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Fridge / Cooler Dometic Ac/dc Refrigerator

The dometic just arrived. I must not have checked the weight before I ordered it. Not sure how it will work for us (we are a bit wimpy in the lifting area). Perhaps if we do not plan on using the stove we would not have to move it. We mostly cook on the camp fire or quicky meals on a single burner hot plate. It seemed to be such a good idea. . .hmm.
 
Ok "a single burner that can be hooked to the TD propane" I forgot that we could hook that up in that little door on the left of the galley so that would probably work for us. Just put it in the Galley and pack it there and no additional moving.

"Here's my dumb question...is there also a 110 plug attachment for the Dometic?" Jenn I am looking in the book and I am afraid it is like Greek to me. It says: "Connecting to a 120V AC Mains" and then goes on but lets see if one of the electrical folks can decipher how to do it correctly. Just thought to open the package of cords and yes there is a cigaret liter type and a 3 prong.

so here is what the book says: "The CF-35 has an integrated multi-voltage power supply with priority circuit for connecting to an AC voltage source of 120V. The priority circuit automatically switches the cooler to mains operation,if the device is connected to a 120 V AC mains, even if the 12/24 V connection cable is still attached.

"When switching between the AC mains and the battery supply, the red LED may light up briefly."

So I guess I get it now - you just plug it in!

I never have paid enough attention to electricity!

Hope you can find your AC adapter sometime.
 
Jenn,

The Dometic comes with 2 power cords. One is 12v and the other 120vac. So, somewhere in your stuff there should be a cord for it. Probably in the same stash location as your LP hose ;).

Cary
 
Ok so I posted pics in the Gallery of a trial packing. It looks like it is going to be great for us. I figure we will either put in in the van and leave it there or put it in the Galley and leave it there. Maybe get a Cobb for cooking and not use the stove. We do have an electric single burner. I am surprised at how quiet it is.
 
Well, you've pretty much answered the questions I posed in the section where you posted the pictures! Kathy
 
Pat,

I too have the Dometic fridge, using for first time this weekend.
Empty the fridge is managable to move.

Previously I kept the ice cube cooler in the Subaru. But, knew that the rear 12v plug in turns off with the motor and have spent a lot of time pondering various options on where to keep fridge. I didn't want to leave in the teardrop galley because I don't want to carry another cook stove.

Last evening, asked the right person, inquiring if the back plug in can become hot all the time. Well, yes it can! So now waiting for parts to arrive.

While in camp site the plan is to run an extension cord from fridge to 110 plug in. Decided easier to plug and unplug versus moving fridge from spot to spot.

Also thought about the issue of moving the packed fridge if stored in galley space. Since most owners use a cloth slider to move in and out, how about using a slightly larger slider. The larger slider will allow two people to move from one spot to another.

Explanation might be confusing, but hopefully readers get the picture.
 
Just unpacked my fridge, but it looks like it has a defect in the inner casing. Does anybody else have this on their fridge?

Fridge2.JPG

Fridge1.JPG
 
Evan

Don't panic. It is the thermometer measuring the temp. i did some tests that are out in another post about the temps between where this one is located and temps in various locations within the fridge. Basically top, mid, bottom and on the shelf. Do a search on Dometic.
 
Evan, mine looks like your first picture. your second picture looks like there might be a gap vertically (maybe a shadow on the pic). Mine does not have a gap.
When I looked at mine initially I thought there might be a thermo regulator attached behind the horizontal mark.
 
We put ours in the Suite Retreat today. I left both handles off as we found we could move it (empty) with just the indentions on the sides. We ordered the Cobb kitchen in a box Jenn has and will try out the Dometic and Cobb this memorial day weekend. Then we can see how everything works.
 
Jenn forgot to ask you how you use the 6" dutch and also where you got it. We have some of those fire starter we picked up when on sale. Good to know about the charcoal.
 
Is there a good thread re managing the fridge and the battery?

Seems like, once parked, the fridge will eat the battery in about 72 hours.

I realize the time to deplete the battery greatly depends on the temp set for the fridge as well as the ambient temp, but I am wondering if 72 hours is way too short for thefridge to eat the battery.

And how long does it take a car go charge up the battery? I know a 4-hour drive didn't do it, so......
 
I think 3 days is about what you can expect from the battery with a fridge. Go solar! :)
 
Alcat,

Evan is right, it seems you are about right on for battery life with running the fridge.

If your car is taking 4 hours charging while driving I suspect an inadequate charge line wiring. We see this all the time. Likely there is not a properly sized ground wire coming out of the 7 pin on the car that is grounded to the chassis. Shops omit this ground wire a good deal of the time for some reason. Crawl under the car and look for a large white wire coming out of the 7 pin and screwed to the body or chassis somewhere nearby.

If you plug your dc voltmeter in and run the car, what does it read? This will often tell you the status of your charging circuit. I would want to see a minimum of 13.8v when running, nothing under 13.6v. Ideally it will be up over 14v if a large enough gauge charging line is used. It should charge up MUCH faster than what you are seeing.

Cary
 
Evan: re solar - This was our first trip longer than two days, so we wanted to figure out how long we could last. But we do plan to buy a solar panel.

Cary: Thanks for the reply. I'll crawl under tomorrow morning and take a look. Will also do the voltmeter.

Thanks,

Al
 
Cary said:
Alcat,

Evan is right, it seems you are about right on for battery life with running the fridge.

If your car is taking 4 hours charging while driving I suspect an inadequate charge line wiring. We see this all the time. Likely there is not a properly sized ground wire coming out of the 7 pin on the car that is grounded to the chassis. Shops omit this ground wire a good deal of the time for some reason. Crawl under the car and look for a large white wire coming out of the 7 pin and screwed to the body or chassis somewhere nearby.

If you plug your dc voltmeter in and run the car, what does it read? This will often tell you the status of your charging circuit. I would want to see a minimum of 13.8v when running, nothing under 13.6v. Ideally it will be up over 14v if a large enough gauge charging line is used. It should charge up MUCH faster than what you are seeing.

Cary
Click to expand...

Cary - just to be clear - to what do I attach the voltmeter? Am I attaching the trailer to the car and then testing through the trailer? Or am I simply testing the 7-pin connector? (sorry to be so obtuse - my father-in-law is coming over this weekend, and this is a project for Cathy and him - and I don't know the first thing about most things....)

-Al
 
Al,

Just plug in the supplied dc volt meter into the galley dc outlet. With the car running go back to the galley and watch the voltmeter for a couple of minutes.

How fast the voltage climbs up is also a good indication of wiring issues. It should climb up fast. If it takes time to make small changes in voltage that is a weak charge wiring. I just got done doing orientation on one like that. It is functional but weak. The shop had run a 16ga charge line and a 16ga ground all the way the battery. Perfectly fine except the small gauge of the wire is going to make it charge very slowly. I would want to see at least a 12ga wire run for charge line. 10ga is better, but not very common to see that used. With this weak setup this customer's voltmeter took a painfully long time to get up to only 13.1 volts.

Cary
 
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