Hardwiring Dometic Fridge

[jasper]

Hey all,

I'd like to hardwire my Dometic CFX fridge into my Shell's electrical system.

I'm not an electrical wizard, but I've done a good bit of research on what I need to do this, and have it all ready to go with an inline fuse, etc, but... I'm at a loss as to how to understand the existing wiring and exactly where I should wire in the fridge. Can anyone help? I want to wire it in directly to the batteries.

I found the attached images elsewhere on here, but I have the exact same electrical system setup from the factory. Two batteries and a solar panel. The camper is not wired to the truck battery.

Any help? Thanks!

 

[Jon R]

Is that an unused fuse slot at the top left in the upper picture, or do you just have a fuse pulled?

 

[jasper]

Whoops, updated the photo. Doesn't look like there's an unused fuse slot in my wiring.

Is there a way I can add the fridge in addition to what's there? Or if one of those circuits is for one of the two USB outlets I have, could I decommission it and hook the fridge up there?

Doesn't have to be a perfect solution, as long as it works!

 

[Jon R]

If you existing fuse block is full, your choices under good wiring practices as i see it would be to 1) replace the fuse block with a larger one to make an available fuse slot, 2) add another small fixed fuse block for the new load, or 3) wire direct to the battery or bus bars with an in-line fuse located at the battery or bus bar.

The first option would be my preference, but I recognize that’s probably the highest cost and most work.

 

[Jon R]

So, assuming you want to do option 3 because it is the easiest, you would connect the refrigerator negative wire to the negative bus bar in the lower left corner of the picture. Use proper wire terminations, not just a stripped wire around a screw. You could hook up the refrigerator positive wire at any of several locations in that picture and it would be electrically equivalent, but I would suggest connecting it to the main fuse block supply wire connection at the bottom of the fuse block as shown in the picture (where the white wire with the yellow terminal insulator from the isolator is connected). Wire an in-line fuse holder in the refrigerator positive wire right next to the terminal that connects to the fuse block supply terminal. The enclosed black rubber automotive type of fuse holder you see used in the yellow ground wire for the isolator is a good choice available at any auto parts store.

Post again if you need advice on wire size or fuse size, but the first place to look for relevant information on that is the owner’s manual for the fridge. Depending on you wire run length you may want to go to bigger wire than the manual recommends to reduce voltage drop. Fuse size would remain the same.

 

[jasper]

Thanks for the help, Jon.

At this point option 3 is where I'm headed.

I'm planning on using the supplied 12 volt cord from Dometic, and putting a 10 amp fuse inline. Seems like folks think what Dometic supplies for wiring is a little light, but the fridge is going directly above this electrical zone, so it doesn't have to travel far.

If I'm understanding you correctly, does the annotated photo attached make sense? Appreciate it!

 

[Jon R]

Yes your red circles in the picture show what I was suggesting. Do you have a voltmeter? If not, does a friend have one you can borrow or have them use for you? Even though I’m quite confident in what I suggested it’s always good to check things with a meter to verify polarity and voltage.

I don’t know the power specs for your fridge, so I can’t recommend a wire or fuse size, but I suspect the fridge manual gives recommendations.

 

[jasper]

Just wanted to follow up and say thank you, Jon R!

What you lead me to was the perfect solution. While not "elegant" by most standards, it did the job to get the fridge wired in. If I ever decide to do more with the electrical system in the camper, perhaps I'll set it up a bit better in the future, but hopefully this does the trick for now.

I've learned so much from poking around here and asking questions – hope I can give back in the same way in the future!

Here's a photo of the little project I've been working on, building out one side of my Shell to be a more functioning "kitchen". Still a little finishing work to do, but good enough to get me rolling for this next trip for now!

 

[DBAshland]

A search of WTW for how to wire a Dometic fridge led me here. I have a 2022 Hawk shell and am planning to hardwire a Dometic CFX345. Full disclosure: I am an ignorant electrical newbie, but can ask good questions and follow directions.
Applying the previous posts to my situation, here's what it sounds like I need to do. Connect positive wire from Dometic to existing fuse block (circled in red). There is one unused fuse slot in the block, and Dometic specifies a 10A fuse. Connect negative wire from Dometic to negative bus bar (circled in green). I don't see any unused terminals on negative bus bar, so is it okay to double up on a terminal already being used? Wiring Dometic this way, it seems like it should be powered anytime main house battery switch (silver knob) is on, and it should be fuse protected at appropriate amperage.




Looking for feedback and guidance to see if what I propose is the right way to do it.

 

[Vic Harder]

A search of WTW for how to wire a Dometic fridge led me here. I have a 2022 Hawk shell and am planning to hardwire a Dometic CFX345. Full disclosure: I am an ignorant electrical newbie, but can ask good questions and follow directions.
Applying the previous posts to my situation, here's what it sounds like I need to do. Connect positive wire from Dometic to existing fuse block (circled in red). There is one unused fuse slot in the block, and Dometic specifies a 10A fuse. Connect negative wire from Dometic to negative bus bar (circled in green). I don't see any unused terminals on negative bus bar, so is it okay to double up on a terminal already being used? Wiring Dometic this way, it seems like it should be powered anytime main house battery switch (silver knob) is on, and it should be fuse protected at appropriate amperage.

IMG_5665.jpg


Looking for feedback and guidance to see if what I propose is the right way to do it.

Sounds good to me. Yes, you can double up the ground wire.

 

[DBAshland]

What gauge wire would you recommend between cooler and fuse block? Distance is about 4 feet.

 

[DBAshland]

The Dometic factory 12V wire is 16AWG, about 6 long.

 

[Vic Harder]

I wired mine with heavier gauge wire, 12 or even 10g, because that is what the fridge part of the wiring was using. Match what yours ships with.