Well I guess the age of my 78, 34 foot has finially caught up to me. I have the ammonia smell from inside the fridge indicating a leak. Any thoughts on a good place for repairs. I'm now living on Vancouver Island.

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As I've posted before, my tech [also a good friend], told me not to bother with repairing the ammonia leak. It's expensive and rarely lasts very long. I got my new Dometic Classic 110-lp at Campers World. My tech did the install but he says it's very easy. The unit was about a grand and I think CW charges about a hundred to install it. The black plexi door panels really upgraded the appearance and being fully automatic it switches itself from 110 to lp and back. It gets cold very fast and we consider it one of our best investments in our old coach.

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

[This message has been edited by Danny Zeeff (edited July 09, 2005).]

Actually you can rebuild your unit for a fraction of what it cost for a new one. I have seen rebuilt coils for as low as 300.00 and are fairly simple to replace. Several web sites have complete instructions. Usually these rebuilders want your old coil. New units are grossly overprice . If your grids are rusted just buff off the rust and paint with white expoxy paint and will look better than new. I have had two friges go bad and this is what I did to two units and will probably run just like new for another 15 years.

We just replaced the original refrigerator with a regular house refrigerator. We just measured the opening and went out and found one that would fit. It has more inside room, I think its about 8 cu.ft. with a seperate freezer and only cost $239. Bill saw a RV show that suggested that if you dont like to travel with your propane on to shut if off and just put frozen containers on the shelves, while traveling. I was talking to my sister, they are restoring a old airstream trailer,and the guy doing the work suggested the same to them. He said he has been doing this in many of the trailers that he has done. This is also much more energy efficent. We are camped with metered electric and really noticed the diffrence on the electric bill.

KEEPING it cold is just as important as MAKING it cold, and extends a unit's performance when it's not on-line........

If you convert to a residential AC unit, there's usually lots of nooks & grannies between the refrigerator's exterior wall and the cabinetry that can be filled with triple-expanding Silly-Foam to enhance the insulating capability. Just read the product specs & instructions - some units require side airspace for circulation - some don't.....(Being ignorant about LP units, I would not try to field-modify their exteriors)

quote:

Originally posted by rotenone:
We just replaced the original refrigerator with a regular house refrigerator. We just measured the opening and went out and found one that would fit. It has more inside room, I think its about 8 cu.ft. with a seperate freezer and only cost $239. Bill saw a RV show that suggested that if you dont like to travel with your propane on to shut if off and just put frozen containers on the shelves, while traveling. I was talking to my sister, they are restoring a old airstream trailer,and the guy doing the work suggested the same to them. He said he has been doing this in many of the trailers that he has done. This is also much more energy efficent. We are camped with metered electric and really noticed the diffrence on the electric bill.

Ditto on that. I kept a fiver permanantly in a park for 18 years and had two AC fridges. Worked far better than any RV fridge. A little computer fan in the top outlet keeps air moving over the coils rather than just relying on convection. Beware of some household fridges that use a fan to blow condensor air over the drip pan and into the room from underneath.

To throw another coal into the fire, what about the difference between the full time or at least mostly so, and the coach that may sit for a month or better without the fridge even turned on? I always keep the doors open when not in use but the fridge will cool off really quick when we close it up and turn it on. Another consideration may be if you ever run all day without the genny to power that 110 only unit. We enjoy arriving at the track with our food and drinks frozen and cold.

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

I had some minor service done on my Dometic, and the technician said he leaves his reefer on all the time on 120V. He said the constituents in the gas can separate, settle, and plug it up it it's left off too long. They actually draw very little current (mine's about 75W). I run it three or fours times a month because I have a weak seal on the freezer, and it frosts up liberally.

Remanufactured cooling units are available:

http://www.rvrefrigeratorrepair.com/
http://www.rvmobile.com/

Refrigerators generally don't pull a very large load when running. I use a 1000 watt inverter/charger to handle my refrigerator when not on shorepower or running the genny. The only caution is to make sure you purchase a refrigerator that is designed to fit in a restricted opening. It will need a fan to cool the coils unless you are vented in the rear.
A/C fridges beat all others hands down when it comes to supplying ice for adult beverages after successful repairs, docking etc.
Tim