Dometic Fridge/Freezer Replacement.

When I first started to look closely at Chinook Premier and Concourse coaches as potential purchase candidates, one of the biggest issues that bothered me was the size of the fridge/freezer combo. I felt it was huge... way too much appliance for a compact coach, typically used for short duration trips and where general  storage space was already in short supply. Ironically, on a couple of rigs I looked at while vetting candidates, the owners were using small Engel/Coleman style 12 v travel and camping fridges under the dinette table with the Dometic turned off (or broken) and being used to house general storage items. Comments I heard were; '...too big....too complex...too power hungry...too risky on the road...too unreliable in hot weather..."  I felt that in such a small rig, and for one or two people for trips of a week or so, a much smaller and more efficient 12 volt compressor unit would be a better use of space and likely wouldn't detract significantly from resale value... and might actually add value.  My ex-wife and I spent 8 very comfortable years as full time liveaboards on a 36 foot sail boat with a 3.5 cu ft unit  and Danfoss BD 35 powered freezer that I built, so I had no qualms about downsizing and ditching the Dometic! But what should I replace it with? 

There are literally dozens of shapes, sizes and manufacturers of cheap 12v travel fridges on offer, the majority from China, with similar numbers of You Tube reviews to add to the overload of selection information. From my boating experience I knew that an RV installation wouldn't need a top loading unit, to withstand the severe 'attitude abuse' of conditions at sea, so the sky was the limit in front loading shelf style models. However, again, based on my boating experiences, I knew that a 'proper' compressor fridge would be the most efficient, durable and reliable, preferably powered with a Danfoss BD 35 or 50 12v unit, which has become known as the 'gold standard' in marine fridges. 

To cut a long story short I eventually chose a TF 130 from Truckfridge in Georgetown, Kentucky. Manufactured in Italy by Indel B, it is a little over 4 1/2 cu ft (130 litre) with a small but adequate freezer compartment and is specifically designed for custom installations in the rough and ready OTR trucking industry, plus it has a license-built Danfoss compressor. Indel builds products for top name brands like Norcold and Webasto so I felt confident the TF 130 would be a good investment. These units are not cheap but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for!  

So, let the demolition begin! The first major hurdle to overcome was getting the Dometic out of the coach.

Removing the exterior access panel and disconnecting the power and propane connections was quick and easy. The  interior retaining screws and trim strips around the unit also came out with no problem and the whole unit slid forward out of the surrounding cabinetry...

So far so good. However, as I continued sliding it out of its home of 20+ years I ran into another problem!! 

   

Close, but no cigar. Despite my most creative efforts to wriggle it clear of the cabinetry I couldn't make it happen.  I removed the fridge and freezer doors, I removed the door to the head, pulled the edging strips from the surrounding cabinetry but, no matter what I tried, no joy. It was just too deep...front to back. Clearly the factory had engineered the assembly so that the Dometic was installed before the surrounding cabinetry. What to do?

After a bit of head scratching I realised that there was just enough room to reach the fasteners securing the absorption grid and propane heating assembly to the back of the cabinet. With no other non-nuclear (Sawzall) options in sight, I unbolted everything and split the Dometic into two pieces. With the cabinet free from the absorption system I was (just) able to pull it clear of the cabinetry and onto the floor in front of the head. Phew. One small step...I still had to get it out of the coach!   

Next hurdle...get it out of the coach! Not so fast...more delights await. Even in its new 'slimline' form the cabinet was still a super tight squeeze in the entry area. It became clear that the entry and screen doors would have to come off and I quickly discovered that several of the hinge fasteners were stripped out. Evidently the factory had decided that tapping the hinge screws straight into the thin aluminium extrusion of the door frame was a smart move. The extrusion is only about 1/16" thick so there were only a couple of threads engaging on each screw and so, with the slightest bit of extra torque...to snug up a loose hinge......? A couple of hours was lost sourcing and installing riv-nuts to repair the hinge mounts.  

Finally, to deep sighs of relief and a trumpet fanfare...out it comes. Two full days of solid effort. It might have been better to hit it with the Sawzall from the get go. A lot messier but a heck of a lot quicker! 

After all the heartburn extracting the main fridge-freezer cabinet, pulling out the detached absorption grid and propane heater assembly was a snap.  

Now I could take a first good look at the battlefield, and start to plan how the recovery might look. Here we can see the 'blank canvas'. Being able to get under Elsie's skirts showed some of the manufacturing nitty gritty of Trail Wagons Inc. and I have to say I was a bit surprised, and not positively.  

Take a look at the temporarily refitted external access panel, viewed from the inside. Rotted, split and disintegrated cleats. Raw plywood, no epoxy protection, gobs of caulk plastered all over. Not too good. What other delights will I find as I move ahead?   

 

In this one we see more evidence of moisture getting into the lower edge of cabinetry panels, possibly from wet carpet? This time the panel surrounding the small storage area below the fridge. At first glance it doesn't look bad, but.... 

....when I tried to unscrew it from the support cleats on the floor the fasteners and the panel both started to crumble.

The new Indel fridge finally showed up, so I was able to start measuring, making some templates and mocking up some ideas on a new installation design. In this pic I've just pulled the door off to reverse it. The old Dometic fridge door just visible on the right.

I decided to position the new fridge in the same general area as the Dometic, but  about halfway between the floor and ceiling for easy access to all contents. This will leave enough room for an new, generously sized overhead locker to match those over the dinette. I'll use the factory door from the old storage nook under the Dometic for the new overhead locker. The large remaining area below the new fridge will become an open front storage bin with a cargo net front restraint, for loose, bulky items. In this pic I've cut a blank facing panel ready to mark out and cut the apertures for the three new features.   

  

                                    First cut out, for new top locker.

 

Second cut out, for re-positioned fridge, with shelf roughed in.

Third cut out, for new bulk storage bin. Cleats for shelves and front face panel being test fitted. 

Top locker and shelves taking shape. Angled top is to clear the original moulded-in factory roof vent for the Dometic. 

Test fit of the fridge and fine tuning shelf position.

Final test fit of front face panel.

It's time to do something about the big hole in the side of the coach where the combo access/vent cover for the Dometic had been. I had it taped over while doing all the messy interior woodwork, but now I needed a functional and cosmetically acceptable final fix. 

While toying with ways to blank the hole I discovered that, where the cover sat, the side moulding of the coach wasn't even close to flat, causing a lot of distortion of the cover when screwing it in place.... allowing water ingress and probably causing the rotted cleats I had found earlier. So, reverting to my boating experience, I decided that a simple 3/8" Starboard cover panel, tightly screwed all around against a thick, closed cell gasket would be most likely to ensure a durable, weatherproof seal. In this pic gasket is in place and the fixing holes drilled.  

Here I used the frame off the old cover assembly as a router guide to cut the new blanking panel with the laminate trimmer.

I used an old roll pin as a drill stop so I wouldn't go too deep into the blanking panel and break through with my pilot holes.

In this one the distortion on the side wall of the coach is clearly visible where the cover sits. 

All buttoned up. I gave the cover a thorough hose down several times and couldn't see any sign of interior leaks. Fingers crossed that continues to be the case after some road miles. I'll keep checking it frequently as time goes on.

Back inside. Finished front face panel removed, ready for stain and final urethane finish. Note slight misalignment between top left side of new face panel and upper cutout aperture, needed to match the adjacent original factory cabinetry, which wasn't straight or vertical in either plane. More Trail Wagon quality?!

Trying to come up with some sort of a colour match with the faux veneer finish on the factory cabinetry.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Safety first!              

Using a scrap piece of factory panel for colour comparison. Not the best match but close enough. The heavy faux grain 'plasticky' effect on the factory panels makes DIY matching very difficult, but my new face panel won't disintegrate if it ever gets damp and should look presentable when everything is all back together.

Carpet liner going into top locker. Also visible is an extractor fan positioned to align with Danfoss fan on the new fridge and draw air away from the fridge and out into the original air space, behind the fridge and up to the existing roof vent.

Getting close to final assembly. The top locker and fridge apertures are finished, with carpet liner installed and wiring for fridge and courtesy light in the new top locker both ready to go.

Front panel finally in place, top locker door fitted. Now all we need is the cargo net front for the bottom bin.

Here I've made a small switch plate from textured ABS sheet and mounted the fridge and fan controls next to the remote gen-set controls and hour meter over the hanging locker. I left some space for additional switch gear if I need it for some reason in the future. 

 

And here's the final piece, hot from E Bay and trimmed down a wee bit to fit snugly. The support bar snaps in place with a simple hook and eye top and bottom...easy to use and rugged enough for even heavy items falling against the net. I can't believe it's finally finished!

 

Below are a couple of  'before and after' shots to show what was accomplished. It was a lot of work but I'm really delighted with the results. The loss of the freezer space (that was frankly excessive and functionally useless due to the inefficiency of the factory unit) is a small price to pay for the gains in additional easy access storage, particularly the bulk bin below the fridge. Despite the intrusion of the generator compartment I can still jam a huge amount of loose, bulky items in there that would otherwise be flopping around and cluttering up the coach. The Indel fridge is not much smaller than the Dometic and is perfectly adequate for the sort of trips I make. It is much more efficient than the Dometic, cycling only once every 30-45 mins in even the hottest weather. Even with the cheesy original Chinook solar panel I can leave it running without fear of house battery drain. I also don't have to worry about an open flame in the coach while on the road.  

This was a much bigger job than I first imagined and I certainly didn't expect the removal of the old Dometic to be such a chore. In retrospect I should have realised that in the limited space on such a small rig the main cabinetry would almost certainly have been built around the major appliances. If I was to do it again I would go straight in with the Sawzall and  rip the old fridge out and deal with the resulting mess as needed.

 

 

  

A Tour of Elsie

Although she has less than 90K miles under her belt, being nearly 22 years of age puts Elsie squarely into the category of 'late middle age' in RV terms. I found her in N. Carolina in a state of benign neglect, with all major chassis mechanical systems functioning correctly but with some cosmetic problems and a few issues with some of the 'house' systems. However, her general condition overall was really quite good, despite the areas in need of attention and/or upgrade. Perfect for my needs and budget.

The front brush guard seemed a bit over the top, and unnecessary, as remote off-road excursions don't figure uppermost in my future plans. Also, upon close inspection, the guard installation was a bit sketchy. The mountings and support brackets were poorly secured and generally very flimsy, and certainly not likely to offer much impact protection. So, the whole thing will probably go away!  

  

20 years of mostly summer time use in southern states translates into a lot of IR and UV exposure, with predictable results all over the GRP coach body. By way of contrast the original Ford paintwork on the cab area remains in generally very good shape.

Interestingly, the UV/IR damage seemed to be limited to the darker graphics areas, where the clear-coat applied over the factory decals was failing. No doubt intended to protect the graphics, the coating seemed to have become the weak point and the worst affected. Probably the dark gray graphics absorbed more IR energy, resulting in more  heat exposure than the white background. Also, the body had obviously been buffed repeatedly over the years which reduced clear coat thickness and 'compounded' the problem......pun intended   Some future re-finishing will be needed....hopefully stopping short of a complete repaint or wrap!

Although all the main interior cabinet doors and trim are built from solid wood, the dividing partition walls and cabinet frame panels are built from a sort of compressed fibre material, faced with a faux wood-grain laminate. It's not clear if this was done for cost and/or weight reduction purposes but that material is clearly a weak point in the build, being very vulnerable to moisture absorption on the panel edges where there is no protective laminate. This is most evident at the lower areas where they rest on the floor or, as shown here, when a raw edge was butted up against the entrance door frame. A damp carpet, the entry door left ajar during a downpour, any of several situations could have resulted in moisture wicking into the edge of the panel, causing this distortion and de-lamination.

 

 

In several places there is significant swelling of the panel as well as cracking and lifting of the facing laminate as seen here. At some point this will be addressed with some sort of sealing and re-facing or, worst case, a partial rebuild. 

 

Although still operational, the folding step at the rear entry door was badly tweaked and bent on one side.

The step itself and and it's support braces on the passenger side were badly distorted, likely due to someone backing with the step still deployed and hitting something. The damage made it a little difficult to operate the step and, even if undamaged, in the folded position, the step prevents the entry door from being opened from inside the coach. Not a great design. Time will tell if the solution will be repair, replace or discard the step.    

All of her various bumps and blemishes identified above were actually helpful when taken into account during the sales negotiation for Elsie. So, now on to all the good news!

Apart from two very small carpet stains, the interior of the coach is excellent. In particular, the cab area the headliner, dash, upholstery, door cards and dog house (engine cover) carpet are all unmarked.   

Despite their age, the two  Flexsteel captains chairs are spotless, with the drivers side surprisingly showing no appreciable wear.  Both seats are extremely comfortable with all the power and manual adjustment features working without issues.

The galley area is also extremely clean, showing very little signs of use and none of the typical burns, stains, nicks and dings in the counter top that tend to accumulate in boat and RV galleys. 

The 3 burner LPG stove is particularly clean and looks as though it has never been used. 

In contrast to the moisture damage on the compressed wood fibre wall and partition panels  at the entry door, all the other cabinetry and trim throughout the coach is in excellent condition. Most of it is solid hardwood with no evidence of staining, peeling, fading or other damage. 

The microwave has seen plenty of use but is in good cosmetic condition and, so far, seems to work correctly.

 

The shower, toilet and vanity are immaculate, with few signs of use, although the inner bowl seal on the Sealand Traveler 511 gravity toilet is worn. Replacement parts for the toilet are inexpensive and readily available so it will be overhauled before serious use. The original porcelain bowl is in great shape and will be easier to keep clean than the cheaper, lighter plastic designs found in many newer RVs. The small weight penalty is tolerable in my solo operation.

The entertainment system components are all operational and in good condition, but the TV and VCR are 110 V AC driven power hogs and ancient technology. They will be replaced by light weight 12 V DC units that can interface with WiFi, Bluetooth and other similar 12 V DC devices and operate independent of shore power or the generator, without draining the house batteries too severely. There is potential for several pounds of weight saving in this area as well as much more media versatility.

The Dometic combination gas (LPG) and electric (AC) absorption fridge-freezer is cosmetically perfect, but  very erratic when switching between the two power sources, sometimes shutting down completely, and is generally rather inefficient. When the ambient temperatures get above 90 F the unit doesn't reliably keep the temperature below 50 in the fridge and the freezer is useless. It is also an ridiculously big appliance for such a small coach, where general storage is at a premium. It is a prime candidate for replacement with a smaller, lighter and more efficient 12 V DC compressor unit, which will be more than adequate for my needs and will free up valuable space for extra storage.

All the upholstery throughout the coach is unmarked and in excellent condition, with all the cushions holding their shape well, particularly at the dinette, typically a high wear area.

 

 

 

The condition of the interior carpet in the coach was a particularly pleasant surprise. Most of the coaches I looked at before Elsie had badly worn carpet, often badly stained and threadbare in places. The galley and entry areas usually the worst spots. By way of contrast, Elsie's carpet was a little matted in a couple of spots at the entry door but very clean. A bit of TLC with a steamer and they'll be as good as new. Those shiny light spots in the pic are sun reflections through the side windows.

 

 

The onboard Onan generator is in excellent cosmetic shape, and has only 425 hours running time recorded on the meter. From my boating experiences I've always used +/- 10,000 hours as a rule of thumb for the useful life of this type of generator so, also having seen several Chinooks with original generator hours well over 5000, and still running strong, I think that, with recommended maintenance, this unit has many years of life left.

 

The door seal on the generator access door needs replacement but the generator itself is very clean and looks well maintained. It starts quickly, hot or cold, and runs smoothly with no surging or hesitation.

 

The only problem I could find was that the air cleaner cover was missing, although the element itself was in place and looking very clean.

All things considered, for right around $20K, Elsie seems like a pretty good deal but, as with all things, time will tell. Now, about that 'fridge.