front loading vs top loading

[jlrray]

My FWC Kestrel has an icebox that I'm about to ditch. When I owned my sportsmobile, I used a tiny built in 3 cu ft DC Norcold fridge all the time and found it invaluable. At this point, I've read numerous posts regarding the ARB / ENGEL / etc line of top loading fridges and I almost picked one up -- but I would have to sacrifice the little space between the counter and the back of the camper. With space at a premium, I've begun thinking about replacing the built in icebox with a WAECO front loading fridge / freezer. Although probably not as efficient as the top loaders, I'm thinking Id' like the convenience of the front loader vs pulling the basket in and out - plus I can get a much larger unit like the 110 and remove the drawer that sits above the icebox. If everything works out well, the wiring should already be there behind the icebox.

Conversely, it appears there is a huge trend towards the top loader. I totally understand the portability issue, and while nice -- i'm thinking I could do without moving it around, especially if its full. I could even pick up a small one for inside the truck...but I'm not sold either way.

Has anyone found a front loading fridge they like? What model is the one that is sold by FWC? Any recommendations for or against would help me. I wanna put this thing to bed so to speak. THe fridge needs to hold food for my family of 5... (kids are 6/18mo / 1 in the oven)

If I buy the top loader, I'd probably gut the icebox out and put in a pantry as I missed having that from my SMB.

Thanks

 

[jha6av8r]

Our FWC came with the Waeco 110. It surprised us how much it can hold if you think out how you package things. The freezer is convenient. We can get 4 to 5 days of food in it including 12 beers. There's 3 of us (son is 5).

 

[jlrray]

Does your 110 make any noise? My old norcold would hum pretty much all the time when the temp was set at 3 or 4 out of 5.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

You might look into the "truck fridge" brand.They are resonable in cost and very quiet.Ted has a front loader,you might check with him.I have a top loader "truck fridge" brand and love it.Doesn't make any noise.I carry it behind the front seat of our Tundra AC cab.Works well there.
Frank

 

[rotti]

Our FWC came with the Waeco 110. It surprised us how much it can hold if you think out how you package things. The freezer is convenient. We can get 4 to 5 days of food in it including 12 beers. There's 3 of us (son is 5).

2x
I have the same one from FWC. Plenty of room as mentioned and quiet as a mouse.
Personally, I think the Waeco front loader is the way to go.

 

[jlrray]

Frank-

I saw the "TruckFridge" brand on another post and I'm really leaning heavily towards that. I have a small dometic / Waeco CF-25 for the cab of the truck and that should suffice for keeping cold drinks and snacks while on the move. I just need to find that "post" on here that describes the wiring that is already in place for the fridge. I think Stan said one is for the solar controllers or something like that. There also appears to be what looks like the hot water line for my sink?

 

[jlrray]

At this point, I'm thinking of putting in the TF130 Truck Fridge. Any thoughts on AC/DC vs just DC?

Joe

 

[craig333]

I have the truckfridge front loader. I much prefer a front loader over a top loader. I can't see any reason for needing ac on a built in fridge.

 

[Ted]

As Frank mentioned, I have the truckfridge 65 front loader, same as Craig. Very happy with it. Do check the power usage. It pulls about 25 amps a day which is more than some of the top loaders. No problem if you have solar or are not staying put for several days on end. The truckfridge 130 is the fridge used in all of the XP campers, and Marc only puts the best of everything in his campers. AC/DC vs. DC only depends on how you camp. We rarely have a place to plug in so the AC is useless to us. If you will have hook-ups regularly, go with AC/DC. If you are usually primitive camping, go with DC only.

 

[jlrray]

Pretty much mirrored what I'm thinking. I'm gonna put an order in today or tomorrow for the fridge. Anybody know of a good place or deal to buy it other than from the manufacturer itself? Its already a pretty good deal, but I thought I would ask.

Anyone know which wires are for the fridge vs for solar?

 

[camelracer]

I installed a Truckfridge TF130 to replace my 3CF Norcold. It seems to work well. The only downside I've discovered so far is that the freezer is a little small and the door shelves aren't adjustable. I ordered the 12v model because my inverter handles the 120v / 12v conversion.

The Truckfridge is the same as the more expensive Isotherm marine refrigerators. I ordered mine from gotruckstop.com but it was shipped from the Kentucky Truckfridge facility. Don't bother with the installation kit because it won't work with the space available.

 

[jlrray]

Sounds great! I was just going to ask if anyone bothered with the flush mounted flange kit thing. GoTruckStop has em on sale now... from truckfridge, its only $599 but you have to pay $100 shipping. GoTruckstop.com has it for 679.99 with shipping. Not much, but every little bit helps.

 

[craig333]

On mine the wires were already in place. Behind the original ice box. Its easy to wire either way.

 

[jlrray]

After much deliberation, I decided to get both. A small Dometic 25 Top Loading fridge / freezer for the cab of the truck and a TruckFridge 130 to replace the icebox in the FWC. I attempted to take pictures the whole way through installation; however, once I inserted the card in the computer, there was nothing to download. I must have corrupted it someway. In anycase, I'll try and describe what I did and see if I can edit this later and re-insert pics.

Removal of the icebox was pretty easy. Remove 4 screws and pull out the drain tube. After that, you'll need to remove and discard the drawer above it and the entire face of the cabinet. You're going to have to remove all of the drawer support pieces. In my FWC, I used a square head bit.

The directions state that you should make sure that the fridge / freezer is upright for a minimum of 4 hours before powering up the fridge. Mine was upright the whole time I had it, so I figured i was good to go. I tried to dry fit the fridge and then realized that the tolerances on the side were fairly tight. I had to remove the top screw of the L brackets so that the side of the fridge would fit in the opening. I also had to remove the lower screw for the L brackets that held the counter top in place.

FWC pre-wires the area for a fridge which is incredibly convenient, so I tested the power on the wires and then connected them with the supplied coupling.

I still need to figure out a good way to ensure that the fridge does NOT slide out, but its difficult to move as it is, It may not move at all.

The Blue LED coloring looks kinda disco in my camper, but I think its kinda neat that it doesn't kill your night vision when looking for the cookies you hid from your kids.

All in all, it went together well and I spent probably and hour or so on this... So far a worthwhile modification.

 

[craig333]

Sounds like my experience. Glad it worked well.

 

[camelracer]

jlrray,

I had the same fit issues you did with the width. I ended up removing the round head screws in the cabinet L brackets, countersinking the bracket holes and using flat head screws. To hold the fridge in place I followed MarkBC's post and drilled and screwed the lower hinge brackets. I also screwed through the upper flange using a spacer into the cabinet top. I used L brackets at the back of the fridge but if you don't have outside access that wouldn't be possible.

 

[craig333]

I never secured mine at the rear or anywhere other than the front. So far it hasn't budged a bit and I really don't expect it to. I do have access to the rear if I ever do need to secure it better.

 

[MarkBC]

...a TruckFridge 130 to replace the icebox in the FWC....

Cool -- looks and fits just like mine, except that mine is the Isotherm-branded 130.

 

[jlrray]

From pictures online, The ISOTHERM branded 130 has a better door lock than the Truck Fridge 130. The truck fridge latch screams toy. I'm gonna have to find a better more "industrial" way to keep the door closed and latched. I wonder if I can buy a replacement ISOTHERM door and do a direct install in the truck fridge.

Also -- if anyone has a good picture or description of your front mounting of the fridge (so it doesnt move) can you post it?

 

[camelracer]

From pictures online, The ISOTHERM branded 130 has a better door lock than the Truck Fridge 130. The truck fridge latch screams toy. I'm gonna have to find a better more "industrial" way to keep the door closed and latched. I wonder if I can buy a replacement ISOTHERM door and do a direct install in the truck fridge.

Also -- if anyone has a good picture or description of your front mounting of the fridge (so it doesnt move) can you post it?

I drilled the lower hinges and put a 1/4 inch oak spacer under them then screwed into the cabinet floor. I also put a spacer over the upper fridge flange and put 3 screws through the flange and spacer into the top of the cabinet.