Need advice /or opinion on household fridges for my new conversion

trailblazer2 · September 03, 2014, 06:29:06 PM

I am now building my second conversion,& have come to a screeching halt after reading the refrigerator manual.(stating that it was not to be used in a rv) I bought this Vissani brand from Home Depot last fall with intentions of using it as I did in my last conversion;except it was a Whirlpool Brand that gave me excellent service .What could be the the difference,since they are both household types?

mung · September 03, 2014, 06:39:01 PM

Warranty? Generator issues? If you find anything let me know though, because I am seriously thinking of trying to figure out if I can mount my keg-a-rator in my 4104 and it is the same brand.

eagle19952 · September 03, 2014, 06:47:17 PM

it is actually Magic Chef, and that it is produced by Daewoo a Korean company

The some of the reviews are from people who replaced Nor-colds.... all seem happy if they did not get a lemon..provided that they aren't on an inverter or encounter temps outsde 50-85 degrees.....

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vissani-24-in-W-10-cu-ft-Top-Freezer-Refrigerator-in-Black-HVDR1030BE/204418404#customer_reviews

thomasinnv · September 03, 2014, 08:38:29 PM

I put the visani in my bus about a year and half ago. Works great I have not regretted it for a moment. I did have a non related generator malfunction which ended up blowing the thermal overload switch on the refer. Repair man came out to the bus and fixed it at no charge to me. No problems getting warranty work.

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thomasinnv · September 03, 2014, 08:39:45 PM

I liked the refer so much I just bought another one for the house.

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Melbo · September 04, 2014, 05:43:00 AM

That looks to be the same fridge that we have been using in the bus since 2005. We got it from home depot as well however we bought the stainless look because it had the glass shelves. The only problem we encountered was a noisy fan in the back of the freezer compartment. No matter what I tried it would keep rattling. I took it out and went to an appliance supply house and replaced it with a universal fan motor and no more noise. The fridge worked fine just that the noise in the small space of the bus was not pleasant at night. We travel somewhere about 5 thousand miles a year and it has served us well. Runs just fine from the Magnum 4024 and cools down in about an hour or overnight before leaving in the morning.

HTH

Melbo

TomC · September 04, 2014, 09:17:51 AM

I decided against a home type refrigerator for my truck conversion. The truck will not ride as cushy as a bus, even though it does have 8 air bag suspension in the back. I was going to use a Summit that had the radiator in the back-so I would have had to create sufficient venting. Plus, you have to create a door lock, the shelves typically do not have edges on them to keep the food in, and the freon lines are not supported like an RV refer is. The big drawback is you have to defrost the refer manually. But with a chest freezer, you just put the critical foods in there and leave the rest in the refer-turn the refer off with towels inside and magically, a few hours later it is defrosted. Wipe down the coils and good to go. I'm using the NovaKool RFU9000 in my bus and just ordered another for the truck. The NovaKool has a bottom front discharge of the hot air, so venting isn't a problem. Good Luck, TomC

Oonrahnjay · September 04, 2014, 10:19:43 AM

Quote from: TomC on September 04, 2014, 09:17:51 AMI'm using the NovaKool RFU9000 in my bus and just ordered another for the truck. ...

I have an RFU6800 so it's a good bit smaller, but I love it. Battery power so small I almost don't notice it; good cooling. Yeah, the defroster thing but in NC heat, it takes about 20 minutes.

Beesme · September 04, 2014, 01:00:50 PM

We installed an hazier from lowes and for the last 15 mos so far has been awesome .can only speak for 15 mos ,don't scare me haha.had a may tag that only lasted a lil over a yr but it had sat for 3 yrs prior so I was hoping that is what helped it die so quick?

wg4t50 · September 04, 2014, 01:18:18 PM

Had a 12 cf from Sears with ice maker in tahe MC7, loved the auto defrost etc, worked great.
Now we changed out the large 2 door gas/electric for a 24.5 cf Samsung as best fit, works great with water, ice cubed or crushed in door. Amazing how fast we get spoiled.
In the MC7, ran the genset 24/7, in this newer fancy store bought, run genset about 3 hrs a day, has a 2500 watt sine wave, 100 amp charger with 4 steps and 4 Gel 8D batteries. Have played 24 hour run using all normal Aqua Hot, TV, Satellite, lights, andlittle microwave for breakfast, dinner & popcorn.
After all the years of suffering and enjoying it, think I have got it figured out. As usual the calender is catching up FAST.
Dave M

bcbusman · September 04, 2014, 11:44:51 PM

Whatever you do , do NOT buy the Magic Chef from Home Depot, it will crap out on you within 2 years. In every conversion I used the LG fridges and always trouble free. Best one was the LG GR 262R

digesterman · September 05, 2014, 06:11:42 AM

Bcbusman, I bought 3 of the magic chefs from HD for jobsite offices, they too were bad, the auto defrost cycle stopping working and the freezer coils would ice up preventing cold air to be circulated to the main box. Repair was more than buying a new one.

ruthi · September 05, 2014, 08:01:21 AM

we put a big french door samsung in our bus in 2011. No issues at all and tons of room.

lornaschinske · September 06, 2014, 05:42:54 PM

Once upon a time, I was looking into tankless water heaters. At the time, tankless water heaters came in "residential" only. So I emailed and after a few emails, called the company at their request (and their dime). Many of the engineers, workers and highly placed company officers had RV's that they put their tankless water heaters in (they would bring them to the factory to be installed). These worked well but I "did not hear it from" them. This is what they explained to me... Due to the really high cost of testing in mobile units to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements and the potential RV market size (considered small) they simply could not "waste" the money or the years needed. It was all about the money. I was then e-mailed by an engineer from his personal email to my e-mail with a detailed description of exactly how to install and vent the tankless water heater. But I remember the testing/lawyer explaination. I believe that this is why so many things specifically say to not put them in mobile applications. Simply because they have not been tested for that enviroment and the lawyers tell them they can't say it's okay otherwise they leave themselves open to a lawsuit.

We have the undercounter refrigerators and full size upright freezer. I have long since figured out a door locking system for the refrigerators and the freezer has it's own factory installed lock.

Ralph7 · September 06, 2014, 07:20:04 PM

I have a Whirlpool , 2 door self defrost in the bus since 10-05 so far so good.. have a Magnum( Pure Sine) 2,000 watt inverter/ 100amp charger, when on the pole I do not know when the Park looses power!!!!! yes the lights barely blink, also I spent the money on good 12V. LED'S and it has paid been very good!!!
Also have a 12/24V. 8 cu. ft. chest freezer, holds -15 in this Az. heat, love it.