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What would you do?

  • Diagnose and Repair
  • New Refridgerator forget diagnose
  • New Refridgerator if diagnose results show it will be expensive to fix
  • Throw some Ice in it and call it good
Topic: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator? (Read 242 times) previous topic - next topic
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Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator?
What would you do? My 1984 LD is getting life breathed back into her and not going to the boneyard. Right now she is in an RV repair place going over the house part. Among a long list of stuff, the refrigerator is not working. It does appear to be an original refer and I suspect that it has been used quite a bit in the past. Anyway, the shop wants to charge me $90 to diagnose it, which is fair but on the other hand I am thinking Why??? Should I just go for replacing it altogether? What would you do?
1984 Chevy 30 TK Hotel California
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refridgerator?
Reply #1 –
Hi Teresa,

IMHO...If the unit is original (as you suspect), you plan to keep her until the wheels fall off and she's at a reputable repair facility...my vote would be to have the unit replaced. Even if it were something simple, with a 30+ year old unit, there'd be yet another problem on the horizon and probably sooner than you'd like. Besides, parts for antiquated appliances are getting mighty scarce. Just my .02
Ray
Now doing without...
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refridgerator?
Reply #2 –
"Anyway, the shop wants to charge me $90 to diagnose it, which is fair but on the other hand I am thinking Why??? Should I just go for replacing it altogether? What would you do?"

I would think long and hard about how you intend to use your Lazy Daze.  If it is for short trips by yourself (or with pets), and your food needs are small and simple, I would just use a really top quality cooler until I was certain that a full-sized RV refrigerator would improve my life more than whatever else that same amount of money could buy.

If the refrigerator is clean and not damaged, i.e. the insulation is good, then you might try a hybrid method.  Freeze a huge block of ice in your home freezer, and put it in the bottom of your Lazy Daze refrigerator, and spot other frozen blocks or Blue Ice around in different places in the refrigerator, simulating a cooler.  Fill every crevice with something cold/frozen so that there is little air space.

This should last for several days, especially if you don't open it frequently - store your most needed items, like soda pop or ice water in a separate cooler, so that the refrigerator door stays closed as much of the time as possible. 

Forget about ice cream or cooling down leftovers.  Plan your menus around the least vulnerable foods you can think of - fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cheeses, etc., and plan to stop at the grocery store every couple of days to replenish your fresh foods.  Hunks of deli meat such as ham, salami, roast beef, etc. keep well.  Just buy a slab instead of slices.

Items like catsup, relish, mustard, peanut butter, and yes, even milk, and especially coffee cream, will survive a long time in just a cool environment.

And, yes, I have actually done this.  Our refrigerator became recalcitrant on a three-month vacation trip, and I survived the last month of that trip with just a large-ish cooler and a smallish cooler.  An additional fact . . . we seldom eat out, so this inconvenience was there for every meal.  And we ate normally - our regular from-scratch meals every day.  No shortcuts with boxed/canned items.  I won't say it was pleasant, or even convenient, but it was doable, and not even terribly onerous once I got into the swing of it, and certainly preferable to trying to get it fixed on the road. 

Hint:  Reflectix is your friend !


Virtual hugs,

Judie  <-- Sierra Vista, Arizona
Adventures of Dorrie Anne | Photographing the West

Today:  Owl Totem
****************************
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refridgerator?
Reply #3 –
Teresa,

If for some reason you go Judie’s route and use an ice chest in the interim, here’s a little trick I use to extend the “frozen” state of ice contained in a cooler.

Simply drape a wet towel over the ice chest. The evaporative effect of the wet towel allows the ice to remain frozen for several hours longer than if no wet towel is used.

I’ve used this trick while camping in Yosemite. Ice is rather pricey at Curry Village so extending the longevity of the ice saves money and keeps food etc cold for many hours longer.

Just a cool tip...

Kent
2015 27' RB "MissB.Haven"
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator?
Reply #4 –
As Kent says, there are additional tricks to making a cooler work wonders for short trips.

Before we had our Lazy Daze, we spent a very hot late August/September, 1987, in the Four Corners area in a non-air conditioned Volkswagen Westfalia with only a Coleman Cooler.  Yes, we had a built-in refrigerator, but it did not work well enough to use for its intended purpose, so I kept my cooking utensils in there.

The cooler sat right where the sliding door opened, so it got a good blast of heat multiple times a day.  To mitigate that onslaught, I put a (new) white, long-haired fuzzy bathroom rug on top of the cooler.  This white "fur" reflected the heat rays, and insulated the top of the cooler from heat.

If there was Reflectix then, we didn't know about it, but I did utilize doubled-up heavy duty aluminum foil for the same purpose.  I was careful to visualize where things were in the cooler, and then lift up only the side of the foil that was covering those goodies, leaving the rest of the items covered.  The ice was on the bottom, and there was a powder-coated cabinet wire shelf that I kept the food on above the ice.  Plastic or glass containers with tight-fitting tops will do wonders in keeping things fresh.  Do not leave your food in thin plastic bags.

Renewing the ice with blocks of ice was easier in those days, as there were dispensers outside of most stores in the Southwest areas, as it was a good seller!  There were cubes, too, of course, but unlike today, block ice was very popular - probably for much the same use we were making of it.  Tent camping was more widely seen then as well, and the tent campers' coolers were hungry for ice!

In later years, I kept a cooler in our auxiliary vehicle in much the same format, except that I put a double layer of Reflectix on the bottom, and then a layer of four half-gallon bottles of ice from my home freezer.  The the wire shelf with the food on it, followed by another layer of Reflectix.

Every morning I took out two of the ice bottles and put them in the freezer of the Lazy Daze, and took out the two from the day before, and changed out half of the bottom layer, alternating the four bottles - two by two.  This was the perfect place to store extra supplies of the not-too-vulnerable food items like spare chocolate bars, and fresh produce, while utilizing the regular refrigerator in the Lazy Daze for more vulnerable items.  We were pretty far away from anything but a high-priced community pick-up market, so being able to keep my supply of wholesome food at hand was a blessing, and kept us from having to drive an hour each way to resupply every day or two.

You will no doubt suss out what level of trouble you are willing to go to, and how much you are willing to spend to feed yourself - and . . . whoever is with you.  It's really pretty basic - we all want to eat!  ;->

   Virtual hugs,

   Judie
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator?
Reply #5 –
I'd find out the price of a replacement unit, installed. Then you can compare options.

A new fridge would likely be $1800 installed.  The repair can be as simple as a couple thermal parts which cost $30 in parts or could be that the whole fridge is shot.  I would check for yellow dust/residue in the area of the fridge igniter.  Repair of propane equipment also requires propane sources be sound. Those tanks like to rust and other parts/regulators can deteriorate.

As a percent of overall work going in - if that $1800 is small and you plan on keeping for a while, then it may make sense to replace. But if money is an object then the diagnose/repair is a good way. Make sure it's being looked at by someone who actually knows these fridges and not a "technician" who isn't paid to do critical thinking.
1996 Twin King
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator?
Reply #6 –
If the original refrigerator, the 34 year old plastic interior is probably brittle, if not, consider installing a rebuilt cooling unit.
Normally I would not recommend this but there is a very good chance there isn't a replacement refrigerator that will fit without modifications to the cabinet.
Inside the refrigerator door is a tag with the model and serial number. Use this information to search for the dimensions of the refrigerator and then compare the measurements to available Dometic and Norcold refrigerators.
All of this information is easily available online.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
 
Re: Diagnose and Repair OR Replace Refrigerator?
Reply #7 –
HI all,

I resently had my Dometic frig's cooling unit repaired. I removed the defective unit and installed the rebuilt unit myself. It's the second time in 20 years it has been repaired and it works great now. These units if used a lot only last about 10 years. Most of the time the reason the units stop working is they develop a leak and ammonia coolant leaks out. If you see a yellow dusting around the heating element, your uint is leaking.

These guys in Arkansas do a great job rebuilding the cooling unit at a reasonable price. They even have videos on their web site to show you how to remove and reinstall the cooling unit.

RVCOOL.COM - Supplier of replacement Cooling Units for Norcold and Dometic...

Hope this helps.