I am looking for recommendations of possibly switching from a Dometic to a residential refrigerator. The cooling unit has failed in the Dometic and now seems to be a good time. The Dometic is a RM 1350 and wondering if anyone has a particular unit that anyone has replaced it with. I typically always stay somewhere with shore power.

If you plan to do this yourself , If the 1350 is a 13 cu ft how will you remove it and how will you replace it ? I don't think it's going to fit thru the door. If you have to remove a slide in order to swap it then its going to a bit pricey and might be worth repairing it thru an access service panel. If you do not plan to do the work yourself then let whoever is figure it out as to what will fit and what wont. There are ice maker models as well to consider.

If you're up for a road trip, we found these guys at National RV Refrigeration in Elkhart, IN. If you make an appointment, they will repair your fridge in your RV while you wait. We found them while we were looking for a replacement fridge and wound up getting a great deal on a scratch 'n' dent unit from them. You might want to call with your particulars and get a quote, it's probably less than replacing with a residential unit.It may or may not fit thru the door, we took our 5 cu ft Dometic out and it was 25-1/2" deep, which I think is the standard depth for these RV units. I would go to the Dometic website and look up the specs on your unit and then measure your door. Some motorhomes the fridge can come out of a large window if it won't fit through the door. Our TC has a narrow entry door and we wound up taking out the slideout.

2oldman wrote:Similar postThat post is about having a residential fridge installed as a factory option, not removing an existing absorption fridge and replacing it with a residential model.The pros/cons of traveling with a residential fridge are discussed in that thread, but the OP here has the added complexity of having to swap it out.

BurbMan wrote:The pros/cons of traveling with a residential fridge are discussed in that thread, but the OP here has the added complexity of having to swap it out.Thank you for your contribution to the subject matter. I'm sure he'll have other questions.

Converting from Dometic to residential refrigerator

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Aug 19, 2020
x2 they have a great rep. when mine goes bad ,I,m only two hundred miles away.
Scottiemom
Nomad
Aug 19, 2020
BurbMan wrote:
If you're up for a road trip, we found these guys at National RV Refrigeration in Elkhart, IN. If you make an appointment, they will repair your fridge in your RV while you wait.

Just an FYI, Leon Hershberger owns National Refrigeration and he is in Shipshewana. His business is now at his home just north of town and he can accommodate RV's.

Dale
BurbMan
Explorer II
Aug 19, 2020
You're right it was Shipshewana. We were there in June to pick up a scratch/dent for our truck camper and there were 2 buses and a large 5er parked out front getting serviced. They open at 7:30 am! We went through Elkhart to pick up the filon next then to Bontrager's Surplus.
CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Aug 19, 2020
brinson wrote:
I see what you guys are saying, doesn't look like you can replace the whole unit unless the slide is removed. Probably not what I would want to do.
Did you check to see if there is clearance through the windshield? This is a much better option than slide removal.
brinson
Explorer
Aug 23, 2020
As best I can tell, it will not go through any opening including the windshield. I did talk to folks at Rvcool.com in Arkansas near me and they told me to remove the cooling unit and turn it upside down for 24 hours since my unit has no visible leak. They claimed they can become vapor locked and sometimes this will correct the problem.
brinson
Explorer
Aug 26, 2020
brinson wrote:
As best I can tell, it will not go through any opening including the windshield. I did talk to folks at Rvcool.com in Arkansas near me and they told me to remove the cooling unit and turn it upside down for 24 hours since my unit has no visible leak. They claimed they can become vapor locked and sometimes this will correct the problem.

I turned the entire refrigerator upside down for 24 hrs. and uprighted the unit today. I let it rest for 2 hrs and then wired it back up in the middle of the floor before reinstalling. The unit is cooling down and seems to be working well so far. Apparently, it had a vapor lock as Rvcool.com suspected.

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