Dometic RM2862 Bit the Dust

[RV_CONUS]

After 7.46 years, and one new cooling unit replaced under warranty, the Dometic bit the dust. The second cooling unit is gone.

A new residential fridge is going in on Wednesday.

Knew it was coming, not happy about the quality, but happy it is going.

The new fridge, has more room in both compartments.

[ronfisherman]

We attended a Hartland open house a couple weeks ago. Some of the new 5th wheel units had residential fridges in them. They had two 12 volt batteries feeding a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. This is all they had power on 14 and 20 cu ft fridges. Most of the smaller fridges draw 300 watts to cool. But when cool do not run all the time. Not sure about starting though.
I am going to run with only 2 batteries until I find out I need more. My motorhome has a auto start on the generator. If the batteries get low. Generator will start and recharge batteries.
The real battery hog is our furnace. 2 batteries will not run furnace overnight in 30° weather.

[Dog_Folks]

Nutinelse2do wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
Replaced our fire starter Dometic last summer with a residential.

Best thing we ever did, more room.

You are going to love it.

Your sig says you are full timers. Do you travel a lot? If so, how do you power the fridge when traveling? We are only going to have 2 Trojans, a Honda 2000 gen and an inverter that runs our " electronics center " what do you do about powering the residential fridge when you are on the road for a longer period? We have been having this discussion but DH doesn't think we will have enough battery power since we don't have a battery bank like our old DP.
Thanks in advance

It really depends on your type of travel. Traveling one day at a time should not be a problem traveling without power on the refrigerator.

Yes, we travel frequently. However, we do not boon dock. We are on the road 3-4 hours between campgrounds without power. If you keep the door closed, the refrigerator will hold it's cold just fine.

We know from our life in Florida, with it's frequent storms and power outages, a residential frig will go 24 hours if the doors are not opened.

That is our real world experience. Hope it helps.

[Lobstah]

Depends on how long you're going to go between plugging in.
If you're going to drive for 15hrs, probably need some generator time in there to keep the Sea Salt Caramel Hagan Dasz from going soft 🙂

Jim

[Nutinelse2do]

Dog Folks wrote:
Replaced our fire starter Dometic last summer with a residential.

Best thing we ever did, more room.

You are going to love it.

Your sig says you are full timers. Do you travel a lot? If so, how do you power the fridge when traveling? We are only going to have 2 Trojans, a Honda 2000 gen and an inverter that runs our " electronics center " what do you do about powering the residential fridge when you are on the road for a longer period? We have been having this discussion but DH doesn't think we will have enough battery power since we don't have a battery bank like our old DP.
Thanks in advance

[Dog_Folks]

John S. wrote:
I wonder f the absorption manufactures are feeling the heat. Lots of residential units going in. Love mine and wish I did it long ago.

I agree. I also blame the absorption manufactures. They deserve the loss of business, because they cannot or will not build a unit that is safe and or provide a viable fix for those already in the RV'S.

When any company fails to meet the demand for safe, usable products they will eventually fail, and they deserve to.

When we got rid of our "fire waiting to happen," my wife said:"You don't seem upset about spending the money to get a residential unit."

I replied it was worth it for the piece of mind alone.

[John_S_]

I wonder f the absorption manufactures are feeling the heat. Lots of residential units going in. Love mine and wish I did it long ago.

[ronfisherman]

RV Volunteers CONUS wrote:

Just going to use the same 110v plug.

Not going to install an inverter. The way we now RV, we have power available most of the time. We don't do a a lot of boondocking anymore, and the dry camping we do when traveling; the generator will provide sufficient power to keep the residential fridge cold.

Good plan. We already have a inverter. It should be OK for our travels.

[RV_CONUS]

LynnandCarol wrote:
That seems like a short life for the Dometic Fridge!

It was a short lifespan when the first cooling unit went out during the first year.

I'm surprised the second one lasted 6 years. The older units never gave us a problem......At least with the residentials, they can be replaced at about half the cost.

[RV_CONUS]

ronfisherman wrote:
Thanks. That's the same model DW has on top of her list. With our RV there is a problem with wall on right side of fridge. Whirlpool says there needs to be 3 1/8" clearance on hinge side of fridge. We have 1 1/2". May still go with this model and move hinge to left side.
Any info on how you are powering it.

Just going to use the same 110v plug.

Not going to install an inverter. The way we now RV, we have power available most of the time. We don't do a a lot of boondocking anymore, and the dry camping we do when traveling; the generator will provide sufficient power to keep the residential fridge cold.

[ronfisherman]

Thanks. That's the same model DW has on top of her list. With our RV there is a problem with wall on right side of fridge. Whirlpool says there needs to be 3 1/8" clearance on hinge side of fridge. We have 1 1/2". May still go with this model and move hinge to left side.
Any info on how you are powering it.

[Dog_Folks]

Replaced our fire starter Dometic last summer with a residential.

Best thing we ever did, more room.

You are going to love it.

[RV_CONUS]

ronfisherman wrote:
Our MH has the same fridge. Any info on what you are putting in to replace it.
Our is now 10 years old. Still original.

Whirlpool

[John_S_]

The reason all these fridges cooling units are not lasting as long is the EPA mandated less sodium chromate be used. That is what protects the cooling unit from the gas inside eating the pipes. It seems that we are seeing more of this in the newer units while the older ones are going strong. I know I decided to pull mine and put in a residential.

[AZPops]

LynnandCarol wrote:
That seems like a short life for the Dometic Fridge!

I guess, my side by side Dometic lasted 12 years. Luckily I found a great mobile tech while we were in Adelanto to do a rebuild. However, after making the repair, I feel that I should have had him install a residential frig at that time.

Pops