mistericeman
Forum Member
Vicdicdoc
The ‘saga’ of my Dometic fridge.
I purchased model RM123 which is the only one which would fit into the available space in my van; on fitting it I discovered that the + & - wiring was connected the wrong way & also when trying it on gas the flame igniter would not stop clicking, I had a series of email conversations with Dometic who basically said “woops’ it’s been wired the wrong way round at our factory (hmm - quality control seems to have been zero), to cut a long story short that model is discontinued & none were available- my dealer was very good and agreed to replace it but the only model they could source was the 2 way (12v & gas) RM122 . . .
We decided that we could live without the 240v facility of the RM123 & the exchange was made (BTW the 122 is £10 MORE than the 123 - which doesn’t make sense to me seeing that it’s a 2 way against the 123 being 3 way) anyway it’s in & connected up & I’m relieved to say it’s working ok.
Had I had a larger solar setup & battery bank I probably would have gone for a compressor type fridge but I didn’t so we’ll live with the fact it uses gas only when we’re parked up, I had budgeted for a second LPG bottle so we ‘should’ then have enough to last us a month or so for cooking, heating & running the fridge - I’m hoping that I don’t hit more ‘snags’ ! Now to figure out why the Shurflo pump pulses ONLY when the tap is turned to hot water whereas it works perfectly when pumping cold water, my feeling is it can only be an air lock in the gas water heater- (why isn’t everything easy & straight forward !
I purchased model RM123 which is the only one which would fit into the available space in my van; on fitting it I discovered that the + & - wiring was connected the wrong way & also when trying it on gas the flame igniter would not stop clicking, I had a series of email conversations with Dometic who basically said “woops’ it’s been wired the wrong way round at our factory (hmm - quality control seems to have been zero), to cut a long story short that model is discontinued & none were available- my dealer was very good and agreed to replace it but the only model they could source was the 2 way (12v & gas) RM122 . . .
We decided that we could live without the 240v facility of the RM123 & the exchange was made (BTW the 122 is £10 MORE than the 123 - which doesn’t make sense to me seeing that it’s a 2 way against the 123 being 3 way) anyway it’s in & connected up & I’m relieved to say it’s working ok.
Had I had a larger solar setup & battery bank I probably would have gone for a compressor type fridge but I didn’t so we’ll live with the fact it uses gas only when we’re parked up, I had budgeted for a second LPG bottle so we ‘should’ then have enough to last us a month or so for cooking, heating & running the fridge - I’m hoping that I don’t hit more ‘snags’ ! Now to figure out why the Shurflo pump pulses ONLY when the tap is turned to hot water whereas it works perfectly when pumping cold water, my feeling is it can only be an air lock in the gas water heater- (why isn’t everything easy & straight forward !
mistericeman
Forum Member
To be honest I had the same reaction after a few trips away in the motorhome after the transit...
Fitting refillable bottles helped ease the pain BUT Soon as I've finished adding solar/extra batteries I'll be lobbing the gas fridge out and replacing with a, 12v compressor....
Not bad at moment though as we've had 2 weeks on a site in Kilchoan Ardnamurchan on their electric... Lpg fill points are few and far between in this neck of the woods.
Squiffy
Forum Member
I really don't understand this complaining about the excessive gas that 3 ways apparently use. I have had gas fridges for the last 25 years or so and have never thought that their gas use was over the top, indeed the burner flame is minuscule in comparison to the flame of a gas heater. I think that fridges have had bad press mainly because folks over use of the heating and then blame the fridge, or the fridge has been "Serviced" by owners who have cleaned the jet and at the same time made the orifice too large. I remember once being parked up next to a van and sat outside you could here his fridge roaring, when I asked the occupant about it he said "Oh Yeah! Its been doing the since I cleaned the burner" when we took the grill off and the metal wind shield you could see the flame was far too fierce, on further questioning he said he had used an oxy/ acetylene nozzle cleaner to clean the jet. 
How he got even the smallest nozzle cleaner file to pass through a fridge jet I don't know. Though I do have to say that some of the older Electrolux fridge jets are a bit Heath Robinson in construction and leave a lot to be desired with regards to finesse and economy. Phil
P.s. Don't forget also the stated gas use per 24hr by the manufacturer is constant burning, but with the thermostat cutting in and out and what setting you have it at will dramatically reduce this amount of gas used.
How he got even the smallest nozzle cleaner file to pass through a fridge jet I don't know. Though I do have to say that some of the older Electrolux fridge jets are a bit Heath Robinson in construction and leave a lot to be desired with regards to finesse and economy. PhilP.s. Don't forget also the stated gas use per 24hr by the manufacturer is constant burning, but with the thermostat cutting in and out and what setting you have it at will dramatically reduce this amount of gas used.
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n brown
Forum Member
i'm not saying that these fridges use excessive gas, but i can't see a good reason to waste gas having a fridge on 24/7. for that matter i think water heaters are a waste of money too , except the instantaneous type with no pilot jet. not really impressed with blown air gas heaters either. maybe i'm a bit careful with cash !