[High5]

i bought a 1986 class c motor home about 6 weeks ago or so and i have now been on two trips in it. this past weekend i went wheeling up in clayton oklahoma and stayed the weekend and everything was great and the refridgerator worked perfectly. i came home sunday and unpacked and turned the fridge off and opened the doors so condensation would not build up in it. well yesterday i went to go put some stuff back in the MH and when i opened the door i can smell the amonia from the fridge. is it toast or is it possible thay it can be fixed? i had someone tell me one time that when this happens the fridge will have to be replaced so i am basically just checking to see if this is true. thanks

 

[dumass]

Found this while doing some ac research. May be what you need, it sounds simple enough to rebuild and iirc they guarantee the results. hope this helps

http://www.rvfridge.com/process.htm

A) If you smell ammonia in or around the refrigerator, and you haven't recently used ammonia for cleaning, the cooling unit is bad. No further testing is necessary.

If sodium chromate is present on the outside of the cooling unit, the cooling unit is bad. Sodium chromate is a yellowish-greenish powder in solution inside the cooling unit. If sodium chromate is outside the cooling unit, the cooling unit has a hole in it.

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Many people ask if changing the cooling unit out on their refrigerator is a complicated process. The answer to this is "no". Most any person with a basic set of tools can change out a cooling unit in an afternoon. There is no welding, soldering, or any special skills required. The cooling unit is a sealed system, and is basically a bolt in operation. And, we include a complete set of instructions and materials specific to your model refrigerator with every cooling unit we ship. Plus, we offer full technical assistance should the need arise simply by calling us.

 

[FYRMAN]

The cooling unit is bad.

I would go with a direct replacement from the factory if I was to replace the cooling unit. I have seen a couple of the reman cooling units not work, or leak down before they even get to the customer. It's a bitch to do all of that work, and then not have the thing cool when you are done.

While checking on prices of the cooling unit, I would check into fridge prices too. We have found a few refrigerators that were cheaper in the long run to replace as a whole, instead of just the cooling unit. That is including labor though.


Make sure you have the model and serial number when you go for prices. If it's a Dometic fridge, you will need the production number too, if it has one.

 

[7938]

When mine went out in my 5th wheel camper I just replaced it with the biggest one I got get to fit in the hole. I was not going to pay big bucks for an rv fridge. The only thing is you can not run it off propane but I plug in everywhere I go. Something like this... http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=176801-2251-FRTC03L3DW&lpage=none

 

[High5]

thanks for all of the info. i will check into a new cooling unit.

i do want to continue to run propane. some of the places i go do not have hookups and eventhough my MH has a generator i do not always run it and the fridge uses very little propane to run. i really like that feature.