Replacing a Dometic RMD 8555 Refrigerator

[alanmalk]

I asked our local RV repair shop to try to obtain the Dometic 10.5XT - to replace the above mentioned POS. It appears they might need a little poke.

[Treblemaker]

Hope you can get the 10.5xt soon! We replaced our old frig with that model last summer. Have used it consistently from Jan-April on a long trip and we’re very pleased. We got it based on recommendations from folks on this forum. Quite an upgrade from the 8555. Has done well in cold weather as well as 90+ for us so far. Cools down quickly! We did get the optional fan also.

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

I asked our local RV repair shop to try to obtain the Dometic 10.5XT - to replace the above mentioned POS. It appears they might need a little poke.

If your trailer is stored at home a good mobile tech could be a better solution.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

I asked our local RV repair shop to try to obtain the Dometic 10.5XT - to replace the above mentioned POS. It appears they might need a little poke.

Alas - I procrastinated too long. This is the bad news I got from Dyers a few minutes ago:

Unfortunately we were just advised by Dometic, that they are no longer making the fridge that you ordered so we cancelled your order, refunded you & removed it from our website.


When I placed my order with Dyers they mentioned that the 10.5 was one of their best sellers.

Looks like I'll try to obtain something from Norcold.

[huskersteffy]

Looks like I'll try to obtain something from Norcold.

Please keep us posted. I'm very interested in this thread as I ponder what I would do if I had to replace my RMD8555 from 2016. Extra vaseline to squeeze it thru the trailer door!?

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by huskersteffy

Please keep us posted. I'm very interested in this thread as I ponder what I would do if I had to replace my RMD8555 from 2016. Extra vaseline to squeeze it thru the trailer door!?

the RMD8555 easily fit out the door on my '14 21 classic. and the N2175 easily fit in the door. I took the mattress out before hand to make it a little easier (and to avoid mattress damage if the fridges got laid down on top of it prior to feeding it out/in)

[LeonW]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Alas - I procrastinated too long. This is the bad news I got from Dyers a few minutes ago:

Unfortunately we were just advised by Dometic, that they are no longer making the fridge that you ordered so we cancelled your order, refunded you & removed it from our website.


When I placed my order with Dyers they mentioned that the 10.5 was one of their best sellers.

Looks like I'll try to obtain something from Norcold.

Alan, did you find anything from Norcold? Escape is not the only manufacturer that used the RMD8555. Seems like there should be.a market for making replacement fridges that fit in that space.

[John in Santa Cruz]

The Norcold N2175 is an exact fit, but its a DC Compressor only fridge. Very happy with ours but I have 2 big lithium batts, and double the stock solar panel.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by LeonW

Alan, did you find anything from Norcold? Escape is not the only manufacturer that used the RMD8555. Seems like there should be.a market for making replacement fridges that fit in that space.

Have a Norcold N2175bpl on order from an outfit in Florida - "RV Fridge Guys". Fingers crossed...

It seems our first choices of Dometic or Norcold absorption style refridgerators have both been discontinued. Options for RMD8555 owners are becoming limited.

We will probably have to expand our battery storage and possibly add a panel to the roof. Perhaps a pair of 100 Watt units might fit on each side of the A/C.

[John in Santa Cruz]

On my 21, when I removed the roof vent for the absorption fridge, I was able to nicely fit a 360W LGE solar panel on the roof behind the AC right on top of the factory rails used for the 160W panel my 2014 21C came with....

some random pics of the solar install...







This panel is 66.38 x 40 x 1.57 inch, its a LG Neon-R 360W monocrystalline, with 42.7V open circuit, 36.5V at max output, so you need a MPPT controller, I used a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30. If I run my batteries down deeply, I've gotten 2400 watt*hours/day out of it, but my typical usage when camping is around 700WH/day.... We camped a solid week with zero sun, in the deep shade of a huge spreading oak tree, and my 2 x 206AH (5260WH total) Lithium batteries were still at 40%

[John in Santa Cruz]

ok, the Norcold N2175 is 49.2 x 20.7 x 23.7 inches. its not nearly as deep as the RMD8555, so its that 49.2x20.7" hole we're mostly concerned with, lets see what OTHER fridges Norcold has in this size...

lesee... the 3-way NA7LX series are 52-7/8 x 23-1/2, so nope.

and the NA8LX are 59-7/8 wide, so no way no how.

hmm, the N4150 is 49-3/16 high x 20-3/4 wide. and just under 23" deep.

I do believe we have a winner. The N4150 is a Propane/AC/DC absorption fridge.
https://norcold.com/product/norcold-n4150-refrigerator/



for reference, the RMD 8555 is 1245mm high, 523mm wide, 622mm deep. Thats 49" high x 20.6 wide x 24.5" deep... I needed to do zero cabinet trimming to fit my N2175 in its place, we did remove the original molding strips so they didn't get damaged on removal, then reattach them, but they went in the exact same place.

[alanmalk]

Looks like the N4150 is about 1 cu ft smaller capacity than the N2175. Would not want to loose that extra space.

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Looks like the N4150 is about 1 cu ft smaller capacity than the N2175. Would not want to loose that extra space.

But on the positive side, you don't need to use those stupid plastic, space wasting shelves and having to open the door to adjust the controls. I hope the N4150 is not discontinued before I have to replace the RMD8555. Wish there was more choice.

[LeonW]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

The Norcold N2175 is an exact fit, but its a DC Compressor only fridge. Very happy with ours but I have 2 big lithium batts, and double the stock solar panel.

given our age, we expect to sell the trailer sometime in the next few years, so I don't want to invest the money in a compressor fridge and retooling the electrical system with additional solar, lithium batteries, a new power supply unit, etc. The current fridge works fine (for now). But I had to clean the orifice last weekend, and since the screw that holds the cover was rusted tight, it took the use of an extended vocabulary to get the cover off....But it is currently 34 degrees in the fridge and 6.4 in the freezer. that is after I turned the fridge down to '3' because it was freezing in the fridge.

[LeonW]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Have a Norcold N2175bpl on order from an outfit in Florida - "RV Fridge Guys". Fingers crossed...

It seems our first choices of Dometic or Norcold absorption style refridgerators have both been discontinued. Options for RMD8555 owners are becoming limited.

We will probably have to expand our battery storage and possibly add a panel to the roof. Perhaps a pair of 100 Watt units might fit on each side of the A/C.

Thanks Alan. like you say, the options are becoming limited.

[Sailor now Trailer]

Paul, I'm not entirely sure what is going on with our RMD8555. Last weekend I had trouble getting the control to switch from gas to 120ac. None of the controls worked when I pushed the various "buttons" and I would get intermittent beeping coming from the fridge. Then mysteriously the next morning, I was able to use the controls to switch from gas to 120v and the temp control worked again. Fast forward to arriving home to winterize, I tried switching to gas or 12v, and again nothing seemed to work, stuck on 120ac. I want to try your suggestion on loosening the "eyebrow" board to determine if it is indeed damp inside that space. It appears there are 2 screws easily accessed behind the freezer door, and a number of screws accessed from under the panel in the fridge section. Is that correct, will that allow removal of the eyebrow control? Does the frame heater, or lack of use, have anything to do with contributing to that area being prone to dampness?
Watching a video on YouTube, there seemed to be a reset button near the burner/chimney that seemed to fix the issue. Do you recall if that's the case with the 8555?
Lastly, I'm reluctant to throw $$$ at this, assuming that parts are available, if it's only going to continue to have issues going forward.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my understanding is, control boards for the RMD8555 are NOT available. It was made in Germany by a former division of Electrolux, and Dometic USA has zero interest in supporting it.

[fudge_brownie]

The issue most often seen on the RMD8555 has been a clogged orifice. That does not seem to be similar to your issue. Second most common problem is the inability to use gas, the unit only works on electric. The beeping and failure to ignite were present.

I always had significant accumulations of moisture on top of the control buttons, between the doors. The amount of moisture varied depending on time of year and length of use.

With a 2015 installation date by 2019 I had to replace the main board and the moustache/eyebrow board. I do not think the main board failed, rather Dometic had advised the repair tech to do that first. Failure to run on gas was the symptom. The moisture issue had not been defined at that time. In 2022 the same issue appeared, failure to ignite on gas. Again, attributed to the moustache/eyebrow board.

You are on the right track in those screws. My recollection is that once you remove it you will discover there was an easier way, not apparent until it was removed. I used a hair dryer on low and then air drying with the board hanging loose. I never got to coating the board.

[Iowa Dave]

Thanks for your analysis and recap of your 8555 experience. That’s the refrigerator we have. It has worked for us but has not performed to the level we need at time when we are camped or traveling where it’s 90+ Fahrenheit or better. If and when this unit fails, it’s our intention to replace it with something besides a dometic. Getting ready for an outing yet this fall and then winterization. Paul, thanks for hosting the Rally a Thompson. We look forward to it each year. My only disappointment this year was the poor apple crop I had due to cold weather during pollination and the drought we have had this year that made garden production marginal. That meant I didn’t have produce to share this fall. And that disappointed us.
Have a great late fall and go into winter with plenty of firewood.
Iowa Dave

[fudge_brownie]

Now that I am done with that model of Dometic there are some things I would do in hindsight. If you are seeing moisture on your double door RMD8555 I would take it apart and examine the circuit board looking to see if it was coated with a clear plastic film. If not, I would spray a product on it.

There are numerous wires connected to the board but they are all keyed so they can be easily reinstalled.

The next step would be to frequently dry the surface of the space between the doors and remove any collecting moisture. This is hard to remember to do and as you may guess you are only getting at the moisture on the outside, what is happening on the backside of those buttons?

Since I have corresponded with many of the owners of this refrigerator, I would venture to guess that one third to one half have been scrapped. Other issues are present such as leaking door seals, flame outs when driving, poor insulation in the refrigerator cavity (Escape's fault) and what Dave points out - poor performance over 90 degrees.