Dometic RM2852 died

[Yankee_Clipper]

Working on the motorhome last weekend, and went for a cold bottle of water. Whoops, everything is warm inside the fridge and the freezer has water where ice ought to be. Looked in the outside access panel and there was the dreaded yellow **** all over the bottom of the compartment. Time to make some decisions.
We considered a small house fridge, and the ~24x24x60 opening, and there are products that will fit in the 9.5 cu.ft. range: but, they only work when plugged in and/or genset running. Plus, there is the issue of anchoring to the chassis, and securing doors and shelved not meant to bounce down a road.
I settled on a new cooling unit, and selected a remanufactured core from rvcoolingunit.com . David Force, the owner, was very helpful in ensuring the correct unit was ordered, because that Dometic model has gone through several modifications over its long production run.
I have drafted my sons to help with the removal and replacement of the unit and will report here on lesson learned. My wife has listened to my plans and expects to spend the day shopping in Tallahassee!

[Old-Biscuit]

Yankee Clipper wrote:
One last note: on the old 110v power strip, the new core has the freezer at 27 degrees, the fridge at 34 degrees. In the end, it was worth the trouble.

What are you using to measure temps with :H

Freezer needs to get to 10*F before food compartment can effectively cool down.
Has to do with heat transfer....freezer low temp evap coil is 1st and the cold ammonia vapor absorbs most of the heat from freezer so very little absorption is available for food high temp evap coil UNTIL freezer is 10*F then food high temp evap coil has cold ammonia vapor available to absorb the heat from food compartment.

Freezer should be at least 5*F but ideal would be *8F or colder
especially with a NEW cooling unit.
Did you get freezer section sealed up and use enough thermal mastic \

[wildmanbaker]

Yankee Clipper wrote:
One last note: on the old 110v power strip, the new core has the freezer at 27 degrees, the fridge at 34 degrees. In the end, it was worth the trouble.

Are you sure about the freezer temp.? It should be closer to 0 degrees than 27. It would take quite a while to freeze ice at that temp. The bigger the Delta T, the quicker the temperature transfer.

[96Bounder30E]

Freezer at 27°F......ut oh..... That's not right....

[Yankee_Clipper]

One last note: on the old 110v power strip, the new core has the freezer at 27 degrees, the fridge at 34 degrees. In the end, it was worth the trouble.

[Mile_High]

Good deal! Doesn't that feel good when a plan works, and it didn't cost a new fridge 🙂

[Yankee_Clipper]

Success! We finished the installation on Saturday, as an unscheduled Black Friday excursion popped up and the crew mutinied for a while.
What worked well:
1. the installation videos on YouTube were very helpful, and provided us with good methods.
2. the reman unit was an exact fit. Add a few dollars for door insulation, fiberglass insulation, and aluminum tape. The reman unit shipped with spray foam insulation and a bit of tape, but not really enough to cover the inevitable tape snarl.
Surprises:
1. Dirt wasp nests, actually more like condos. The little buggers went around the screen and had so many in there they actually impeded getting the unit out.
2. Sodium Chromate travels further than expected. It took a lot of wire wheel and wire brush cleaning to get it out and off the components. I had both on hand, but to do it right takes extra time.
3. The smallest roll of fiberglass insulation is 15" x 40'. Enough to re-line the flue and the enclosure, too. We used 3M spay glue to stick the insulation into the enclosure.
4. the electric strip looked pretty used up what we got it out of the boiler tube, but it went right back in and works. I checked it with the multimeter and got 40 ohms, so save a few bucks there.
5. Only one stripped screw head in the project, and it was between the cooling fins. I wasted a couple of hours trying to do the right thing with easy-outs and then just drilled it out.

Got it all re-assembled and wired, hooked up the propane line, and tested the gas function first. It needed a few re-lights as the air came out of the lines and it burned blue (Yippee!). Went to the electric strip and everything is cold inside.
The Eagle has landed...

[msmith1199]

Yankee Clipper wrote:
I bought the Amish re-man unit, and the cost was $580 delivered, with a $60 core return. Among my many faults, I am cheap, so this was the best cost-effective solution to the reefer failure.
My sons are both home, and, as a senior citizen, it never really occurred to me to try it on my own.
I will also have to take down the pantry doors and the refrigerator doors to get the unit out. I already have a tarp staged to work in the main area with the slide out.
My thanks to all the words of encouragement! The fuse is lit, and the coyote and I are strapped on the Acme rocket...

I don't think the re-manufactured units are the Amish ones. The re-mans are basically the old dometic ones that broke like ours have and they rebuild them. The Amish units are built from scratch with brand new materials. According to info I read they should last 10 times as long as the brand new original units. So basically, once fixed, my refer should be better than new.

[wildmanbaker]

Hey, have a good flight! Let us know about the landing. (LOL)

[Yankee_Clipper]

I bought the Amish re-man unit, and the cost was $580 delivered, with a $60 core return. Among my many faults, I am cheap, so this was the best cost-effective solution to the reefer failure.
My sons are both home, and, as a senior citizen, it never really occurred to me to try it on my own.
I will also have to take down the pantry doors and the refrigerator doors to get the unit out. I already have a tarp staged to work in the main area with the slide out.
My thanks to all the words of encouragement! The fuse is lit, and the coyote and I are strapped on the Acme rocket...

[msmith1199]

I'm doing almost the same thing. My Dometic NDR1292 went out a few weeks ago and ammonia was visible on the coils. I also got a new cooling unit from RV Cooling Unit Warehouse, but after doing some research, and talking with the guy who is going to install it, I went with the Amish built unit. They make them brand new and apparently use much better quality materials than what Dometic used. The guy who is going to install it thinks he can get it done in 3 hours and will charge me $300. I paid $1200 total for the cooling unit. I had gone to an RV facility and they gave me an estimate of $2850 for the exact same repair.

I considered the residential fridge option too but to replace the fridge you have to take out a window and get enough people to be able to lift them in and out through the window. Not to mention I'd have to modify the cabinet and change the wiring because the current 110 volt outlet for the fridge isn't powered through the inverter. So it would have probably cost more to go to the residential fridge.

[TomandCandy]

I also have that same fridge I replaced the cooling unit last year my hardest part was getting it out so tight and I took off the doors on the fridge and the kitchen doors take lots off pictures and mark the wires the new cooling unit seems to work faster and colder you send your old part back in there crate that it arrives in good luck Tom

[Rick_Jay]

Hi Yankee Clipper.

Good Luck with the installation. Having extra hands available is definitely a bonus. Just out of curiosity, what was the cost of the replacement cooling unit?

Our refer (same model, I believe) died earlier this Spring, and I decided that at 13+ years, it wasn't worth putting more money into it. We bought a Whirlpool unit which fit from Home Depot for a bit under $400. The side trim boards needed to be routed out about 3/16" to get the new one to fit as it was just a slight bit wider than GBM carpenters allowed in our rig. LOL So, tack on another $100 for a small router & bits. (I kinda wanted the small router anyway, I was just awaiting a need to purchase! LOL)

Anyway, It's worked GREAT. Wifey likes the extra space inside. (Which of course, she FILLS with stuff! LOL) It's funny, it fits in the same space but it has notably more interior volume. It seems to be "deeper" inside. For us, it definitely is better than the original, but, as you say, it only works on 120 VAC. Not a problem with us as we rarely boondock, except while travelling and over-nighting in rest-stops & Walmarts. We generally have the generator on while travelling down the road to keep everyone comfortable in the back anyway. Overnight, we found that even with the generator off for 7 hours the inside was still cold and the ice cream was still solid when we woke in the morning.

On my "To-Do" list is to install an inverter for the refer & some outlets nearby for the kids electronics (already purchased for <$50) and add a battery or two ($100-$200) just to give us a couple of days "in case" the generator acts up while on the road. I figure even with this added in, we're still under 1/2 the cost of a new unit.

By the way, if your "muscle" doesn't show up, I had and used one of these Hydraulic Lift Carts to remove and install our refer. Makes the job MUCH easier. So, if you're forced to do the job on your own, it might be worth the investment. (I had previously purchased this item when I had to drop my gas tank to do some repairs on it, so I feel like it's paid for itself between that and the refer install.)

Again, good luck. I hope all goes well and it gives you some decent, long life.

~Rick

[Mile_High]

We really like our residential, but I probably would have taken the same path as you did. Much easier.

[Yankee_Clipper]

Ordered the cooling unit on the 17th, it's being delivered today. I hope to have it installed Friday.