One Thing Leads to Another November 02, 2023, 04:26:36 pm This is the of how little projects blossom into large projects. Last trip we were up in the Black Hills. We had just returned from a bike ride (Mickelson Trail) when we noticed that the frig (Dometic absorption) was off. Uh, oh... I went outside and checked the ARP frig protection device and sure enough, it had shut down the Dometic because it had gotten hot. The burner temp was very high, about 253F. I've had five or six of these absorptions and had never had this happen even though we are pretty cavalier about leveling. Anyhow, I chalked it up to being out of level. However, it happened two more times on the way home. That was enough for us so when we got home we shoved that Dometic out the window and said adiós. So now what? Well, we decided to go with a 12v DC frig (Norcold N8DC). Put that in but unless we wanted to be plugged in all the time, we needed more batteries. Decided on 300ah of lithium. Then, of course, the OEM converter was not designed for lithiums so we had to upgrade that to a PD 55 amp. OK, got that done. Charging those lithiums like a champ. But we only had the original LD 200 watts of solar. That's not gonna work for sure. So we pulled the two hundreds and replaced them with 800 watts. So from reading the forum I noted that there is some controversy on using the stock contactor (isolator) to charge the batteries while driving so I installed a DC to DC charger. Whew! All good now. jor 11 Likes
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #1 – November 02, 2023, 05:37:21 pm Let’s see. “A little project blossoms …”. Or how about a big project blossomed into an immense and rather expensive project! At any rate Jor, congratulations on completing a rather significant upgrade. Well done. 1 Likes
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #2 – November 04, 2023, 12:01:53 pm Now Let's see this whole thing got started with the ARP shutting down the frig. We have had the ARP on our list of upgrades for quite a while and now with our absorption frig reaching 25 years This might be the time to install one! I am not sure we would follow up with a 12V frig and Lithium upgrade but we sure are Jealous! Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA 1 Likes
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #3 – November 04, 2023, 01:12:50 pm Quote from: jor - November 02, 2023, 04:26:36 pmwe decided to go with a 12v DC frig (Norcold N8DC). Decided on 300ah of lithium. Then, of course, the OEM converter was not designed for lithium so we had to upgrade that to a PD 55 amp. OK, got that done. Charging those lithiums like a champ. But we only had the original LD 200 watts of solar. That's not gonna work for sure. So we pulled the two hundreds and replaced them with 800 watts. From reading the forum I noted that there is some controversy on using the stock contactor (isolator) to charge the batteries while driving so I installed a DC-to-DC charger. Whew! I'm looking forward to seeing how this combination works over the next year, especially in the winter.After three refrigerator failures in 28 years, there must be a better way.We have used an ARP for two years without any registered shutdowns but there is always the first time. 800 watts of solar and 300 amp/hour of batteries should work as long as sunlight is available. We have used an electric ice chest to supplement the refrigerator for several years now with 560 watts of solar and a 200 amp lithium battery successfully.With 800 watts of solar, it should also work well except for mid-winter camping with shade. You have that covered with the bigger converter and DC-to-DC charger.If you are interested in monitoring the refrigerator power usage, a 12-volt watt recording meter would be nice to have and is not very expensive.HTRC 150A High Precision RC Watt Meter Power Analyzer Battery Voltage Amp...Nice workLarry As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #4 – November 04, 2023, 05:41:13 pm I, too, have found that the ARP serves little purpose on a healthy refrigerator as long as you keep things somewhat level.Where it earns it’s keep is when your refrigerator is beginning to fail. Without it you wouldn’t know the refrigerator is having problems. I have a light on the dash that tells me when the ARP activates.A healthy fridge doesn’t need an ARP device. With a failing one it gives you a warning and keeps boiler temperatures from getting dangerously high. I’m on my second cooling unit and have a compressor conversion in reserve.
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #5 – November 05, 2023, 05:00:20 pm Forgot to mention. One of my kids gave me Eternabond and rollers for Christmas. I figured I better do the reseal before putting in the solar panels so I did. Not a bad job at all. I took Larry's advice and snapped a chalk line to keep it straight. Came out OIK.jor
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #6 – November 05, 2023, 05:10:23 pm "One of my kids gave me ..."Smart kids! No ulterior motives??
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #7 – November 05, 2023, 10:58:43 pm Jorr Did you cover the whole top cap with eternabond ?Is this a permanent solution ?Will you cover it with dicor ?All this is about my transition cap on the back of my outfit, I scraped out the old sealer and filled the gap with 3M fast cure 5200.
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #8 – November 06, 2023, 10:08:05 am QuoteDid you cover the whole top cap with eternabond ?Is this a permanent solution ?Will you cover it with dicor ?I just covered the factory caulking with 4" Eternabond as many here have done. My caulking was in excellent shape. I consider it a permanent solution. I don't intend to cover the Eternabond with anything although I see from reading some threads that two or three of us have done so. jor 1 Likes
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #9 – November 06, 2023, 12:40:33 pm Quote from: Olde English - November 05, 2023, 10:58:43 pmDid you cover the whole top cap with Eternabond ?Is this a permanent solution ? Will you cover it with Dicor?All this is about my transition cap on the back of my outfit, I scraped out the old sealer and filled the gap with 3M fast cure 5200.Eternabond tape used on seams is very permanent and does not need covering with a sealant, it is the sealant.End caps are better sealed with 3M 5200 FC, after cleaning as much of the old sealant out as possible.The archives have many postings on how to seal the end caps.Larry
Re: One Thing Leads to Another Reply #10 – November 06, 2023, 06:13:31 pm Quote from: jor - November 05, 2023, 05:00:20 pmForgot to mention. One of my kids gave me Eternabond and rollers for Christmas. I figured I better do the reseal before putting in the solar panels so I did. Not a bad job at all. I took Larry's advice and snapped a chalk line to keep it straight. Came out OIK.jorNice job!! Those gifts are like giving the wife a vacuum for Christmas!! HaHa!! Sounds like it was just what you needed. RonS
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