Repair dometic fridge

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TruckCamper99

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I noticed last year that my dometic fridge smelled like amonia. I opened the back from the service panel and noticed there was a yellow stain all ove things amd it smelled really bad. I havemt used it since.

Can these things be repaired? DIY?
 
A rebuilt refrigeration unit can be bought and installed on the existing fridge. Repairs other than replacement are not DIY from my understanding.
 
They can definitely be repaired.  Had the same thing happen in my Toyota Dolphin a couple years ago.  Bought a rebuilt refrigeration unit on-line, supposedly from an Amish-owned outfit (can't remember the website but just google "dometic refrigerator repairs" or some such).  The hardest part of the job was getting the old unit out so that I could get into the back to work on it.  You have to send your removed unit back to recoup your core charge, Good luck.  It's not that hard.
 
From what I've seen, you have to practically destroy the unit to get it apart.

Maybe they've changed.

It's also why I opted to use a cheap Walmart 2cu ft AC fridge that cost $79.00 brand new.

Works great and uses just a little more power than the Dc fridges.
 
I didn't have any luck with the under $500 DC fridges.
So this nice little AC unit still getting the job done until I decide to get a $500 - $700 DC fridge.

A 700watt inverter will run it.  Uses about 53watts when compressing and about 3 when not.
It might even run off of a 500watt inverter but I haven't tried that yet.
 
I wish I had the room for one of those in my cramper, but I don't. I have to keep my cooler behind the passenger seat in the cab. I'm going to check though...perhaps the fridge could just go in that spot and the cooler could just stay home.
 
My last Dometic refrigerator sprang a leak in the middle of the night. Holy moly! Never before got out of the house so fast. A rebuild would have cost $700.

My dorm refrigerator would run fine on a 175 watt Statpower inverter.
 
Wow.  It ran from a 175 watt inverter.  I'm impressed   :thumbsup:
 
The repairs on my fridge cost a lot and a new replacement was $1700. I ended up getting a Alpicool C50 for $320 and wish I would have sooner. It even fits in the old fridge hole!
 
I will likely do something similar if mine goes bad. I believe mine had been replaced at some point but it's still got quite a few years on it either way.  
  
 I'll yank it and put something more modern and more efficient in.
 
I wanted to close the loop on this thread. This version of this dream died. Went through a messy divorce and had to sell my truck camper and dodge dually. Never did get the fridge fixed. Currently working on living as a nomad 2.0 in a minivan when my kid graduates highscholl
 
Sorry to hear about the situation. Hopefully it ends up as a positive.

And kids are priority. Good job Dad.
 
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