RV 3 way refrigerator

[Sondy132001]

My RV frig is dead, the guy I bought the trailer from said it worked one day the next it didn't. I have been looking for a refrigerator for a year, they seem to be made of gold. Even the used crappy ones on Craigslist are $700. New ones are $1200 yikes almost more than I paid for my used trailer 😃

Is there a place online to find used rv refrigerators that won't break the bank ?? thanks for any info.

[Nvr2loud]

oakbowery wrote:
If you don't use the propane part of the fridge (which we don't) then I'd suggest just installing a $300 fridge from Lowes. That's what my father did in his camper when the fridge went out. We never dry camp and generally camp within a few hours of the house. He's yet to run into a situation where the food isn't still nice and cold even after a two or three hour drive (as long as you keep it sealed it'll generally stay cold several hours). Luckily my factory fridge hasn't died yet, but I suspect I'll do the same when it does. On my father's we just re-worked the wood framing around the fridge. It actually looks nicer now than before in my opinion. I'll post a pic of it this weekend as the whole family will be at the lake. My father was in the same position as you and didn't want to spend $1200 for a fridge.

Since a large percentage of people fear running the propane fridge while driving anyway... I'm sure many people would benefit from your advice. I hope your father has LT tires on his trailer LOL

[BubbaChris]

westend wrote:
Bubba,
I don't have to get away from ridiculous laws and neighbors watching my every move because I don't live in a community like that. I'm sorry if my post ruffled some feathers. My thought was that if a person needed to work on their hobby equipment for a few hours, maybe other members of the community would see that it doesn't harm anyone and life would be a richer place.

Understood and thank you. Most of the HOA rules I've seen allow 12 to 48 hours for you to have your RV parked for trip packing. However they probably also exclude doing visible repair work on the RV (e.g. street side removal of parts, cooling units, etc).

So if you're working inside, waving and chatting with the neighbors you see it's all good as you originally suggested (as long as you stay within the time limits).

[CavemanCharlie]

Sondy132001 wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Nice looking TT from the one picture you posted. But,,, your crank up TV antenna is broken too. I can see the crank handle in the picture and it looks wrong.

I have raised and lowered the TV antenna a few times and didn't seem to have any issues ?? I'll check it again, but in all reality I won't use it, I bought a dish and have DirecTV, that'll probably my mode of entertainment or my iPod 😃




S

OK, My mistake.

Have a nice Day and have fun with the TT.

[Gdetrailer]

rbpru wrote:
Like the kids say,” It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission in the first place.”

Personally, I would park it until I got the information I needed or until someone said something. Then, I would tell them, “ It is a good thing that that rule does not apply to TTs”.

Of course that is why I live on the back side of a 20 acre cornfield. Some of us are just not meant to live with civilized people.

I rarely use ther propane side of my frig. We could get by with an electric only model.

As others have mentioned, that IS a really bad idea when owning a home that is under a HOA.

HOAs will SPELL OUT VERY CLEARLY WHAT CAN AND CAN NOT BE DONE with concerns about the exterior and grounds of a home and property.. When buying into a HOA area you ARE REQUIRED TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT STATING YOU UNDERSTAND AND WILL FOLLOW ALL RULES IN THE HOA AGREEMENT.

If the agreement states no RVs to be parked anywhere on the premises then by golly you better darn well FOLLOW THE RULES and NOT PARK IT ON THE PROPERTY!

This isn't something that you do then ask for "forgiveness" for, doing so will have ALL of the folks under that HOA GUNNING FOR YOU.. In effect they WILL HARASS YOU AND MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING NIGHTMARE UNTIL YOU MOVE OUT (they CAN do that)..

Why would you INTENTIONALLY cheese off the neighborhood that YOU bought into and agreed to the rules?

I personally stayed away from any property which had deed restrictions or HOA covenants so I don't have to worry about a neighbor deciding they didn't like the color of my vehicle and harassing me for it..

As far as the OPs original problem with the fridge, it is a older fridge, if more than 10 years old there is no way I would personally spend $500 plus time putting a cooling unit in it.. That fridge is past it's lifetime and needs put into the scrap heap.. There is OTHER expensive and possible hard to find parts in that fridge that may or may not be bad and you may not find that out until the cooling unit has been changed.

Buying a USED RV fridge is a really scary proposition.. Pretty fair chance you will get a dud..

First order of business is to see if you can start it up on electric or propane.. Some of the older fridges did not have an electronic circuit board.. Those are nice since they do not require 12V to run..

I would try propane first if you can't get any electric hook up..

If burner fires up and the fridge does not start cooling within 8 hrs or you have a strong smell of ammonia then the cooling unit is done.

If you can't get burner to start then you will have to find out why and fix it..

Honestly, if cooling unit is done, buy a new RV fridge or if not doing much boon docking (camping without commercial power) then a small home fridge might be a good choice..

[rbpru]

Like the kids say,” It is easier to ask forgiveness than permission in the first place.”

Personally, I would park it until I got the information I needed or until someone said something. Then, I would tell them, “ It is a good thing that that rule does not apply to TTs”.

Of course that is why I live on the back side of a 20 acre cornfield. Some of us are just not meant to live with civilized people.

I rarely use ther propane side of my frig. We could get by with an electric only model.

[Sondy132001]

CavemanCharlie wrote:
Nice looking TT from the one picture you posted. But,,, your crank up TV antenna is broken too. I can see the crank handle in the picture and it looks wrong.

I have raised and lowered the TV antenna a few times and didn't seem to have any issues ?? I'll check it again, but in all reality I won't use it, I bought a dish and have DirecTV, that'll probably my mode of entertainment or my iPod 😃

I follow the rules in my neighborhood, but I get in trouble from time to time, I bought nice window coverings for the outside of my house, the sun just blazes my house in the summer and had them up for a year and the HOA Nazi decided this year they were unacceptable, F%^&$*S

Doesn't help I live caddie-corner do the douche who complains all the time.

My parents live on the other side of Marguerite from me and no HOA, that's my dream some day. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try calling Lake Mission Viejo see what they say.

S

[westend]

Bubba,
I don't have to get away from ridiculous laws and neighbors watching my every move because I don't live in a community like that. I'm sorry if my post ruffled some feathers. My thought was that if a person needed to work on their hobby equipment for a few hours, maybe other members of the community would see that it doesn't harm anyone and life would be a richer place.

[BubbaChris]

westend wrote:
Bring your pretty new trailer home, clean it up, and fix all the bits. Wave at the neighbors and smile. These HOA Nazi's have to learn that people have lives and we're all not robots glued to a phone to complain.

Um, NO!

Although most HOA's hire management companies to do a lot of grunt work, the actual leadership is in California has to be made of of fellow homeowners who volunteer to do what ends up being a really tough job.

Those fellow homeowners didn't write 99% of those rules (the developer does), and they often have no realistic way of removing key ones (like the ones that typically limit RV parking to 48-hours or less).

Acting like this one rule you don't like doesn't apply to you is why the rules are necessary. And it just invites your neighbors to drop a dime on you every single time you violate any rule in the future.

I spent a lot of hours over multiple years working on HOA boards while I lived near the OP. I had the not-so-delightful experience of being part of a mass board recall because of very bad behavior by my fellow board members (e.g. using the HOA's landscaping company to do work on his own property). I shut-up, paid my fees on time, and switched my volunteer work to pet therapy visits.

Please enjoy your camping as a way to get away from most of these issues, but please don't encourage other forum members to flaunt the laws/rules that apply where they live.

[westend]

Bring your pretty new trailer home, clean it up, and fix all the bits. Wave at the neighbors and smile. These HOA Nazi's have to learn that people have lives and we're all not robots glued to a phone to complain.

[CavemanCharlie]

Nice looking TT from the one picture you posted. But,,, your crank up TV antenna is broken too. I can see the crank handle in the picture and it looks wrong.

[BubbaChris]

I spent 20+ years living in MV and you may have some options.

I'd first check with any friends who live in the older non-HOA neighborhoods and see if they'll let you park it on their driveway for a weekend.

I'd also call the Lake and ask the Operations Manager if you can bring it to the upper parking lot on a quiet day and plug it into 120V for a couple of hours.

I started RVing after I moved away, but I'd also call a couple of the local storage places and see if they'll give you a daily/weekly rate for a space with 120V access for your testing purposes.

Another option is to rent a good generator and take it to wherever you have the TT.

[Sondy132001]

I live in an area that has an HOA and they are douchebags, so haven't had a chance to bring the trailer over to the house, soon as I do I will turn that puppy on and let you all know what's up, I do appreciate the help/suggestions !

Sondra

[Gjac]

I would plug the 120v heater directly into 1 120v circuit to see if it gets hot and the refer cools overnight. This will bypass the circuit board and electrical systems. If it cools this way you know that the refer is good and it may be a simple fix to get the rest of it working. You can also check the ohms between the two leads of the heating element and your manual will tell you what it should be so you will know if your element is good or bad. Mine was about $35 to replace. If you post back what happens with this test and turning on the LP you will get more help.

[Sondy132001]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Sondy132001 wrote:
My RV frig is dead, the guy I bought the trailer from said it worked one day the next it didn't. I have been looking for a refrigerator for a year, they seem to be made of gold. Even the used crappy ones on Craigslist are $700. New ones are $1200 yikes almost more than I paid for my used trailer 😃

Is there a place online to find used rv refrigerators that won't break the bank ?? thanks for any info.

Have you tried to operate it?

Does it turn ON?

What does it do....what does it not do?

They are not complicated..........power/heat source/liquid-vapor-liquid cycle.
Sometimes it is just a fuse/bad connection.....sometimes a control module.....sometimes the cooling unit.

But.....'fridge is dead' doesn't describe much.

Replacement cooling units can be purchased for >$500

And there are RV Salvage Yards

Thanks for the information on the salvage ! I will have my trailer on Sunday at my house, and I will see if it turns on, I was told when I bought it, it no longer worked so I have never tried to do anything with it, I will make the effort this weekend. Again thanks for all the input.

S