Converting to residential fridge

[Bob86ZZ4]

I guess I better make sure everybody can see these pictures before I keep posting more.

Anybody else see the pictures? or not see them?

 

[38Chevy454]

Thanks for the info on your conversion 38Chev! I like your idea of removing the front levelers and bolting through the plywood into the fridge there. That was one thing I hadn't worked out yet. I know I don't want to secure it from the back bottom because I've sealed off that vent so now don't have easy access back there. I had thought about somehow making the foam removable but rules that out. Your idea sounds like it might work for me. I haven't gotten the fridge up into place yet to see how that will work. I'm also think about removing the rear rollers since I'm not too concerned about scratching the plywood while putting it in place. I'm thinking I'll use the top door hinge bolts to attach a bracket to and then attach to the wood when I slide it in. Top and bottom securing sounds like the great idea to me. Did you do anything about venting the cabinet into the room? Allowing air behind the fridge? I think I'll have about 1/2" clearance all the way around mine. Not sure if that is enough?

My understanding of the airflow for the frig is to draw in from underneath and the front, then through the condenser and out the back and ultimately up and out of the cabinet (which means inside the coach). So I would not remove the rear rollers as this might limit or mess up the airflow. I have plenty of rear clearance since I have the two vent pipes running up the wall. I think your 1/2 inch on either side is plenty, I have about 3/8 inch myself.

I still need to figure out a top bracket for the mount there, or maybe on the back. Certainly the hing bolts are plenty strong area to attach a bracket. I plan to just seal my vent panel, but leave it as removable since that is where my electrical and water connections have easy access. Too hard to pull the frig out, need to build a temporary base for it to sit on since it is not at floor level.

The front leveler holes have 8mm x 1.25 thread if my memory is right. It is metric and 8mm for sure, just use the threaded foot to check. My spacer needed 1 inch thickness.

I can see your latest pics.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Yes, I'll take one of the levelers to the hardware to match up. I'll look closer at the rollers. If I take them off I think I would have to install some bolts or something to keep it the same height back there. Another thought I have is maybe making some sort of metal bracket that would engage with the bottom rear frame on the fridge when I slide it into the space. That might work well to lock down the rear of the fridge and then bolt through to the leveler holes on the front.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Looks like these pics should work. Here's one that shows that light duty 1x strip along the back where the plywood rests on:

And this shows how I positioned the 2x's to support the plywood now:

Here's the back vent sealed off:

Here's the roof vent:

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

And the roof vent sealed off:

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Here's the cabinet next to the bed for the inverter:

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Trying to decide another thing. Should I paint the inside walls on either side of the fridge? There's a whole bunch of wires on the left side there so thinking it will be a hard one to paint. Maybe just paint the front 8-10" on each side since you probably can't see further back without shining a light there?

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

I'm also thinking about cutting a thin piece of plywood to mount on the left side of the cabinet to cover all those wires there. I could use small spacers to allow room for the wiring behind it.

 

[samcrimm]

I'm also thinking about cutting a thin piece of plywood to mount on the left side of the cabinet to cover all those wires there. I could use small spacers to allow room for the wiring behind it.

Cut some strips and lig. nail it to your wall with the wire. then screw the new panal so you can get to the wires easy.

Sam

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Confused me for a minute. Liquid nails I'm thinking. Yes, sounds like a great idea.

 

[samcrimm]

I am useing a pad and it sucks for typing sorry

Sam

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Got it all in. I made a couple of square steel tubing mounts for the bottom front. I wanted to mount the fridge out far enough to allow a bit of air to circulate. In order to do that I needed to have it stick out to a point that the front levelers were in free air. So, I removed those and used the steel tubing to bolt through. It works great. I can adjust the height to have the fridge level in the opening. Cosmetically I suppose it's not the greatest. But, I'm all about function over beauty.

Then up top I used a couple of small L brackets and attached them where the door hinge bolts are. I used a nut to space between the L brackets and the wood above the fridge. Quick and easy. Again, probably not the prettiest and I'm sure others could do a much better job somehow. But, I'm not much good at pretty.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Those front leg levelers I used nylock nuts so they won't loosen up on the road.

Here's some electrical install info. The builder (United Specialties) used that black plastic wire loom stuff to protect the romex around the framing under the bed. I used 3/4" liquid tight non-metallic conduit (often used to run wire from a outside air conditioner to the disconnect on the side of your house). I had a huge coil of it laying on the shelf and figure it would work better than that plastic stuff the builder used. I removed the romex for the fridge circuit from my a/c breaker panel. I ran that into a junction box and then ran a new piece of romex from there to a junction box over by the inverter (no enough room between the water tank and the a/c panel to put everything). Over by the inverter end I wired in the auto transfer switch using another junction box. I used single device plastic boxes with blank cover plates. I know not the best, but probably sufficient. I used that 3/4" conduit to protect the 4 gauge wires running from the batteries to the inverter too. I used this cool hydraulic crimping tool to crimp the ends onto the 4 gauge wire.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

Now the problem. The 600 watt pure sine wave inverter cuts off with an overload error code. I believe it's cutting off when the compressor tries to start up on the fridge. It seems to be fine for awhile and then cuts off. I tried using a hair dryer on the inverter and it worked fine until I got to the highest setting. The dryer starts on low so I'm guessing it doesn't spike right off like the fridge might be? So, I ordered a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and will convert to that. I'm going to run either 2 gauge or 1 gauge wire for that. It isn't all a loss though. I'm going to switch over the 600 watt one to power the entertainment center. That way we can use that without shore or genny power. Pretty sure the 600 watts should be fine for that. I'm going to build another level in that cabinet. Then I'll move the 600 watt unit to the upper level. And mount the 2k unit where the 600 watt one is now. Shouldn't be a huge deal. There is enough room to do the wiring into the battery box down below. I might have to run two of the conduits since that 1 gauge wire is very thick. Running one wire in each conduit will help with reducing heat too I think.

 

[38Chevy454]

Install looks good in the overall view. You do not see those upper brackets much since they are blocked by the door. Those lower bolts and nuts would hide a bunch if you paint them black.

As for the electrical, it could be the start-up current is what is tripping. seems most inverters can handle about 50% spike over the rated value, so in your case that would be about 900 watts. For sure the 200 watt will work, after all the frig is designed to plug into a 15 amp 120v circuit which is less than 2000 watts. Repurposing the 600 watt inverter to the TV should work fine, and as you said nice to run those without needing the generator.

 

[MnTom-FRF]

Bob, you could probably buy a 1/2 sheet of 1/4" oak plywood and make a box of sorts to go over the fridge mount. That would give it a much more finished look.

 

[solo318]

On my old unit, I pulled the upper trip rail off. and put the upper brackets under it. Then reinstalled it. it left about a 1/2 inch air gap and looked good.

 

[bushpilot-TC]

I have that same hydraulic crimper - its $54 at Harbor Freight IIRC i thought i picked it up for slightly less during one of their better sale days.

Amazon has a similar one for $46

 

[hot rod]

If you are going to buy a bunch of heavy battery cable I have often found it cheaper to go my local welding supply as opposed to the auto/truck parts joint. Also welding cable is more flexible to fish into tight spots.