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?

[Gdetrailer]

GuyCanRV wrote:

OK I will fill you folks in a bit more now.

My unit is installed in my residential home. I don't have an RV.
I use 120 V exclusively.
My unit has been super!

Junk it.

Don't put one penny into repairing.

If you had no electricity and was using propane exclusively I could understand why you would be putting this much effort into your fridge. But you are not using propane.

You are just throwing money away not just in the repair but in electricity.

Residential fridge is what you should be using not an ammonia filled absorbsion fridge.

Ammonia absorbsion cycle is very slow to recover from opening the door or putting warm food in it. Uses THREE times the energy than a compressor driven fridge.

You can easily find residential fridges at reasonable prices well below what a new cooling unit will cost.

Just because you have gotten 20 yrs of use out of it doesn't mean you will get 20 more with a new or rebuilt cooling unit. There have been plenty of folks who have tried replacing the cooling unit only to have them fail quickly and with multiple replacement cooling units eventually tossed in the towel and replaced with new RV fridge or a residential fridge.

Give your old absorbsion friend a hug and put it out to pasture, it is time to move on.

[Tom_M1]

Using an absorption type fridge for home use makes no sense. You can buy a new residential model for less than the repair cost of your old one.

[bucky]

You can buy used residential frigs all day long for 200 or so USDs. Why are you wringing your hands over this if you don't even have an RV?

[GuyCanRV]

SJ-Chris wrote:
I was faced with the same decision. Here's how that played out...
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30167880.cfm

Thanks for stopping by Chris to let me know about your experience.
I'm glad to hear you were successful!

I was in touch with the refurb guy by phone and e-mail starting a month or so ago. He seemed to be very helpful for a while.
He said it should take me about two hours to remove the cooling unit.

Well I kept writing him detailing the problems I was having and he kept slowing down with his responses.

I finally was able to remove the cooling unit after several weeks of trying!

That was a great relief. So that is where I stand now.
It seems like I should go the Amish route with a new cooling unit.

I will start to make some calls next week to see if it is possible to order one that will fit.


This is the one I am looking at but I don't know if it is the same as mine?
https://rvcoolingunit.com/RGE400-Dometic-Cooling-Unit--P911121.aspx

Mine doesn't look like that exactly, currently.
I guess I should post some photos here. Will do shortly.

[SJ-Chris]

I was faced with the same decision. Here's how that played out...
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30167880.cfm

[GuyCanRV]

wa8yxm wrote:
On the Cooling unit I'd go with a new Amish Built cooling unit (Actually I did)

Repairs to a system that has started failing will need to be done over and over again as other spots fail.. NEW is the only way to go.

For those who wonder. The cooling unit is the "Back" of the fridge actually it is outside the box coupled to the fins inside) it's what does the work

The box is just insulation and controls and one sensor.

OK I will fill you folks in a bit more now.

My unit is installed in my residential home. I don't have an RV.
I use 120 V exclusively.
My unit has been super!
Around 10 years or so I came here I believe to get help on repairing the thermostat.

I repaired it and that was the only problem I had with the unit until
my cooling unit went a month or so ago.

It's lasted me more than 20 years!!!
Sure I could buy a new fridge, but if I can get this cooling unit repaired or buy a new cooling unit, why not?
There really aren't too many other parts to go on a fridge like this and anything else would be minor compared to the cooling unit.

I did a lot of calling around last month to find out possibilities.
I also learned of the Amish Built cooling units during my calls.

Apparently they make one for my unit but the company I contacted
says it's a 'new' RGE400 cooling model. I don't mean a new cooling unit (that's taken for granted), but they make it sound like the cooling unit is for a 'newer' RE400 model (as if I have the older RGE400).

So if I were to buy this Amish unit I'd first need to know if it would fit my fridge (plug and play).

[GuyCanRV]

rhagfo wrote:


Well model, and where are you getting the cooling unit?

I have replaced two cooling units in the past, two different 5ers. I got my units from RV Cooling Unit Warehouse. The first was a rebuilt as we were not keeping the 5er for only a few years. The second was a new unit as we full time in this rig, both worked great and great service.

Sorry for not getting back to you folks sooner.
The system only notified me of a reply today!

I have the great Servel RGE 400 (bought out by Dometic).

[wa8yxm]

On the Cooling unit I'd go with a new Amish Built cooling unit (Actually I did)

Repairs to a system that has started failing will need to be done over and over again as other spots fail.. NEW is the only way to go.

For those who wonder. The cooling unit is the "Back" of the fridge actually it is outside the box coupled to the fins inside) it's what does the work

The box is just insulation and controls and one sensor.

[John_Wayne]

They are also making a 12 volt compressor unit for a replacement you may want to also look into that. I've replaced 3 cooling units myself. It nice if you have a friend that can help but one person can do it.

[rhagfo]

GuyCanRV wrote:
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?

Well model, and where are you getting the cooling unit?

I have replaced two cooling units in the past, two different 5ers. I got my units from RV Cooling Unit Warehouse. The first was a rebuilt as we were not keeping the 5er for only a few years. The second was a new unit as we full time in this rig, both worked great and great service.

[craig7h]

I can not relate to the Dometic frig. but I can tell you my experience with the Norcold.

The cooling unit went out, so I did the normal looking around at options. To replace the whole frig would have cost way to much plus the unit would have had to come in through the windshield. Putting a residential frig was not an option as it would have required to much wood work to make it look like it belonged. I do not do good with woodwork.

So I looked at what JC Refrigeration had to offer. https://jc-refrigeration.com/

I ended up with their 120v unit as I never boondock and am always plugged in. The removal of the old cooling unit and install of the new unit went very easy. JC
Refrigeration provided great info for both removel and install plus on the spot help if needed.

I would go with them again if needed, I believe its worth looking into.

Good Luck