Converting our RV Fridge to a High Efficiency DC Compressor- 8x More Efficient! and Better Cooling!

fin fan will stop or slow down the fins from freezing

I think its hilarious how people always talk about how propane is so bad when ALL new residental refrigerators have R290 refrigerant...which is non odorized propane, or R600, which is isobutane. 😂😂

Compressor fridge is loud

Roughly how many kwh per day do you think it takes to run it?

Pro tip: Lacquer thinner takes that foam right off. Hence the old adage, "people that live in foam houses shouldn't throw lacquer thinner".

always let any fridge stand vertically for 24 hours if its been laid down. It avoids oil hydraulic lock.

Excellent how to video! Thank you.

Is this still recommended?

If the electric unit is more efficient, why do you need to replace a 5A fuse (for the ammonia unit) with a 20A fuse (for the compressor unit)?

dude called water a gas

Thank you for your informative and helpful videos!

The problem with refurbing an old fridge is that the insulation gets damp over time and loses its effectiveness. It's usually more effective to replace the entire thing than change out parts

Icing up of the fins is an indicator that the door seals need replacing

Your next project should be replacing the 24V battery with LiFePo4 - These are cheaper to run than Lead-Acid in the long term and have a very stable output as well as being able to go to 80-90% DOD instead of the 30% limit of lead-acid batteries

that was way harder than u made it look,,, u obviously have an electrical/mechanical background, right? great job overall tho. diagnosing and fixing your low voltage dc issue also....u guys appear to work well as a team doing complicated repairs...a big plus to have a good helper whos not arguing or complaining..

WHEN RUNNING ON ELECTRIC! WHICH YOU ARE NOW STUCK WITH!

I would never do this "upgrade".

Great idea but dam a lot of effort

Do they have a kit for the big 4 door 😊1200 norcolds

👍🇺🇲

really great video. but I'd pay the 150 to have them do it any day, if I can get to them

The boom boom boom in the background of your video is very annoying

Man I bet this was a massive mistake

Thanks for this video content. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.
You guys did an awesome job converting you’re fridge over to a compressor style. Nice work 👍.
I will definitely be getting in touch with JC refrigeration in regards to my own conversion.

I understand that Great Stuff sealant absorbs water and can be a black mold incubator. Any truth to this understanding ?

I know it was 4 years ago but for cleaning up that Great Stuff foam, WD40 will clean it up nicely. Both from hands and surfaces. It also cleans up the cans application tube so you can re-use it later.

There's some bad information in this video,

Poor performance from an absorption refrigerator when running off of AC power is almost always due to sagging line voltage. That's why it happens on hot days. You'll notice that poor performance with your refrigerator almost always coincides with air conditioning use which is the reason for the sagging line voltage.

Absorption refrigerators when powered by AC use a heating element to generate heat rather than a propane flame .

Heating elements are resistive loads which means their wattage is directly proportional to the voltage being supplied and when the voltage being supplied drops so does the heating power and thus the cooling power..

Unfortunately low voltage is very common in RV parks and campgrounds and is exacerbated when you use the air conditioning in your RV.

it's quite common for me to see 109 volts at the heating element on hot days when plugged into a campgrounds or rv park power pedestal . and this significantly reduces cooling power while simultaneously damaging the compressor and blower motor of your air conditioner.

again this is the result of being in an RV campground with everyone running their air conditioners which causes line voltage sagging to the point of being dangerous. You should always monitor your RV's input voltage and if it drops below 110 volts you're doing damage to your air conditioner and compressor style refrigerator

the benefit and absorption type refrigerator is that low voltage doesn't damage them like it does refrigerator compressors it just impacts performance.

If you're suffering from low voltage problems to your refrigerator causing cooling issues then the simplest solution is to power you're absorption refrigerator from an AC inverter,

the inverter will be powered by your RV batteries and provide a constant 120 volts to the heater which will solve your low voltage induced cooling problems..

There is one major drawback to compressor style refrigerators in RV's especially these from JC, they utilize our R600A as a refrigerant which is isobutane. (Think cigarette lighter)

isobutane and its cousin propane R290 require much higher pressures to operate then say R134, we are talking 300 plus PSI here.

isobutane and propane both are explosive which is why the DOT bans their use in automotive applications, so how it's legal to place an R600A or R290 based refrigeration unit in a vehicle I'm not quite sure so keep in mind that this might not be legal.

A punctured high pressure line in a refrigeration unit using R600A / R290 is a major explosion hazard, we're talking blowing half your motorhome back to the Stone Age,

don't take my word for it don't take my word for it. just Google refrigerator explosions, these are explosions from R600a compressors..

Oh and when we say that the propane or isobutane in your refrigerator is pressurized or high level , we're talking it's even higher than the pressurized level in your barbecues propane cylinder.

It's interesting that they don't advise you of the explosion hazard associated with these refrigerators. R600A refrigerators are more of a fire hazard an explosion hazard in your RV then a propane refrigerator is, because the propane is at low pressure in an RV absorption refrigerator.

Don't take my word for it look at the sticker, if it says R600A or R290 that's propane and isobutane. Isobutane is basically the same thing in a butane lighter. Both are excellent refrigerants which is why these refrigerators are so efficient but they're also an explosion hazard and the dot has banned their use in automotive applications. Which begs the question how is it that they're legal to use in a motorhome or RV

You should've spread the thermal paste in an even coat on the mating surfaces of the fins and backing plate.

thanks man

I think I’ll keep my propane fridge😊

Excellent video.
The absorption system on my Norcold 1210 double-door fridge died.
I've been considering these units for about a year since mine died.
The other problem with my fridge is that the right fridge door lower hinge
is molded into the door and breaks rather easily.
They want $500 for just the right door!!!
Norcold price for this fridge is around $4000.
Mine came installed in my new 42-foot toy hauler in 2008

Why ???

What is your experiance after all these years please?

I am curious about the 12 volt refrigerator conversion you did some years back and how that worked for you in the long run

Great job, yall showed me just about everything i was wondering about im sold!~

Great video, you two did an amazing job with the installation and information all around great job I actually watched the whole thing no skips.👍🏽

Goodbye! Yakity yak dont come back! 😱

Bad move. More problems with 12 volt refrigerators. Bad engineering, multiple breaks down, parts unavailability, mobile techs won’t work on them because of call backs. Might work down road but current experience shown 12 volt not there yet. Better use foam cooler and ice than 12 volt.

See that the unit cost around 800. My opinion worth changing the whole fridge for a residential style

Very well done video! I did not know this was an option for my Dometic Refer. Thank you for sharing! 😎

ANY TIME you lay a refrigerant compressor in any position except for upright wait at least 24 hours in the upright position BEFORE powering it on…this allows enough time for the compressor oil to settle back into the compressor…I suspect when you say it started and stopped several times it was due to being hydraulically locked while attempting to compress the oil…

You do not show how to hook up a 12-volt battery to the refrigerator

How’s it holding up long term?

amish ship unit but unit can not be tilted side to side, are you out of your mind? giving you thumbs down and blocking you

❤❤👍🏽👌🏽

The Furrion propane fridge that came in our RV is such a piece of junk. It works well when it works but it builds up so much ice that we have to put everything in an ice chest and let it defrost over night every two months or so.

5 year check : hows it cooling, hows it going with it

Can this unit that you installed be powered from the 12V supplied by the truck as you are going down the road? We don't have the battery bank that you have. FWIIW, we run our absorption fridge off on trips as it does just fine 3-5 hours without, but the compressor side tells me that when powered, it will cool a lot faster than the old absorption unit.

How did this conversion kit hold up 6 years later?

I need to convert my father's RV fridge to a compressor, as he's burning 400w basically full time during Summer and it's like 98% of all his electricity use.

At that time of this video the costs for the unit for a fridge like ours was$ 595.00 for AC and $800.00 for the DC unit. The larger units probably are a bit more expensive but I am not sure. They can install it for $150 or ship them to you. Their upgraded absorption unit was $650.