E19 Fridge Failure and Repair

[Micheal K]

A couple weeks ago, I turned on our fridge to pre-cool a day before an upcoming camping trip. When I checked on it a few hours later, I got a blast of ammonia when I opened the fridge door. Damn. Fridge closed, trailer ventilated, propane off, coolers dug out of storage, leave the fridge problem for later.

Later
Ammonia smell means the absorbtion cooling unit has a leak. Options were a new fridge or to replace the cooling unit. The fridge in question is a dometic RM2554 5cu ft which is no longer made.

The hardest question for us was whether to go with a DC compressor fridge or simply replace the cooling unit.
The DC compressor fridge that seemed like the best fit was the NovaKool 8320.

DC compressor fridge -
Pros – Better performance, larger capacity, separate freezer door.
Cons – Expensive, cabinetry modification needed with some loss of storage under the fridge, larger house battery required, more solar capacity required, would not have it all done in time for our other summer trips.

Replacement cooling unit –
Pros – relatively cheap compared to new fridge + battery + solar, no cabinetry mods needed, could be done quickly.
Cons – smaller fridge with poorer performance, some effort involved in replacing the cooling unit.

If this had happened at the end of the summer we may have went with the NovaKool, but ultimately for our usage of the trailer, 5cu ft has been sufficient and the RM2554 has always worked well for us even in hot weather so we decided to replace the cooling unit.

 

[Micheal K]

What I found online in terms of part availability is that I could get a remanufactured cooling unit or a new one from JC Refrigeration (“Amish built”). The latter claims thicker tubing.

What reviews I could find for JC Refrigeration were positive and the cooling unit I needed was in stock, so I went ahead and placed the order. Worth noting that we’re in Canada, so cross border shipping was involved. Everything in the ordering went smoothly and even with the border, the unit arrived in less than a week!

The cooling unit itself was pretty well packaged and did not have any shipping damage. It looked fine but did not have fit and finish as good as the OEM unit. Mostly the welds were not as nice, a few with splatter that was painted over, and in one place a brace to the frame had a weld missed altogether. Not difficult to fix so not a show stopper but a bit annoying. It did seem to be heavier than the OEM though.

 

[Micheal K]

It’s not my intention to give step by step instructions for replacing the cooling unit – there are decent videos on youtube that do a better job of that than I ever could but I thought it’d be helpful to share some of the Escape19 specific issues I encountered.

First, the RM2554 will not fit through the Gen2 E19 door without removing the door frame. I decided to work on it in the dinette area with the table lowered and the cushions removed (see picture). Worth mentioning for those swapping to a DC compressor fridge, the RM2554 will fit through the door after the cooling unit is removed so that’s an option to get it out instead of removing the door frame.

Before removing the fridge, I removed the cabinet door directly under it, and the 2 cabinet doors under the bed to avoid damaging them. I also removed the fridge door and door hinges.

Escape used some canned expanding foam under the bottom lip of the fridge and I had to slice it with a razor knife before I could slide the fridge into the aisle.

Actually moving the fridge is a bit tricky, it’s bulky and heavy, and there isn’t really space for 2 people to lift it. I happen to have a motorcycle lift, so I used it along with a dolly and a couple pieces of plywood to make a platform at a height where I could just slide the fridge onto it (see picture). I then rolled it to the dinette area. Same thing for the reinstallation.

Once the fridge was out, removal of the OEM cooling unit was not difficult. Installation of the JC Refrigeration cooling unit went fine as well but their unit had much larger gaps that needed to be filled with expanding foam and then taped over. Didn’t look as nice as OEM but none of it is visible once the fridge is installed. Two other details worth mentioning are that frame mounting screws were not pre-drilled, and one of the mounting brackets for the propane burner needed some modification to work.

Performance wise, I’ve only tested it for one day but it seems to work just as well or maybe a bit better than the OEM cooling unit both with gas and AC. Yesterday afternoon the outdoor temperature here was 31C (88F) and with the fridge side of the trailer in the sun. With the fridge empty and set to level 3 at that time, the freezer cycled between -16C and -20C (3F and -4F) and the fridge cycled between 5C and 2C (41F and 36F). So far, so good. Hoping this unit lasts a long time.

 

[Ron in BC]

Good on you for taking on that project. Seems like fewer and fewer folks have that DIY get er done mentality.

Nice that you had the m/c lift but I wouldn't want folks to think that one is needed. I removed my fridge by just putting a milk crate and blocks etc. to the same height as the bottom of the fridge and slide it out. Once out it's easy to have another set of hands on it if required.

Don't know how tight a fit yours was. Might felt like it was glued in, what a struggle to get a little wiggle and jiggle going. I ended up grinding off a bit of material to make it easier to slide back in.

May your ice cream stay frozen.

Ron

 

[Micheal K]

Thanks Ron!

Hopefully the thread will be helpful and encouraging to others if they run into similar problems with their fridge.

Sounds like your fridge was tighter than ours. Once the expanding foam at the bottom was cut, I was able to push it a bit from the outside and then wiggle it out on the inside. And you’re quite right about the lift, not a requirement at all, if I didn’t I would have found or made something to have the right height.

 

[JohnK-ESC]

The hardest question for us was whether to go with a DC compressor fridge or simply replace the cooling unit.

DC compressor fridge - Cons –larger house battery required, more solar capacity required, would not have it all done in time for our other summer trips.

Readiness for a DC compressor fridge is one reason we have already gone with a larger house battery and more solar capacity than we really need it at this time. My intention is for us to outlast our 3 way absorption fridge and to replace it at the drop of a hat with a DC compressor fridge which will outlast us.

John

 

[iamunique127]

Hopefully the thread will be helpful and encouraging to others if they run into similar problems with their fridge.

Thanks for the detailed how-to, Micheal.

Our older fridge has been serving us well but I've bookmarked this thread in case it needs a repair in the future.

 

[JohnK-ESC]

Michael K, rereading your account of all the work to repair your fridge and then the work of communicating it to the rest of us, I feel like posting my response in post #6 of this thread, as true as it may be was a bit insensitive. I'm sorry for that and want to say that I admire you for tackling your refrigerator repair task and actually powering through it to success. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Cheers!

John

 

[2Travelers-ESC]

.... Hopefully the thread will be helpful and encouraging to others if they run into similar problems with their fridge.

Micheal, thank you for the helpful and informative post. We also have a Dometic RM2554 fridge. It had to be replaced twice early on and both times under warranty, fortunately. The tech's preference was to do exactly as you did and to replace the cooling unit, working on the dinette inside the trailer. Replacement cooling units were not available at that time and Dometic sent new refrigerators instead. And you are right, the trailer door had to be removed to get the fridge out which didn't make the tech too happy.

We are now very attuned to the functioning of the fridge and it's something we watch closely on every trip. So far, so good, though. If it fails again I'll probably handle it as you did and replace the unit. I'm running two 6 volt lead acid batteries and a single solar panel and unless I've already upgraded that set up handling both a battery system upgrade and a refrigerator repair would be more than I would want to handle.

When you had the fridge out, did you do any mods that have been discussed here to improve cabinet insulation or air flow venting across the back?

 

[Micheal K]

Michael K, rereading your account of all the work to repair your fridge and then the work of communicating it to the rest of us, I feel like posting my response in post #6 of this thread, as true as it may be was a bit insensitive....

John, I thought your original post was spot on and I wish we'd done the same. Certainly something worth considering for people deciding on their build options.

 

[Micheal K]

When you had the fridge out, did you do any mods that have been discussed here to improve cabinet insulation or air flow venting across the back?

The fridge cavity had maybe a bit less than an inch of fiberglass insulation on each wall beside the fridge, taped off on the leading edge, and the fridge itself had a slightly thicker layer of fiberglass insulation stuck to the top. The back of the cavity (trailer shell) had a layer of reflectix on it and the top of the cavity had an angled baffle to force vertical airflow through the radiator fins at the top of the cooling unit before exiting through the rooftop vent. Sorry, no picture of this.

I didn't really see much opportunity for significant additional insulation but a fan would be easy to add if desired. We've always been satisfied with the temperatures the fridge kept as built though.

 

[2Travelers-ESC]

The fridge cavity had maybe a bit less than an inch of fiberglass insulation on each wall beside the fridge, taped off on the leading edge, and the fridge itself had a slightly thicker layer of fiberglass insulation stuck to the top. The back of the cavity (trailer shell) had a layer of reflectix on it and the top of the cavity had an angled baffle to force vertical airflow through the radiator fins at the top of the cooling unit before exiting through the rooftop vent. Sorry, no picture of this.

I didn't really see much opportunity for significant additional insulation but a fan would be easy to add if desired. We've always been satisfied with the temperatures the fridge kept as built though.

Thank you for the reply. One of the advantages of doing your own work is that you get to see these details. Since I didn't/couldn't do mine I never got to see the cavity and how it was prepared. (And my curiosity was not sufficient to motivate me to pull the fridge just to check.) Sounds like Escape did a reasonable job prepping the space (our trailers were probably built less than a year apart so construction is likely very similar) and I can now set aside this curiostiy and focus on more productive things. Installation of a cavity fan is in my back pocket should it be needed to boost performance.

 

[MVA]

Thank you for the reply. One of the advantages of doing your own work is that you get to see these details. Since I didn't/couldn't do mine I never got to see the cavity and how it was prepared. (And my curiosity was not sufficient to motivate me to pull the fridge just to check.) Sounds like Escape did a reasonable job prepping the space (our trailers were probably built less than a year apart so construction is likely very similar) and I can now set aside this curiostiy and focus on more productive things. Installation of a cavity fan is in my back pocket should it be needed to boost performance.

Per the exterior frig fan....

In 2017, we ordered our trailer with an installed exterior refrigerator fan; that was an option at that time. Within a few months, Tammy sent us an email that Dometic had sent out a bulletin that stated use of the exterior refrigerator fan while the trailer is in transit could cause the refrigerator electronics to fail.

2 cents...

 

[Ron in BC]

Since I didn't/couldn't do mine I never got to see the cavity and how it was prepared.

By your year you should be in a better situation than earlier versions. My 2014 E19 had 1/8" plywood forming the back wall of the chase behind the fridge. There was an empty cavity to the bare f.g. shell. With the sun beating down on that side of the trailer the fridge had a little extra heat to deal with.

In my case I removed the plywood, insulated the cavity with rigid foam and replaced the plywood with aluminum. Less chance of growing mold in that warm humid area.

I also added vertical baffles to duct the air up and out and one of them kept the warm exhaust air from travelling sideways. I would have installed one of the Australian exhausts if I could have gotten one. They duct the exhaust almost straight out through the side.

At any rate I believe that they did start adding some insulation to the side cavity for your model year. But even if you pulled the fridge you wouldn't see it.

The fridge in my 21C works so well I haven't even given a thought to doing anything to improve its performance.

Ron

 

[2Travelers-ESC]

MVA, thanks for the caution on using an external cooling fan. It's something I'll look into should I pursue that route (which I had considered).

Ron, thanks for the pics of the fridge cavity and for the insight on model year improvements. Like many, our fridge struggles to keep cool when the temps get above 85 degrees F. The freezer, however is often at 0 or below so that's good. It's not quite bad enough for me to tear into but not so good that I am fully comfortable with it. I know, to a great extent this is the nature of adsorbtion refrigeration.