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Post by atouchofglass on Jul 9, 2010 6:13:29 GMT 10
Yep Mine works just fine and has for sometime Lots cheaper than using a three way
Only drawback is you have to be hooked up to 240
Atog
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Post by kaybee on Jul 9, 2010 7:23:56 GMT 10
Hi, we've used a bar fridge in our van for probably 12 years, no problems ever.Hope this helps, Col.
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Post by JBJ on Jul 9, 2010 8:02:28 GMT 10
Hi Rod,
I,ve had 3 vintage vans all using bar fridges, & for a while used a 3 way in Lucille, until I recently fitted a bar fridge to replace it,
The 12 volt components of 3 way fridges arent very cold, & use heaps of battery.
I run my 80 litre bar fridge on my 2400 watt inverter on battery in Lucille, & get several days normal running on the battery easily. More than enough for travelling & staying overnight on non powered sites. I've fitted a pretty big deep cycle battery ( $375) so that probably makes a difference to the life of the charge it holds. I also charge as I'm towing (if I use the right tow car)
I wouldnt bother with the more expensive 3 way again, & certainly wouldnt use gas ever inside the van . Thats a personal thing with me, as we never cook inside our vans either.
I got an 80 litre bar fridge for $190 at Goodguys, compared to minimum $800 for 2 way.
JBJ
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Post by humpty2 on Jul 9, 2010 16:25:03 GMT 10
I have been using a bar fridge in Humpty (our Sunliner) for about 5 years and works well. Ditto all the above comments.
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Post by barbarab on Sept 12, 2010 17:59:58 GMT 10
Hi, we've removed the three way fridge from our Franklin Freeway and want to put in a bar fridge. Most of the brands we've looked at are too tall. What brand of bar fridge should I be looking at? Barbara B
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Post by JBJ on Sept 12, 2010 19:04:47 GMT 10
Hi Barbara,
I've fitted 3 vans with bar fridges, & used a different size in each to fit the opening.
What I do is google search the nearest volume electrical retailer to us, like "goodguys", "Hardly normal", "JJJoyce Main" or whoever is near you.
Search "bar fridges" & you will get a list of availables. Start with the little ones, & with a bit of looking you will find the sizes of the fridges.
Find one that will fit, then start shopping for a price.
Last one I bought I got for $50 less than starting price, by trying 2 stores & telling the salesman he was too dear, I can buy the same cheaper at >>>>>>. I bought an 80 litre fridge for $190.
Its not that hard.
JBJ
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Post by barbarab on Sept 12, 2010 19:35:43 GMT 10
Hi, that's (sort of) what I'm doing. So far, I'm down to 80lt models - Haier, Heller and NEC will all fit, but I haven't been into a shop to look yet. We usually end up buying at The Good Guys anyway. Barbara B
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Post by humpty2 on Sept 12, 2010 19:58:18 GMT 10
We shopped around for an 80litre bar fridge and found one at www. DealsDirect.com it was better in price.........and delivered to our door!! ....it is a Heller. We found the Good Guys were about $40 to $50 dearer and decided to loook on the Net.
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Post by barbarab on Sept 12, 2010 20:48:35 GMT 10
Thanks Humpty2. ;D Barbara B
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Post by barbarab on Sept 13, 2010 21:14:43 GMT 10
Hi Rod, I'm going to buy one as close as possible in size to the gas/electric fridge we're taking out. So far it's between an NEC and a Heller - both 80 litre. The NEC is $100 more than the Heller. Barbara B
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Post by minicamper on Sept 21, 2010 7:04:12 GMT 10
Hi guys, 2 things to remember... Cheaper may not always be best - ask what's the efficiency rating of the unit? When on the Caravan park's power, who cares but if like myself and Reddo, you're using battery this is very important! The second is that ALL fridges no matter where they are, will be vastly better if they have sufficient cooling around the condenser (the grid thing on the back) If you can, get one of those solar powered fridge vent cooling fan thingies. If it's bum is cooler, this will get passed onto your beer and your battery! ;D
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Post by ideaswoman on Mar 8, 2013 23:30:48 GMT 10
Hi Rod, I run my 80 litre bar fridge on my 2400 watt inverter on battery in Lucille, & get several days normal running on the battery easily. More than enough for travelling & staying overnight on non powered sites. I've fitted a pretty big deep cycle battery ( $375) so that probably makes a difference to the life of the charge it holds. JBJ Reviving an old topic. As we need to replace our fridge, we are considering another bar fridge and doing the same as jailbarjuice. Would someone be so kind to list brand recommendations for the deep cycle batteries and inverter. Complete dummies when it comes to all of that stuff. Thanks Gayle
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Post by JBJ on Mar 9, 2013 8:43:28 GMT 10
Hi,
I'm pretty sure the following info has already been posted by me in previous thread.
The references to my Olympic will need to be cross referenced to Classic Caravan Forum, as it is a 76 model and not allowed on this Forum ( even though Olympics never really changed from the early 60's to late 70's)
However, with the deep cycle battery, I just purchased the biggest one I could fit & afford from a battery sales outlet. It was from memory about $375, & I still have it, at present being set up in the Olympic I am rebuilding.
The inverter I bought many years back on Ebay. It has 2400 watt outlet. It will depend on the total current draw you will be applying at any given time as to the size of the inverter you need. I would buy the biggest one I could afford if had to buy another, but I'm still using the first one I bought in my Olympic.
For example, mine will run a microwave & the bar fridge at the same time, but trips out if you try to boil a jug, even on its own. That because jugs draw more the 2400 watts power.
You will need an electrician to set up a system for switching from mains power 240 volt to inverter power 240 volt. Basically you should never try to use the inverter while the van is connected to mains power (ever). You need to be safely able to connect the inverter power into the caravans 240 volt internal circuit after disconnecting mains inlet power .
I worked out a way to do it, but I'm not advising anyone to do what I did, & will not discuss how I did it.
With everything electrical on a vintage or classic van, you must realise that a licensed electrician must check & test your installation , or else you possibly kill yourself or an innocent person by using something faulty.
I'm lucky to have a friend I've known for near 40 years that is an electrician, & he helps me out with everything at a fair price.
JBJ
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Post by ideaswoman on Mar 13, 2013 12:18:42 GMT 10
Got an auto-electrician to come and he said not to run a 240v fridge on a battery and inverter as the inverter itself will drain the battery.
What do forum members think about this?
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Post by JBJ on Mar 13, 2013 12:48:39 GMT 10
Hi,
Never caused me any problems. Sure the inverter will use a little bit of the battery storage capacity to operate when you are using it to produce 240 volt, but if what he said was true no one would use an inverter. I used mine quite a lot without problems.
If it was me I would try another auto sparky, or an ordinary electrician. Auto electricians generally dont work on things involving 240 volts.
The auto guy should look after getting the 12 volt power into the battery from the tow vehicle if thats how you want to charge the battery. I use that system, along with a 240 volt battery charger set on permanently when I,m hooked to 240 volt power & not using the inverter. To do that, you need a 240 volt power outlet accessible to your battery charger, so you can switch it on & off. The good chargers have a float setting on their charge so as not to overcharge the battery, just maintain it as fully charged.
Its often difficult to find local tradespeople to do something outside of the square, but unfortunately you may need to ask a few tradesmen until you find one that understands what you are trying to do.
JBJ
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Post by gregh on Mar 13, 2013 13:30:40 GMT 10
Regarding what your electrician said.
It depends on what sort of power your fridge draws. If it draws 100watts when it's running it will be using nearly 8.5 amps. That's calculated using the following formula.
Watts divided by 12(v) = AMPS
If you are using a 100amp battery you will only get 5-6 hrs out of the battery - even though you have a 100AMP battery you really only get 50% of that amperage - anything more would kill the battery. And that's without taking into consideration other power drains you might have such as lights, laptop, TV etc.
To get good life from your batteries, the voltage shouldn't drop below 11.1v - though there are many devices which allow batteries to go as low as 10.3v - not good.
There are some fridges available now that use danfos type compressors - these can draw amperage as low as 1.8amp. At 1.8amp, yo can expect to get around 26-27 hrs from your 100amp battery.
Cheers, Oz
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willow5075
Full Member
Willow & the MOTH
Posts: 355
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Post by willow5075 on Apr 21, 2013 16:45:30 GMT 10
Interesting discussion, vindicates the MOTH's preference to buy a normal bar fridge and we actually have a very small bar fridge we he is currently fitting, nothing like a trip away to motivate things!
Do you find the fridge seal is enough to hold the door closed when travelling or do you add an extra clasp or something?
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Post by isambard on Apr 21, 2013 16:59:55 GMT 10
hey Willow. our tiny bar fridge stays closed no problem. even with things rolling around inside it
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Post by penny61 on Apr 21, 2013 18:45:29 GMT 10
We had a small-size house fridge in our 1984 23ft Millard years ago, as it was built originally to be more of an on-site van, but we bought it to do both, so we had a local caravan builder design a catch for it. Forgt to put it on a couple of times... sometimes we were lucky, and sometimes we weren't and had a mess to clean up... The smaller mass inside a small bar fridge might make a difference, but since we had a couple of 'accidents' with the small caravan fridge in the old Roadmaster as well when we forgot to latch it, I'd personally get a latch made...
Auto electricians aren't allowed to work on 240v... unless they are double trade qualified, you would need to find a normal electrician to work on the 240v wiring on the caravan.
Vanessa
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willow5075
Full Member
Willow & the MOTH
Posts: 355
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Post by willow5075 on May 2, 2013 22:32:32 GMT 10
I'm in favourite of putting some sort of latch to be on the safe side. we are going to reverse the door so I reckon we should be able to do something that makes use of the holes at the top of the door and fridge
We had a bit of experience making sure the fridge was safe when we took a camper van around NZ a few years ago plus nasty accident which had the van smelling of soya sauce for several days taught us to check carefully before we set off for the day ! But as you say, there's always those times when you get distracted and miss something :-(
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Post by pkfridges on Nov 5, 2019 14:51:31 GMT 10
I have been using igloo bar fridge from last two years without any problem.
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