Refrigerator FYI

[Motor31]

Just an FYI for those of you using your rigs right now.

We had out fridge quit the other day while traveling. The cooling plant in it just failed. On either electric or propane there was no difference. The tech checked and confirmed what I found. He then spent all day Monday trying to find a replacement for it. There are none, at least for the DNR 1292 New Dimensions 2 door side by side model, in the US. The manufacturer has none in the pipeline at this time as well as they stopped production of them during the down turn in the business. Now that there is a little bit of demand they are starting a limited run of them. This is not the entire refrigerator, just the cooling plant. It will take 3 to 5 weeks to get the replacement. There are no complete units available for 2 weeks as well.

Just passing this on in case yours fails as well. Be prepared for a significant delay in getting it repaired.

[RGordon]

When mine fails I am going with a residential 120 volt refrigertor. I do not need the gas mode and tired of defrosting. Others on these forums have gone that route and is much cheaper. I could not wait 3 to 5 weeks.

[rdunk]

Mike, did you check with "RVCool". I have no experience with them, but have run across their adds in the past. I did look at their website, and your cooling unit is listed as one they do rebuild for resale. Of course, your rebuilt cooling unit is about twice the price of the standard fridge cooling unit!! lol lol

http://www.rvcool.com/CoolingUnits.htm

http://www.rvcool.com/CUPricing.htm

Might be worth checking with them, if you haven't already!

[GlennWest]

Bummer, We have went 2 days without hookups traveling. We are full time. Don't believe we could get by with a residential fridge.

[Diesel-Gypsy]

Mike are you refering to the Dometic unit that has the freezer on the left, and the fridge on the right side, 12cu.?

If so...I'm not looking forward to THAT!

Rick

[wingnut60]

The Dometic side x side 12 cu ft fridge is the one--freezer on left/reefer on right. RM1292.

Several people who have replaced the cooling unit with rebuilt ones in smaller fridges have not been unhappy with either the cost or performance, so I have read on other forums.
Joe

[dshind]

For those that have gone to a residential style what brand did you use?We have a 12 cu. ft. side by side and when it dies again were thinking of making the switch. Problem is I can't find anything size wise to replace it with.I know on some new coaches they are now optional.What brand are they? Thanks

[Stripit]

On a RV unit the doors have a latch that keeps them closed when traveling. What are those with the home style doing to keep the doors from opening while under way?

[Okie]

Another one to check would be www.rvcoolingunit.net

Okie

[Motor31]

Yesterday we finally got the new cooling unit from dometic installed. So far it is working fine and is being set on high to allow the thing to get settled into operation. The freezer is just a tad below 20 and the fridge side is at 30.

The tech that did the installation has had some experience with rebuilt units. The last time he used one, at the insistence of the RV extended warranty company, the unit lasted 2 days. The next rebuilt unit he installed in that rig also lasted just a couple days. He finally installed a new cooling unit and that one kept operating.

My case also has a new twist. It seems that the good sam csp plan does NOT cover all of the cost of parts like they claim. They set a price that they are willing to pay then if the part actually has a higher cost, as my cooling unit did, too bad. You eat it. The price they are going to pay is not listed, they just tell the repair company they will pay "x' dollars after the purchase is authorized. They also only cover $50.00 in shipping as well. A cooling unit for the large fridge we have comes on it's own pallet. It costs more than $50.00 to ship. I am not particularly happy with good sam csp and will not recommend them in the future.

The actual part cost for the cooling unit was $1650 and good sam would only pay $1500. Shipping cost was $150. Instead of a $200 deductible I got a bill for a bit over $400. I am going to call good sam to inquire why they do not mention those limits in their customer package. The total bill not including sales tax was over $2225.00. For those of you who do not have some kind of continued service plan that is a figure you should be concerned with as the fridge that dometic makes is not something to count on to last like a household fridge. FWIW the tech said that Norcold makes a better unit that has less parts cost and is more reliable not to mention easier to maintain or replace.

You should note that the fans that are installed above the cooling unit are not part of the cost and are considered extra by dometic and good sam as is the water line to the ice maker. The temperature sensor for the fans had also been originally set on the cold side of the cooling plant fins meaning they would only come on after the cooling unit had gotten pretty darn hot. That causes additional stress on the unit. The sensor has now been moved to the hot side now to get them to go on earlier before the temp gets high.

Installation was 5 hours actual time used. That did not cover the time needed to move the center island in the kitchen. I did that before they got there. Since the fridge HAS to come out of the cabinet to the front the island must be moved. There is no room to pull the fridge other wise. That island is secured by a total of 4 small diameter (but 6' long) screws that seat into the floor. The island has a heavy gauge wire cable for the electrical socket in it that is fed up through a hole in the floor so unless you are going to disconnect that you will only be able to rotate the island to the side. That gave enough clearance to pull the fridge and lay it down flat on the floor to pull the cooling unit out the back. It's not a one person job as that is a rather heavy fridge. It actually took 3 of us to get it back into the cabinet. I would not rate this as a do it yourself operation. While there are no "special tools" needed it is a rather "busy" wiring loom (rats nest) back there and wires are not labeled. Some modification to the insulation is needed to place the water feed for the ice maker and you will need both sealant putty, tape putty and a tube of temperature transmitting putty to get the cold fro the coils to the inside of the fridge and freezer. The coils do not go inside the fridge at all and there is no direct transmission of cold inside there. The fins are screwed to the mount holding the cooling tubes in place. The putty increases the area for transmission of the cold to the inside of the box. Same for the freezer topbox too although there are some coils that go into the box there.

[Gemstone]

Thanks for the write up....I can only hope that I don't have to refer to it later...

Regards
Gemstone

[wingnut60]

Mike,
Also thanks for the details--can only wonder what it would be like with the connected island in my TK3.
Joe

[chevman]

Our friend had the same problem with their norcold after one 5 months winter trip.
chevman

[rayanah]

so what did your friend do.?

[chevman]

so what did your friend do.?

He was told to turn it off for 4 days and then it worked ok. Same for another one across the street. Weird I think.
chevman

[Motorcycle Jack]

Just a warning - do not run the refrigerator at such a low temperature. It is best to run the refer at 34 degrees. Running it as low as possible causes the heating element to run continuously - no wonder the tech had one fail in just a couple of days, burned out the heating element.

[terry and jo]

I don't know if anyone noticed, but this thread started back in 2010. I suspect that the original poster has already solved their initial problem.

Terry

[wingnut60]

Was gonna point that out. Odd about the 'turn it off for 4 days' comment...

Joe

[porkchop]

Yeah, real odd. As luck would have it, several weeks ago our fridge suddenly went to 40d and stayed there. I unhooked the 120v power, the 12v power, the gas and everything I could think of to and reboot it and make it work better. It would not. Finally broke down and called the largest 3 dealers in our area. There are no mobile tecks around at all. The earliest any one could get me in was Oct. 10. Looking at almost 4 weeks at 40d wasn't making me happy. Couldn't keep my ice cream frozen! Beer was warm!.
Then I read the post about shutting it off for 4 days and figured it could not hurt. Put most of what was left in an ice cooler and turned it off.
Saturday I turned it backm on and said a prayer. Don't know for sure if it was the prayer or the 4 days, but it now says 34d and all is well again.
I am convinced that most of what we think are coincidinces probably aren't, but the results are well received anyway. Thanks for the idea!!
I will add here that we have been sitting in the same place since mid April. Maybe things just need shaking up a bit once in a while. Will be leaving here in 30 days to go back to Texas for the winter months. We usually move around every 90 days or so at the most. Don't know if the movement makes a difference. I know out of level will cause problems after a while though. That was not my problem. I have heard of people turning their frig upside down and letting it stay for a day or so to let the amonia move around, but just turning it off is easier. Time will tell. If it quits again I'll repost. No news is good news!

Bill

[chevman]

Yeah, real odd. As luck would have it, several weeks ago our fridge suddenly went to 40d and stayed there. I unhooked the 120v power, the 12v power, the gas and everything I could think of to and reboot it and make it work better. It would not. Finally broke down and called the largest 3 dealers in our area. There are no mobile tecks around at all. The earliest any one could get me in was Oct. 10. Looking at almost 4 weeks at 40d wasn't making me happy. Couldn't keep my ice cream frozen! Beer was warm!.
Then I read the post about shutting it off for 4 days and figured it could not hurt. Put most of what was left in an ice cooler and turned it off.
Saturday I turned it backm on and said a prayer. Don't know for sure if it was the prayer or the 4 days, but it now says 34d and all is well again.
I am convinced that most of what we think are coincidinces probably aren't, but the results are well received anyway. Thanks for the idea!!
I will add here that we have been sitting in the same place since mid April. Maybe things just need shaking up a bit once in a while. Will be leaving here in 30 days to go back to Texas for the winter months. We usually move around every 90 days or so at the most. Don't know if the movement makes a difference. I know out of level will cause problems after a while though. That was not my problem. I have heard of people turning their frig upside down and letting it stay for a day or so to let the amonia move around, but just turning it off is easier. Time will tell. If it quits again I'll repost. No news is good news!

Bill

Gald it worked for you. the story was for both neighbors to go and drive the MH's to shake up the system.

chevman

[porkchop]

Well, it's time to bite the bullet and go to the repair man. It went back up to 40 day before so, this morning I hooked up and took it for a 60 mile trip. All kinds of roads, plenty of stop & starts, curves and everything. 12 hours later it still says 40. Oh well. Glad I did not cancel my apointment.

Bill

[wingnut60]

Bill,
What fridge do you have? Let us know what you find out.
Joe

[billr]

If the repairs cost get too high, or have to replace...consider a Residential fridge. We put one in and its great. Fit in same space with minor mod to opening (3/4" at top and 1/4" on one side of opening). Went from 7.5 cuft to 11 cuft. $450 from Home depot.

Bill

[porkchop]

Well, I solved my refig problems yesterday. I called Paul Cross and got an appointment to have a 120v Samsung RF installed in a few weeks. That's the end of that!!

Bill

[wingnut60]

Are you normally located near him, or just happen to be in the area?
Joe

[porkchop]

We are in Nebraska working on the farm. Will head toward Texas by way of Indiana as soon as harvest is over. I've talked to several people around here about it and no one wants to do it and I don't have time. Talked to Paul's shop and they have extensive experiance changing them out, so away we go.

Bill

[chevman]

My friend just did this on his MH. He added an inverter and is finally happy to get rid of his norcold fridge. You should be happy with the result.
chevman

[Motor31]

I'm curious, how much amperage does one of those units draw should you use an inverter to power it? I've been contemplating doing this if the fridge goes belly up again. Got to be cheaper than a new cooling plant at over $2200 like when I started this thread.

[billr]

Mike,

I don't have the running or peak amps handy now, but 600watt is too small and 1000 is plenty. I am using a 1000watt Zantrax pure sine wave (old new stock clearance at CW last winter.) Runs it just fine and does not have much of any draw when no load.

I think DRV as an option installs a 1000watt when just for the fridge. They said they tested these fridges in the hot summer sun and it was fine to leave it turned off for 8hrs when not opened. Lost a min amount of temp. Recovered quickly. So unless dry camping, and Inverter would be a luxury.

It will run the fridge all day when we drive and no drop in Battery level at all. Truck charging enough to maintain things. Some say can just turn it off for the day. I like it to run.

Fridge was around $450 (for a single size, we had the single door dometic)

Inverter was a deal at $169. Was a $400 unit reg price.

I added a auto changeover switch and a remote on/off for about $70 total. Some misc wiring etc.

Bill

[Okie]

Bill what is the brand and size of your new fridge??

Okie

[billr]

This is the one here http://www.homedepot.com/p/203554365?N=c3nsZ2bcqsr#product_description

Its a Whirlpool Model # WRT111SFAF

They have it for $494 now and also 10% off. so still around the same I aid last winter. I ordered online and had delivered to Campground we were staying in Fl.

Bill

[porkchop]

Don't know which Bill you were asking but, the one Paul Cross is going to put in for me is a Samsung RF197 18.5 cf. No water or ice in the door. Start to finish I think it is going to cost $2300. without the invertor & xtra batteries. We do not boondock and plug in every night.
So I thought I could find a better use for the money.
I thought their rate per hour and the # of hours proposed were very fair. Plus they were willing to work with my schedule. You never know for sure when harvest will end. It all depends on the weather and # of rain days. Usually October is fairly dry here and we can hit the road by Nov. 1.

Bill

[billr]

Just to clarify we had the single size Dometic 7.5 cuft. The 11 cuft is a direct fit replacement in same space.

Here are some pics https://picasaweb.google.com/112516511238375316586/ResidentialFridgeInstall02

[JOHN EVANS]

Paul also has a double door in stock, or he did a few weeks ago when we when were there.

[Okie]

Billr,
Thanks for the info. My fridge is working fine now but I know it's just a matter of time. We don't do any boondocking so I won't need a converter. And keeping the fidge closed during travel works to keep things cold. I have a small upright freezer in the area for a washer and it never shows any sign of defrost when traveling. We just have things turned on a couple of days before we head out.

Okie

[billr]

Billr,
Thanks for the info. My fridge is working fine now but I know it's just a matter of time. We don't do any boondocking so I won't need a converter. And keeping the fidge closed during travel works to keep things cold. I have a small upright freezer in the area for a washer and it never shows any sign of defrost when traveling. We just have things turned on a couple of days before we head out.

Okie

You will be fine while traveling. Keeping the door closed will be important but no worry about temps I am sure.

Our fridge was fine but we got tired of the size and also as you said its a matter of time. So we got in front of it.

Bill