Dometic fridge R&R
So, I have a used RV and inside it has a Dometic RM3804 refrigerator. Its propane and 12 volt I believe. Its a 1990. so that's 25 years old. should I just replace it? or should I attempt to ch...
Forum Discussion
Propane fridge has been around a long time. Most of the first home fridges (right after the Ice Box/Block Ice Age) were "absorption" like RV's still are. They used to be able to run totally free-standing. No electricity required. As I said, newer RV fridges offer electronic convenience (no lighting a pilot, no manual selection between LPG and electricity...) but at the expense of needing 12VDC to operate. The RV fridge uses very little LPG and has a low wattage demand on 120VAC. The test for a good cooling unit is based on using the 120VAC element, but many of us here believe cooling is actually better on LPG.
For a variety of reasons, some of which we can actually thank Momma Nanny Gov't for, Compressor-based fridges have gotten much more efficient (power consumption-wise) than they used to be. This puts those fridges within the power availability of an RV.
Some people have replaced a working RV fridge pre-emptively with an apartment fridge. I think most who have done it have done so because the RV fridge was inop or unreliable.
Yes, you can run one on a Solar/Battery combination. I have zero competence in how to size the solar panels, how many of what kind of batteries, etc. to use.
But I DO have a little competence in is limited RV fridge troubleshooting.
I'd suggest a little checking and troubleshooting to determine if what you have will work or is easily repairable. A well-cared-for RV fridge that age can still be serviceable. The killer of RV fridges is operating them off-level. Doing that causes the Cooling Unit to get blocked up and that isn't repairable.
Want to check it out? You'll need a Volt Meter, an old appliance cord, some electrical connectors, a couple hand tools, and oh, a Dollar Bill...
For a variety of reasons, some of which we can actually thank Momma Nanny Gov't for, Compressor-based fridges have gotten much more efficient (power consumption-wise) than they used to be. This puts those fridges within the power availability of an RV.
Some people have replaced a working RV fridge pre-emptively with an apartment fridge. I think most who have done it have done so because the RV fridge was inop or unreliable.
Yes, you can run one on a Solar/Battery combination. I have zero competence in how to size the solar panels, how many of what kind of batteries, etc. to use.
But I DO have a little competence in is limited RV fridge troubleshooting.
I'd suggest a little checking and troubleshooting to determine if what you have will work or is easily repairable. A well-cared-for RV fridge that age can still be serviceable. The killer of RV fridges is operating them off-level. Doing that causes the Cooling Unit to get blocked up and that isn't repairable.
Want to check it out? You'll need a Volt Meter, an old appliance cord, some electrical connectors, a couple hand tools, and oh, a Dollar Bill...
