Replacing an RV Refrigerator
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2020
- #ilovervlife #rvrefrigerator #camperfridge After 6 years of heavy RV travel, it was time to replace our RV refrigerator. Our current unit was getting a little beat up inside from all the bumpy roads, plus the compressor was making a strange noise when starting up. We took the latter as a sign the refrigerator was going to cause problems in the future and we didn’t want to be out on a multiple month, extended trip and have the refrigerator fail.
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Good Analogy, got to love the Georgia weather!! lol
You got that right!
Haha! Your description of 98°F with 70% humidity is perfect! Ugh! I was so glad when I moved from central Texas back to dry desert heat! You finessed that job - both removal and install - kudos!
Think we’re done here. Heading to the foothills next week!
Jerry you are so smart. I have watched you for about a year. You are so talented. Thank you for all your videos.
Thanks a bunch. So glad you’re enjoying the channel.
Now that..is a ramp!
That it was. 2 hours to make and 10 minutes to bust a part. But, slipped that frig right through the door!
Great job!! Looks good. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a bunch.
Great job, Its great when a plan comes together. Stay Safe and happy camping!
Thanks a bunch Jimmy.
Another great video.
We have a dometic 12cf 4 door refrigerator (over $4k to replace) in our 5er and it is a constant struggle to stay cold in above 90 dregree heat. I have added 5 external fans and 3 internal fans to keep it cold. When it goes we will replace the absorption cooling unit with a 12v cooling unit on the existing box. It’s about $700 and problem solved.
Residential fridges just aren’t built to handle the earth quakes of traveling in an RV.
Agree, a residential frig wasn’t built for the shock. But, after 6 years and great service, it was a low cost repair and upgrade compared to a propane powered absorption frig.
Great job Jerry!
Thanks Michael.
Superb installation Jerry! You amaze me, at how you tackle these projects and face the adversity of heat of Southern Georgia!! Definitely have to take a long time RV trip, after that installation! Whew, that made me sweat as well. Blessings to the family Jerry and Joan !!!
Thanks a bunch Todd. Fun project. It was a steamer outside!
💪🏻👍🏻 you could rent that ramp out.
Didn’t think of that. Shoot! Disassembled and back in the scrap pile.
You said you were doing it in the 1st of December 2020 ,This is Sept 1st 2020 .Got you on that one first one i ever got you on.LOL.
Yep! In all the heat, I had a moment!
Jerry you are my hero. Nice job.
Thanks a bunch.
You made it look easy. nice job.
Thanks
Just love watching your videos 👍
Thanks Nathan.
Great video. You do excellent work.👍🏼👍🏼
Thanks
Another good one. You sure made that look pretty easy.
Thanks Thomas.
Nice fridge. We have ice trays like yours and they work great. Love the freezer on the bottom. Learned so much from watching your videos. We love RV life too.
Thanks a bunch Renita.
Very nice.
Thanks
Nice, good job
Thanks
Good planning, makes the job go better. Nice job! Maybe Joan will give you a nice tip!
Thanks
Great job Jerry I watched one fridge removal where they physically had to cut it in half with a sawzall to remove it thru the door so you done a good job
Thanks. That is a job. Would love to have one of those large double door refrigerators, but it’s a huge challenge to replace. We searched for a new frig that would fit for weeks, measured and remeasured a dozen times. Fortunately, our application was front door friendly by just a half an inch. Something to think about if you plan to keep an RV and not trade for a while.
It's a nice-looking refrigerator that you install we in joy the videos that I do
Thanks
It looks like sure a good tight fit, would like a picture of how , and where you put the latches. No doubt you just used self tapping sheet metal screws on the fridge. Great videos
I’ll post a pic. Used a short sheet metal screw and drilled a small hole to start.
nice job
Thanks
We have one of those 18cf norcold units in our 5er, it struggles to keep food as cold as our our fridge did before we went full time. If it craps out someday we my replace with a residential unit, we have a whole rv 3000 watt inverter and 4 lithium batts. Larry
Larry, you’d be amazed at how cold this gets with so little energy used. I ran for 8 hours and two T-109 Trojan batteries went from 12.8v to 12.6. This inverter compressor looks to be very efficient.
I Love RV Life our rv fridge is 35 in wide but only 27 inches deep, so we could get it out our 28 inch door, we will be watching for an update on how you like the new LG
Great video made it look super easy! Can you list the link to the blog I never saw it pop up! Enjoy your RV life!❤️
Thanks. Go to www.ilovervlife.com
I’m also in Florida and I’m over this heat and humidity. This has been a long hot humid summer. I say as I get older I feel it more. Come on Fall.
I feel your pain Keith! We’re done with this. We’ve stayed close to home since July 1. Heading north to the foothills next week. We can social distance in the woods, plus I’m in desperate need of those “some kinda pretty” mountain hiking trails.
@@iLoveRVlife my wife's been missing the videos too!
More on the way.
Very fortunate ... I've seen dealerships have to pull a slide in order to replace one of the big residential fridges that couldn't possibly fit through a RV door or window. The manufacturers could care less because they know buyers fail to think ahead.
Oh, almost forgot ... I've been subbed for a long time with one of my content channels. However, you've now been added to my personal channel to insure I don't miss anything. CZcams has been falling short on notifications lately.
[side note: I'll be glad to send some of our Mississippi humidity over if you don't have enough.]
So true Arthur. A good reason to walk thru a unit with a tape measure for a little extra due diligence. Appreciate the sub. And humidity? Goodness, we’ve had enough. Think we’ll head to the mountains next week.
If you scratch the floor your queen will take you, the king. Lol
Oh my goodness. There was no way I was going there!
Interesting video, one question, how do you keep the doors closed when traveling?
We added a small spring latch to each door. Had them on the old res frig.
Great video! I did the same about a year and a half ago. I'd like a little advice if you have a moment. I also have a little too much space between the cavity wall and the outer walls of the new residential fridge. I'm getting ready to sell and i'd like to dress it up a little, much like you added the piece above the fridge. My question is: what type of board did you use for the vent piece and how did you match the color so closely? Thanks!
Thanks Robert. Well a little cleat here. The piece was above the old frig. I was super careful removing and trimmed to fit over the new unit. It’s going to be hit or miss. Suggest a piece of 1/4” balsam birch plywood. Usually you can find precuts at Lowes or Home Depot. Cut a strip and experiment with a few stains. A bit of effort to match, but you should get close. Once you finish, hit with a light coat of satin poly. Should do the trick.
I move furniture for a living and the mover in me says that ramp is 100% overkill. BUT, I was also sitting on my butt for 8 weeks because of this covid crap and that ramp is a beautiful use of one's time. Great job! And if I was a kid I would take your ramp and a bunch of trash cans and a Schwinn bike with a banana seat and would create a spectacle in your front yard. 😁😁😁😁😁😁
Thanks. It was overkill, but a good use of scrap. Plus as the great philosopher T. Keith said: “May not be good as I once was, But I'm as good once, as I ever was.” 😉
@@iLoveRVlife 💯 truth!
I love our electric frig in our rig. Ours pulls 88 watts. Have 4 agms and 200 watts solar, frig would run forever.
Nice job on wheel chair ram and swap out!! I would pass! Ha
It's a nightmare getting appliances right now, manage couple 100 rentals and can't get frigs right now unless you want crazy money high end ones.
The ramp was a back saver for sure. I haven't put our watt saver on yet, I'll update once we run this for a few weeks. We just drove 4 hours and the batteries went from 12.7 to 12.5 and that includes running the leveling jacks and slide outs when we arrived at the campground. Have a feeling the watt draw is very low. So turn on the deliveries. It was hit or miss if we were going to get the frig before we left on the next trip.
Jerry, speaking of doing it for a living my dad use to own a moving company in his earlier days and we moved a lot of refrigerators. You made it look easy must of had a time lapse? lol.
Modern refrigerators are much lighter today for sure. Wasn’t to much groaning...
The thing I wanted to know was how do you plug it in? I'm imagining you have to get behind it and put the cord thru that hole behind the drawer but I didn't see y'all do that so I'm not sure if that's what happened. Looks great.
Thanks a bunch. There’s a hole in the side wall with a receptacle behind the drawer under the stove. Bit of a tight space behind the frig.
Discussing. You made it look easy. That's why I pay someone else. :-)))) :-))))
True David. Even in the heat and humidity, I love doing this stuff.
Love it! Use a stationary use a tripod use production MORE value! Content 👍👍
Thanks Jim.
Jerry, very informative video...I have two questions...did you reuse the brackets to hold it in place and the door latches.. if so how did you know where to drill the holes without hitting any refrigerant lines? I have had the experience of drilling for a door latch and hit the line that goes around the box opening, door no problem. you and your son did a great job and it looks great....
Thanks Hank. I used the angle brackets on top at the rear of the frig and drilled on the edge. Same for the latches on the doors. A little scary on a new fridge. I’m careful to drill the hole just thru the sheet metal and used 1/2 inch #12 sheet metal screws.
Did you add latches to keep the doors closed while driving?
I did Angelo. Reused the latches I had on the previous unit. Simple little spring latch from Amazon.
Did you consider a new 12 volt RV fridge. Really enjoy your videos.
Thanks a bunch. Glad you’re enjoying the channel. We did. It was a price point and size issue. This refrigerator is 50% larger than a 12V DC at comparable costs. We had the batteries, inverter and wiring in place. This refrigerator has an inverter compressor. So far the energy savings versus the traditional compressor refrigerator look to be very substantial. Leaving this week on our first trip. We’ll give everyone an update in a week or so and let you know how it’s performing.
I have a question. Does the refrigerator doors have any type of latches to keep them closed while your traveling?
We took the latches from the frig we took out. Some simple spring latches purchased off Amazon.
I know Joan must love it! I know I would. Also, clever problem-solving as usual. One question..Did you find out (or maybe not important) if LG will honor any warranty since you installed it in an RV or was it voided?
Joan loves the new frig. Turned out better than expected. No idea about the warranty using in an RV. Sometimes these installations push the envelope a little and we just go with the flow.
Jerry, How do you have it secured? Was there any changes you needed to do to secure it? Looks like you (and your muscle) did a great job. Hope it holds up well on the road.
I secured similar to the unit we replaced. Two simple brackets at the top and back of the frig and screwed into the wall. Two screws from bottom front into the slider floor where the frame is located. Shook the dickens out of the unit. Don’t think it’s going anywhere. Maybe a little more finesse than muscle on this one 😉
Hi Jerry, I'm going to purchase this exact fridge for our RV, where did you get those latches? Thanks!
Hi Henry. These were a simple latch. Nothing fancy. Got off Amazon. Here’s a link amzn.to/41ysNyM
@@iLoveRVlife Thank you!!!
👍
I replaced my dometic refrigerator with a residential mode those absorption refrigerators are a fire hazard and have very limited space inside. I also wanted to mention good thinking adding that vent at the top a lot of these residential refrigerators are not designed to be recessed inside of a cabinet because they reject the heat out the back
Thanks Thomas. This has an inverter compressor. Amazing how energy efficient this frig is compared to the one replaced.
@@iLoveRVlife yes because it does not use heat to cool
True, but the unit I replace was a residential frig not a propane unit. He electronics are quite different.
What is the model # of that refrigerator ?
It’s a LG model LBNC15231V from Home Depot.
Did the fridge has door locks
It didn’t William. The frig we replaced had a simple spring latch added to the doors. I removed and put them on the new frig.
*Where in "Middle Georgia" are you? i'm from Warner Robins myself, that's home. Northside High School alumni class of 1988. In my RV i'm getting a HEAVY Amonia smell, i have a Dometic that i believe is trying to quit on me. I'm debating putting in one of the common swap outs of the Magic Chef that fits in the same hole and doesn't require the Gas connection. I love that the gas worked when it did but i'm perma camping on my own land to avoid taking on a Mortgage at 52yrs old. trying to live as debt free as possible now to make things easier on my children when my time comes*
If you smell ammonia, the frig is suspect. I would also think if the smell is very strong, the unit is struggling to stay cold. Many are going the 12V DC condenser route and depending on the unit, they work well. Unfortunately, we don't have experience with the Magic Chef 12V DC units. From the specs they draw around 3 Amps. You'll need to make sure you have enough batteries to support when dry camping or think about a solar add or small generator to charge the batteries. Understand the budget challenge. Our frig went on the fritz and we replaced with a 120V AC inverter compressor frig. We don't dry camp and the two 6V golf cart batteries work well as we travel from place to place.
@@iLoveRVlife yeah the replacement i was referring to wasn't a 12v either it's the 120V Magic Chef that Home depot sells but i don't ever plan on moving mine unless i build a house which i don't see happening either but i am thinking i will be ok with that replacement even if i did because if i were to ever move it there wouldn't be any food in the fridge. i have coolers that i could put all my refrigerator contents in long enough to move with it. just wondered mostly if you had heard any negative comments about switching to the all electric one.
I haven’t heard anything negative. They are on of the more affordable options.
Nice job! Looks like you have done that before! Maybe a computer fan to pull the heat out?
Thought of that Jim, but so far the effect of heat rising seems to be doing the trick.
Very good, Sir! Glad you thought of that.
RVGEEKS had to cut their old fridge in half rather than remove windshield on their Class A!
I would do the same. We were working with a half a inch to spare.