Category Archives: refrigerator

Power Drain Fixed

I replaced the dead refrigerator in our Airstream in May. The new unit cooled like a charm but turned out to be an energy hog. So this post is about the problem and the fix: if you are more into birding than Airstream repair, go ahead and move on. The post after this will outline our Florida birding plans.

We camped this summer at Stillwater State Park, which has no electricity, and later at our daughter’s which is in the woods in Massachusetts. I noticed that the battery was being drained rather fast in both places but with no solar recharge at Jen’s due to the trees, it was very noticeable. I would use the generator and get everything charge but only using LED lights, noticed that the voltage went from 12.5 or so to 11.8 each night.

It took me a while to sort it out — I read the manuals, visited a number of forums, and finally determined that the Dometic folks, for some reason, omitted a critical climate control switch on many of their new models, like ours. In high temps and humidity, the climate control evaporates water droplets that form and draws 12 VDC power continuously. Since we no longer can turn it off, what now?

Several folks reported that there are two wires, one to the refrigerator light and one to the climate control.  “Just cut the climate control wire” said one guy, “but make sure you get the right one.”  In another post, someone noted that it was the fatter wire.

If I cut the correct wire, the light will still work.

If I cut the correct wire, the light will still work.

Well, as you can see below, I cut the heavier wire (and the light still worked.

Light2W

I then put a couple of disconnect terminals on the line and now can connect it when we have power and leave it open when we are boondocking.

Light3W

Here’s the final result — a relatively easy job after a lot of searching for answers.

Light4W

Installing the Refrigerator – Cool job

I ordered a replacement refrigerator from PPL, an outfit from Houston, and tracked its shipment to the Mid-west, then Manchester, NH, then to just across the river in Lebanon.  The delivery guy had a tractor-trailer and there’s no way he could make it to our house so I met him with my truck down by the highway and we looked the unit over.  It had some road rash from its journey all the way from China but nothing appeared serious so I accepted it and brought it home.

Reefer2AW

I got the packing off, used the moving dolly to get it over to the Airstream, and asked Mary to grab one end while I got it up through the door.  It was about 140 pounds and between the weight and the stonewall she had to maneuver against, we stopped that process.  I just slid it up, with her guidance, and after some maneuvering, got it into the recess — snug.

Reefer2BWI decided to test it before locking it in with bolts and screws and did so, hitching up the electrical and the gas line.  I opened the door and the light came on — a good sign.  After some purging of the gas line, that system lit off and I could hear the gas unit running.  We left it for a couple of hours and checked it later — cooler and still running.

The next day, I decided to load the old unit into to truck and dispose of it.  As I drove the back roads to the transfer station, I passed several old appliances out by the roadside — their owners hoping that someone would grab them for parts.  They’ll be there in July.

I told the woman at the entrance that my unit was dead, no fluids, but she said that “Our tech still has to certify it so that it would be $40.”  I didn’t hassle her but did say that I could see why folks dump them on back roads.  She agreed.   The tired 15-year-old reefer ended up with a host of old air conditioners, televisions, and refrigerators and hopefully will be recycled.

Reefer2CW

All in all, the installation was much easier than I expected — which is very unusual with my projects.  I’m really glad that we limped home with our dead unit, took our time to replace it, and did it ourselves.  No bruised knuckles or egos — a successful Mansfield event.

Replacing the Reefer — Episode 1

Our 15-year-old refrigerator died on us in Texas and we limped home tripping over coolers in the Airstream.  We also started with ice at $.99 for 20 pounds and saw the price increase to $3.75 for 10 pounds as we headed north, where banks of ice awaited us along our driveway.

Reefer1WAfter some research and reading, I decided not to screw around with repairs but instead replace the unit with a factory-new one.  And in the Mansfield tradition of never hiring someone when you can mess up the project yourself, I ordered a refrigerator and removed the old one yesterday.  It’s probably not a tough job — famous last words — but I read the manual, took some photos of wiring and fasteners, and went for it.  The unit weighs a little over 100 pounds but it fit through the door and I have a hand truck with which I could move it.  So we now have a refrigerator in our garage.

Reefer3WI am hoping that the new unit, when it arrives, will fit into the opening ok.  It should (and I should check the measurements as we prepare.)  I’ll likely need some help getting it into the Airstream and into place but then, the connections should (emphasis added) be rather easy. (I slid the old one out since it is toast.)

I have a go-to guy, my brother Barry, who has installed two refrigerators in his Airstreams so if I get into trouble, he’ll get a call.  He’s coming by today so I plan to pick his brain about finishing this task.  We’ll miss stumbling over the coolers as we move about the rig.  Stay tuned for the next, and hopefully final, installation episode.

 

Rig is Home Again

We have a large aluminum lawn ornament in front of our house after I moved it yesterday from its storage place downtown.

Hey, you're blocking the view!

Hey, you’re blocking the view!

Many thanks for our friends Shawn and Helen for loaning us some flat space beside their big rig while we waited a couple of weeks for the snowbanks to melt and the driveway to firm up.

We must have made a half-dozen trips to pick up items we’d left back at the Airstream and needed.  The worst was Saturday when I was baking bread — well, I wasn’t really baking because I had the dough through the three rises, the oven up to temp, and realized that the bread tins were eight miles away in the rig.  (Good preflight, as I love to say to others!)

I have a long list of items to fix, including the replacement of the refrigerator.  I’m starting with a leaky shower hose and a leaky faucet unit in the kitchen sink.  I picked up the parts today and will tackle the work in the morning.  Much of this can wait but it will be nice to tweak things in case we want to do some early summer camping.

Airstream2W

We’ll move the unit down to the only flat space on our property once we get completely unloaded and some of the major work finished.  Nice to have it home safely.

Trying To Chill Out

Back at Balmoreah State Park, I wrote about our string of calamities and promised to provide an update on our malfunctioning refrigerator. Here’s the update: it’s dead and probably needs a complete replacement. Got ice?

It began about the day, weeks back, when Mary bought a lovely group of yellow tulips for the Airstream. Even in their coffee mug holder, they were lovely until they began to emit a strong odor. We put up with it for a couple of days but then ditched them – but even wrapped in plastic, they smelled.

It wasn’t until later, in Lost Maples SNA, when I had a fellow camper, who has done a lot of rv fixing, take a look at the refrigerator unit. Since I had no power to the unit, he was going to check electrical circuits. He took one look at the scene shown below, noticing the yellow stain and the still-lingering smell of "tulips," when he said, "Your unit has corroded and all the ammonia is gone. It’s dead."

We discussed options which included:

*replace coolimg system with an Amish-overhauled unit. (He had done this with his and felt it was still penny-wise etc since you still had 15 year-old circuit boards.

*find a big RV outfit in San Antonio or Houston and see if they could install a new one.

*limp home and get a local rv outfit to do the work

*limp home and replace it yourself

I had an email exchange with my brother who has a lot of Airstream experience ans am leaning toward enlisting his brains and brawn and do it in Vermont. In the meantime we have a plan which is working.

We had no cooler with us so I bought one in the first Walmart we came to after Lost Maples – about 60 miles away. We used that, and the refrigerator, with ice.

Then, once at Goose Island, I found a cooler that runs on 12 volt power and so far, is doing well. (Friends have said that they burn out, don’t work well, but all it has to do is last three weeks more.)

We are at a place with $.99 ice so it’s only costing a buck every two days. We have quickly learned to buy less perishables, and shop more frequently. We miss the ice cream and have fond memories of the nearly-thawed pints of Ben & Jerry’s we had to trash, after stuffing ourselves, when the unit died.

I’m tempted, in the Vermonter way, to loosen the damn thing up and kick it out the Airstream door on a back southern road and keep driving. Thinking more rationally, I’ll end up hauling it a thousand more miles to East Montpelier, pay the disposal fee, and stay out of southern jails.