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91

General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 28, 2025, 05:59:26 pm »

I’m waiting to hear from my doc on how to go forward on new cancer diagnosis.  Seems once you have cancer (4 years now) you’re constantly chasing it.

Sorry to hear of your health history.

I am in a similar situation.  As of October of last year, after chemo was completed, I am supposedly in remission from stage 4 DLBCL (diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma).  I go in next month for another round of quarterly bloodwork and biannual CAT scan to make sure it has not returned.  In the mean time, I continue to recover from the chemo treatments.  I can't yet go hiking like I used to, still limited to casual walks on flat surfaces.  But the hardest challenge for me is avoiding sugar and starch to starve potential returning cancer.

There we go, changing the subject again, ha, ha.

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by LRUCH on August 28, 2025, 01:41:50 pm »

Joseph,
A thought occurred to me on your heavy duty wire to provide 12 volts and ground to the replacement... I would search for a "high strand count" cable with silicone (or rubber+silicone) coating. This combination gives the most flexible motion and longest wear life since this needs to move every time the slide goes in and out.   I've done some robotics work in the past decade and this is what they use,,, but much thinner, of course, specifically to endure the motion, vibrations, etc.


The down side is that silicone is slightly more prone to damage so you should consider adding some heat shrink around any spot that might rub something else.


Larry

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Joseph on August 28, 2025, 11:44:37 am »

lol.   That I did Ron.  I figured it’s all related to swapping to a 12 volt fridge so keep it in the family with one thread.    Thank you for the info.   

Looks like I will need to run a 10awg wire from the battery to supply a conversion.  They say a 12 gauge (that’s what’s there now) may suffice but I won’t know till installed.  I’d rather see what it’ll take to string a new lead first before spending the money only to learn I can’t get it done because of wiring route. 

I’m waiting to hear from my doc on how to go forward on new cancer diagnosis.  Seems once you have cancer (4 years now) you’re constantly chasing it.  Anyway as soon as this all starts I will post how the conversion / repair goes and turns out. Good or bad.

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 28, 2025, 08:45:05 am »

My Black & Decker charger pictured, has these 5 modes.... 4, 10, 20, 40 amp, and Start.

During trips, to shorten generator run times, I set my B&D charger to 20 amps.  I worry that 40 amps is too hard on the pair of batteries.  I am comfortable with 10 amps per battery.  The 40 amp setting is handy for emergency use.

Decades ago now, my original Ford chassis battery was showing signs of weakness when we headed out for a wedding about 350 miles from home.  On the way back home, the battery completely died in a rest area.  To get the V10 chassis engine started, it took the Onan generator running, jumper cables from the house batteries, and my battery charger at the 40 amp setting, to start the V10 engine.  So there was just that one time where 40 amps was extremely handy.

I could not get the charger's Start Mode to work.  Maybe I wasn't working it right.  Maybe the unrecoverable battery prevented it from contributing.

Sorry for drifting off topic.  At least you started this thread and the drifting from it. 

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Joseph on August 27, 2025, 10:57:55 am »

Ron, the Bilsteins is what I changed out to. On my jeep as well.  I couldn’t tell any differing ride from the Koni.  Just my 2 cents.


So when you charge with gen running, what amp charge are you using? I’m looking at 15 amp assuming anything less won’t accomplish much during gen runs.

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 27, 2025, 09:13:26 am »

In regards to the power draw another question comes to mind.  Being running the generator doesn’t bring your batteries to 100% could a person connect a charger to the batteries while the generator is running to top them off?  I’m thinking of a small 15 amp for deep cycle batteries just for this purpose?

You think like me.

17 years ago, I resorted to an external charger to shorten generator run times.  Because, on trips, the house is in full operation during such charging, the current draw prevents the charger from stating "FULL."  It took me some time to understand that.  There is a huge difference in charging when the house is in full operation, than when the house is shut down.

I took this picture back in 2009.  I practice it to this day during trips.  I also maintain the batteries at home every 3 to 4 months, using the same charger, but at the low 4 amp setting.

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Ron Dittmer on August 27, 2025, 08:55:56 am »

Ron, I tried the Koni shocks.  They lasted 40,000 miles.  The only difference in ride was my wallet was much lighter.  I wasn’t impressed and noticed absolutely no improvement in ride… sadly.

Oh my, that is a very poor review on the Koni FSD shocks.

I wanted to buy the Koni-FSDs back in 2018 but couldn't justify the expense and NO lifetime warranty either.  I decided to go with heavy duty Bilstein RV shocks for the price and lifetime warranty.  Admittedly I am a bit surprised how happy I am with them.  I was concerned that the HD Bilsteins would jar our rig more, but apparently there is enough mass and weight that there was no noticable worsening.

Another change I made two years later in 2020, was replacing the front coil springs to a pair of the next rating lesser because our PC front suspension had too much weight capability that created unnecessary thrashing up front.  Our PC still has margin, but not so extreme.  The ride up front is more comfortable, and the house likes it too.

I also adjusted front tire pressure to 55 PSI which could be afforded due to our lighter front end.  Between all the changes I made since 2018, the house thrashes a lot less.  I wished I made the changes when the rig was new, but I was shy in making such changes back then.

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Joseph on August 26, 2025, 11:26:35 pm »

In regards to the power draw another question comes to mind.  Being running the generator doesn’t bring your batteries to 100% could a person connect a charger to the batteries while the generator is running to top them off?  I’m thinking of a small 15 amp for deep cycle batteries just for this purpose?

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General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Joseph on August 26, 2025, 11:23:05 pm »

Larry.   My fridge is in the slide.   The added insulation is a great idea, Thank you.   I will say up to my ammonia leak over the last few years once my fridge got cold I could set it at 2-3 and any higher would start to freeze items in the fridge.  It always took 6-7 days to get to that point however. My reason for considering the 12 volt compressor kits is supposedly it’s a much faster cool down and hopefully the last time I need to do this.

100

General Discussion / Re: Alternative Fridge?

« Last post by Joseph on August 26, 2025, 11:19:04 pm »

Ron, I tried the koni  shocks.  They lasted 40,000 miles.  The only difference in ride was my wallet was much lighter.  I wasn’t impressed and noticed absolutely no improvement in ride… sadly.