Yep, I’ve done that as well with an old RV fridge. Like Bob, I figured I had nothing to lose. It worked, and I continued to use the fridge until I got rid of the camper.
It’s funny, there are many other types of equipment that can have a problem like this, and that obstruction inside the cooling unit would be called a “clinker”, and you’d use whatever mechanical means necessary to dislodge it, and continue using the equipment. You wouldn’t just throw it away if a little time and effort on your part could get it working again. But for some reason, it’s become accepted to say that at the first sign of internal problems like this you should just give up and buy a new fridge, or at least a new cooling unit.
You might as well accept the fact that an RV absorption fridge is going to experience some pretty rough handling at times, and if the environment is rough enough to shake the fillings out of my teeth, it’s probably going to knock some of that internal plating off the cooling unit. If a large enough chunk ends up blocking one of the smaller orifices inside the unit, the cooling process is going to slow or stop. With a blockage like that, if you can get it to move into an area where it won’t cause a problem, you’ve saved yourself some money. This won’t work for an internal blockage caused by running the fridge out of level. Those tend to be immovable, and they won’t dissolve back to liquid either.
I would only replace a fridge or cooling unit after trying this at least once.
:):)
