Norcold DC558 compressor fridge power consumption

[John in Santa Cruz]

huh, my Norcold N2175 doesn't even have a drip pan, I don't think.

[BobG]

Maybe your Norcold has auto defrost. I wish mine did. I have lots of frost and ice after 3 or 4 weeks which makes it run less efficiently.

[alanerickson]

Originally Posted by BobG

.....this is what the condenser and condenser fans look like.

Not sure if there was supposed to be a picture attached, but if there is it isn't.

[BobG]

Thanks Alan,

I must not have saved after uploading the pictures.

I was impressed with the amount of dust was on the condenser and fans so took pictures to post here. I suppose the manual says to clean the coil but I didn't give it another thought.

So, After 4 months in the desert last winter and a couple trips this summer, this is what the condenser and condenser fans look like.

[alanerickson]

Thanks. I have a DC558, so something to keep an eye on.

It will make a small mess, but a duster will quickly clean off those fans.

When you purchased your camper I'm guessing you opted for venting to allow future 3-ways fridges? If so, the configuration is less than ideal, as the venting from the front of the fridge is open all the way to the outside. I'm in the same boat but sealed my lower to keep bugs and outside air out. Still need to do the upper vent, but the lower is definitely the biggest culprit. Doing this would also help keep dust out.

[BobG]

Alan, I don't have any vents. I added 2 or 3 layers of reflective insulation above and will add 2" or 3" of foam board on the outside wall to reduce the heat transfer to the refrigerator cavity. I picked up a 4' x 8' sheet of foam this morning and cut it to fit the wall.

I have the refrigerator out while rewiring the thermostat and microwave and decided to add insulation to the outside wall. The roof doesn't get much direct sun over the refrigerator due to solar panels. See shadow in the picture.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'd be using an upholstery brush on a shop vac on that dust clogged vent. suck it up while knocking it loose with the brush, be much less messy..

[alanerickson]

Interesting. Seems like the air should just be recirculating within the interior, and it shouldn't pick up that much dust.

My 19 is a 2021 and there isn't much more than a 1/2" on the sides. Definitely no room to add more insulation in any place except the back.

Is the thermostat you refer to the one for heating and it shares the wall with the fridge?

[BobG]

Yes, the dust is inside the trailer. I see no reason for insulation on the sides unless it can be made to effectively cut off air circulation against the side of the refrigerator.

Fans pull air from inside the trailer and it circulates through the refrigerator cavity and back into the trailer. Reducing the solar heat transmitted through the trailer side might make a difference and since insulation is not very expensive, I decided to add some.

Boondocking in the desert can be dusty and dust has no problem getting inside my trailer.

[BobG]

Yes on thermostat. It is for furnace heat only. I have to add a ground wire. I got a thermostat that can be set to a numeric temperature. I think it is wifi and Bluetooth also. Maybe I will be able to program a schedule with actual numeric temperatures. I got it from Micro-Air.

[rotorbudd]

Any insulation you can add to the walls or ceiling of the fridge enclosure will help make it more efficient.
Worked much better when I did mine

[BobG]

Thanks Richard, I am now considering adding bat insulation to fill the cavity between the sides of the refrigerator and side walls of the cavity.

John, I used a vacuum with brush as you suggested to clean the coil and will be able to do that without removing the refrigerator in the future. The vacuum and brush didn't work on the fans though. I had decided to just leave the dust on them but will probably do what Alan suggested. That is the way I clean my computer fans. Yes, it makes a mess but I run the vacuum at the same time and capture some of it. Maybe temporarily tape off part of the coil outlet and hold the vacuum to the remaining opening while blowing the dust from the back side where the fans are located?

Yesterday I pretty much finished rewiring the microwave to a dedicated circuit so it is no longer on the outlets circuit. Sometimes I run an electric heater and I don't like having the microwave on the same circuit. I would probably have left it as is if not for the thermostat requiring pulling the refrigerator. Although, pulling the refrigerator turned out to be very easy.

I just do not like the thermostat. It is a continuous frustration adjusting it to what feels right at bed time and then day time. And then there are the times I set it too high in the morning and leave the trailer without shutting it down.

[cpaharley2008]

One thing unfavorable to a compressor fridge is a constant drone of it's operation. I had a T@da that was hard to sleep on due to the trailer's frame/body transmitting the noise/ The propane units are almost silent....

[BobG]

I don't hear so well so I don't hear it. But then the air conditioner doesn't bother me either. I sleep through it. Sometimes I wake up around midnight to use the bathroom and turn the AC off to conserve battery. It is always a shock to me when in the morning as I am having coffee I hear the AC kick on because I turned on the furnace and it got a little too warm. The new thermostat will hopefully be better.

[YakRV]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

One thing unfavorable to a compressor fridge is a constant drone of it's operation. I had a T@da that was hard to sleep on due to the trailer's frame/body transmitting the noise/ The propane units are almost silent....

Everyone has different sensitivity to ambient noise, but we’ve now camped 15 nights in our 21C since picking up in mid-June and the compressor fridge hasn’t bothered us at all. It’s working out quite well for us so far.

[John in Santa Cruz]

The N2175 in my E21 classic is fairly quiet, but its pretty far from the bed. I also tend to leave the Maxxfan deluxe on 'low', 'in', and 'closed' at night to circulate the air within the trailer. The N2175 also has a 'night' mode that runs the compressor extra slow for 8 or 10 hours before reverting to normal. if the fridge doesn't stay cold enough, it will revert sooner.

[BobG]

John, that sounds like a really nice refrigerator.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by BobG

John, that sounds like a really nice refrigerator.

I chose it based on Norcolds reputation AND that it was an exact fit replacement for my dead RMD8555. So far very happy.

[alanerickson]

Here's how my 2021 does with a DC558 fridge. State of charge is from the shunt current readings, not from a voltage calculation. I also have a power meter on the fridge. Fridge takes roughly 30-35 AH per 24 hours, and the rest of the camper is around 10 AH per 24. So roughly 40-45 AH's/24 hours to operate things. I have 200AH in battery capacity, so anything more than three days without charging and things are starting to get very worrisome.

In my neck of the woods a lot of the sites are wooded/shaded, and luckily I have a couple of suitcases that captured about 90% of the solar I was able to get. This was "boondocking" in a Wisconsin state park, and generators are not allowed at any time. Thursday we moved locations, and between solar and the DC to DC charger we were able to get back about 100%.

[alanerickson]

Little bit of an odd one, but it is about the DC558. I got a good price for a Thornwave current monitor and installed it on my DC558. The monitor has the capability to except and external temperature probe (display & logging capabilities) and I was thinking of hooking it up to the fridge, which should actually be a pretty simple task. My only concern is about getting the probe into the fridge. There's no way to go by the front door gasket, and given that the monitor is in the back of the fridge compartment going thru the back of the fridge is easily the most direct option.

As a sanity check before potentially damaging a $2k fridge, does anyone see any issues with drilling a small hole and going thru the back? Looks like all evaporators and condensers are at the top of the fridge. There's actually already a hole there that had a plastic plug in it (see picture), but being a shelf lower would be better, which requires the addition of another hole. The back of the fridge has "hard board", foil coated insulation on it, and from what I gather the fridge is just a plastic shell with the hard board insulation on it. Some "vapor" sealing of the penetration on both sides of the hole probably wouldn't be a bad idea other. Any see any issues? Thanks.