Replacing a Dometic RMD 8555 Refrigerator

[a602pmcc]

I posted a few weeks ago about having shorted something in the refrigerator in my 1st generation 2015 21'. Turns out that at least the main control board is bad. The eyebrow board (the one with the controls on the front of the refrigerator) may be bad too, but that one can't be checked until the main one is replaced. The cost of the main board is $540 plus installation. The other board is about $350 plus installation.

Can't see spending $1000 or more to repair that fridge. So I embarked on an effort to find a replacement. As many of you know, in addition to the consideration of the existing cutout size -- which could possibly be modified -- the more limiting factor is the width of the trailer entrance door -- which cannot be modified.

So far I have found only three possible replacement refrigerators:

1. Another RMD 8555
2. Dometic RMD 10.5XT
3. Norcold 4150

Prefer not to go back with the same as existing fridge. The Norcold is not quite as deep as the existing, so is somewhat smaller in overall capacity, and only has a one-year warranty.

So, I think the Dometic RMD 10.5XT is my first choice. It is virtually the same overall size as the existing fridge, and Dometic considers it an appropriate replacement for the RMD 8555. Dometic also touts it as having "best in class" cooling power, whatever that means. Does anyone have any experience with the RMD 10.5XT? Is it indeed better than the RMD 8555?

For those of you who have pulled out your existing RMD 8555 -- how are the flexible sealing strips arranged? Should I be able to reuse the existing ones? Or plan to get new ones? Anything else I should be aware of or thinking about for completing the replacement?

Thanks for any help, advice or suggestions you can offer.

Paul

 

[huskersteffy]

Very interested in this thread as the interior and door hardware on my Dometic is prone to breakage and have thought seriously about a replacement unit. Why does Dometic make interior fridge shelves and catches out of plastic? Cheap Cheap.

Where are you thinking of purchasing the Dometic RMD 10.5XT? I can't seem to find any sources from my friend Google.

 

[Chris R-ESC]

For those of you who have pulled out your existing RMD 8555 -- how are the flexible sealing strips arranged? Should I be able to reuse the existing ones? Or plan to get new ones? Anything else I should be aware of or thinking about for completing the replacement?

Thanks for any help, advice or suggestions you can offer.

Paul

Depending on the new fridge's dimensions, the flexible strip should work. They may need to be moved/adjusted.
Depending on how hands on you are, the fridge cavity could use some upgrading with better insulation and better baffle behind the fridge. I pulled my RMD8555 to fix the cavity, it makes a big difference.

See https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8/fridge-rmd8555-install-upgrade-20473.html for some information on what I did and others.

 

[Chama]

Have you taken a look at Novakool products? We replaced a Dometic unit in our bus conversion with a Novakool RFU9000 and it provided years of good service. Novakool is a compressor refrigerator as opposed to gas absorption type that ETI installs. Available as 12v only or as 12v/120v units. https://www.novakool.com/

 

[a602pmcc]

Depending on the new fridge's dimensions, the flexible strip should work. They may need to be moved/adjusted.
Depending on how hands on you are, the fridge cavity could use some upgrading with better insulation and better baffle behind the fridge. I pulled my RMD8555 to fix the cavity, it makes a big difference.

See https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8/fridge-rmd8555-install-upgrade-20473.html for some information on what I did and others.

Thanks, Chris. Yes, I'm planning to work on the cavity and add some insulation. Thanks for adding the link to what you did. I won't get to that for a few days at least, and I may have some additional questions once I get in there. Maybe your thread will answer them, or I'll pose new ones as I go. Very helpful for me to have guidance from those who have done something before.

Thanks again,

Paul

 

[a602pmcc]

Very interested in this thread as the interior and door hardware on my Dometic is prone to breakage and have thought seriously about a replacement unit. Why does Dometic make interior fridge shelves and catches out of plastic? Cheap Cheap.

Where are you think of purchasing the Dometic RMD 10.5XT? I can't seem to find any sources from my friend Google.

Hi Stefan,

Yes, finding one was quite a saga, involving several communications with Dometic customer service by phone and email. They insisted it was available but every dealer I contacted could find no information on price or availability through their contacts at Dometic. Eventually got correct part, item and SKU number from Dometic and that lead to success.

I've been dealing with Dyers Online https://www.dyersonline.com/. Kristi is my contact, and she has been very persistent in helping me figure it out. She just yesterday was able to get pricing and estimated ship date info from Dometic. This is not an item that Dometic keeps in stock (at least in the United States, they seem to be more readily available in Europe and the UK), but is a made to order item. Estimated ship date is mid to end of July.

If I do in fact end up ordering this one, I will continue to post my experience.

Best,

Paul

 

[a602pmcc]

Have you taken a look at Novakool products? We replaced a Dometic unit in our bus conversion with a Novakool RFU9000 and it provided years of good service. Novakool is a compressor refrigerator as opposed to gas absorption type that ETI installs. Available as 12v only or as 12v/120v units. https://www.novakool.com/

Hi Lorin,

Yes, I considered compressor refrigerators, and particularly Novakool as they seem to be very efficient. But wrote them off early on. We prefer to boondock whenever possible, and my concern is that with only 160 watts of solar and the original dual 6V batteries there would be frequent occasions when I didn't have enough juice. I do have a Honda 2000 generator, but I hate to have to run it and wouldn't want that to be a regular part of my camping and traveling.

I'd be very interested to hear more details of your experience, especially if it differs from my speculation.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I would like to find a compressor fridge to replace my dead RMD8555, and if I can find a suitable one, I would replace the dual lead acid flooded GC2's with 2 or 4 LiFePO4''s, and upgrade the 160W solar to something like 300W.

I just got a Dometic portable compressor cooler (CFX3-75DZ, 75 quarts dual zone), on the past couple hot(!) days in my driveway, sitting in the back of my covered pickup truck and maintaining 37F in the fridge, and 5F in the freezer, its drawing about 5 amps average, lets round that up to 6 and I get 144 amp*hours per day, or 1700 watt*hours/day, so I figure 300W rated of solar should give me about 200 watts about 8 hours per summer day in the wide open, so should be sufficient, to keep the batts charged. maybe 400 AH of LiFePO4 would be sufficient power to run that fridge for a couple days.

 

[fudge_brownie]

Several years ago my RMD 8555 failed. I used a mobile rv tech and with Dometic on the phone they determined the main board failed. We ordered the board and within a week we had a replacement. Unfortunately the replacement board did not solve the problem and we now ordered an eye brow board. I did not receive that part until returning home, it was an easy install and fixed the problem. The tech said it was probably a case of both boards failing. This is something I question but have not proved.

I now have in my possession a main board that may or may not work. I would be willing to ship it to you on your dime and if it works out we can determine a price. Send me a private message if interested.

FYI the original issue was the refrigerator would not work on gas, it did work on shore power. The total repair ran a bit over $1,100.

 

[7th Heaven]

OMG!! This is the exact issue I have with my RML 8555.
thanks posting this info...

Several years ago my RMD 8555 failed. I used a mobile rv tech and with Dometic on the phone they determined the main board failed. We ordered the board and within a week we had a replacement. Unfortunately the replacement board did not solve the problem and we now ordered an eye brow board. I did not receive that part until returning home, it was an easy install and fixed the problem. The tech said it was probably a case of both boards failing. This is something I question but have not proved.

I now have in my possession a main board that may or may not work. I would be willing to ship it to you on your dime and if it works out we can determine a price. Send me a private message if interested.

FYI the original issue was the refrigerator would not work on gas, it did work on shore power. The total repair ran a bit over $1,100.

 

[7th Heaven]

LOL It seems we are thinking alike John,
I was just in REI looking at the CFX3-75DZ to be our tent/car camping ( and backup trailer) fridge ... I'm going to be putting it to the test next week.

-Dave

I would like to find a compressor fridge to replace my dead RMD8555, and if I can find a suitable one, I would replace the dual lead acid flooded GC2's with 2 or 4 LiFePO4''s, and upgrade the 160W solar to something like 300W.

I just got a Dometic portable compressor cooler (CFX3-75DZ, 75 quarts dual zone), on the past couple hot(!) days in my driveway, sitting in the back of my covered pickup truck and maintaining 37F in the fridge, and 5F in the freezer, its drawing about 5 amps average, lets round that up to 6 and I get 144 amp*hours per day, or 1700 watt*hours/day, so I figure 300W rated of solar should give me about 200 watts about 8 hours per summer day in the wide open, so should be sufficient, to keep the batts charged. maybe 400 AH of LiFePO4 would be sufficient power to run that fridge for a couple days.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

LOL It seems we are thinking alike John,
I was just in REI looking at the CFX3-75DZ to be our tent/car camping ( and backup trailer) fridge ... I'm going to be putting it to the test next week.

-Dave

careful, that thing will suck your vehicle batteries down hard, then stop cooling.

I have it in the back of my f250 diesel pickup, and setup so I can run it on the trucks DC or external DC or AC. My plan is to only use the trucks DC while driving, and for short stops. in camp, either AC if I have a hookup, or my trailers batteries+solar, which will need a good upgrade.

my trailer has 160W solar on its roof, and I have a portable 100W panel I could hook upp the truck, or add to the trailer. but if I replace my rmd8555 with a compressor fridge, I'm gonna wanna at least double my battery capacity (via LiFePO4) and my solar to at least 300W rooftop.

 

[fudge_brownie]

I have corresponded with another party about a year ago who had the same failure. Perhaps that explains why there are no spare parts? After pulling the refrigerator for a thorough insulation of the cavity and adding a flame guard over the burner it has been performing pretty well. But it sure has been a PITA.

OMG!! This is the exact issue I have with my RML 8555.
thanks posting this info...

 

[7th Heaven]

Hi John,
Again we're in sync.

DC while The tow was in motion.

When stationary trailer power can take over. I have 300 watt solar capacity plus a generator...

After this trip, I'll be doing the refrigerator swap out and upgrade the battery capacity

 

[a602pmcc]

Nova Kool

I would like to find a compressor fridge to replace my dead RMD8555, and if I can find a suitable one, I would replace the dual lead acid flooded GC2's with 2 or 4 LiFePO4''s, and upgrade the 160W solar to something like 300W.

Hi John,

Before I abandoned the compressor fridge route I was looking at the Nova Kool RFU 6400. It looked like it would fit in the cutout, and doesn't have the same issues for air flow across the coils so shouldn't require much if any modification of the existing space. However, I didn't get very far down that road so can't vouch for it in depth.

Good luck,

Paul

 

[vermilye]

I'd check to be sure there is a 120V version of the Dometic RMD 10.5XT. All I can find is 230V versions. If you never plan to use it on AC, or can find a replacement electric element, it might work...

 

[Rossue2]

I like seeing the Dometic RMD 10.5 XT has stainless wire shelves like the RML8555. The RMD8555 is all plastic crap. If my RMD8555 goes south this is probably what we'll get as we never use electric to cool. Adding nescessary solar and batteries for a large compressor fridge will not be cheap.

https://www.dometic.com/en-pl/outdo...s/rv-refrigerators/dometic-rmd-105xt-_-255140

 

[Rossue2]

Hi Stefan,

Yes, finding one was quite a saga, involving several communications with Dometic customer service by phone and email. They insisted it was available but every dealer I contacted could find no information on price or availability through their contacts at Dometic. Eventually got correct part, item and SKU number from Dometic and that lead to success.

I've been dealing with Dyers Online https://www.dyersonline.com/. Kristi is my contact, and she has been very persistent in helping me figure it out. She just yesterday was able to get pricing and estimated ship date info from Dometic. This is not an item that Dometic keeps in stock (at least in the United States, they seem to be more readily available in Europe and the UK), but is a made to order item. Estimated ship date is mid to end of July.

If I do in fact end up ordering this one, I will continue to post my experience.

Best,

Paul

Did you order this? What price was quoted?

 

[Chris R-ESC]

I like seeing the Dometic RMD 10.5 XT has stainless wire shelves like the RML8555. The RMD8555 is all plastic crap. If my RMD8555 goes south this is probably what we'll get as we never use electric to cool. Adding nescessary solar and batteries for a large compressor fridge will not be cheap.

https://www.dometic.com/en-pl/outdo...s/rv-refrigerators/dometic-rmd-105xt-_-255140

and it's also 230v. Do they make a version 110v? although we use gas most of the time.

 

[alanmalk]

I would like to find a compressor fridge to replace my dead RMD8555, and if I can find a suitable one, I would replace the dual lead acid flooded GC2's with 2 or 4 LiFePO4''s, and upgrade the 160W solar to something like 300W.
...

Add me to the group of unhappy RMD8555 owners. Between the poor cooling in the freezer compartment, various broken plastic parts over the years, and the potential for $1,100 electrical parts replacements - I am keeping my options open. Would not hesitate to upgrade the solar/battery systems to accommodate a compressor unit if it is the most suitable solution.

And I too recently purchased a portable CFX3-45 to use as a "deep freeze". So far been using it on 110AC and it keeps the ice cream solid in very hot conditions. The plan is to use my lithium boat battery when and if I boondock with it.

So - a request - folks happy with their solutions - keep us posted with model numbers and prices if possible.

Thanks!
Alan