Can older Dometic Refrigerators be restored?

[paul z-air]

Is the original Dometic Refrigerator in my 1969 Tradewind something that can be restored. Can they be restored at a reasonable price?
Paul

[tinbender]

I have no personal knowledge of these folks but check out their site and maybe give them a call. Good thing is that they are not too far away from you. In Fort Mill, SC. Just across the state line, south of Charlotte.

RV Refrigerator Repair| Rebuilt Cooling Unity- Appliance Repair | Fort Mill, SC

[paul z-air]

Thank you tinbender, I will check them out. I want to keep as much of my original Trailer so if restoring makes sense I am going to go with it.
Paul

[1959newbie]

I have the original 1959 LP-only fridge working in my Overlander. I had it pressure-checked by two different people, just to be sure: no leaks, and it cools like crazy. I did have to find a replacement door gasket and make some repairs to the interior door. And I have to keep the setting pretty low or things freeze. Also, I created a fresh-air vent in the access door, and an exhaust vent behind and slightly above the unit. There was NO intake before, and only exhaust was through a gap in wall insulation leading to small roof vent. Serious scorching in the wall led me to do something different!
My research on LP refrigerators indicates they can last a looooong time. There are even places that can make new ammonia-filled cooling units for them.
What will eventually cause me to have to get a new fridge will be failure of the Klixon valve, which is what opens & closes flow of gas to my burner. Apparently no one has figured out a suitable replacement. But your 1969 should have a more modern (and replaceable) thermocouple safety valve, I think.
Will try to find some photos of old set-up and new set-up to post.

[Globie64]

I was wondering the same thing- I found a mid 60s vintage Norcold fridge on Craigslist and wondered if it might be a reasonable alternative to a new one. It only works on gas, which is okay, but I don't want to get into something that is iffy or impossible to make work.

[Mike Leary]

Hate to pop the bubble, but a re-built fridge lasted us a year, if that. Bear in mind, we are full-timers and the fridge ran 24-7. Our second new "Classic" Dometic lasted 13 years before the dreaded "ammonia" smell. We just bite the bullet these days; replace, get warranty, hit the road.

[QuietWater]

I have a 1984 Holiday Rambler motorhome. The fridge in mine was DOA when I acquired it three years ago. I read on the internet how to remove the unit, which I did with some help (mine is a big unit), but I could not get it out the door. It was 1/2" too wide to fit through. So I took the cooling unit off the back while it lay on the floor of the MH. It was a big learning curve and took some heavy prying and cuss words, but it came out. I was going on vacation to Mobile, AL and was driving through Falkville, AL. There is an RV refrigeration repair facility there and I just dropped it off. (My original intent was to take the whole refrigerator to them.) On the way home a week later I picked it up. Cost me $475 and they included all the mastic and hardware needed to reinstall it. Putting it back in was way easier than taking it out. It works like new, now. I was very pleased with their work. They will even pull it and repair it on the spot if you can drive your RV to their parking lot. Not a big fancy place but some very nice people.

[Jammer]

It's great to hear that there are still some good places out there repairing cooling units.

There are a handful of fridge configurations for which no modern replacement is available.

[blumob]

I had the Dometic100 fridge restored from my 75 Soverign. Only problem was some of the knobs etc. were impossible to find. I ended up buying a newer Dometic. I still have the old one if you are interested.

[rothway]

Hello, we have a 1968 tradewinds and need to replace the refrigerator. The dometic models are too wide and the ones that fit are black framed Do you have one you recommend?