Can I save this Dometic fridge

[valentine]

Hi there,
I am going through my 'new to me' 1964 Globetrotter and find one dissapointment after the next. I guess it is wishfull thinking hoping that most of my systems would work flawlessly right off the bat. I recently started a thread named "can I save this bowen water heater". The verdict from that post was, "No, dont waist your time and money, buy a new water heater!". Ok so, on to the next.
I have pulled the very clean Dometic RM46E fridge out of the trailer and taken it to an RV repair center here in New Orleans. The repairman called a couple days later and told me it has "a bad cooling unit and ignighter knob". I have looked at several other threads about this but need to hear it strait from yall. Can I save this Dometic RM46E? I've called a few places I found online and have heard about the same thing.."we don't make a cooling unit for dometics that old". What do you do in this situation?

Thanks for all your help
Jake

[mimiandrews]

Check out rvmobile.com. Lots of info on his website. He just rebuilt my cooling unit, but I'm not finished re-installing it. Will know if it worked in a few days.

[Sugarfoot]

I know there are some places that rebuild but a rebuild is not always cheap. There is an old thread on renewing refers that has some good info and also a place in California ( RV refrigerator repairs/rebuilds ) that does such.

[Mike Leary]

Check Dometic to see if they make a fresh one in your dimensions. We've had a fridge
re-built: lasted less than a year. The new ones are really nice!

[Pepsi]

I had the same question... I am NOT into the whole disposable appliances philosophy... When I asked about the HVAC and the Dometic Refer I was told the fix was to install a new one.

They said there is no way to add coolant and if there were the cost would be prohibitive.

At first I was angry at what seemed to be LAZY shop workers trying to take the easy out and make a quick buck. Then I was reminded that if we had a refrigerator in our home that old it would be very inefficient and should be recycled, to make room for new cost and energy efficient technology.

I got my old one to work anyway...

I have opened my own do it yourself repair shop. I have one really good customer. She keeps me very busy.

If you bought a 1964 home and it had the original refrigerator, HVAC system, washer and dryer, dish washer and such, would you keep them long?

Just think how nice that new refrigerator is going to look in your way cool aluminum cabin.

I am a new pessimist convert. I have found to be an optimist meant I was often disappointed when things went wrong. Now I expect them to go wrong in the first place. When I discover they don't then I am pleasantly surprised at my good fortune. Either way I have eliminated the disappointment.

"No progress has ever been made by the content person" or "all progress is born of discontent".




My trailer taught me this.

[Silvertwinkie]

Dunno if this helps, but me pops had his Dometic circa 1982 model fixed about 3 years ago. He took it to a place that sandblasted the rear guts, fixed it, filled it back up with the nasty chemicals that flew out unexpectedly on that fateful.

The unit has worked flawlessly since that time. Hoping to get another 24 years out of it.

[mimiandrews]

Installed the rebuilt cooling unit in our fridge yesterday and set it up to run in the shop on 115v AC. This morning I have 35 degrees in the lower compartment and a tray of frozen ice cubes in the freezer compartment. Cool!

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by mimiandrews

Cool!

Literally!

[VIKING]

Valentine, I rebuilt the ignighter in my refer. I don't know if you have the same kind or not though. Mine is the kind that has a knob in the toe space, towards the left. there is a flint and steel wheel, very much like a bic lighter, attached to the other end of the knob back at the burner. I took it apart and wire brushed the corrosion off of it, then I removed the flint and spring behind it and replaced it with one right out of a bic. It works like a charm!
If your cooling unit has lost its coolant it will be a bit of money to get it fixed or replaced. If it hasn't, it should work on 110 volts now. I didn't see if you mentioned trying it on 110v. Have you?
The burner on mine was not working. It just needed to be removed and cleaned. The orifice is VERY small in the burner and easy to clog.
I hope this helps you.
Happy streaming, Rich

[Overlander & Sea]

Hey Neighbor-well close-70+ miles,

I had some luck with parts on my Dometic M50 out of my '61 with
RV Refrigeration Repairs in Falkville, AL, 256-784-5097, www.rvrefrigeratorrepair.com . He does work on old RV refrigerator units & has some parts for them. Good luck

BTW- I did replace my water heater and my furnance. I thought it was just too dangerous to keep them. My refrigerator (after some work) and stove/oven are working fine.

[putback]

Valentine, we're rebuilding 1964s, they were'nt intended to last this long, especially the appliances.Old water heaters and furnaces are usually hopeless and dangerious. I've had good luck saving fridgs', 3 so far all early '60s. 1st, any coolant leaks? if yes probably a no go. 2nd, gas flow & pressure to unit is good. 3rd, chimney is unrestricted and baffle in place. 4th pilot flame is strong and playing on thermocopler. 5th, thermocoupler is opening up gas flow to burner, 6th burner orfice has a strong blue flame. For the 3 I saved #5 & #6 were the main faults, and fixed with a carefull cleaning. It takes a couple hours vs $600 for a new fridge. If you want to try a clean and adjust yourself email or post I'll try to detail. Do'nt get discouraged, you have a '64 GT, most often its gonna be the nicest coach in the park!

[debbiem50]

Hi, I have a Dometic RM46E Gas/Elec. Ref. I can get it to stay lit but it does not get cold it and the freezer does not get cold either. Can someone please tell me how my husband can fix this. our local RV center told us that it is going to cost us over $1000. to get a new one because ours could not be repaired because it was to old. Please Help us here we are on a fixed income, so there goes our camping days if this happens.My e-mail is debbiem48@att.net. Thanks Debbie

[Splitrock]

My wife and I traveled the whole country from the east to the west, from Carolinas to Maryland, from California to Canada, in multiple three week trips with no refrigerator at all and with no hardships or problems at all. We camped all the way and only got two hotel rooms the whole time.

[GlobeTrottin]

My original Dometic from '64 was not working. Took it to Dennis RV in Lansing, MI last month and they cleaned it, fixed it, replaced the JB welded propane line (yikes), and got it working like new. Great service, and they didn't look at me funny when I told them it was a 1964 Dometic. They just went to work on it. A couple hundred bucks was far less expensive than a new fridge and hopefully it's ready to keep things cold for another 47 years.