Two days in our 30 day stay our frig has expired. Burner is working and every thing in the bottom outside inspection door is room temp except the burner, go up top and the fans are running and everything is hot. The refrig got to 53 degrees before we got the temporary frig to set outside. We have an apointment with our local dealer when we get home but I think a new frig in in the future. What I have found in my research is its pluged up and the only fis is a new cooling unit whis is costly to the point of a new frig. Its a Dometic RM1350
If I were you I would have an invertor and residential fridge installed would be be cheaper. And you have no problems with the fridge trying to keep up as the outside temp goes up. Unless you do a lot of boondocking where you need to run on propane
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Two days in our 30 day stay our frig has expired. Burner is working and every thing in the bottom outside inspection door is room temp except the burner, go up top and the fans are running and everything is hot. The refrig got to 53 degrees before we got the temporary frig to set outside. We have an apointment with our local dealer when we get home but I think a new frig in in the future. What I have found in my research is its pluged up and the only fis is a new cooling unit whis is costly to the point of a new frig. Its a Dometic RM1350
Have you tried both modes of operation...elect and propane? There are fuses located in a black box on the lower right side of the back of the refrigerator that you can also check...I believe there are three. Also, is the coach level?
Bob
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Thank you all, the burner is in good condition, and we were running on electric when it quit cooling so we tried it on gas.
We thought about a residential but not for us.
I guess for now we are crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
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Ok you have the L/P side that works and the electric side works. Just a trick from a non educated refer person: take a small section of wood and tap on the tank being careful not to hit the electric unit. It will take about twenty TAPS and that breaks down the separated chemicals that are lodged to the tubes. Worked on the Yacht's and camper's for me, most lasted about 2 more years if they started to work
Good luck
Bob
After talking to my dealer it looks like a new cooling unit will be the solution to the problem, still costing around $1800 for parts plus labor ($400). Thats half price of a new one and looks like about the same if we switched to residuntal + batteries and an inverter (not the way we want to go).
Has any one had a new cooling unit installed and if so how did it work out. I hate to through good money after bad.
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The frigs is 4 yrs old, kinda disapointing it didnt last longer. Wow I realize the dealers need to make a profit but $700 on a $1800 item seams a little steep.dose that company install?
If these thing were cheap to maintain everyone would have one.
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A neighbor bought a replacement cooling coil from an Amish company in Indiana with thicker steel coils for about $600 and replaced it himself. It was a double door Norcold refrigerator on a Country Coach. After replacement the unit worked better than ever even keeping ice cream rock hard. 😉
Addition: I just checked with the neighbor and the company is now owned by Articold, described in other posts in this thread.
My neighbor said the hardest part of the job was removing the refrigerator from the wall enclosure and laying it down on the floor to work on it. Here is a statement from Articold:
" Most of our customers when first contacting us concerning their broken RV fridge will complain of an Ammonia smell or hearing a Gurgling noise. This is an indication; your Cooling System has failed and will need replaced. This is very easy to do. There is no specialty tools required. Most of the time, a Phillips screwdriver, small flat screwdriver, putty knife. 5/16 socket and a small pry bar will do the job. These are a sealed unit. You are not dealing with the refrigerant. Allow 1 to 3 hours to replace our cooling units. Removal and install instructions are available upon request before you make your purchase. We will need your model # and email address to send. We also have Video instructions available and offer technical support on any fridge problem."
More info:
The Right Decision!
If you are currently looking at a replacement cooling unit, you already know that your cooling unit has failed.
The most common cause of failure for a rv fridge cooling unit is a rupture in the boiler section of the cooling unit or in the evaperator head. Both of these issues can be fixed by simply using thicker tubing in the manufacturing process. Because Arcticold Refrigeration manufactures the entire cooling unit with much thicker tubing we do not have these issues. Another cause of cooling unit failure is heat. As the refrigerator attempts to operate in outdoor temperatures over 90 degrees it will struggle to maintain temperature. This is because the cooling unit can not get rid of the heat produced quick enough through the venting of the RV. You may have heard of people using fans to help with this. Arcticold built cooling units do not have this issue as we use different condenser configurations which reduces heat sink in the condenser. When possible we also use larger coils to help with cooling capacity as well. We don't fix them we redesign them! When making a decision on purchasing a replacement cooling , consider Arcticold Lifetime Warranty Products. "Built Tough To Last A Lifetime"
Arcticold units are sold on eBay and direct.
http://www.arcticoldstore.com/norcold-models/
