Refrigerator not cooling on gas or AC - Repair or Replace???

[Grandfatherjim]

Originally Posted by CASITA BANANA

After struggling with an old 3-way for years, never being able to trust my food was being safely kept cool, I opted to discard and replace it with a 12/120v Danfoss-compressor fridge. In other words ... a real fridge. It runs off my solar during the day and off my batteries during the night, or, 120 when hooked up to shore power. At that time it was about $800 since I installed it myself. I got more storage space for the same cabinet room. It's an Engel which I don't think is still being offered but there are others available. Good luck!

This. It's amazing what a relief it is to have a normal reliable fridge that gets down to temp in a few minutes, makes ice, doesn't heat up the camper as much, and needs less "babysitting" - and at a lower cost! If you have 120 nearby, plug it in and it switches over from 12v on its own. But - can't run on propane, so it does depend on your camping habits. We usually don't stay put in an off-grid situation for more than three days so it works for us. TruckFridge and Vitrifrigo are two options.

[Florida Girl]

I see you live in Texas. How far are you from Rice? Casita has a repair shop.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by CASITA BANANA

After struggling with an old 3-way for years, never being able to trust my food was being safely kept cool, I opted to discard and replace it with a 12/120v Danfoss-compressor fridge. In other words ... a real fridge. It runs off my solar during the day and off my batteries during the night, or, 120 when hooked up to shore power. At that time it was about $800 since I installed it myself. I got more storage space for the same cabinet room. It's an Engel which I don't think is still being offered but there are others available. Good luck!

I have a compressor fridge too. Night and day difference. The compressor fridge works just like a household fridge, because it is the same principal. Cools immediately, goes down to any temp you want reliably, does not care about outdoor temp, does not care about level (although that is not an issue with modern RV fridges), no propane used for refrigeration and more interior room for a given size. It draws a small current from the batteries which get recharged by solar. With solar, I rarely plug my trailer in and the fridge is always cold.

[Borden]

Sorry to hear about your fridge. Did not know new units did not last.

[Bob & Jackie C]

Originally Posted by scottcparks

Casita 2017 Spirit Deluxe. Dometic 2454 fridge and freezer will only cool to 68 on AC and 58 on gas. Mobile RV repair came out, and their diagnosis was a failed cooling unit.

Their remarks - "Checked the power sources to the refrigerator(12v,120v,LPG). All are good to the appliance. Got the appropriate amp readings from the 120v/12v heating elements and the temp reading from 3 heat sources. The appliance should be cooling."

They gave me an estimate to replace the cooling unit. $2000 total which seems high to me. They sourced the cooling unit for $1000 and five hours of labor at another $600. Does this seem right?

I priced a brand new Dometic 2454 at Camping World for $1500. Would replacing the entire fridge be the way to go? The repairman said that removing and installing a new fridge is difficult, because the unit has to be taken apart to go through the door. This would bring labor cost close to replacing the cooling unit anyway. I have also read where the fridge should be replaced through the back window. Is this a feasible and better option?

If these fridges have a 10-15 year shelf life, others have had to cross this bridge before. I hate that I have to cross it in only five years. Please help!

OK, Try opening your fridge and sliding the temperature controller on the right hand side of the cooling fins up. Up is to cool, down is to warm.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by scottcparks

Casita 2017 Spirit Deluxe. Dometic 2454 fridge and freezer will only cool to 68 on AC and 58 on gas. Mobile RV repair came out, and their diagnosis was a failed cooling unit.

One thought. I would get something like a kill-a-watt, which gives you the amperage that the AC is pulling. Normally the frig has a standard AC cord on it and is then plugged into an outlet. If this is the case unplug it and plug it into an extension cord with the kill-a-watt in line. See what the amps being pulled are. If you are starting this with it out of service and warm then it should be a bit over an amp about 170W. If not the element is not on.

Leave it running for a while and let it get as cold as it will. Then look at the readings. If they have dropped then it would the the thermostat. If it is still at the 1 ampish reading then the cooling system has failed.

[islelad]

I have experienced poor cooling at altitudes above 400O’ elevation.
As stated in another post the cooling fins in the freezer have a aluminum slide that will adjust temperature.
The other area I saw was the cooling fins at the exterior access panel. The efficiency of the refrigerator is related to how well the exterior fins can transfer heat out of the interior of the unit. The fins are cooled by convection. Air entering the bottom panel rise and exit the upper panel. In the process air passes thru the fins and cools. What I noticed is Casita does a poor job of directing the air to actually cool the fins . My solution was to install a shield forcing all the rising cooling air through the fins instead of bypassing the fins completely.
This detail has increased the cooling for my refrigerator. Hope this helps.

[Casita Greg]

If your Casita 17' is 2003 or newer, (they reconfigured the actual trailer shell molds at the factory that year,) then the fridge can be removed and replaced intact, without any disassembly, through the rear window rough opening. This change to the larger rear window was done just for this reason. It will of course, require the rear window to be removed and then reinstalled, but other than unscrewing the inside window frame, pushing it out, and later replacing the butyl tape sealing gasket around the frame, it's not that hard. Two people will need to be present to make this work, but this replacement has been done numerous times. If your trailer is pre-2003, then all bets are off because of the smaller rear window that won't accommodate the fridge passage. I would not disassemble the fridge unless it was absolutely necessary. (And be prepared to remove a gallon of silicone sealant around it that they gooped on at the factory.) FWIW, I'd definitely go "new" with a warrantee, as opposed to rebuilding a tired old fridge.

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Bob & Jackie C

OK, Try opening your fridge and sliding the temperature controller on the right hand side of the cooling fins up. Up is to cool, down is to warm.

I'm not sure which fridge model you have, but the 2454 doesn't have any such adjustable slider.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

I'm not sure which fridge model you have, but the 2454 doesn't have any such adjustable slider.

Well it has one, not just there and not physical. It is electronic. There is a temperature control at the top as a part of the control panel.

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Casita Greg

Two people will need to be present to make this work, but this replacement has been done numerous times.

I have not done this one, but have done a lot of things like this where they say two people. The reality is almost always two inside and two outside. Or four people ;-)


But then again get a couple pizzas and have some friends over ;-) ;-)

[RollinMike]

Any Rv or boat mechanic should be able to fix it. Anyone who says replace it doesn't know how to work on it so go somewhere else. "failed cooling unit" is not a diagnosis. That is like saying "car doesn't start". Gee thanks for the info...

[parmm]

Burp it.

https://goneoutdoors.com/ways-burp-t...r-6584220.html

[johnwen1]

Originally Posted by skipperclyde

I have replaced the refrigerator on a Spirit Deluxe. The only way to replace the unit without taking it apart is to remove the rear window and pass it through the opening.

Skipperclyde is right, it must go out through the removed rear window.

[scottcparks]

Welp. I gave it another 2 months of life with the troubleshooting on this thread, but now it is dead yet again. I guess I will bite the bullet and replace it.

It's a RM2454 (3way). Has anybody had any luck replacing it with the RM2451 (2way) model? I believe they are the same size.

[kip22]

I would highly recommend a dc compressor fridge. In the same cavity as the old one you get about 40% more space. There are lots of threads on here about the benefits. I just bought a novakool I’m very happy with made locally to me in Burnaby.