12v chest fridge location choices

[GrantRobertson]

Has anyone considered just setting the fridge on a flat board with furniture sliders fastened to the bottom. It is low-profile, so it takes up very little space. It can support as much weight as the floor can support. It is very inexpensive. The only limiting factors are that the unit has to be sitting on the floor; the floor under the cabinet has to be exactly even with the regular floor where it will be pulled out to; and the floor has to not be rubberized.

There are furniture sliders designed for smooth and carpeted floors. You can get them at just about any hardware or lumber store.

 

[Almost There]

Has anyone considered just setting the fridge on a flat board with furniture sliders fastened to the bottom. It is low-profile, so it takes up very little space. It can support as much weight as the floor can support. It is very inexpensive. The only limiting factors are that the unit has to be sitting on the floor; the floor under the cabinet has to be exactly even with the regular floor where it will be pulled out to; and the floor has to not be rubberized.

There are furniture sliders designed for smooth and carpeted floors. You can get them at just about any hardware or lumber store.

Good idea and it would work in one location. The other spot I want to put one of the units is in front of the gas tank inlet housing so it would mean that the cabinet around it would have to be deeper than I would like. I was planning on raising the 'fridge' platform high enough to clear the housing and putting a shallower drawer under that for other storage.

I may have to do a complete re-work in design layout with this as a top priority rather than fitting them in on a 'convenience' basis.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah mine need to be about 30 inches. plus like grant stated the shock load is way above the rating of the slides. if you look a the expedition sites the slides start at about 250 and I have seen some over 500 bucks. I will not pay that much for slides. especially since I need 3 sets. I am thinking of building my own using skateboard bearings, I saw someone do this on a forum, might have been this one. they did this for an under the bed box. if I run across it I will post it. highdesertranger

 

[Almost There]

Is there really that much of a shock load on the slides if the cabinet is fastened to the floor and the wall, then the slides are, of course, fastened to the cabinet. If the fridge is strapped to the 'shelf', aren't they all going to move in unison?

After driving an RV and vans over some really bumpy road, I don't remember ever having anything bounce *that* much except maybe for the loose items I would put in the sink while driving and then they only rattled.

 

[highdesertranger]

well I drive like an old man(cuz I am), slow and easy. but still off road takes it toll on everything. no beer in bottles, you will loose 10-50%, hardware will come loose, the standard aluminum and wood rv's will come apart, fillings will fall out of your teeth, stuff you think that you have tied down really good will come loose. driving 50 miles off road is like driving 400 miles on the highway as far as fatigue goes. ask me how I know any of this. I like to double everything up. 2,000 lbs trailer better have 4,000 lbs axles and springs. me and my buddies have bent so many trailer axles I can't even remember the number. so I look at it that like this, a 130 lbs refer needs like a 300 lbs slide. highdesertranger

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Hi Almost There I bought a couple of sets of drawer tracks from Richelieu, a Quebec company for around 40.00 I think maybe a bit more, they come in many sizes, they are stainless very strong and extend, I used on set on my sliding pocket door and that has been in place for a few years works great. I plan on using the other set like you intend to, I can't see there being a problem with weight, these are pretty heavy duty and for high end cabinetry, if the drawer happened to be opened and you hit a bump I could see an issue but that shouldn't happen if properly latched. If you are in Ontario you can find these tracks locally.

 

[Almost There]

Many thanks Kurbmaster (if I can call you that... )

They have a distributor in Barrie and I'm there every 2 weeks anyways.

They also carry all kinds of neat things that I've been maybe looking for like edgebanding and veneer and..and...and.
Uhoh, I'm in trouble again...rofl.

 

[FALCON]

Does anyone have theirs set up like this?

--> Elevate the fridge so the top of it is level with the rest of the "kitchen" counter -- so the top of the fridge becomes counter/working space. Then you can of course open the fridge door upwards without any wasted interior volume specifically dedicated to open the fridge. One obvious drawback is that, if you're doing food prep on top of the fridge and then realize you need to get something inside, you have to move the things off the top of the fridge first. If I did this, I may put whatever surface I'm using for the counter on top of the fridge also - so I have that surface for my food prep or whatever.


Here is an example: (I would try to build mine so the top is flush, instead of higher than the rest of the counter and also with the counter surface on the top of the fridge)
http://www.outsideonline.com/sites/...ges/alex-honnold-storage_ph.jpg?itok=HLrE4UVn

More pictures:
http://www.outsideonline.com/1856241/alex-honnolds-ultimate-adventure-vehicle

And a video:
http://www.outsideonline.com/1868556/alex-honnolds-van-life

 

[Almost There]

Does anyone have theirs set up like this?

--> Elevate the fridge so the top of it is level with the rest of the "kitchen" counter -- so the top of the fridge becomes counter/working space. Then you can of course open the fridge door upwards without any wasted interior volume specifically dedicated to open the fridge. One obvious drawback is that, if you're doing food prep on top of the fridge and then realize you need to get something inside, you have to move the things off the top of the fridge first. If I did this, I may put whatever surface I'm using for the counter on top of the fridge also - so I have that surface for my food prep or whatever.

That will work nicely, just make sure that you build the frame sturdy enough to take the final weight of the loaded fridge.

My fridge unit is going on a slide out tray at the floor level so that the 48" counter unit can be used for sink and stove unit. I found castors at H/D that are only 1 1/2" high but take 30 lbs a piece so they'll do just nicely for a loaded fridge.

 

[FALCON]

That will work nicely, just make sure that you build the frame sturdy enough to take the final weight of the loaded fridge.

My fridge unit is going on a slide out tray at the floor level so that the 48" counter unit can be used for sink and stove unit. I found castors at H/D that are only 1 1/2" high but take 30 lbs a piece so they'll do just nicely for a loaded fridge.

If I don't mount it up flush with the counter top, I may do that. I was looking at Galley sizes today and saw that having the fridge space, plus a stove (a small 12"x15" one), plus a little sink all takes up more space than I originally planned for galley size in most designs.

 

[Almost There]

If I don't mount it up flush with the counter top, I may do that. I was looking at Galley sizes today and saw that having the fridge space, plus a stove (a small 12"x15" one), plus a little sink all takes up more space than I originally planned for galley size in most designs.

Yes, by the time you add up the space for the sink, a small stove and even a foot of counter space, you're looking at 48" =/-. You get 2 of 3 but not all three of fridge, stove or sink.

 

[SoulRaven]

If I don't mount it up flush with the counter top, I may do that. I was looking at Galley sizes today and saw that having the fridge space, plus a stove (a small 12"x15" one), plus a little sink all takes up more space than I originally planned for galley size in most designs.

I prefer not to mount anything to my countertop.  I use a campstove, and dishpans for sinks, so that way the entire coutertop is multi purpose.

I keep my cooler beside my bed and it doubles as a nightstand.


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[SternWake]

If this much thought is going into mounting a chest style fridge on a slider, perhaps a front loading fridge installed in an extra insulated cabinet would be a solution.


I was not aware of the chest style 12v compressor fridges when I first got a front loader in 2007, but I built my cabinet around an extra insulated fridge and its proper condenser/compressor ventilation.  That norcold fridge gave up after 5 years.  I now have  Vitrifrigo c51is  front loader, whose design allowed me to make the cooling unit ventilation vastly superior to the Norcold. 

Danfoss/Secop compressors allow one to use upto 0.5 amps worth of fans which switch on with the compressor.  The fan that came with mine pulled 0.12 amps and 72cfm .  I replaced it with a much quieter 0.05amp Noctua Nf-f12 at ~53CFM.  This fan pulls filtered air from the floor below the fridge, and exhaust it, with no chance of recycling preheated air, either out a louvered vent behind the fridge in summer, or into the next cabinet in winter.

I am impressed with the fridge performance, and its frugality with my battery.  I place a wattmeter inline on its power cord and it takes days before it consumes more than 64 amp hours in my usage.

 

[Almost There]

If this much thought is going into mounting a chest style fridge on a slider, perhaps a front loading fridge installed in an extra insulated cabinet would be a solution.

For me it's because I can a whole lot more space for the same money that you can buy the Vitrifrigo for at deep sale prices!

The C51is is 1.8 cubic feet, the 85 Qt Whynter is just over 3 cf. The little freezer on the Vitrifrigo is about as useless as breasts on a bull IMO. I had one that size in the RV. It held 2 ice cube trays. That's why I'm going for 2 full units...deep freeze baby!!

Also, you mention a louvered vent behind the fridge - are you meaning to the outside of the vehicle or just into empty space behind?