Hi all, well my fridge is toast. I talked to a tech. and he said since I smelled amonia that my fridge was a gonner. I got on line and found some info about replacing the cooling unit. Sounds very doable. Anyone here ever replaced one? The fridge is certainly in good shape and I hate to pitch it. I am wondering how a cooling unit that is sealed, I assume, would hook up to the fridge without loosing the coolant in the unit????
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT replace the cooling unit with a factory unit. Contact John Force about the new and much heavier Amish cooling unit and you will never worry again. Many folks on here have gone that route, and are pleased. But, if you replace junk with junk, you will just be looking for more problems. Good luck.
Bob & Betsy(FishNFanatic) - USN Aviation Ret'd '78 & LEO Ret'd '03 & "Oath Keeper Forever" '05 HR Endeavor 40PRQ, 400 Cummins-Pulling our '11 Silverado LT, Ex Cab 6.2L NHT 4x4, w/2010 Rzr or 01 V Star in back. Where the wheels are stopped today
The Texan wrote: DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT replace the cooling unit with a factory unit. Contact John Force about the new and much heavier Amish cooling unit and you will never worry again. Many folks on here have gone that route, and are pleased. But, if you replace junk with junk, you will just be looking for more problems. Good luck.
The cooling unit is sealed. You simply unscrew the screws from the freezer and the back, remove the burner and any wires that are in the way and take the old one out. Reverse the procedure to replace. There are detailed instructions on the net. An experienced tech can do a 6 or 8 cu. ft. unit in three hours. It will take a first timer more time. Be careful and go slow. The Amish units referenced above are the best with the best warranty. Call Pines RV Refrigeration @ 901-337-9948.
Larry
1994 Ford F250/7.5L/410 gears
2001 Keystone Sprinter 276RLS 14' slide
The Texan wrote: DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT replace the cooling unit with a factory unit. Contact John Force about the new and much heavier Amish cooling unit and you will never worry again. Many folks on here have gone that route, and are pleased. But, if you replace junk with junk, you will just be looking for more problems. Good luck.
DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT replace the cooling unit. IF(key word) any way possible replace that entire piece of junk absorption fridge with a residential fridge or a 12v compressor fridge.
Yes, residential fridges are more reliable, but they won't be lasting long if boondocking, unless you have a really beefy battery array. If one always is on shore power, then it might be an alternative.
mlts22 wrote: Yes, residential fridges are more reliable, but they won't be lasting long if boondocking, unless you have a really beefy battery array. If one always is on shore power, then it might be an alternative.
I'd just go with the Amish cooling unit myself.
Yes and No. We have the standard 4-6v batteries and an MSW inverter that many RV manufacturers use, plus we added a solar system. We are changing to a residential fridge in a couple of weeks and we do a LOT of boondocking. The key is to make sure your residential fridge is an "energy star" model and also, what most people don't realize, is the RV fridge uses MORE electric power than an energy star residential fridge. So don't discount a residential fridge, just because you boondock.
My brother-in-law had the Amish cooling unit shipped directly to his RV repair tech. (Tampa FL) The RV repair tech installed it. He's very happy with it. Built much better than the units that come on the fridges.
Lonny & Diane
2004 Country Coach Allure 33' "Big Blue"
Towing 2008 Chev Colorado 4x4
Semper Fi
We seriously considered a residential refrigerator last summer when our cooling unit failed on our Norcold. We elected to go with the Amish cooling unit instead because we didn't have the space or weight left for the additional batteries that we felt would be necessary with a residential unit to allow us to dry camp as often and as long as we like to do. We went to Shipshewana, Indiana and had ours installed where they make them. Either Amish Cooling unit or residential fridge are a good choice - just depends upon your camping needs.
Dave & Kathy
2007 Monaco Knight 40PDQ towing 2003 Odyssey
Fulltime since October 2007
Before you give someone a piece of your mind, make sure you can get by with what will be left.
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