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Topic ClosedHow Cold Does Fridge Get?
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furpod View Drop Down
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Joined: 25 Jul 2011
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: How Cold Does Fridge Get?
    Posted: 08 Apr 2019 at 8:55am
Look.. it takes 8 AA batteries. It ain't rocket science. If it has the capability to run on AA's, then the control board has to have connection points for leads... Go get ANY "8 AA battery Holder" and go to it. As long as they are the right format to fit the space, and honestly I have only ever seen a couple formats, will fit...

https://www.amazon.com/CO-RODE-Battery-Holder-Switch/dp/B00VE7HBMS

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Holder-Snap-Connector-Corpco/dp/B01N91OF9H

Or go crazy cutting edge and wire this in...

https://www.amazon.com/TalentCell-Rechargeable-12000mAh-Multi-led-indicator/dp/B00ME3ZH7C/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_23_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CWWS9V5996KQR99E5VCH
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DavMar View Drop Down
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Posts: 592 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Apr 2019 at 3:46pm
Originally posted by podwerkz

I looked in the compartment and there is a connector, but no battery holder so that had me thinking I just need a $5 part, or maybe it's $50, who knows. But as you say, maybe it's made of 'un-obtanium' so I can't afford one at any price, unless I owned a plastics molding plant in China.

Maybe, just maybe, I can 'fool' the fridge into thinking that it has that battery holder full of 8 AA batteries. A small rechargeable 12v sealed battery might work....hmmmm.....


podwerkz, please do yourself a favor and go and copy your model and serial number for your frig down and then call Dometic to see if or if not your model has this battery add on capability. When I contacted them last year about my model frigerator and getting this battery backup power supply add on they sent me the following message:

David,

Hello and good morning.  This part is not available for your American model refrigerator.   I have attached the parts list for you above.

Sincerely,

Carrie

Dometic Retail Customer Service

1-800-544-4881 Opt.2, Opt.2

Dometic Corporation

1120 N Main St.

Elkhart, Indiana 46514

dometic.com

Hopefully you find out your model frig is different and this back up battery is available for it. Best of luck!
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Apr 2019 at 1:29am
Oh, that's interesting. Like vapor-ware. 

Or a 'concept' that was there for marketing but no solid implentation. That would explain a lot. 

I looked in the compartment and there is a connector, but no battery holder so that had me thinking I just need a $5 part, or maybe it's $50, who knows. But as you say, maybe it's made of 'un-obtanium' so I can't afford one at any price, unless I owned a plastics molding plant in China.

Maybe, just maybe, I can 'fool' the fridge into thinking that it has that battery holder full of 8 AA batteries. A small rechargeable 12v sealed battery might work....hmmmm.....
r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!
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DavMar View Drop Down
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Posts: 592 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 8:26pm
Originally posted by podwerkz

The fridge has the compartment for the battery holder, but no battery holder is in there. The battery holder is referred to as an 'accessory' in the manual. I googled around but that is a wild goose chase, every time I put in search terms like 'dometic refrigerator' and 'battery holder' I get a slew of responses related to battery powered 12 volt fridges.

Dometic's webpage itself has no information about this that I can find, they want me to contact my dealer. Well I don't want to drive 150 miles for a $5 battery holder, but it may come to that. 


podwekz, you can drive around the world for this battery holder and find no dealer has it. Why, because your refrigerator control board was made NOT to have this battery backup. Please, don't you or anyone else believe me, instead go ahead and call Dometic tech support. Give them the model number of your refrigerator like I did and then I bet you will also find out that your refrigerator control board is made NOT to have this backup and there is NO add on battery holder you can get. Sorry to say but FR went on the cheap to maximize profit on our refrigerators with buying Dometic's bottom line frig.
Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the
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2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4
Lexington, NC
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 7:55pm
The fridge has the compartment for the battery holder, but no battery holder is in there. The battery holder is referred to as an 'accessory' in the manual. I googled around but that is a wild goose chase, every time I put in search terms like 'dometic refrigerator' and 'battery holder' I get a slew of responses related to battery powered 12 volt fridges.

Dometic's webpage itself has no information about this that I can find, they want me to contact my dealer. Well I don't want to drive 150 miles for a $5 battery holder, but it may come to that. 

 
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DavMar View Drop Down
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Posts: 592 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 7:33pm
Originally posted by podwerkz

That's a valid point but not relevant for me. I wanted a 'backup' so that I can flip the main DC power off and still have the fridge control power working.
So, in my case, the simple answer might be to have a battery backup in the fridge, after all, the fridge has that option, and all I need is the little battery holder. But where to buy? And how many hours or days will the 8 AA batteries last? No one seems to know. I would like to find out!


podwekz I don't know the model year of your Pod but if its the same age as mine or older check out the refrigerator control board and I'll bet you it doesn't have battery back up for its control board. Believe me its not that hard to deplete your battery when the converter goes out and you don't know. Being plugged into shore power is no help then which it wise to carry a dumb portable battery charger. If I had a schematic of this control board I think I could figure out where to add this back up and what voltage it would take. It probably is allot less then what you think. If you can figure out how to get an emergency battery backup to the frig please let us all know. Its a shame that the manufacture doesn't make a upgrade kit (or didn't when I talked to them last year) or that FR is still putting in the bottom line refrigerator instead of one they make which does have battery backup.
Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the
wonder dog.
2017 Rpod 180
2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4
Lexington, NC
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 7:19pm
That's a valid point but not relevant for me. I wanted a 'backup' so that I can flip the main DC power off and still have the fridge control power working. 

I might do this when away from the trailer for hours, especially when boondocking and on cloudy days when solar input will be in short supply, or I have secured the portable panel inside to deter theft.

The propane detector pulls about 100 ma or so, and yeah I could put that on a switch, and wire the USB power socket on a switch, and the stereo parasitic drain on a switch, etc etc, so that the ONLY thing pulling any DC would be the fridge control board. If I'm away for a few hours, the propane detector is useless if I'm not there to hear it anyway. All the other parasitic drains are also useless when I'm away. 

So, in my case, the simple answer might be to have a battery backup in the fridge, after all, the fridge has that option, and all I need is the little battery holder. But where to buy? And how many hours or days will the 8 AA batteries last? No one seems to know. I would like to find out!
r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 6:48pm
If your 12v system is so depleted of power that it can't power the control board on the fridge, you've probably got bigger problems than just losing the gas operation of the fridge.
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 5:29pm
Yeah I had asked about the Dometic back-up battery board in another thread and no one said, yeah, it's a good idea, here is where you order one.

It seems to be a 'euro thing'.....
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DavMar View Drop Down
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Posts: 592 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 5:23pm
I wish someone could come up with a modification that you can add a back up battery to the frig control board. That way if you loose all power, converter and battery, you can still operate it on propane. More expensive models have this back up built in but not the one FR put into my Pod. Bummer!
Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the
wonder dog.
2017 Rpod 180
2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4
Lexington, NC
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