front loading vs top loading

[jlrray]

So this fridge has been on my camper for just about 2 years. For the most part it works great. Keeps things nice and cool, plenty of room -- but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts.

1. The door doesn't stay closed well and more than once, I've had to clean broken beer bottles that have fallen OUT of the fridge onto the floor of the camper or

2. The wire shelves inside do not stay "secured" as well as I would like.

Anyone else have these issues?

Oh yah a 3rd.

3. I think it does tend to use quite a bit of power and I'm pretty sure my current setup isn't charging my house battery efficiently. I had one of those Xantrex Echo chargers in the rig which was broken, so I just replaced it. Hopefully that should help charge the house battery better as I drive. I'd really like to add solar, but too much to do on the truck first to do anything expensive.

Joe

 

[jlrray]

The Waeco Dometic top loader 25 was probably one of the best buy's I made -- except, I thought it wasn't supposed to drain your battery to the point of not starting your truck... and it has numerous times

 

[MarkBC]

So this fridge has been on my camper for just about 2 years. For the most part it works great. Keeps things nice and cool, plenty of room -- but there are a couple of things that drive me nuts.

1. The door doesn't stay closed well and more than once, I've had to clean broken beer bottles that have fallen OUT of the fridge onto the floor of the camper or

2. The wire shelves inside do not stay "secured" as well as I would like.

Anyone else have these issues?

Oh yah a 3rd.

3. I think it does tend to use quite a bit of power and I'm pretty sure my current setup isn't charging my house battery efficiently. I had one of those Xantrex Echo chargers in the rig which was broken, so I just replaced it. Hopefully that should help charge the house battery better as I drive. I'd really like to add solar, but too much to do on the truck first to do anything expensive.

Joe

1. Yes. Except I got pierced aluminum soda cans instead of broken beer bottles.
2. Yes. Shelves shift and let stuff fall down and pile up at the bottom of the fridge.

Mine is an Isotherm 130, but I think they're very similar, maybe the same.

3. What I spent on 240 watts of solar panels and charge controller is about the same as I spend on gasoline for just one round-trip from Bend, Oregon to Bishop, CA (i.e., to visit the Sierra eastside)...so with that comparison it was an easy choice for me.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

On the fridge door,I added a bottom latch just to make sure the door would stay closed (that's on my 3 way).
On the draining of the battery the truckfridge 45 top door cooler I keep in the truck,it has a battery protection switch.

It has 3 settings that will shut off the fridge when the battery goes below a certain voltage.
I keep mine set on the highest. I do have solar so the battery draw down isn't a problem,also the truckfridge runs off the house battery.

I wired 12v plug in, to the area I keep the cooler.
I have used this system for many years now and haven't had any issues.
Frank

 

[camelracer]

I've had these same problems with my Truckfridge 130.


1. To keep the door shut on the trail I added a household security latch I got at OSH.



2. To keep the shelves in place I just bent the wire frame to make them a tighter fit in the notches. My shelves also have doors that open to allow for tall bottles. I zip tied these to keep them shut.

3. I find that the thermal mass in the fridge effects power consumption. The more cold food you have in there the less the fridge cycles. I also keep a couple of frozen water bottles in the freezer near the temp sensor so it isn't trying to freeze an empty space. I also added another vent and fan near the condenser coils.

4. I also had a problem with the drip tray under the freezer coming loose and dumping water. I added adhesive magnets to the tray and back of the fridge to solve this problem.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Now I'm really happy I bought the Engle

 

[Ethergore]

My door opens the opposite way and I secure it by using a bungee cord. I put 2 screws in the area of the bottom corner of the door. This lets the cord stretch from the drawer near by to the screws and holds the door closed while traveling some of Baja's greatest bumpy roads. It may not look great but its only on during travel. Once I stop to camp I just leave it off. Can get pictures if needed.

 

[purplepeopleeater]

I have the truckfridge in my westfalia, love it....going to put one in my FWC

 

[wuck]

3. I think it does tend to use quite a bit of power .

Joe, I looked back through the thread to see that you replaced an icebox with this fridge. I'm wondering if you added any venting to the rear of the cabinet? Without it, your fridge is likely to be running all the time, consuming more power.