Dometic refrigerator stop working 1971 overlander

u2bewell · 06-24-2009, 10:41 AM

My frig stopped working after I defrosted. It now has a horrible smell of ammonia. Is it a leak? is it fixable on such old dometic? what should I do? help.... thank you

1971 27' Overlander

Silverhobby · 06-24-2009, 11:25 AM

Now that you have the smell of ammonia, you do have a leak. It is quite possible that you can get a replacement cooling unit for the fridge you have.

u2bewell · 06-24-2009, 11:40 AM

Thank you Silverhobby. Any idea of the cost of such replacement? would it just be more simple at this point to just pull out the whole frig and replace with small modern frig only electricity? My budget is so very limited...

Silverhobby · 06-24-2009, 12:54 PM

The electric model would be satisfactory if that's what your budget will allow. The fridge will have to be removed for service or another one anyhow.

adonh · 06-24-2009, 01:34 PM

Here is a thread that I started recently with pictures of the removal process of my old Dometic frig in my 1976 Sovereign and the replacement with a Summit electric frig. The new frig works great.

Kitchen remodel 1976

arodriguez60 · 06-24-2009, 02:03 PM

I bought a cooling unit for a RM2800 a few years back on Ebay. It costed somewhere around 350.00. wasn't hard to replace and it works beautifully.

u2bewell · 06-25-2009, 12:33 AM

Thank you all. I have removed the old Dometic today, it was shot. the removal was fairly painless. I have a nice landlord who helped with muscles and I took the deceased Dometic tothe dump. Always sad... I haven't purchased anything yet, will get to it tomorrow and will probably go for an under counter electric with small freezer at this point to create more counter space as I live/work full time inside all day, I am always fighting for space. My airstream is not refurbished at all inside, all original, cant afford it so I will go for a simple useful frig. I am a bit worried about the noise level of a normal frig as my Dometic made no noise... and am looking at Summit electric...or? You guys are doing some nice work on remodels. Good job. I am drooling ;-) Thank you again.

Ronbo · 07-11-2009, 06:02 PM

Great Job , But help... I am trying to remove the refrigerator (amonia smell) I pulled down the Right Side wall, removed the wood on top which attached it to the cabinate, and took out the two floor bolts on the right side. The darn thing still is attached somewhere.... But I cant seem to find it can you help???