Tuesday, October 18, 2022

More Projects

Saturday - The project for today was installing a new door lock on the RV. We had one of these combination locks on the 5th wheel from day one and it is much more convenient than always carrying around keys. We didn’t install on earlier on this RV as they weren’t made for class A RVs… until now. I had pre-ordered one last month and it arrived last Tuesday. I tried to install it on Wednesday morning but ran into a snag and needed to pick up a rat tail file to enlarge the “calibration” hole used to adjust the door latch. To lock/unlock the door you can use the keypad, a key, or the lock button on the provided remotes. An option, which I did not purchase, is a BT module allowing you to use a phone app.

The refrigerator is running fine. This morning, I filled up the refrigerator with everything that wasn’t sensitive to freezing and filled up the ice cube trays. Last night, the freezer had gotten down to -9.5°F and the refrigerator was 32°F. Neither had either worked this well in the past. 

I may finish wiring up the ice maker tomorrow so see how well it works with the new system.

Sunday
 - How about these temperatures! Granted, it dropped to below 60°F last night which is also a big deal. But the freezer was -13°F and the refrigerator was 34°F. Granted, the compressor is running full time. This weeks project is to add the new 12V wiring run into the storage compartment under the refrigerator. 

Monday - Received the Amazon order with the 8AWG copper wire, 30amp circuit breaker, fuse block, and terminals. I started by running to wires from the battery compartment. Along the frame rail to the water compartment. I drilled a 1” hole between the rear fender well and the water compartment. I need to pick up a rubber grommet to protect the wire as it goes through the metal fender well. Once it’s in the water compartment, it’s an easy run to the front furnace compartment which is right under the refrigerator. I’ll mount the new distribution panel in that space.

Tuesday - I installed the new distribution panel and ran 10AWG wire to the refrigerator. The voltage is now 12.6 while the compressor is running. I removed my control board bypass and we will see how the system works now. 

I also found a kink in the ice maker water line. I had reconnected the ice make on Sunday but it hasn’t made any ice yet. 

Later - It looks like the system is still cycling. I put my bypass back in place and will call JC Refrigeration tomorrow. They mentioned that my control board may have issues but I decided to try it anyway. 

I wanted to run the new power run anyway as the portable refrigerator was running on marginal power. 


2 comments:

  1. Hopefully the JC Refrigeration folks figure out the issue, perhaps a new control board will do the trick.

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    1. I just ordered a new control board. It's not made by Domestic but by JC Refrigeration. Given the symptoms, they agreed that is sounds like the board is failing/failed.

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