Compressor Fridge - Anyone have it?

I just ordered my 2552 and ordered the compressor fridge.I am told it will be the Norcold Model# DE0061 12V/110V.

Curious to know if anyone else has this and if they like it or not?

Phil: I have it in my 2552 but have used it very little.
What I can say is that it is relatively quiet, gets cold quickly and seems well built.
PC installed wood panel doors to match my interior.

I had one quabble with PC during my build because they seemed to forget that I was getting the compressor fridge and cut the vent holes in my slide for a propane fridge.
This was after them agreeing the vents would not be there as that was a major part of the reason we went compressor.
It was a simple mistake and they agreed right away to replace the sidewall.
The quabble came when I later noticed in pictures that they sent that they had patched the holes instead of replacing the slide wall.
Although they insisted they had done a great job on the patch I wasn't very happy.
When I went to pick up my unit, although it wasn't perfect, the patchwork was good enough that if you weren't looking for it, the average person wouldn't notice it.
It did request and received a written 5 year warranty from Barry to repair the slide wall in the event that cracks appeared due to problems with  the patch job. 
Only caveat they threw in is the repair would have to be done at their factory.

I specified the DE0061 in my 2552 (2017), I might have been the first to do so.  At that time no one even thought about the propane fridge vents, at least I didn't.  No one at the factory mentioned it and since I might have been the first install maybe they didn't really understand the implications.  A propane unit must vent to the outside but a compressor unit vents to the inside.  If not used the propane vents are just a gaping hole in the slidewall that lets in outside air.  Our first trip we practically froze and I could not figure out where the cold air was coming from.  Once I figured it out I built some seals out of styrofoam to close things up while we were on the road. 

The vents are still there on the slidewall, but when we got home I just built a foam plug to go behind them and seal it up.  At least with the vents still there I have access to the rear of refrigerator if needed.  Which I did once when the refrigerator power plug came loose and had to be plugged back in.

Other than the vent issue I am very happy with the refrigerator.  It's quiet, cools down fast unlike a propane one and I don't seem to have any issue keeping things cold, even ice cream.  If I did it again I would definitely go with a compressor unit again.  We have solar panels and have boondocked up to 3 days with the fridge running and still kept the batteries up without generator use.  Of course it was sunny.

One thing to consider if you don't have solar panels is that you will have a constant battery drain by the fridge that you have to manage.  Not an issue, just something to watch for if you are used to a propane unit.

2011 2551 My Vitrifrigo Sea Classic DP2600iAC just died and I'm debating ordering the same one again (only draws 65w; ~5amp on DC) or moving to LPG which is what the rig cam with. The mod was performed by the previous owner. Even at that low draw the rig seemed to eat two marine deep cycle batteries quicker than I thought but I don't know enough about what I'm doing to absolutely blame the refer. The batteries were in the rig when I bought it and appeared to be new. They died after about a year; 10 months rig off, two months rig in use. I've got 400w solar on the roof. The refer worked perfectly while it worked so no complaints there. I'm in the process of debating adding two more batteries so I can boondock more and not have to run the generator as much if any. I'm going to guess the refer lasted about 8 years. It stopped cooling and in the process of recharging the coolant a line blew. And no, it wasn't because of overcharge. Replacing the Danfoss compressor, condenser and controller justifies just buying a new refer. I can install it myself.

My guess is that there is an issue with either the batteries, solar charging system or maybe a little on the fridge.  Ive been running compressor fridges on our boats for years on a pretty large 6V deep cycle battery bank.  With your current set up you should be able to go for several to many days during the summer months without plugging in or using gen set.

The average 25' RV uses 100-125 DC amps a 24 hour period with a compressor fridge. This includes all the other DC items that would be used in normal operation.  Some diehards can use much less, as they monitor things very closely.  I say this because in your situation you should have enough power options to keep up with the demand.

2- 6V  wired in series, AGM golf cart batteries fully charged produces 200+ amps.  So 50% recommended use equals  100 amps
400 watts of solar power can produce up to 225+ amps a day (8 amps per 100 watts) Avg. summer day should be 100 amps.

So 200 available amps less 125 used equals 75 amps reserve.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
 Assumption #1 is the batteries are either to small or have been overused and run down to many times.  In that case they will simply not except any serious charging either from the engine, converter (charger plug in) or solar panels.

Assumption #2 is a charging issue with the solar panels that can easily be checked out by a dealer.

Possible issue #3 The compressor fridge in the process of dying was drawing excessive power.  The unit says it draws 5 amps DC.  The duty cycle should be a draw of around 3.5 amps (on for 15 mins off for 15 mins etc)  If it was drawing 5 or more amps all the time could be more draw on the batteries.

Seems with the right new compressor fridge and a good set of batteries you should be okay.  The two most popular in use today seems to be either Norcold or Nova-Kool.  Although some are now even being powered by straight residential 110V fridges through an inverter....and working fine.

Hutch

Thanks all.  Good reports...