Dometic RM2852 died
Working on the motorhome last weekend, and went for a cold bottle of water. Whoops, everything is warm inside the fridge and the freezer has water where ice ought to be. Looked in the outside access...
Forum Discussion
Hi Yankee Clipper.
Good Luck with the installation. Having extra hands available is definitely a bonus. Just out of curiosity, what was the cost of the replacement cooling unit?
Our refer (same model, I believe) died earlier this Spring, and I decided that at 13+ years, it wasn't worth putting more money into it. We bought a Whirlpool unit which fit from Home Depot for a bit under $400. The side trim boards needed to be routed out about 3/16" to get the new one to fit as it was just a slight bit wider than GBM carpenters allowed in our rig. LOL So, tack on another $100 for a small router & bits. (I kinda wanted the small router anyway, I was just awaiting a need to purchase! LOL)
Anyway, It's worked GREAT. Wifey likes the extra space inside. (Which of course, she FILLS with stuff! LOL) It's funny, it fits in the same space but it has notably more interior volume. It seems to be "deeper" inside. For us, it definitely is better than the original, but, as you say, it only works on 120 VAC. Not a problem with us as we rarely boondock, except while travelling and over-nighting in rest-stops & Walmarts. We generally have the generator on while travelling down the road to keep everyone comfortable in the back anyway. Overnight, we found that even with the generator off for 7 hours the inside was still cold and the ice cream was still solid when we woke in the morning.
On my "To-Do" list is to install an inverter for the refer & some outlets nearby for the kids electronics (already purchased for <$50) and add a battery or two ($100-$200) just to give us a couple of days "in case" the generator acts up while on the road. I figure even with this added in, we're still under 1/2 the cost of a new unit.
By the way, if your "muscle" doesn't show up, I had and used one of these Hydraulic Lift Carts to remove and install our refer. Makes the job MUCH easier. So, if you're forced to do the job on your own, it might be worth the investment. (I had previously purchased this item when I had to drop my gas tank to do some repairs on it, so I feel like it's paid for itself between that and the refer install.)
Again, good luck. I hope all goes well and it gives you some decent, long life.
~Rick
Good Luck with the installation. Having extra hands available is definitely a bonus. Just out of curiosity, what was the cost of the replacement cooling unit?
Our refer (same model, I believe) died earlier this Spring, and I decided that at 13+ years, it wasn't worth putting more money into it. We bought a Whirlpool unit which fit from Home Depot for a bit under $400. The side trim boards needed to be routed out about 3/16" to get the new one to fit as it was just a slight bit wider than GBM carpenters allowed in our rig. LOL So, tack on another $100 for a small router & bits. (I kinda wanted the small router anyway, I was just awaiting a need to purchase! LOL)
Anyway, It's worked GREAT. Wifey likes the extra space inside. (Which of course, she FILLS with stuff! LOL) It's funny, it fits in the same space but it has notably more interior volume. It seems to be "deeper" inside. For us, it definitely is better than the original, but, as you say, it only works on 120 VAC. Not a problem with us as we rarely boondock, except while travelling and over-nighting in rest-stops & Walmarts. We generally have the generator on while travelling down the road to keep everyone comfortable in the back anyway. Overnight, we found that even with the generator off for 7 hours the inside was still cold and the ice cream was still solid when we woke in the morning.
On my "To-Do" list is to install an inverter for the refer & some outlets nearby for the kids electronics (already purchased for <$50) and add a battery or two ($100-$200) just to give us a couple of days "in case" the generator acts up while on the road. I figure even with this added in, we're still under 1/2 the cost of a new unit.
By the way, if your "muscle" doesn't show up, I had and used one of these Hydraulic Lift Carts to remove and install our refer. Makes the job MUCH easier. So, if you're forced to do the job on your own, it might be worth the investment. (I had previously purchased this item when I had to drop my gas tank to do some repairs on it, so I feel like it's paid for itself between that and the refer install.)
Again, good luck. I hope all goes well and it gives you some decent, long life.
~Rick
