3 Way Fridge Replacement

Many people on the Caravanners forum are replacing their three way fridge with small domestic inverter fridges, mainly they are using Samsung models around the 220-250L along with a small 300W inverter.

A 3 way or 12V/240V replacement is going to cost big bucks but they are going this way for around $400 or there abouts.

Have a look here for a start.

If you are a bit of a handy man, it is the way to go as long as you have enough solar and battery to run it.

Hello Peter
I have an Utimate Camper and fourteen years ago it came with a Dometic Rm2350 3 way fridge.
I have replaced the fridge with another Dometic 3 way RM2356 95 ltr.It is streets ahead of the old fridge and rated 't' tropical.
I did not wish to go the way of making sure batteries were always charged etc.with special batteries, bcdc when away from 240v. supply.
I fitted the fridge myself and was a straight swap apart from a slight wiring alteration.
I purchased from 'My Generator' on line.
I just returned from 3 weeks in Arnhem Land and it peformed faultlessly 35 to 37 ambient with 5.7 in the fridge.
I like the function where this fridge can automatically find energy source depending on what is available

Hi Peter,
I replaced the 3way fridge in our small C/van with a Dometic CRX80 fridge (made by Waeco)
Installed 2 x 135 amp hour AGM batteries, 200w flexy solar panel and a Ctec D250S Dual DC-DC charger, which also gets gets fed from the vehicle.
We just did the Kimberly GRR and WA west coast, off grid for a week at a time no probs.

Cheers Terry

Quite some years ago we purchased and old wind-up camper. We threw out the old gas - electric fridge and found an upright Engel that was exactly the same dimensions. We added on 12 v 100 ah battery, and in those days, a regular solar panel was 80 watts. We mounted the panel on a frame and put it out to face the sun when we stopped for the day, and faced it east for the sunrise. Great - we even left the old genny behind because set-up this ran the fridge and a couple of 12 volt lights.

You don't say what size fridge you're after, Peter?

Recently, I fitted an 80L Engel upright fridge to my canopy, instead of buying a heavy, and expensive drop slide unit to suit a 40L Engel. It cost about $1300(I think??), uses from 2.7 - 3.2 amps, and weighs only 5kgs more than the 40L Engel it replaced.

Have 2 of 120ah batteries charged by alternator/200w solar panel, to power the fridge. Probably get away with one battery but we use a smaller fridge as a freezer on some trips.

Bob

Due to prior experiences with a 3 way fridge, I chose to "upgrade" to a 12v/240v compressor fridge when ordering my new camper. The brand the manufacturer chose was a Waeco 70l fridge.
Recognising that the 7 amp battery charger would not "cut the mustard" I also upgraded to a 15 amp Ctek charger.
After taking delivery of the camper, I was somewhat surprised that the standard 80Ah gel battery was all that was supplied. In my opinion, both the Manufacturer and the Caravan Agent I purchased the Camper from had NFI on what should have been supplied or recommended for a compressor type fridge.
I immediately removed the 80Ah battery and sold it on eBay for a good price and installed two 100Ah Fullriver AGM batteries.
On a recent extended trip through the Pilbara and Kimberley regions I had occasion to bushcamp for 4 days each, at two consecutive locations. With just 5 hours traveling to the second site, the batteries were indicating that the power levels were getting low towards the end. At each location I employed a 120 watt solar panel to help maintain battery life. I also use a dc-dc charger which limits the charging rate through the alternator to 20 amps and a 5 hour drive obviously had not topped the batteries up fully. I was fully aware of this limitation but chose the dc charger method for more healthy long term battery life.
So, I would recommend a minimum of 200Ah of battery storage, or an additional solar panel, if you intend stand-alone camping for extended periods.
As far as a 3-way fridge vs a compressor fridge goes, the comparison is chalk and cheese, with the compressor fridge winning hands down.
My two mates have 3-way fridges in their Campers and they were struggling at times to maintain a consistent internal fridge temperature.
One is now considering the investment in a replacement compressor fridge and extra battery.

Fridge consumption

Solar power