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Topic: Solar refrigerator (Read 9 times) previous topic - next topic
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Solar refrigerator
Yahoo Message Number: 111961
To follow up on the saga of our dead refrigerator . . .
 We have decided to take it directly to the Lazy Daze factory to have it replaced because of the necessity to take out our back window to make the exchange.  I am compiling a list of other items that need attention, so it will be good to have someone there take a look at everything at once.  Our appointment is for June 1st.

MEANWHILE, I am doing research of replacing the undesirable Dometic refrigerator with a different brand - not an easy task.  I am wondering if anyone has replaced a refrigerator with a Sun Frost or other highly-insulated brand.  I have downloaded the brochure from their website, but don't see anything specifically about RV use, or even a size that might be workable.

Any experience out there with this brand?

Virtual hugs,

Judie     Recreation Area - a beautiful place
Re: Solar refrigerator
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111969
wrote
 We have decided to take it directly to the Lazy Daze factory to have it replaced because of the necessity to take out our back window to make the exchange....MEANWHILE, I am doing research of replacing the undesirable Dometic refrigerator with a different brand - not an easy task.
--- Judie, I have no experience with the brand that you mentioned, but,  I'm wondering if the choice between a Dometic and a Norcold (or another "SOB") is a case of the executioner asking if one "would rather be shot or hanged?" ;-)
 I believe that Alex Rutchka replaced the refrigerator in his rig with a Dometic 3762; he said that it fit in the existing hole and offered an additional 1 cubic foot of space, ostensibly due to improved insulation.

http://tinyurl.com/ya48385
 I don't know which Dometic model the factory is using now, but the 3762 might be worth a look.

Joan
2003 TK has a new home
Re: Solar refrigerator
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111978
Speaking of the devil...
 Indeed, the Dometic 3762 works fine and has that extra cubic foot and an external thermometer/status readout.  Neat. Also, the fridge has an idiocy in its design that I have mentioned when I first discussed the new fridge.  The control buttons are behind the freezer door!  Not a problem until you enter a gas station for a fill-up.  You have to open the freezer door to get to the On/Off button and lose some cool!  I filed a complaint with Dometic citing a potential hazard for folks who decide not to open the freezer while fueling up.  In my case, I found a way to intercept some of the control wiring and now have a tiny pushbutton just over the temperature/status display to turn the fridge On or Off without opening the freezer door.

Incidentally, the 3762 had the same recall that other Dometics had.
 While at an RV dealership with the failed Dometic 2662 fridge, I asked the service manager if Norcolds were more reliable than Dometics. I was told that, if anything, they are less so.  So, one is always taking a chance.

Alex Rutchka, SE #4 '05 MB
Re: Solar refrigerator
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111979
I love my Norcold!   My sob ('94) had it's original Norcold  which failed 2 years ago (coolant leakage).  I replaced it with another Norcold, which works flawlessly.
 My friend Carla (another sob owner) had  a Norcold in her former sob; her newer one has a dometic and she dislikes it very much - wishes she had swapped them in the rigs before letting the older one go.

I take it in yearly for an inspection and cleaning.

Helen
Re: Solar refrigerator
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111981
"I found a way to intercept some of the control wiring and now have a tiny pushbutton just over the temperature/status display to turn the fridge On or Off without opening the freezer door."
 Good for you, Alex! Although I don't have a 3762, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'sd be interested in a little more detail on how you did this. Putting the controls inside the freezer door seems incredibly stupid, even for Dometic.

Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
 
Re: Dometic 3762 On/Off switch modification
Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 111991
OK, Andy, this one is for you.
 For others that might care, recall that a Dometic 3726 fridge's control buttons are covered by a closed freezer door.  In this case, Dometic designer's sense of esthetics totally disregarded a necessary function.  At times like fueling up at a gas station, it is very convenient to turn off the fridge without opening the freezer door and letting the cold out.  My modification adds an additional and easily accessible On/Off  button.
 It's been over a year since I made the "fix" so not all is crystal clear in my mind, but the goal of the modification is to put the extra "normally open, momentary contact" push button switch in parallel with the similarly functioning Dometic's On/Off push button.  A normally open momentary contact switch is simply one where an electric contact is made while you are pressing the button and breaks contact when you quit pressing it.  If you have ever operated a buzzer with a push button, that's exactly the type of switch you had.  In effect, it's no more than touching two wires to complete a circuit.  Radio Shack has such switches and the one I used is:
 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062546

The narrow panel with the display over the freezer door can be taken off by removing a few screws. The assembly with the buttons that controls the fridge hangs down from this narrow panel.  There is an electrical connector which allows you to disconnect the narrow panel from the fridge.  At the connector, the wires are assembled as a flat cable.
 With this assembly disconnected and lying on the table, you need to just look at which wires go where and identify those coming from the buttons.  With an ohm meter (testing the connector terminals) you can either verify or figure out which pair of wires are "shorted" when the Dometic fridge On/Off button gets pressed.  Those are the wires you want to break into and connect another pair of wires that lead to your new push button switch.  I soldered my wires and then taped them with electrical tape, but other techniques for splicing wires would work.
 I drilled a hole on the top of the narrow panel to the right of the display to have a place to mount the push button switch.  The switch is inside the narrow panel with the switch button end pushed up through the hole.  A nut screws on top of the switch keeps the switch in place. (Note Radio Shack's picture of switch.) The switch button is pretty much not noticeable when the panel is back in place on the fridge.

It works for me.

Alex Rutchka, SE #4 '05 MB