refrigerator - repair or replace?

[Rye Livingston]

I just picked up a 1993 16’ Scamp last Friday night, and had a mini road trip for the next two days taking it home from LA to SF Bay area via Highway 1 along the coast. It’s in excellent shape with only a nick or a scratch here and there. It is the deluxe model and has wood cabinets, screen door and the bath shower combo. Of course being 14 years old it’s not perfect, and I knew that going in. The owner was very straight forward about the things needing repairs.

The refrigerator and air conditioner don’t get cold. Again, he told me this before I bought it. The little cold plate in the refrigerator get’s frosty, but the temp only gets to 58 degrees via 110 AC or on propane. Has anyone had this problem and can it be serviced or is it time to replace it? He priced a new refrigerator at Camping World installed for $730. I talked to the factory and they sold one for $630 I think, but that didn’t include shipping or installation.

I'll post the other questions I have under seperate topics.

Rye

[Frederick L. Simson]

The refrigerator ... don’t get cold. The little cold plate in the refrigerator get’s frosty, but the temp only gets to 58 degrees via 110 AC or on propane. Has anyone had this problem and can it be serviced or is it time to replace it?

What is the ambient outside temperature?
My 30 year old fridge works OK when it is below 90* outside. Between 90* and 110* ambient outside air temps, the best it can do is 50* inside. I installed a 12 volt DC (.60 amp) fan in the exhaust vent to pull the hot air out, it now can maintain 40* when it is up to 105* outside.

[Rye Livingston]

I just picked up a 1993 16’ Scamp last Friday night, and had a mini road trip for the next two days taking it home from LA to SF Bay area via Highway 1 along the coast. It’s in excellent shape with only a nick or a scratch here and there. It is the deluxe model and has wood cabinets, screen door and the bath shower combo. Of course being 14 years old it’s not perfect, and I knew that going in. The owner was very straight forward about the things needing repairs.

The refrigerator and air conditioner don’t get cold. Again, he told me this before I bought it. The little cold plate in the refrigerator get’s frosty, but the temp only gets to 58 degrees via 110 AC or on propane. Has anyone had this problem and can it be serviced or is it time to replace it? He priced a new refrigerator at Camping World installed for $730. I talked to the factory and they sold one for $630 I think, but that didn’t include shipping or installation.

I'll post the other questions I have under seperate topics.

Rye

The guy I bought it from tested it and gave me that report, and it was pretty hot down in LA so that's a good question. I'll test it again and I live in a cooler area.

The fan you added, does that need to run all the time to keep the refrigerator cool?

[Frederick L. Simson]

The fan you added, does that need to run all the time to keep the refrigerator cool?

In my circumstance:
above 90*, yes
below 90*, no

[Chris and Ame]

I hope this might help, and if not, maybe others can use this for future reference. There is a place in Arkansas that rebuilds and remanufactures refrigerators. Norcold, Dometic and others, either yours or ones that they have in stock: for about half the cost of a new one. Their web site is www.rvfridge.com. And they will ship almost anywhere.
Chris

[Alf S.]

Hi: My two cents worth agrees with Frederick... My fridge tech. says " If its hot and humid and there is little air movement don't expect too much from those gravity feed refers" Ours works wonderfully on 12v when towing because of all the air moving past the vent... and less well while the trailer is sitting still. 110v or propane it makes no never mind!!! As long as there is no leaking of the ammonia from the system...and you could smell that...there is no real reason to replace it.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie