1992 Aljo question

you seem to be hesitant on spending $1000 and up on a replacement fridge. If so, do NOT buy this unit. price the replacement into your budget and be happy if you get by for less.
bumpy

Thank you all for the responses. We have a Coleman popup right now but are outgrowing it. When we got it I had to essentially do a compete roof rebuild and piles of other maintenance. I don't care to do the roof rebuild again, particularly in a travel trailer, but it definitely gave me an appreciation for the damage water intrusion can do.

As for the fridge, would a stock fridge from am older model like this one typically still run in the $1000-$1400 range? Assuming there's no ammonia leak, I would think anything else could be repaired? I have a small LP/DC fridge in our popup and am familiar with maintenance of it. I'd think this one may be similar, but on a larger scale?

Hello. Indeed water damage to a trailer is the most common concern expressed in this forum since I've been around. Various remedies to detect this kind of damage have been proposed such as visual and hands-on inspection, water meters etc. I sure would like to know what the readers of this forum have used proactvely to determine water damage and how it turned out. I ran across a company that promotes a device called the Seattech 430r which are found at various RV shops around the country. If you search engine that name you will see where the testing stations are. General RV in our area has one and when i called about it they said they are booked 3 weeks out and charge $150.00 for the test. Sir Lancelot in your area the closest test site is in Fife. I got all this stuff from their website. Good luch.

Sounds like a good deal but I'd subtract the price of a new fridge from the total. These absorption boxes are not like fixing a compressor model. They are prone to have the ammonia coolant crystalize in the tubing and once that happens, no amount of TLC will make them right. It only takes a short period of time using the fridge out of level for this to occur.

If I did buy a trailer with a bad fridge, I'd replace it with a residential, taking the difference in price and installing a solar power system to run it. In fact, that's just what I did. The solar also powers everything else when off the grid. It also results in opening up new areas to camp, not dependent on a campground receptacle.

Water damage is the sometimes hidden thing to avoid. It can wreck the framing within the walls and will appear later after some use. It can also ruin the floor and that can be problematic to repair. It sounds like you're tool conversant so shouldn't fear repair work. You'll have to weigh the risk of repair over savings.

The biggest killer of trailers is a leaky roof and the resulting water damage that may go on for years. If the trailer is water tight with no damage, everything else can be fixed or upgraded, especially if you are handy like you say.

price out the cost of a replacement frig. chances are it is unfixable and be prepared to add that into your total cost. if you can fix it, you will be that much ahead. I would guess that you would have $5,000 in it with new frig??
bumpy