After smelling propane a few times after using the fridge on propane, I used soapy water to discover the propane shut off valve on my 40 year old Dometic fridge was leaking propane. Took it to a local guy that is good with all things RV. His assistant was on hold for 3 hours, even using the dealer back door number, to be told "that part number?.... yeah, we don't make that any more. Bye now.". RV guy said with surge of RV sales due to covid, they sometimes wait 5 hours for Dometic to answer!
First look at the after markets for my valve were 350 for used, and 500 for new. RV guy said "That is a 70 dollar part. Damn parasites."
Then he said "Screw that, come with me". Out back was his bone yard. Quickly found an old fridge with exactly the valve. Problem solved, but I am fast learning with a 40 year old bus I will have to become a better scrounger or be able to carve things out of metal. He also answered for me the toggle switch in the refer panel that turns on a fan. He said use that if you go to Arizona to kelp keep the fridge cooler. It doesn't have to work as hard.
That was my last gremlin....for now. Headed for Loudonville for the Flx parade end of August.
you did good! FYI there is a shop at Napanee Ind that will rebuild you fridge while you wait.
Quote from: robertglines1 on June 30, 2021, 12:48:35 PM
you did good! FYI there is a shop at Napanee Ind that will rebuild you fridge while you wait.
What Bob said, there's also one in Shipshewana IN - I think it's called Pine's RV. That area is Amish and they do impeccable work. We rolled in there with a failed cooling unit on our Dometic obsolete fridge - dropped it off on a Sat. went around the block to a great RV park and had the fridge back in on Mon. on our 2nd AK road trip FL to AK!
Wish there were one out west like that, no Amish in Las Vegas, lvmci...
If I needed cooling unit service out west I be inclined to call them in IN & see if they recommend anyone out there. Their reference would be valuable - that's how good they are...
There a Amish guy in Prescott Az that does the fridges,a lot of Amish around Wagoner Ok that repair the fridges and build furniture easy to find in OK they have phone booths in their yard :P
They'll ship you out a whole new cooling unit if you need. Always worth a call. JC Refrigeration is the name of one of them, I believe.
I have one of pines Amish units in my Eagle bus works great even in the summer Temps here in Vegas.I had them ship it to me and installed it about 5 years ago,best investment I ever made. Bob
This is why I use the NovaKool compressor type refrigerator that runs on 12V/120V. They now make a 9cu/ft with separate compressors for the refrigerator and for the freezer compartment. Good Luck, TomC
My dad replaced the refer, icemaker, and furnace after they reached 10 years. He didn't want to deal with issues, as he spent winters full timing in Fla, Texas. or Az.
My dad replaced the refer, icemaker, and furnace after they reached 10 years. He didn't want to deal with issues, as he spent winters full timing in Fla, Texas. or Az.
The propane ammonia fridges made today are not bad with cooling I think they added something to the ammonia not for sure.I built a building 300,000 sf for a frozen food outfit in Springdale AR all the refrigeration in the building was ammonia some areas it was -50 F or more takes special concrete for those temps
I studied the ammonia cycle once a long time ago, it was interesting how they use the heat from a pilot light to separate the gases. It's usually a little hard to follow the flow path through the coils but it starts to make sense once you know the process. Love the 'no moving parts' bit. If it wasn't for external rust they would probably last forever.
Jim
Thanks for all the input. Still having a few issues. Might just be too old and need rebuilt. Reached out by email to JC in Shipshewana. Hope to hear back. I could go there after Loudonville! Hey Bob, name of the place in Nanpanee by chance? There are lots of Amish north of Chattanooga and I am trolling a little to see if any of the horse and buggy guys here have taken this on as a trade. Who'd a thunk it? The Amish? If they do a fridge like they do the barns north of Chattanooga, they can have my bus for a week....
The Amish communities have been using absorption fridges for decades. No electric in their homes other than possibly what they can do with a 12v battery, so it makes perfect sense that they'd be good at keeping them going.
Quote from: richard5933 on July 23, 2021, 06:59:46 PM
The Amish communities have been using absorption fridges for decades. No electric in their homes other than possibly what they can do with a 12v battery, so it makes perfect sense that they'd be good at keeping them going.
Amish have electricity in their homes they just cannot use the public grid they use generators
Quote from: luvrbus on July 23, 2021, 08:54:33 PM
Amish have electricity in their homes they just cannot use the public grid they use generators
Depends on the group and local bishop. Many in Wisconsin will not use generators unless in their shop for running a business. Some will use battery only, some none at all. There is not one set of rules for all the different communities.
Regardless, many are still using absorption refrigerators in their homes. Last I looked, stores like Lehman's are still selling residential absorption fridges, although that may change as larger 12vdc compressor fridges come to market and become affordable.
https://www.lehmans.com/category/gas-refrigerators-freezers
Quote from: richard5933 on July 24, 2021, 03:50:16 AM
Depends on the group and local bishop. Many in Wisconsin will not use generators unless in their shop for running a business. Some will use battery only, some none at all. There is not one set of rules for all the different communities.
Regardless, many are still using absorption refrigerators in their homes. Last I looked, stores like Lehman's are still selling residential absorption fridges, although that may change as larger 12vdc compressor fridges come to market and become affordable.
https://www.lehmans.com/category/gas-refrigerators-freezers
There are several different groups the ones with Mennonites ties seem to be the most strict lol but they all bend the rules using tractors for transportation the horse and buggy they use on Sundays
So if any of them don't have electricity and use a 12v battery, how long would it last and how would they charge it? :)
Quote from: Ed Hackenbruch on July 24, 2021, 08:20:42 AM
So if any of them don't have electricity and use a 12v battery, how long would it last and how would they charge it? :)
I would think solar?
Quote from: dtcerrato on July 24, 2021, 08:45:23 AM
I would think solar?
12V batteries have been around a lot longer than solar,I haven't seen any using solar in OK but I only see the ones on the highway
Quote from: Ed Hackenbruch on July 24, 2021, 08:20:42 AM
So if any of them don't have electricity and use a 12v battery, how long would it last and how would they charge it? :)
Same place they charge the batteries powering the lights in their buggies. Some have a generator in their workshops. Some communities have a central power tap & phone booth. I have an Amish friend, and to call him means calling the community phone booth and leaving a message. Someone eventually retrieves the messages and he calls me back in a few days.
They have ways of making it all work out.
Leid diesel in Newville, Pa, had electric in bysiness, but restrooms had seats like outhouses. That was several years ago. My buddy goes over to Belleville, just over the mountain, every Wednesday. He hauls an Amish friend around the area in his pickup. Guy pays him by the mile or time, or produce. He is always bringing vegetables or cruits home for his suppers.lol I know he got the guy a gas engine from Harbor Freight for his washing machine.
Quote from: richard5933 on July 24, 2021, 10:44:37 AM
Same place they charge the batteries powering the lights in their buggies. Some have a generator in their workshops. Some communities have a central power tap & phone booth. I have an Amish friend, and to call him means calling the community phone booth and leaving a message. Someone eventually retrieves the messages and he calls me back in a few days.
They have ways of making it all work out.
The Amish community is about the only place you see a phone booth with pay phone.I seen them Walmart in Pryor OK buying stacks of pre paid long distance cards.I had to buy permits to move my tractors that cost a couple hundred bucks each time.Then you would see Miller (Amish) moving his D6 dozer on a trailer being pulled by a John Deere tractor paying no fees just chugging along.People in OK had a saying you could tell the status of the Amish by the tractor he drove John Deere green was a status symbol.I bought a lot of beef from Miller for many years
NovaKool is now making the option on their 9cu/ft refer with separate compressors for refrigerator and freezer. Good luck, TomC
The 12V Everchill fridge we installed in Greggs GM bus is working like a champ he told me, 900 bucks for 11 cubic fridge is not bad very nice frost free unit.It was a direct replacement for the propane Dometic,he has 120 w solar panel to keep the battery charged
120 watts is all it takes to power the fridge?
Quote from: Jim Blackwood on July 25, 2021, 09:29:37 AM
120 watts is all it takes to power the fridge?
He purchased the solar package with the fridge
Quote from: Tedsoldbus on July 23, 2021, 11:46:40 AM
Thanks for all the input. Still having a few issues. Might just be too old and need rebuilt. Reached out by email to JC in Shipshewana. Hope to hear back. I could go there after Loudonville! Hey Bob, name of the place in Nanpanee by chance? There are lots of Amish north of Chattanooga and I am trolling a little to see if any of the horse and buggy guys here have taken this on as a trade. Who'd a thunk it? The Amish? If they do a fridge like they do the barns north of Chattanooga, they can have my bus for a week....
In addition to my bus I'm working on a 1994 Airstream. It has a Dometic absorption fridge with a failed cooling unit. Today I ordered an Amish built replacement through a company called rvcoolingunit.com which should be here in a week or so, depending on shipping. Cost for the cooling unit including shipping was $650, which is lots less than a new fridge.
The control board appears to function - heats 120v element when plugged in, and tries to light propane when it's not plugged in. Cooling unit does nothing but gurgle and get hot. Previous owner wasn't able to get it working.
I've read good things about these replacement cooling units, so I've got hope it will fix the problem. I'll report back once it arrives.
Quote from: richard5933 on July 26, 2021, 10:51:59 AM
In addition to my bus I'm working on a 1994 Airstream. It has a Dometic absorption fridge with a failed cooling unit. Today I ordered an Amish built replacement through a company called rvcoolingunit.com which should be here in a week or so, depending on shipping. Cost for the cooling unit including shipping was $650, which is lots less than a new fridge.
The control board appears to function - heats 120v element when plugged in, and tries to light propane when it's not plugged in. Cooling unit does nothing but gurgle and get hot. Previous owner wasn't able to get it working.
I've read good things about these replacement cooling units, so I've got hope it will fix the problem. I'll report back once it arrives.
They develop a air bubble and do the gurgle thing lot of time you can flip the fridge over and over a few times and it will start to work if it is not showing signs of leakage
Quote from: luvrbus on July 26, 2021, 01:15:51 PM
They develop a air bubble and do the gurgle thing lot of time you can flip the fridge over and over a few times and it will start to work if it is not showing signs of leakage
With the amount of rust on the cooling system, it just didn't seem worth the effort. If I'm going to pull it for anything, it's going to be to just replace the entire cooling unit. Thankfully they're pretty modular in that way. Just a fancy foam lined box with a cooling unit connected on the back side.
Quote from: richard5933 on July 26, 2021, 01:54:25 PM
With the amount of rust on the cooling system, it just didn't seem worth the effort. If I'm going to pull it for anything, it's going to be to just replace the entire cooling unit. Thankfully they're pretty modular in that way. Just a fancy foam lined box with a cooling unit connected on the back side.
Easy to change too just don't forget to remove the bolts inside the box,I have a lot of stuff from the inside of a Air Stream i purchased from a guy who gutted one to build a food trailer (the fool)