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Our refrigerator cooling unit bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. After pricing new refrigerators ($1400 and up) I decided to replace just the cooling unit. Found some units from RV Cooling Warehouse and opted for a new “Amish built” cooling unit ($600 + $55 shipping). Also found a great video on YouTube that showed the installation step by step: https://youtu.be/L8kBX9LzIJo
I have to say, this was one of the easiest things I have ever attempted to fix. The local RV tech who lives here at the park offered to do it for $600 and said it was a 10 hour job. Well, I took my time and followed the YouTube video step by step and still probably had it done in under 5 hours total with my wife helping.
If you want to know any of the particulars about it (what’s an Amish built unit, where to find them, etc) just let me know.
Oh, and this was all done inside the RV on the floor in front of the stove, except for disconnecting the gas line and a few screws which was done from the outside. No shop or outside work space. Go to forum post to see pic on new unit waiting to be installed. 🙂
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I always find it funny (and a giant relief) when you come across something that you think is going to be difficult and it turns out to be much easier (I had the same issue this weekend with replacing my dishwasher) It’s amazing how much people charge for some services and you really can save money on by doing it yourself. I swear they prey on people that are just not knowledgeable in their area of expertise.
Gotta love YouTube. It’s the modern day Encyclopedia Britannica.
Glad you were able to get that thing replaced with little hassle. :good:
Hi, Walt. Thanks for the ‘Friends’. I’d also like to ask if the cooling unit came already charged? It’s kind of funny as I started watching a YouTube post about these cooling units. Hope I won’t have to replace them, but appreciate your post just in case I need to. Regards, Winn
Winn,
yes, the unit came charged and ready to go. One thing I learned though was that it is important to take a picture of the info on the cooling unit and email it to whomever you are buying the unit from and get them to confirm you are ordering the right one. Case in point, my unit had an LBX on the end of it. The fellow at RV cooling unit warehouse said there was a period in Dometic’s past when they were relocating their plant and had a company in China make their units. So they are slightly different. There are other little things too. Bottom line, whatever you order will probably need some slight mods as far as mounting holes and such. All in all, it was a pleasant experience changing it out. Certainly within the capabilities of anyone who can maintain an RV and certainly not worth the $600+ an RV tech will charge to put it in.
As long as I am at it, there is an addendum to this story concerning the electrical. When I got the unit in and all hooked up, I had no power to the fridge. I checked the 2 fuses on the circuit board and they were good. Then I realized I only had 8.96 VDC coming to the fridge. It needs at least 10 to light the panel board when it is initially started although 14 is optimum. I went to the fuse panel and did find a 15 amp automotive fuse for the furnace had blown. I replaced it and the fridge worked fine. Somehow that blown fuse had halved my DC voltage to the fridge. If I hadn’t remembered that on some schematics I had seen the furnace label listed as “furn/fridge”, I probably would not have made the connection. 🙂
It is a good if you take a picture of every connection before disassembly so you have a picture to reference when putting back together. at least that is what I do so it makes it faster to get back together.
Thanks for the info. My fridge is working well. No repairs needed at the moment, but nice to know this info for future reference. It was just neat to have found and watched the YouTube videos about servicing how the fridge works then to see Walt’s post.
For those who may be interested in the seeing these videos, go to YouTube and search Fords RV Refrigeration Training and Service.
BTW, Steve. Taking pics has kept me out of dutch when servicing and making repairs not only in my personal life, but work, too.
Heres a great place to get your unit upgraded so you have no more worries.
http://www.fixyourfridge.com There the Amish and they do great work.
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