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Topic: "New Generation" Dometic fridge (LONG) (Read 11 times) previous topic - next topic
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"New Generation" Dometic fridge (LONG)
Yahoo Message Number: 99936
As folks in the Southeast LD group know because we had to cancel attending the GTG at the end of the past October, our Dometic RM2662 fridge failed totally.  Following Murphy's Law, the fridge quit working on the day before the GTG was to start near Eufaula, AL.

Both I, and later an RV dealer, diagnosed the failure to be in the "cooling unit" which is not repairable by RV owner or RV dealer. Both 115V and 12V power were available at the fridge and it had no trouble igniting the gas or running the electric heater for the coolant. I noted there were no yellow residues or ammonia smell about so there was no leak. Cooling units which contain pressurized ammonia and other stuff at 350 PSI are never repaired by dealers. It's a factory only operation.  A cooling unit, however, can be replaced.

Lest anyone think this failure had something to do with the Dometic recall, it did not.  The recall had to do with preventing a fire after a coolant leak developed near the gas flame.  In any case, we had the Dometic's recall "fixes" installed.
 The RV service manager (Southern Comfort RV near Montgomery, AL), when asked, said more than likely our fridge developed a blockage somewhere in the closed system that is the cooling unit. It is the kind of failure that occurs when the fridge is operated while being too far off level.  Now, Brenda and I are very careful about having the rig level while we're stopped.  So, I'm not sure what else we could have done.  The fridge was almost 4 years old and out of warranty.

The dealer runs lean inventories out of prime camping season.
Replacing the cooling unit would cost about $1200 and a new fridge would cost about $1500. Either unit wouldn't arrive till the following week and they would need to have the rig for over 24 hours. We said no thanks! But, they were nice enough to not charge us for the diagnostic work!
 At home, in the held mail, was a flyer from Camping World and, as luck would have it, they had a sale on "New Generation" Dometic fridges.
What caught my eye was that they had a 7 cubic foot unit that fits into a 6 cubic foot "footprint" for $1000 and a 9 cubic foot unit that fits into an 8 cubic foot "footprint".  It's a consequence of using better insulating material. The Dometic RM3762 which is supposed to be the replacement for our fridge has the same "cutout", which is Dometic's word for describing the required width, height, and depth of the cavity in the cabinetry to contain the fridge.  Also, CW had a 1/2 price sale on installation of less than $100. So, we ordered and pre- paid for the installation
 On the day of installation, we had a confused service manager tell us that the fridge we bought was too large to fit into the space we had in the rig.  I had to walk her through the Dometic literature to show her that it could fit.  It turned out that the concern had to do with the part of the fridge outside the cutout, i.e. the part that goes up and over the cabinetry at the top of the fridge.  Indeed that part is higher than the old fridge.  Given the paneling above the fridge, it's not a problem.  As expected, but not initially paid for, the dinette area window had to be removed to take out the old fridge and put in the new one.  CW billed 2 hours at $109/hr for that.  Another expense was the panels.  We wound up buying the black shiny ones off the showroom model.  Perhaps they would not have been our first choice, but the new fridge doors have a very narrow frame and the panels off the old fridge are simply to small.
 The only flaw in the installation, discovered while washing the rig, was that there was some caulking around the outside of the dinette window that was not totally wiped off.

The new fridge has some advantages:

1. Another cubic foot of space!  Relatively speaking, the freezer  section was the major beneficiary of that.

2. There is two character LED display on top normally showing the  fridge temperature.  It is also displays an error code if there is a  problem.  We could do away with the transmitting thermometer we used  to monitor the fridge operation.

3. It looks nice.

4. So far, there are no recalls.

It has some disadvantages:  
1. A true idiocy in design of style over function.  The button to turn  off the fridge is out of sight and can be accessed only by opening the  freezer door! (The cooling level button is there too.) Given that  turning off the fridge is an absolute requirement when filling the  gasoline tank, it's stupid to have to let out the cold air out of the  freezer.  If the fridge stays on, an open flame in the back of the  fridge with gasoline fumes around the pumps could ruin a day!  I have  filed a complaint with Dometic USA about this.

3. The narrow panel with the LED display is up higher on the panelling  above the fridge. No problem for me, but could be for someone who is  using that space for something else.

2. The LD door panels cannot be re-used.  But, I imagine, for a price,
 the Mothership could cut you some new ones given the dimensions.
 Overall, I'm still glad we decided to get the newer design of fridge.

I don't know for a fact, but the new Kodiak with an 9 cubic foot fridge is probably the New Generation replacement for the 8 cf fridge of the past.

Anyway, if you find yourself with a bad fridge, consider the New Generation replacement for the old one.

The Dometic fridge replacement chart is here:
 http://www.dometic.com/71390b03-95e5-4cc6-8a93-8e5d405775ef.fodoc

Alex Rutchka, SE #4 '05 MB