Dometic fridge removal.

Mtbcol

Mtbcol

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Afternoon all. We're changing our 3 way for a compressor unit. It appears the 3 way is actually working ( in the right conditions ) but isn't going to be suitable for our needs, due to the temperatures we may be getting. So, having never removed one of these before I'd be grateful if anyone that has could give me some advice on how to go about it and any pictures would be great. As far as I'm concerned there will be 2 options for selling it ( for whatever I we can get for it) option 1, it comes out whole and undamaged, or option 2, it will be sold for spares or repairs, which is probably more likely 😁. I've attached some pictures of what we have.

Any tips / help greatly appreciated.

Cheers. Colin. 🙂👍
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Good luck , what looks likethe same fridge in our Aclass Hymer which i think was an rmt 8 series , wouldnt come out thru the doors even taking the door and hinges off , eventually it was replaced thru the windscreen , luckily under warranty
 
andyjanet said:
Good luck , what looks likethe same fridge in our Aclass Hymer which i think was an rmt 8 series , wouldnt come out thru the doors even taking the door and hinges off , eventually it was replaced thru the windscreen , luckily under warranty
Click to expand...


RMT7555L

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so dimensions are:
  • Height: 821 mm
  • Width: 525 mm
  • Depth (overall): 543 mm
  • Depth (without door): 512 mm
I would take off the rubber gasket around the hab door and measure what width you have available side to side. You might be surprised to see that the available width could be 525mm ;)
(My Fridge was 525mm wide - one of the standard widths for motorhome fridges - and my door opening was 525mm wide - another of the standard door opening widths for a motorhome. Mine went through the door, scraping the side label off as it did).
If you have less than 525mm, maybe you still have more than 512mm and can go sideways with the door off?
 
Thanks Wildebus. We're away in a couple of weeks and I've got work in between so itl be a project for after then, just trying to arm myself with enough information before I start, but I'll keep everyone informed..... especially if the wife gets a video of me with the club hammer adjusting the unit to get it out of the van! 😂👍
 
Mtbcol said:
Any tips / help greatly appreciated.

Cheers. Colin. 🙂👍View attachment 207468
Click to expand...
It would be a bit silly to destroy it to get it out. Has to be worth a few hundred pounds, and it is vot very green to wreck something with decades of life for no good reason.
I can assure you that with a clean jet, replaced compound on the evaporator and vent fans it will work brilliantly.
In the May hot weather, our older rm7 series was happy at a steady 3.5 degrees inside, with outside temperatures going above 35 degrees.
I wasn't in the van for the June heatwave, but I am confident it would have been fine.
Even if you don't want a 3-way fridge, someone with a shitty Thetford fridge might want to buy ot as an upgrade.
I suspect that it will go out through the hab door if you take the weatherstrip off the frame.
 
Geek said:
It would be a bit silly to destroy it to get it out. Has to be worth a few hundred pounds, and it is vot very green to wreck something with decades of life for no good reason.
I can assure you that with a clean jet, replaced compound on the evaporator and vent fans it will work brilliantly.
In the May hot weather, our older rm7 series was happy at a steady 3.5 degrees inside, with outside temperatures going above 35 degrees.
I wasn't in the van for the June heatwave, but I am confident it would have been fine.
Even if you don't want a 3-way fridge, someone with a shitty Thetford fridge might want to buy ot as an upgrade.
I suspect that it will go out through the hab door if you take the weatherstrip off the frame.
Click to expand...
Whilst I agree with your sentiments, I'd rather wreck the fridge than our motorhome, it cost a lot more than the few hundred quid I may get for the fridge. I'm not saying I won't try to get it out without damaging it, but not at the expense of damaging our van, and nor will I be taking out the windscreen etc. 😁
 
They do come out, they have to for repair or replacement

The hardest part is to remove the gas pipe from the burner, they can be mega tight so make sure you have the correct size spanners, not adjustables, detach the cable at the plugs.

At the front of the fridge, on the sides inside the doorway, are some plugs; the fixing screws are behind those, none through the floor or top. There should be a gasket around it as a seal, but some fitters don't bother.

That type of fridge is a premium. I bought a used one for the self build, it was £650 used in 2011, so keep it complete if at all possible and don't give it away. I'd snatch your hand off as we had them in 3 different vans and not a moment's trouble even on the hottest days, I'd keep it, but not my decision.

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Pudsey Bear said:
They do come out, they have to for repair or replacement

The hardest part is to remove the gas pipe from the burner, they can be mega tight so make sure you have the correct size spanners, not adjustables, detach the cable at the plugs.

At the front of the fridge, on the sides inside the doorway, are some plugs; the fixing screws are behind those, none through the floor or top. There should be a gasket around it as a seal, but some fitters don't bother.

That type of fridge is a premium. I bought a used one for the self build, it was £650 used in 2011, so keep it complete if at all possible and don't give it away. I'd snatch your hand off as we had them in 3 different vans and not a moment's trouble even on the hottest days, I'd keep it, but not my decision.

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Thanks Pudsey, that's great. Hopefully I'll get it out undamaged and without taking our motorhome apart. It will be buyer collects or arrange own courier. Hower we dispose of it. If anyone on here is interested once it's out I will of course do a special price, as we want to get rid of it and all on here have been very helpful over the years 🙂👍
 
We had the same one.
Took it out through a window. The window is easy to take out.just 2 screws on the arms and slide down...it will fall out if you don't hold it.
Blank the gas pipe off .remove the 12 volt wires and pull the 240 volt plug out..
Sold it on market place for about £150. The circuit board was iffy .some days it would work and some it wouldn't.
 
r4dent said:
If possible blank it off at the manifold and remove the piping between manifold and fridge.

Wherever you blank it, check for leak then turn off at manifold and remove label.
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I would very much disagree with that.
If in the future a gas fridge is wanted to be refitted, it makes the job bigger.

Drover said:
...Blank the gas pipe off .remove the 12 volt wires and pull the 240 volt plug out..
Click to expand...
I'll disagree with this also, for exactly the same reason (unless you mean literally remove the 12V wires from the fridge, in which case is that not kinda stated the obvious? :) )


Put a stopper on the gas supply coming in at the back of the fridge and then just turn off the fridge supply at the manifold.
You could also, if you had a yen for it, use that fridge supply pipe for an external BBQ Point which could be handy.
 
You shouldn't run the compressor fridge from the 12 volt supply going to the 3 way fridge...
It should be wired straight to the battery ...the fridge should come with these instructions.
I did not state this previously due to a new compressor fridge coming with instructions...( that was my thinking)
I can't see any reason to remove the gas pipe..
Simply blanking it off is enough..or as said use for a outside barbecue point.
 
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