20 Year Old Plus Lance Squire Camper-Refrigerator Advice

[ruddfan4evr]

My husband and I have an old Lance camper that is still in excellent condition. Only problem is the Dometic 2600 refrigerator finally died. Several places we checked all said same thing...Too expensive to repair and replacement is way too expensive for us right now. Someone at an RV dealer we buy stuff from suggested buying a "apartment" style electric refrigerator as replacement. We have one in our bedroom that's almost the same size as Domestic unit that has freezer section as well and works like a charm. Since we are older now, we have mostly been going to full hook up camp grounds anyway so we would have electricity to run it. Was wondering if any of you guys have heard of doing this and what may be involved in switching out the old propane one for a new electric one. Any advice would be greately appreciated. Thanks!

[sleekcrafter]

This is my option too, if and when it goes TU. There is no way to even get it to the door in my TC, the partition is in the way, well before it even makes it to the door, which is also too small. There are instructional videos on youtube showing the cooling unit replacement.....

[bmorkert]

I had the same thing happen in my 2000 Lance 1140. Amonia leaked out of the refer core. I initially took it in for a repair and they wanted to replace the unit for over $2000 and the replacement was only a two-way refer.

I Decided to do the work myself. There are several places online where you can order a refurbished core. I was able to pull my fridge, replace the core and reinstall. All total, it was about 5 hours of work and about $500 for the replacement core. Fridge still works great.

The hardest part of the project was getting the fridge out. I learned that they apparently build the campers around the refrigerator and there is exactly enough room to get the fridge out to work on it. Definitely a two person (at least) job.

[recycler]

get an amish cooling unit put in..I have heard many good things about them on this forum.. this is the route I will be going with my "new" rm 660 dometic "freebie" from what prices I have seen is about half the cost of new refer and there is lots of videos on youtube showing how it can be done yourself..

[bigfootford]

Photomike wrote:
I always am concerned when a dealer says "to expensive to fix", really how much is too expensive if you want it to work and not have to switch out the entire thing????

I had a similar issue last year with my fridge packing it in. I ordered a new one but because of shipping damage refused it. Then I rebuilt my cooling unit, why? I really liked the fridge and the fact that it uses no power when running so I paid the cost on the new cooler - really have not had a lot of chances to try it, will see this year if the money was worth it.

What did they say was the issue? On older units there is not a lot to go wrong (honestly on most newer units they are pretty simple). If it is the cooling unit and you are in the states there is a company that sells new units that are suppose to be amazing, contact them and get a price.

**side note - for anyone that follows the happenings on the space station, imagine changing that ammonia cooler out! I wonder if they had three quotes from a repair company before doing it themselves???

Ditto this, the older units were very simple, no electronics to go bad. Parts are avail to fix almost anything.

Many on this forum have repaired their old fridges and they are still running!

What Make and model is it?

Jim

[ticki2]

There is a large RV salvage place in Sacramento that has lots of stuff if it's not too far , may be worth a call .
http://www.rvdoctorgeorge.com/

[Photomike]

I always am concerned when a dealer says "to expensive to fix", really how much is too expensive if you want it to work and not have to switch out the entire thing????

I had a similar issue last year with my fridge packing it in. I ordered a new one but because of shipping damage refused it. Then I rebuilt my cooling unit, why? I really liked the fridge and the fact that it uses no power when running so I paid the cost on the new cooler - really have not had a lot of chances to try it, will see this year if the money was worth it.

What did they say was the issue? On older units there is not a lot to go wrong (honestly on most newer units they are pretty simple). If it is the cooling unit and you are in the states there is a company that sells new units that are suppose to be amazing, contact them and get a price.

**side note - for anyone that follows the happenings on the space station, imagine changing that ammonia cooler out! I wonder if they had three quotes from a repair company before doing it themselves???

[Ski_Pro_3]

I bought a really clapped out camper with one exception; it had an almost new fridge in it. I paid $500 and used the fridge in my own camper. Then I parted out the rest of the camper right down to the copper propane lines and made my $500 back and then some.

[spacedoutbob]

I'm in Oakland, Calif.

Bob in Calif.

[Bill_T]

One thing to consider when switching over is the required ventilation for the rear mounted condensing coils. Unlike std. size units which most vent the coils from the bottom of the reefer, these units vent from the back of the reefer. You would not want to block or remove the outside vent and you MAY have to cutin a upper vent to let the heat out of the compartment.

[ruddfan4evr]

More great advice. Thanks Bob. Will look into those options as well. Glad I found this site and reached out. Lots of helpful ideas. Hope one day we can return the favor here to some one else in need. I'm from Cali. too . Covina. What city are you in?

[camperpaul]

ruddfan4evr wrote:

Wow. That's scary about dry ice emitting gasses. I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the heads up.

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide.

The unit just stopped working then had really strong ammonia smell. Took weeks before it finally stopped smelling. Couple different places we called said too old and expensive to fix. New one is ridiculous. Going to take previous posters advice and look into salvage RV places. Maybe we will get lucky.

The ammonia is the refrigerant and it has all leaked out.
Replace the cooling unit or the entire fridge.

[ruddfan4evr]

Great ideas Bob. I will check both. Really glad I found this site. Lots of helpful advice. Hope we can one day return the help to others in need on this site. I too am from Cali. Covina to be exact. Where you from?

[spacedoutbob]

Another place you can look is under RV parts on Craigslist or Craigseeker, sometimes someone is parting out a camper/RV. I have had success on both sites. Good luck.

Bob in Calif.

[ruddfan4evr]

Wow. That's scary about dry ice emitting gasses. I will definitely look into that. Thanks for the heads up. The unit just stopped working then had really strong ammonia smell. Took weeks before it finally stopped smelling. Couple different places we called said too old and expensive to fix. New one is ridiculous. Going to take previous posters advice and look into salvage RV places. Maybe we will get lucky.