BAC Forum

General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Bryan Beamon on November 19, 2022, 01:01:48 AM

Title: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Bryan Beamon on November 19, 2022, 01:01:48 AM

We recently had a new cooling unit installed from JC Refrigeration for our Norcold 1200. The performance is exceptional compared to a previous cooling unit. JC had the units in stock and shipped in to our installer in 3 days. This is the Amish version and we ordered the extra fan kit and new burner assembly. The installation requires addional sealing that the previous unit did not provide and internal fans that move the cold air to keep the box at 36 degrees  on a setting of 3. Great product. Residential  refrigerators seem to be the rage but we like the choice of using propane when power is low or dry camping.

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Bill Lampkin on November 19, 2022, 03:41:18 PM

Glad you are happy with your fridge. I thought long and hard about JC vs residential; In the end we replaced our Norcold (which was working fine) with a Fisher-Paykel 17 cu ft residential fridge. Once installed, I tracked its power consumption for a week using a Kill-A-Watt power meter. No food in fridge, outside temps 55-75f. Average 40 watts at 120 volts or 8 amps DC per 24 hours. We plan to boondock at Quartzite this year so we'll see how it goes then.

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Fred Brooks on November 19, 2022, 10:02:34 PM

   Bill,
What model inverter do you have?
Fred

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Bill Lampkin on November 20, 2022, 01:44:19 AM

xantrex 2012, the pure sine wave model. I did my fridge test plugged into shore power.

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Fred Brooks on November 20, 2022, 02:04:49 PM

   Bill,
Thanks and I look forward to meeting you in Quartzite. I always appreciate your comments! Fred

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Bill Lampkin on November 20, 2022, 02:19:22 PM

correction: dc amps per day should be 80 amp hrs (dc). Misplaced decimal! Note: Our coach has 4x GC2 6v batteries with a capacity of 225 amp hrs. I plan to run our gen for two hrs in am and pm in Quartzite- will see how it goes!

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Neal E Weinmann on November 21, 2022, 04:47:14 PM

Bryan,

For further clarity, is your new cooling unit a conventional replacement or a helium filled replacement? I fitted a helium unit to our 1200 LRIM in 2021 and supplemented it with an ARP (helium specific) controller and its additional fans. I too am quite pleased with the performance of the fridge now. In our short rig the drawers below the fridge are our only “pantry” area, so we felt upgrading was our best and easiest alternative, all things considered.

Title: Re: Positive reccommendation for new cooling unit
Post by: Bryan Beamon on November 21, 2022, 10:47:15 PM

Neal, JC Refrigeration did not recommend helium because our travels were primarily in warmer climates which dictated the traditional cooling unit as it performs better in hot climates.