Dump the RM8551 ?

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Sorry Pat- was a bit hasty. What I meant to say is that given the history of complaints from more than a few others here over the last six or more years- if I had chronic problems I wouldn't put up with it but move on. Nice to have a few options now.

No sweat Ross ! The problem they are so expensive and want to get all it’s life out of it first . It’s does work but it did make me upset all the work I had to do to get to this point . And having two previous RV’s with Dometic ‘s that worked great was very disappointed . But noticed how well the refrigerators cavities were insulated in previous RV’s , that was why I definitely went that route and it sure improved the performance to the Escape’s . There’s more Ross but really don’t want to rehash . But for us as long as works and stays cold , it stays . Pat

[Tworainy]

Originally Posted by Lawrence A

Tworainy, I'm curious about your solar panel from Princess Auto. I see it has its own built-in controller. I have a fixed panel on the roof of my 17B which of course has its own controller. You didn't say if you have a fixed panel as well as the portable and I'm wondering if the two controllers would be compatible. I suspect they will be due to the feed from the portable being thru the trailer plug but wondering if you (or anyone else) have any thoughts on the matter.

Apologies to everyone for being off-topic (fridges), but hey, the subject came up and I'd really like to know the answer to my question as I've been thinking I need to boost my solar capacity. Come to think of it, the answer might be of interest to others wanting to boost 12V power to a fridge so maybe it isn't totally off-topic after all.

I don't have a fixed panel, only portable.
Remember that the power draw on a compressor fridge is a fraction of that for an absorption fridge (like the 8551). And the compressor is not working all the time, so power is not being consumed constantly. They work on totally different principals to achieve the same end goal. The very low power draw is what sold me on making the switch.

[MyronL]

When set to 3 dots propane the last few days fridge was 40°F.

Early today in yard--Lithium battery at 14.4 Watts. I switched RM8551 from propane to battery and connected one 100w solar panel. At 6PM this evening fridge 36°F, 60° in the trailer, and the lithium battery at 13.3W.

In a few days I will hook up and tow around a few hours to see if the propane continues to cool the beast, and how the Battleborn reacts to the fridge load with no solar. Everything I know assures me it will not even blink.

Continued design planning of desired roof 190W solar installation has revealed it is probably wiser money wise to not build a tilting solar framing from scratch.

[John in Santa Cruz]

um, VOLTS not WATTS. WATTS is VOLTS x AMPS, and is a measurement of power being consumed. VOLTS is a measure of potential, which indirectly can show the state of charge of a battery when there is no load.

confusing volts and watts is kind of like confusing miles per hour (speed) and miles traveled (distance). they are related, but they are most certainly not the same thing.

[Lawrence A]

Originally Posted by Tworainy

I don't have a fixed panel, only portable.
Remember that the power draw on a compressor fridge is a fraction of that for an absorption fridge (like the 8551). And the compressor is not working all the time, so power is not being consumed constantly. They work on totally different principals to achieve the same end goal. The very low power draw is what sold me on making the switch.

Thanks for your reply Tworainy. Since my orig post I managed to ask the manufacturer of the portable panel my question about the built-in controller. It's a no-go for me, as the response was can't have two controllers. It's possible to bypass the portable's controller but that would void any warranty and return, as well as risk the destruction of the Escape's controller if things are wired wrong.

[MyronL]

My bad, it's volts, you're right John. And, this sunny Sunday at 10am currently 13.6 volts in the Battleborn, 35 degrees F, 3 dots on bat in fridge .

[fudge_brownie]

Originally Posted by Davin

Patandlinda, can you provide detail of what you did to insulate the cavity? Any photos? Thanks!

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...dea-13466.html Post#17

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...w-10792-3.html Post #42

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/n...reply&p=372639 Post # 280 finally solved my problem while driving, along with numerous other solutions one being adding insulation (there was none).

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...w-10792-3.html I choose to add a sheet metal channel the width of the unit extending up the rear of the refrigerator exiting at the roof vent.

I have numerous other ideas that have been posted. I am only responding to the insulation question. I works pretty good now. Only issues are a direct wind at the lower vent while driving and staying lit at 9,000 feet.

[MyronL]

It was 33 degrees F out there this morning at 7:30 am, and 30°F in fridge on battery power 4 dots all night.

The Battleborn, amazingly, showed 13.3 volts. It is re-charged strictly with my 200 watts of solar panels the last several days. And, during daytime gone up to 14.6 volts and the RM8551 holding fast, 4 dots battery power. When I checked it at 7:30 this morning I was expecting the battery voltage to be much lower.

True, the fridge can't be calling for a heavy load because ambient outside temperatures are winter-low, but, I am very encouraged by this on solar performance. No doubt when outside temps get into the 80's performance will suffer, yet... very encouraged now to add a 190watt panel permanently to the roof.

Who knows, maybe I can survive boondocking with this and a generator and avoid spending another $2K.

[MyronL]

Got a little worried yesterday evening when I saw after a cloudy day my Lithium was down to 12.5 volts. Fridge still 4 dots, w/temp 36°F @ 6PM and the outside high had been 60°. This morning (sunny) it was back to 13.5v, fridge 35°.

Next week Grape Solar 190W panel is delivered. Have settled on 3M #4622 double sided tape. ("Can replace mechanical fasteners, rivets, welds and screws...") Needing about six feet of tape. Only problem is ...on eBay it will cost me $27.99 for a 36 yard roll. Yikes.

[LarryandLiz]

This is a lengthy report which may interest some forum members

We picked up our 17b from Escape Industries September 2014 and love the trailer except for its’ Dometic RM8551 fridge. The Dometic worked fine for the first 4 years. I then learned way more about propane and orifices than I wanted. During the last 2 years the RM8551 decided it didn’t like hot weather (enough said). We are tired of it’s unreliable performance.

I think it was about 2 years ago that our Escape Forum Member TwoRainy posted about switching the RM8551 in his 2014 17b out with a NovaKool R3800. Apparently the classic 2014 17b’s narrow door is quite narrow which makes finding a replacement fridge problematic. My wife and I followed this thread and TwoRainy’s related threads with great interest.

This is our 17b setup … ETI installed 160W solar panel which has performed flawlessly since we took delivery of the trailer. Late last year I purchased a 130W GoPower portable solar kit. This spring I replaced the 2 flooded 6 volt batteries with 2 new AGM 6 volts.

NovaKool is a local company with something like a 30 year history of making compressor fridges mainly for the marine industry. The company doesn’t sell direct but uses Western Marine which then distributes to other stores. We ended up dealing with Steveston Marine in Langley when purchasing our NovaKool R3800.

Because of COVID there seems to be a worldwide shortage of appliance parts including compressors. We ordered and paid for our NovaKool in May and took delivery a few weeks ago in MidSeptember. Like TwoRainy we had Tedco RV in Langley do the fridge install (three hours labour).

Two weeks ago during a very rainy 3 day period I took the 17b out to Emory Creek Provincial Park (Fraser Canyon) to field test the NovaKool (no hookups). The fridge preformed very well. It rained pretty much all weekend in typical west coast BC style with some breaks. I didn’t use the furnace other than a bit in the morning. I ran the pump whenever I needed to. Recharged my iPad and iPhone in the morning. The onboard solar never dropped below 92% and quickly rebounded to 100%. (I’ve tested the AGM battery voltages with a multimeter and they match the onboard solar panel voltage display). In light west coast rain and clouds the morning light recharged the batteries. I didn’t need the portable 130 solar kit.

We have a fridge temperature monitor which confirmed that the fridge maintained good temperature between 38 degrees during the day and 32-33 degrees at night. We had the temperature dial set to 3 and sometimes 2. Lots of room for increased cooling when the weather is warmer.

This is my experience so far with our NovaKool AC/DC R3800 in our 17b. We boon-dock 99% of the time and tend towards minimalistic camping. We use a small inverter to grind coffee beans. Choose not to have a tv and don’t tend to go camping a lot in cold weather. I spent lots of time on the GoPower website trying to understand wattage use in a trailer. We bought the AC/DC model so we can always leave home with a cold fridge and can slide into campground with hookups on the road if necessary. The portable 130W solar package is a kind of insurance.

Thank you very much TwoRainy for posting about your process.

This is my report about our NovaKool process.. I’m available to answer questions you may have.