I can't seem to get the old Dometic fridge working. There's no obvious problems, no smell of ammonia, the coach lights dim a bit when it's turned on (indicating it's drawing power) and I'm ready to find a "good used" fridge to replace it. My query: has anyone used a smaller bar sized 120 volt fridge (WalMart sells them for about $75) and an invertor to power it? Maybe I'm getting cheap in my old age.

Considering the $1050 I paid for my new fridge is probably about what I could get for the whole coach now, this is a good question. A 110 fridge is a good alternative if and when you have power. Running it off an inverter might work on the road,{I'm not well versed on inverters} but I think it would draw way too much juice from the coach batts when camped. As always, I await correction from those with more knowledge .

In our Newell we have a 110VAC refigerator and it is a love/hate relationship. When parked with hookups it is great, but boondocking is a pain in the rear end. Even with solar panels and 12 T105s, in a day and a half you need to start the generator and run it about 3-4 hours to recharge enough for another day.

In summary it depends on your usage. If you go without hookups for any period of time you will grow to hate the 110vac refer.

In summary I will keep the gas refrerator in the Barthr

You can get a rebuilt cooling unit for your gas unit for under $400. It is very easy to replace. I did ours last years and could not believe how easy it was.

Does it work on propane? If it does, let it run a day to mix up the refrigerant mixture. A burnt flame diffuser can also lead to poor results on propane.

Mine quit on electric last year, and the control board and heating element were bad. It did work on propane. ~$160, and 20 minutes of my time.

In any event, the lights shouldn't dim when the reefer is on, as it only draws about 4A at 12VDC.

Older Dometic reefers also are very sensitive about being level. Looking at the reefer from the front, the right side can be lower than the left. The other way around, it won't chill.

Thanks for the advice everyone. It looks like I'll have to pull out a window if I try to remove it, so I think we're going to pay to have it checked out.
Thanks Again, Richard.