Know your Fridge & Rig Temperature & Humidity via Bluetooth ...

[themexicandoctor]

Roadtrek Adventuous RS1 is one of the people whom who informed me about this product;

https://www.sensorpush.com/

Smart Sensors made Simple!
Wireless sensors with alerts for monitoring temperature, humidity and more. Easy to set up, easy to use.

If you have ANY FRIDGE but especially the 3 Way Technology, in the Summer at least, this will really help you in understanding what is happening inside without opening the door, through your Bluetooth & it doesn't just give you the immediate temp & humidity readings but historic data also.

I purchased the second unit just so I can get a scientific & exact on my Rig interior also.

I am installing mine tonight, take all the guesswork out of knowing tge exact temperature & humidity without opening your fridge door or looking at your van's hopelessly inadequate thermometer & just as important, see at a glance the humidity, important for pets also.

My process for the previous 9 years of Roadtrek ownership here in Los Angeles during the summer was like the Idiot Lights installed on the Battery Monitors of earlier Roadtrek Dinosaurs, I would walk into the van & tell myself;

1. Not too hot today

2. Hot

3. OMG its Hot in here & my Dometic RM2354 3Way Fridge* has probably failed, let me use my previous Gold Standard; scientifically squeezing the butter stick.

4. NEWS ALERT its Hotter than hell in here & my Dometic RM2354 3Way Fridge* has definitely precooked all that food inside, I will have throw everything away. Here I wouldn't need to squeeze the butter stick because it would have melted down the door.

*I discovered the Sensorpush in my quest to drop kick the Dometic & buy a DC Compressor Fridge & have it perform at in the best possible conditions. After much research & help from owners here I purchased a Novakool R3800. Its only be 3 days & I realise now that the Sensorpush is what I needed before for the inside of the previous 3 Way Fridge, not the Novakool.

Everytime I open Novakool I am bathed in a soft white light & I can feel the cold air inside instantaneously upon cracking the door & I have settled on setting #3.

I did a lot of google research & discovered a lot of RV Owners are already using this device for both functions, here is a link to such;

https://www.google.com/search?client...e-gws-wiz-serp

[themexicandoctor]

Note; I am NOT exaggerating when I talk about my old Dometic 3 Way Fridge, actually the 3rd Dometic Fridge in 15 years, 2 by the previous owner & 1 by me.

Naive as I was, they sucker punched me for another $1085 because I thought I WAS THE PROBLEM, not the 3 away because I was a Bad Owner who didn't park within the 5% level limits.

9 years of a very, very, very bad marriage.

A semblance of love for about 30 days a year when the temperatures were very cold for LA & I was parked perfectly level.

However the remaining 335 days a year the relationship was abusive, I felt like a battered husband, mostly bruising around the knees caused by praying to the Box in front of me.

I had never owned an RV Fridge before & I just didn't know there were any other options or I would have asked for a Divorce in the first month.

And I am not exaggerating when I describe my new Novakool, opening that door, being bathed in that soft white light & feeling the cold escape is like arriving at the Gates of RV Heaven ...

[mkguitar]

we use a $20 indoor outdoor wireless thermometer to monitor the fridge

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-Digit...%2C340&sr=8-14


we don;t need to remote view the temps, like for someone with a pet ( we wouldn't leave our dog unattended in the van, but some do)



mike

[avanti]

So here's a little story:
After ARV spun out of Great West Vans, the two companies occasionally continued to pool purchasing power, since they were both very small and were building essentially identical vans, systems-wise. For example, ARV was using the same collapsing screen door that GWV had been using, so they would combine purchases, presumably to meet a minimum order or to get a better price point.

When I ordered our semi-custom GWV Legend in early 2014, I specified a NovaKool compressor fridge, which ARV had pioneered but GWV wasn't yet routinely installing. Great West had difficulty sourcing the unit, so ARV sold them one of theirs. As a result, our van has a special, tricked-out ARV fridge, with several features that were installed by NovaKool according to ARV's specifications (the label at the back of the fridge says "Advanced RV"). I discovered that this included two thermistors that were intended to interface with ARV's fancy Silver Leaf automation system to monitor temperatures. I couldn't resist, so I built a little system that (among other things) displays the fridge and freezer temperatures on our Sprinter's navigation screen. It is definitely cool to be able to monitor the fridge from the driver's seat.

[mkguitar]

yes! that's awesome

you win.
Mike

[themexicandoctor]

Avanti,

When you say it has two Thermistors & Integration does that mean the Leaf System allows you visually see the Fridge Temp on a screen like your dash?

And there is a reading of both the Fridge & the Freezer?

How does the Novakool perform for you?

Which model?

How many years have you had the Fridge?

I thought that you built a unit from nothing?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

Avanti,

When you say it has two Thermistors & Integration does that mean the Leaf System allows you visually see the Fridge Temp on a screen like your dash?

ARV uses Silver Leaf. My solution is a one-off.

But, yes, the current temperatures are shown on a screen. In my case, it is the head-unit screen built into the dash--same one used by the nav system. ARV's Silver Leaf screen(s) are typically mounted in the coach, but I'm sure they would build whatever you want.

And there is a reading of both the Fridge & the Freezer?

Yes.

How does the Novakool perform for you?

Perfectly.

Which model?

RFU6800

How many years have you had the Fridge?

Since 2014.

I thought that you built a unit from nothing?

Nope. It is a highly-customized GWV Legend.

[themexicandoctor]

Thank you for those answers.

For a moment excuse me, I confused your rig with Dayyvd's.

After 9 years with a 3 Way I expected & asked, so many gun shy questions about the DC units ie; power draw, venting, extra insulation, internal fans, sun on the fridge side of the van, etc.

Now I understand why with even a small & healthy battery bank & solar system, if you want a DC fridge that performs in your rig like a Residential unit but with very low power draw, you cannot go past purchasing a Novakool, Isotherm or Vitrifrigo.

[themexicandoctor]

In fact I almost canceled my Novakool in a moment of buyer's remorse to purchase an Engel MT45 liter (1.5cubic feet) Combination Fridge Freezer, in the chest style.

The unit alone would have cost more than the Novakool upright but to build out within the Roadtrek would require too much scrapping out of existing structures & then a $3-450 slide, etc it would have ended up being a $1700 investment or $2100 if went with the Engel 80 liter version.

These are big units & your design has to accommodate the top door opening. They do not slide in to Class B cut outs like a traditional DC upright.

Or a National Luna.

Perhaps a ARB plus there is one other obscure unit designed for Solar only whose name I forget.

As it is, after 4 days. my largest amp hour draw overnight (with no power going into the batteries after late afternoon until solar in the morning along with my usual draws from lights, pump, etc), was only 32amp hours whereas about 10-14amp hours or more is probably everything but the fridge.

If I was to build out from scratch, an Engel Chest unit that is a Combination Fridge Freezer would be my choice, especially the larger models. Supposedly the technology of the Japanese Seing type compressor is up to 40% more efficient than any other DC units plus the chest design is more efficient at keeping cold in.

I would NOT purchase a Dometic, Norcold, Iceco, Whynter, Kick Ass (AU Brand), no name Amazon marketed product.

And buyer beware, I would NOT purchase a Engel Upright, too many issues, made in China, old technology, non DC, about a 50% failure rate first year.

Not unlike any other 3 way technology unit.