4th photo or was that already there?

I, too, am seriously considering going the electric-compressor route. Since my 3-way seems dead (as described in my trip report), I'm in a position where I have to choose something new. And yeah, the front-loading compressor fridges do seem to fit more interior space in the same footprint.
With my existing 260 amp-hr battery set and a 70-watt PV panel I think I can provide the DC power required.

All the insulation you see was already there.

Yeah, I read about your fridge and wow is all I can say.

I'm in the process of doing the same thing right now, replacing a 3-way RM2193 with a 65 quart CR-1065 that has a freezer, a must for infrared film...

I added a 100 watt panel to my cabover bringing me to 185 watts then upgraded to a Platinum group 31, MPPT charge controller.

Fridge shows on the truck for delivery, I can't wait to get it in!

What are you doing for power? Did you have to add an extra battery (besides the one in the camper) and/or solar panel? Can this be run with just the single battery in the camper as long as other power use is minimal? I hate constantly adjusting mine and having the fridge freeze or get too warm. It would be nice to not think about it. Glad to hear the swap was so easy. I've got the same fridge, so I'm anxious to hear how it works. Keep us posted!

My Grandby already had a house battery. I am also wired into the main truck charging. You can easily run this off a single camper battery. I also changed all my camper lights to LED to help use less power.

For us, we have only once in four years, camped in one spot for more than one night. I can't comment on how many days you'll get without adding power (solar, main charging, AC, etc.). The specs from the company show fridge temp @ 32* with outside temp @ 75*, 30 watts per hour (about 2.4 amps).

As I get some use, I'll report more.

The specs claim a 2.5 amp draw. But they do not run 100% of the time. So it should run off 1 battery for a while. A HUGE improvement over the AC/DC/LP stock style fridge which could kill a battery in about a couple hours running on DC (12 amp draw?? and 100% of the time).

I have a cooler shaped compressor fridge (same principle as the NovaKool above) and it will run for a couple days off the camper battery with no charging.

My Grandby already had a house battery. I am also wired into the main truck charging. You can easily run this off a single camper battery. I also changed all my camper lights to LED to help use less power.

For us, we have only once in four years, camped in one spot for more than one night. I can't comment on how many days you'll get without adding power (solar, main charging, AC, etc.). The specs from the company show fridge temp @ 32* with outside temp @ 75*, 30 watts per hour (about 2.4 amps).

As I get some use, I'll report more.



Thanks for the info Mike.I searched your fridg and thought the price is good. Now I just will wait for my 3/way to die. It's only less than 2 years old so might be a while. We also only stay in camp sites a short time and I have a 45w panel so that would take care of the charging.We move around when we camp to fish,ect.so the camper battery would charge no problem.Waiting to see more about your power usage.

Frank

Just wanted to update this. I had my first trip out with the new fridge. So far 100% happy with the Nova Kool. I was able to pre-cool the fridge with my truck parked on my sloped driveway which is a major plus over the old one. I was only staying 1 night camping but it ran for approx 24 hours without the truck running. The battery meter never budged off full. There was also zero noise when the compressor was running, unless you had the door open and even then it was really quiet.

Hopefully this fridge will last a very long time but at this point, only time will tell. I'll report more as time goes on.

Thanks for the update. This is the route I will go when my 3-way dies.

I'll be spending five days in one spot without moving next week (the Jeep will be moving though) with the freezer on max cool, making as much ice for as many people as I can. Hoping I won't have to start the truck and charge up. This'll be a good test.

I've done two of these type of swaps over the last few years. I had 2 6v golf cart batteries (220ah) running them and could dry camp for a week straight in the summer (along with LED lighting and electric water pump) without any type of recharging. Even under high demand, I'll bet the compressor still only runs at 50% duty. The key is having good ventilation across the back of the unit and deadening the compartment from that compressor noise.

Sure is nice not having to constantly panic about what angle you're parked at.

Late to the party, but we're in. Getting a Cruise CR65. Only occasionally do we stay in the same place more than one night and, when we do, we often go exploring during the day. So for now we will skip the solar panel and see how it goes. We have two AGM batteries in the camper so we have a lot of available amp hours. Once the swap is done (July), I'll post the three-way in the gear for sale.

Yeah, I did also upgrade the camper battery from a dying Optima blue top to a Sears Platium group 31M. 205 minutes reserve time and 1150 CCA. It's a beast but should work well enough not to worry about adding any solar panels, for our use.

Mike,

Hows the fridge working? What has been your experience with running it off of just one house battery and no solar?

I am going to do this mod as soon as finances allow, and am wondering what to do about power: Stay with the single house battery, go with two 6V golf cart batteries, or stay with the single house battery and add solar. Like you, we don't stay in one place very long, but don't want to do it sometime and have the fridge shut down. Wanting to do the mod as easily and cheaply as possible.

Wondering what your real life experience has been for power and if you are thinking of changing anything.

Thanks!
-Rick

Hi Rick,

Well, I haven't really been out since the last trip. Too many other projects I have been doing on other vehicles. My next trip is about a month away and it will be a rare, two nights in one location trip, so I'll likely have a better idea then.

Most of our trips are fall to spring so don't get out much during the summer.

Thanks Mike,

Keep me posted. I won't be doing the mod until next spring at the earliest. So let me know how your upcoming trip goes, and your impressions as time goes on.

Thanks!
-Rick

Just an update. Was out camping this weekend and one of the rare cases where we were camped in the same spot for a couple days. Ran the fridge and lighting for about 44 hours without any charging. Not even a blip on the battery. According to the FWC battery monitor, it never moved off the green good mark. This was with leaving the outside porch lights on for about 4 hours each night. We used the interior lighting as well. Never had to run the heater so didn't have that draw but did run the Fantastic fan a few times too. To be fair, I did swap all the lighting to LED's so they have little draw.

So far I am really happy with the fridge change. Eventually I will add solar to the rig but for now and our use, it's not on the top of the list at this point.

Get a basic multimeter ~$10 so you can actually check your battery voltage, it will tell you a lot more than the factory LED monitor.

Get a basic multimeter ~$10 so you can actually check your battery voltage, it will tell you a lot more than the factory LED monitor.

I use this to check the voltage of my camper battery -- it plugs into the 12-v outlet, conveniently so I don't have to get access to the battery terminals or wires:


Equus 3721 Battery and Charging System Monitor

It actually reads out 2 decimal places, not just the 1 shown in the image...at least, the one I bought a year ago displays 2 decimal places. Yes, it's a uni-tasker -- can't be used to read voltages of points in general -- but for conveniently checking/monitoring my camper-battery voltage it's perfect for me.