New cooling unit or refurbish?

[GuyCanRV]

I need to make a decision shortly on which way to go
for a Dometic cooling unit.

If I send my unit in for repairs it will cost around
$870 U.S. with a 5 year warranty.

If I buy a new unit it will cost around $550 U.S.
(I still need to find out if the new unit will fit my fridge).

I'm in Canada and the repair would be in Canada.
The new unit would be shipped from the U.S.

Suggestions?

[GuyCanRV]

dougrainer wrote:
Top of switch the Black and White wires should have 120 between them. You can see the power cord come in the bottom of the switch. THEN you have to check power thru the 120 tstat. Then just check for 120 at the 120 element wires. Doug

Thanks Doug.

I didn't get your response before I had closed it all up.
What I did was check for continuity between the two white wires.
I figured when the switch was in the right position, giving continuity, the electric current would flow.

It seems to be working.
The fridge is cooling down nicely now. 🙂

[GuyCanRV]

Well time for an update and a question.
Less than two years after my cooling unit came back from the repair guy my fridge stopped working.

He tried to troubleshoot the problem and was reluctant to blame the cooling unit but after everything else was eliminated the finger was pointing to the cooling unit.
So I'm getting ready to ship it back to the repair guy in a few days.

When I removed the stack and its insulation the bare pipe inside was exposed.
I saw this pipe for the first time and noticed at its bottom, where the heating element
fits inside, it was all white. A fine dust powder was covering it.
The pipe appears to be disintegrating.
Is this normal? When/how soon would this occur in a unit?

Thanks!

[dougrainer]

Top of switch the Black and White wires should have 120 between them. You can see the power cord come in the bottom of the switch. THEN you have to check power thru the 120 tstat. Then just check for 120 at the 120 element wires. Doug

[GuyCanRV]

A new update with success!

I opened up the control rods again.
Used a multimeter and confirmed the Electric position.

Stood her up and plugged her in.

Not long after the pipe from the baffle started to
get hot !!!
Yippee!!

I didn't connect the elec/gas rod because:

a) it's a hassle.
b) it was stuck, needed lubrication and still wasn't moving well.
c) was now set to Electric.
d) I NEVER use the Gas setting.

Only one more thing that needs fixing but I'll leave it for later.
One foot is broken.
The screw on one foot is not going into its plate.
I need a new screw and plate.

🙂

[GuyCanRV]

Here are a couple of photos of the switch that the elec/gas rod
attaches to.

The marking on the knob is:

Off / Gas / Electric /

When rotated clockwise, the switch comes to an end at Electric.
I thought it was in the far right (elect) position last night when I
tried it, but I'm not 100% sure.

What should I test for with my multimeter to make sure it is in the
electric position?

https://postimg.cc/1f0M6LxR

https://postimg.cc/BPHpmzXg

[GuyCanRV]

I would like to fill you in with more info now...

To my thinking there are a few possibilities for the problem now.

1. When the ammonia gas leak started a few months ago, it was so strong I had to remove the fridge from the house.
I got a friend to help me move the fridge to my front stairs.
In the process (we used a trolley) the fridge dropped at least six inches with a strong thud as it was going out the door.
This could have caused something to break in a fridge component.

2. When I was putting together the control rods (the two main ones are the electric/gas and thermo setting rods) I didn't test them and it is likely that one/both were not working (connected properly) and also set at the wrong setting. For example the elec/gas switch needs to be set to electric.

Just now I lay the fridge on its side to get to the rod access.
The elec/gas rod was NOT turning as I suspected.
I don't know if it was in the correct position (electric).

I turned it manually and plugged in the fridge, with fridge still lying down.
After just 15 minutes I started to smell something nasty.
It was like a burnt plastic smell.
I unplugged it right away.

What would have caused that smell?
The gas setting?
The fact that the fridge was on its side?

Not sure what to try next.
It doesn't help that one leg on the fridge comes off.

[GuyCanRV]

dougrainer wrote:


You need to evaluate the plastic of the door/s and the plastic of the interior walls of the refer. Some older refers the plastic expands/deforms and the doors do not close and seal correctly. While the seals sometimes have magnets in them(Not all do), the doors should open and close without any force. With the refer sitting upright and level, the doors should close easily and NOT pop open. Also, I have had over the years, seen people that install extra shelves and such and THOSE push against the metal racks and keep the doors from closing correctly. Doug

Thanks Doug for your help and also about the battery.

Well now I'm really in a pickle.

I finally got the fridge assembled back together. It took a long time as I
had pretty much disassembled all of its parts, not knowing how to remove the cooling unit.

It doesn't work! 😞

I will be getting in touch with the company that did the refurbishing tomorrow of course,
but in the meantime are there any tips as to what I should try next to determine what's wrong?

As I mentioned, there is no propane side to this fridge that I use.
I run it entirely on 120 V electricity.

I tested the electrical outlet and I know it works.

I have turned the thermostat rod and also the elec/gas rod.

Nothing works. There aren't any things that I know to try now.

Suggestions? You guys helped me out around 10 years ago to get my fridge back to work
after it stopped (thermostat).

[dougrainer]

GuyCanRV wrote:
Well my refurbished unit finally arrived yesterday.
It will probably take me about a week to get my fridge re-assembled.

In the meantime, there is another issue I'd like to discuss here.

The door to the fridge was not closing as tightly as it used to.
Sometimes it actually opened up.

Is there something I can do to tighten the seal?

You need to evaluate the plastic of the door/s and the plastic of the interior walls of the refer. Some older refers the plastic expands/deforms and the doors do not close and seal correctly. While the seals sometimes have magnets in them(Not all do), the doors should open and close without any force. With the refer sitting upright and level, the doors should close easily and NOT pop open. Also, I have had over the years, seen people that install extra shelves and such and THOSE push against the metal racks and keep the doors from closing correctly. Doug

[dougrainer]

GuyCanRV wrote:

vermilye wrote:

As Doug said, new refrigerators require 12V to operator on either 12V or 120V. The electronics card is powered by 12V & controls the temperature.

Thanks.
Is the 12 Volt battery a little bigger than a 9V battery?
How many amps is it?

The 12 volts is from the Battery/Power Converter of the RV. There is NO battery in the refer. Doug

[GuyCanRV]

Well my refurbished unit finally arrived yesterday.
It will probably take me about a week to get my fridge re-assembled.

In the meantime, there is another issue I'd like to discuss here.

The door to the fridge was not closing as tightly as it used to.
Sometimes it actually opened up.

Is there something I can do to tighten the seal?

[GuyCanRV]

vermilye wrote:

As Doug said, new refrigerators require 12V to operator on either 12V or 120V. The electronics card is powered by 12V & controls the temperature.

Thanks.
Is the 12 Volt battery a little bigger than a 9V battery?
How many amps is it?

[vermilye]

GuyCanRV wrote:

dougrainer wrote:


I am NOT cautioning you. I am telling you the plain facts. OLDER Model Norcolds/Dometics/Servel/Sibir refer's used MANUAL controls to operate the LP and 120 function. NO 12 volts needed. Current RV refers require 12 volts to operate BOTH LP and 120. So, if you did go the NEW refer route you would have to get that 120 to 12 volt converter. BTW, Leisure RV in Winkler, Manitoba drives all their factory parts warranty and Customer Pay across the USA border to ship to USA Dealers. Saves them a bundle on UPS charges. Doug

OK I understand what you are saying now. Thanks.

About the 12 V.
You mentioned new fridges require 12V to operate BOTH LP and 120V.

What about for my situation where I will NEVER use gas?
If I never use gas would I need 12V for the 120V?

Thanks for the tip on Leisure RV.

As Doug said, new refrigerators require 12V to operator on either 12V or 120V. The electronics card is powered by 12V & controls the temperature.

[GuyCanRV]

ajriding wrote:
If it were me I would not worry about a 5 yr warranty. I bet most or nearly all rebuilt or new units will pass the 5 yr mark.
Really the enemy is rust inside and running off-level. You can control the level.
The rust will eventually make a hole in the pipe and then coolant leaks out. A rebuilt unit will not fix damage done by rust, it can only clean the pipe out.
Given this I still would not put a warranty high on the list.

I have always rolled the dice on used units and not gone over $600. They have all worked, and the first one I bought eventually leaked, but it was after 15 years of me using it.

Don't get one too old.

I agree about the 5 year part.

But there is a bit of a contradiction in what you are saying,
or perhaps I don't understand you correctly?

I realize that there can/will be rust build-up inside the pipes.
My unit is more than 20 years old so there likely is rust.

So given that, why would you not put a 5-year warranty high on the list?

I don't think you understand what I am going for here.
I am not 'getting an old cooling unit'. I am keeping mine and having it
refurbished.
When I get it back it will still be 20+ years old.

Worst comes to worse, if a leak develops after five years I'll just buy a new fridge. For the time being I'm trying to save some money.

[GuyCanRV]

dougrainer wrote:


I am NOT cautioning you. I am telling you the plain facts. OLDER Model Norcolds/Dometics/Servel/Sibir refer's used MANUAL controls to operate the LP and 120 function. NO 12 volts needed. Current RV refers require 12 volts to operate BOTH LP and 120. So, if you did go the NEW refer route you would have to get that 120 to 12 volt converter. BTW, Leisure RV in Winkler, Manitoba drives all their factory parts warranty and Customer Pay across the USA border to ship to USA Dealers. Saves them a bundle on UPS charges. Doug

OK I understand what you are saying now. Thanks.

About the 12 V.
You mentioned new fridges require 12V to operate BOTH LP and 120V.

What about for my situation where I will NEVER use gas?
If I never use gas would I need 12V for the 120V?

Thanks for the tip on Leisure RV.