Cooling Unit Out of Order

[nicoley207]

We have a 23 foot 1993 Aljo Skyline travel trailer that needs a new cooling unit. We are considering just replacing the refrigerator instead. I have a few questions:

1. How well do travel trailers hold their value? We are worried that this is a big expense for something outdated, but don't really want to pay to upgrade right now.

2. Are there reliable online RV stores that may sell less expensive refrigerators? The quotes I've received from dealers range from $1600-$1800. I am just not sure that a trailer this old is worth that kind of investment, but I may be convinced for around $1300-$1400. It is in good shape otherwise.

3. Is it better to just replace the refrigerator and forget about the cooling unit?

Thank you!

[dougrainer]

Denny & Jami wrote:

nicoley207 wrote:
Would it be better to just have the cooling unit replaced at $1200 than to replace the refrigerator at $1500?

The trailer is in good condition. My husbands parents are the original owners. The doors and tires have just been replaced. The roof needs resealed, but we are doing that ourselves.

A dealer diagnosed the problem with the refrigerator. The freezer is cooling down, but the refrigerator is not.

Is the freezer freezing or just getting cool? There is only one series of coils in the cooling unit, they start in the freezer area and end in the refrigerator area. If your freezer is freezing and the lowerbox isn't getting cool check and see if the lower coil is getting cold, if it is check your door gasket if it isn't the cooling unit is bad.

I just replaced my cooling unit with a new Amish unit and it works better than the original. The unit was $655 plus $45 UPS, like others have said take pictures and take your time. But first you have make sure you box is in good shape and all the control, gas and electric heater work.

Denny

Freezing in the freezer and NO or LOW cooling in the lower is the symptoms of a bad/blocked cooling unit. People that do not know this get Ripped Off when buying a used RV. The seller has the refer ON and shows the freezer as super cold and the potential buyer thinks it works. Gets it home and then he finds the lower section will not cool. THEN he finds out that an RV refer costs a LOT more to fix than a residential refer. He thinks he can buy one for about the same price as a small residential. Doug

[Denny___Jami]

nicoley207 wrote:
Would it be better to just have the cooling unit replaced at $1200 than to replace the refrigerator at $1500?

The trailer is in good condition. My husbands parents are the original owners. The doors and tires have just been replaced. The roof needs resealed, but we are doing that ourselves.

A dealer diagnosed the problem with the refrigerator. The freezer is cooling down, but the refrigerator is not.

Is the freezer freezing or just getting cool? There is only one series of coils in the cooling unit, they start in the freezer area and end in the refrigerator area. If your freezer is freezing and the lowerbox isn't getting cool check and see if the lower coil is getting cold, if it is check your door gasket if it isn't the cooling unit is bad.

I just replaced my cooling unit with a new Amish unit and it works better than the original. The unit was $655 plus $45 UPS, like others have said take pictures and take your time. But first you have make sure you box is in good shape and all the control, gas and electric heater work.

Denny

[2oldman]

nicoley207 wrote:
How do people manage residential refrigerators if they camp without electricity?

household refer and inverter2009

residential fridge- boondocking 09

[dougrainer]

nicoley207 wrote:
Would it be better to just have the cooling unit replaced at $1200 than to replace the refrigerator at $1500?

The trailer is in good condition. My husbands parents are the original owners. The doors and tires have just been replaced. The roof needs resealed, but we are doing that ourselves.

A dealer diagnosed the problem with the refrigerator. The freezer is cooling down, but the refrigerator is not.

Replace the Cooling Unit. Do not replace the refer. I would use a Rebuilt cooling unit to save costs. Doug

[nicoley207]

Would it be better to just have the cooling unit replaced at $1200 than to replace the refrigerator at $1500?

The trailer is in good condition. My husbands parents are the original owners. The doors and tires have just been replaced. The roof needs resealed, but we are doing that ourselves.

A dealer diagnosed the problem with the refrigerator. The freezer is cooling down, but the refrigerator is not.

[96Bounder30E]

nicoley207 wrote:
We are nervous about doing the work ourselves as it isn't something that we have done before.
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.
.
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Replacing the cooling unit ourselves is tempting; however, I am not certain that we could pull it off. That price sounds a lot better than the dealer quote at $1200.

Thank you for all the ideas and suggestions.

I had never done one as well.......I went to You Tube and watched a bunch of videos......after doing one, it was much easier than I originally thought......I wouldn't hesitate to doing additional cooling unit change outs.......

1. Don't be in a hurry
2. take digital pictures of everything on your unit first
3. watch videos
4. ask questions if you get stumped

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Myself I would seriously consider buying a large YETI® ice chest, which will last the rest of your life, then your kid's and their kids. The unbelievably long retention of ice in a YETI will hold food for a week especially where you live. No gas, no flue, no controls, no ammonia - just ice it up and go. Use the refrigerator to hold non perishable items, extra clothes, booze, whatever. The appeal of a "99-year" lifespan to me is highly attractive. And no, the YETI is not inexpensive.

My ice chest retains fruit and vegetable crispness and freshness light-years better than even my $5,000 Viking home refrigerator or $3,000 Vestfrost 24 volt RV unit.

Something to chew on anyway... 🙂

[MFL]

I agree, if you need a propane fridge, just bite the bullet. You can get a rebuilt cooling unit for around $800, and like Doug said, it will be around $200 for professional install.

The rebuilt units come with some warranty, and will likely outlast an older trailer.

Jerry

[beemerphile1]

Your 1993 has already depreciated as much as it ever will. At that age the condition is what matters, not the year.

How did you determine that it needs a new cooling unit? Are you just guessing? There are only two things that can go wrong with the cooling unit, they leak or they get plugged.

[dougrainer]

nicoley207 wrote:
How do people manage residential refrigerators if they camp without electricity? We are normally in the woods for up to five days at a time.

Then you need to repair the RV refer so you can run on LP. Doug

[nicoley207]

How do people manage residential refrigerators if they camp without electricity? We are normally in the woods for up to five days at a time.

[dougrainer]

On a 25 year old Trailer, you should just remove the RV refer and get a smaller residential/Dorm type 120 volt refer. You are correct. That old a trailer, with a rebuilt or NEW RV refer will make the refer more valuable than the trailer. Doug

PS, IF you did the work yourself and replaced with a rebuilt cooling unit, THAT is a cost viable way to go. But if you have to pay someone more than $200 to replace the CU, you are spending too much money.

[nicoley207]

We are nervous about doing the work ourselves as it isn't something that we have done before.

Is PPL a reliable vendor? We have discussed purchasing it on our own, then paying someone to put it in. One of the dealers said it can take as little as one hour to swap them out, so we figured that may not be a bad way to go.

I haven't heard much about using a residential refrigerator. Is there a link in the forum anywhere where people discuss pros and cons of doing that? I would be interested in learning more about that option.

We tend to camp for at least five days most of the time and our dog now requires special refrigerated food, so we definitely want to find a reasonable solution if possible.

We are thinking that it makes more sense to replace the refrigerator just in the hopes of preventing another problem down the road since this one is the original one.

Replacing the cooling unit ourselves is tempting; however, I am not certain that we could pull it off. That price sounds a lot better than the dealer quote at $1200.

Thank you for all the ideas and suggestions.

[96Bounder30E]

Why not just rebuild the refer that you have with a new cooling unit for less than $500?