3-Way Norcold 323T RV
Fridge
Since we bought our new to us 2002 Hawk ~ 5 years ago, we never used
the Norcold 323T 3-way fridge for anything other than as a storage cabinet.
With many trips to nearly all the western National Parks and camping/fishing
outings the trusty green Coleman was always our go-to cooler. Many a bags of
ice were poured down it always ready hatch. This COVID time with working from
home gave me some ideas and one weekend I decided to take the Norcold apart and
give it a really good cleaning. The many videos and posts on various websites
helped provide the basics. Cleaned out the chimney, made sure all the previous
charred residents have been evicted and all the orifices cleaned up with
compressed air. After thoroughly cleaning up the burner area, I applied a match
thru the tiny window and was thrilled when the blue flame caught on and burned with
a nice blue flame. I tried lighting it with the piezo starter and was even more
amazed when it worked perfectly every time. If the flame did not catch, I lit
up the stove inside for 30 sec to purge the gas lines and every time it has
fired up. This purging is especially handy after tank refill. We decided to use this on our next camping trip to our favorite high
desert site in Oregon. Well, it worked so well that during the night it froze
the milk (night time cab temp was 70F and inside the fridge was 25F – reminder for
next time to use the LOW setting!). My 12 year old kept a log (nice math practice
for him to log data and even plotted a trend). We noticed that when the camper temp was hovering around 85F, inside the fridge was 41-43F.
We used a small wireless Accurite thermometer with remote sensor that I put
inside the fridge.
Since someday I want to upgrade to either a newer model of
Hawk or my ideal camper the Alaskan 6.5’ CO ( anyone have either of those to
sell, feel free to contact me 😊 ) I don’t plan to put any solar in this
camper nor buy those fancy $$$’s expensive batteries (yet). Neither do I have
plans to be obsessive over battery power, usage, Bluetooth modules and shunts!
I am keeping all those extra brain cells to convince those little red band trout
to accept my fly or me getting better at stream side entomology. Also living in the PNW, solar is somewhat
limited and where we go, either we are seeking out shade during the day or
there are clouds (perfect for BWO hatches). Now that propane is working so
well, I wanted to try out a small experiment since the 3-way are power hogs on
12V. I have always wanted to upgrade the trailer plug wiring to improve the
battery charging from the truck alternator (and battery) to the camper battery. The
most optimal way and granted a bit of an overkill for our particular situation
(details below) is to go to heavier gage wire direct from the truck battery for
the minimal power usage we have.
I picked out the Renogy 20A DC-DC charger. This is a basic
unit and a good way to get camper battery to charge from the truck.
Here is the set up I
ended up with for my usage:
Ram 2500 Tradesman (2016) single battery set up. 4G welding
cable positive from the truck battery terminal goes 8” into a 30A mini-ANL
fuse, after another 6” goes into a 60A circuit breaker w/push to reset that I can
use to cut power if needed. Then it goes to the back of the pick up bed and
terminates in a Anderson Pole connector rated at 120A. The negative cable (4G
welding wire) same as positive goes from truck negative terminal to the
Anderson plug. Both cables follow the factory harness path and are shielded in
their own split loop and zip tied to the factory loom (away from any moving
parts and exhaust which is on the right side of the truck anyway). From this
Anderson connector, a 4G dual cable and sense wire (tied to the 7 pin plug power
for 12V+ sense) goes into the camper battery compartment. For this part of the wiring
I used a good quality 4G battery jumper cable and cut off the alligator clips.
Both cables (+/-) go directly into the Renogy 20A DC-DC charger. The output +ve
goes to a 60A fuse and then to the camper battery.
Camper battery is a Optima Blue Top (66Ah). Our power usage is very minimal. 2 LED lights (0.5A) , exhaust fan (0.8A) amps while cooking, water pump and porch light (0.12A). The output from the camper battery both +/- are fused at 30A to the camper power distribution block. The battery also gets charge from the old style IOTA DLS-30 (remember this is a 2002 model Hawk) when connected to AC.
What I really wanted to do was; run the 3-way Norcold off the camper battery while driving and continue to charge the battery at the same time, with minimal worries (apologies to those infatuated with solar set ups, large battery banks 😊 ). BTW, the Norcold pulls in 10.1A when on 12V DC and I think we have been successful at that so far.
Just returned from our maiden voyage (more data collection
will happen over future trips). Here is what we did.
Started the Norcold on AC at home 4-5 hours before we were expected to leave. Put in all of our pre-cooled food into the fridge that was already at 41F. Disconnected AC, switched the fridge to 12V DC and took off for a 3hr drive to our fishing spot. Stopped twice on the way (25 min total for gas and drive thru lunch). At the campsite switched from 12V to propane on the fridge and it did not miss a beat. Plus I did not miss buying bags of ice or lugging the cooler. We repeated the process on the way back. This time switching from propane to DC before leaving camp.
Oh BTW, if you have a newer Alaskan or Hawk for sale, send me a note. 😊 Happy travels.