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Dometic propane fridge repair
#1

Hello,

I have a propane/electric Dometic fridge in my 99 coach. It no longer cools and I see the yellow signature of an ammonia leak. There are companies that refurbish the cooling part of the fridge. You pull out the old, drop in the refurbished and all's well. Of course, you have to get the fridge on the floor to access the back. Has anyone done this? I've looked to see how the fridge is held in place. Newell says there is probably just a strip of wood holding it in.

David

David and Teresa Brown
1999 Coach 513
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#2

You should be able to remove the exterior vent panel from the outside and easily see the wooden pieces holding the refrigerator in place. When mine when out, I decided to replace it with an apartment sized refrigerator that almost exactly fit in the same cutout inside. I ended up having to enlarge the opening by about 1/2" on the sides and top but in now have a refrigerator that will work in the hot Arizona summers and cools down much faster.

Michael Day
1992 Newell 43.5' #281
NewellOwner.com
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#3

I really like the propane option and don't want to loose it. I'll look at the vent panel, thanks.

David and Teresa Brown
1999 Coach 513
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#4

David. I would recommend this guy. He's a good friend of mine and has helped me get my basement A/C's working when other guys didn't want to touch them. Leon Herschberger is his name. If you come this way I offer 50 amp hook up to my Newell friends.

https://fixyourfridge.com/

1993 Newell (316) 45' 8V92,towing an Imperial open trailer or RnR custom built enclosed trailer. FMCA#232958 '67 Airstream Overlander 27' '67GTO,'76TransAm,'52Chevy panel, 2000 Corvette "Lingenfelter"modified, '23 Grand Cherokee.
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#5

I bought a new cooling coil system from RV Cooling Warehouse on ebay. His name was David Force, and his contact info was rvcoolingunit.com and number was 901-337-9948. We’ve had it in since 2013 without issue, other than putting too much in which disturbs the cooling air flow. His eBay name was dforce1029. Hope this helps
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#6

Thanks. I would like my basement airs reworked. Hope I can get up there soon.

David and Teresa Brown
1999 Coach 513
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#7

To be clear David, Leon primarily does RV refrigerators.... Hundreds of them. He will ship or you can visit his shop near Shipshewana, IN... Amish country. About 20 miles from my home.

1993 Newell (316) 45' 8V92,towing an Imperial open trailer or RnR custom built enclosed trailer. FMCA#232958 '67 Airstream Overlander 27' '67GTO,'76TransAm,'52Chevy panel, 2000 Corvette "Lingenfelter"modified, '23 Grand Cherokee.
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#8

OK, thanks.

David and Teresa Brown
1999 Coach 513
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#9

I have had to replace our Dometic twice in the last 3 yrs. at CW. The first one I did not get extended warranty on. The second one I didn't either after they explained how it works. It is cheaper & faster to just buy a new one and be done with everything in one day rather than wait 2plus weeks for warranty decisions & parts. I did have my old one repaired this time for about $400.00 just a tad over extended warranty cost. It needed a control board. Now I have a "brand new" drop in one ready to go. The one in the coach will hopefully go for 20 plus years so that I never need it. I basically got lifetime once only replacement warranty that way.
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#10

A few of the Foretravel guys have gone this route. But you'll still have a 20 year old fridge. Gaskets, racks, handles, etc.
The replacement cooling units seem to be ok but many more have gone to a residential type. There are a few that are close to the size of the Dometics. Depending on how you use your coach whether dry camping or traveling from hookup to hookup will determine whether you need solar panels or even a smaller dedicated inverter to power a residential fridge with less loss than your large inverter.
Here's one at Homedepot that may fit and give you a larger capacity: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-1.../310378589

Forest & Cindy Olivier
1987 log cabin
2011 Roadtrek C210P
PO 1999 Foretravel 36'
1998 Newell 45' #486 

1993 Newell 39' #337 
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