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Use of non working fridge


Debbit

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I have had no luck finding a non working fridge I could fix for a few bucks either the one I just scrapped had a blown out boiler.

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Yes, the vent stack gets quite hot, and the gas lights easily and stays lit. The flame looks just right. I've leveled it to perfection, driven with it lit, tried it on both gas and electric overnight. It is sitting upside down in the camper right now, and I hope that works

It is doubtful that it will and even if it does it will probably do it again after it sits all winter. You have meet the criteria for it to work with the boiler heating did you notice any yellow dust sort of stuff near the fire box area?.

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Yes, the vent stack gets quite hot, and the gas lights easily and stays lit. The flame looks just right. I've leveled it to perfection, driven with it lit, tried it on both gas and electric overnight. It is sitting upside down in the camper right now, and I hope that works

Doesn't sound promising. I don't know what kind of RVing you do. If you do a lot of travelling and camp just when stopping at night or a few hours each day - a cheap 120 volt small refrigerator from a chain store works nicely. Main gain is the low cost and no need for level ground. A brand new refrigerator for under $100 and in addition, a $100 DC to AC inverter is what's needed. A decent "house" battery can run it for a full day easy with no recharging. Not a great setup if you plan on bood-docking for days at at time with no way of recharging the batteries (other then starting the engine). Also, if you find a used Norcold 12 volt refrigerator - no inverter needed (assuming it's a 1985 model or newer). The older Norcold "12 volt refrigerators" used in some big Winnebagos were 120 volt units with built-in inverters.

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Yes, the vent stack gets quite hot, and the gas lights easily and stays lit. The flame looks just right. I've leveled it to perfection, driven with it lit, tried it on both gas and electric overnight. It is sitting upside down in the camper right now, and I hope that works

I'm not looking to sell anything. That being said - I'd sell you a good working three-way for $100. Problem is - shipping these things can cost near $100. I shipped my son a three-way this spring. I'm in central New York and he lives near Denver, Colorado. It cost $75 to ship it to him. That was a Dometic that measured 34" X 24" X 22." Usually a much better deal when you can pick one up in person.

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I'd be very happy to pay for the fridge and the shipping, for a replacement fridge, if you have one to sell!

Like I said, you're better off if you can find one locally due to shipping charges. But - post the width, height and depth of your's and I'll tell you what I have that's the same size(assuming I've got one). I have several of the sort-of mid-sized, 34" tall three-ways, along with some big ones from Class A Winnes, and a few small ones like used in Chinooks. Post the specs here or send me a private email.

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Your refrigerator (RM461) should measure 32 7/17" tall X 21 13/16 wide X 24" deep. I've got a Coachmen truck camper I'm getting ready to scrap that has a Dometic RM46 in it. Three-way and a hair smaller then your's. Measures 31 1/4" tall X 21 7/8" wide X 23 5/8" deep. If you want it - I'll hook up some gas and electric to it and let it run for day or so to make all is OK. I also have a Travel'r Elixir three-way refrigerator that has been on for a full month in propane mode (borrowed by a friend at his camp). It's a Japanese made three-way. It measures 34" tall by 24" wide by 22" deep. I also have a few small Dometic three-ways that measure 22 11/16" tall X 19 15/8" wide X 17 5/8" deep.

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  • 2 months later...

I thought I should post an update to this original question, since time and several experiments and trips have given me a better idea of what works for us.

1. I freeze as many food items things as possible. I keep things that are frequent camping foods and meals frozen, so they are ready to pack at any time we decide to go.

2. Have a couple of those squarish water containers that fit in a plastic shoe box.

3. Keep block of ice in house freezer

I took the lower rack out of the fridge, and fit two of those plastic shoe boxes in there. A purchased block of ice fits right in the box. Then we fill the square water dispenser with ice and put it in the other plastic shoe box. My husband likes ice for his drinks, and because it has a spigot, you can get ice water as it melts. I put meats in ziplock bags, placed on and around the ice containers, milk and bottles in the door racks, eggs and cheese on rack above. The "crisper" for salad veggies go in the freezer compartment. It is at the very top and tomatoes don't get frozen or squashed.

Once the ice and the frozen and cold food is in the dolphin fridge, it seems to hold the cold pretty well. The fridge is big enough that I seem to be able to find space for everything we need. Of course, I'm used to packing for a westfalia fridge, and they are quite small.

I'm sure the fact that the weather has been cool, even cold, has helped a lot, but this is working well for now.

I'd love to have a good working gas fridge, but for now this is working.

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I still don't understand why you just don't buy a cooling unit and fix it. I've already done them on 2 different motorhomes and they work fine now. I know a couple of people said that the cooling unit wasn't the issue but they are wrong. Yours get hot but no cooling is always that unit. This is the cheapest out there right now. Just over 500 but when you return the old unit they refund you 100 bucks so $ 420 total.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dometic-Cooling-unit-RM2400-only-385-after-rebate-/390518768891?pt=Motors_RV_Trailer_Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5aecbb84fb&vxp=mtr#ht_2027wt_880

Linda S

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Well we might. Just not a good time, perhaps in the spring. I just thought it might be helpful to pass along what is working for us while we do without a fridge. My main appreciation of online forums is in the sharing of ideas.

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