Refrigerator questions

[rveatch56]

I am renovating my 1979 Excella. I have pretty much gutted it. I was planning on replacing the Dometic fridge because it was not working. However, I have heard that there are places and the possibility that it can be repaired.

Has anyone had any luck repairing these? I would also want to repaint the front to match my new cabinets if it can be repaired.
It is a propane, 12 v and 120 v unit. Nothing works.

Does this non working fridge have any value or should I just haul it off?

thanks, Randy

[Al and Missy]

You have options, including putting a new cooler unit in your fridge. Several on here have posted about this option:
https://jc-refrigeration.com/
You could contact them and see if they make a replacement for your unit.

Obviously you could buy a new propane unit.

Finally, there are more efficient units that operate from 12 volts. One manufacturer is Vitrifrigo. If/when my Dometic dies I am going to replace it with a Vitrifrigo. The 8 cu. ft. model uses about 65 watts (5.4 amps) when running and runs somewhere around 30% of the time according to Switz on here who has two of them. The battery drain that would have to be replaced would be about 40 amp*hours per day, and the 5.3 cu. ft. model is about half of that. If you are going to be on shore power, that is no problem.

I believe my tow vehicle would supply enough power to keep the batteries charged while driving. Solar or a generator would be required for boondocking, but a 100 watt panel would probably deliver enough power to keep from discharging the batteries on sunny days. More power and more batteries would be required to make up cloudy days.

We mostly camp where there is shore power and I have a generator so I feel like the convenience of propane refrigeration is not enough of a benefit to offset the need for leveling, lower performance, risk of open flames, and possibility of flammable refrigerant leaks, all inherent (in my opinion) in propane fueled refrigeration.

Al