Club 80-90 Forums

Evening all - on our last outing, our fridge seemingly failed mid stay. All three heaters seem to be working (get hot anyway) but no cooling. Pulled the fridge out last night and turned it upside down. Turned it back and reconnected tonight - same result. Heat outside but no cooling inside. As a note, I got lots of gurgling when I turned the fridge upside down each time. So could the cooling unit have failed? Is it time to switch to a compressor fridge??

Do you need a compressor fridge?
Do you have the battery capability to run one?

Personally I would replace like for like.
Seems to be quite a few about at fair prices.

As to your broken fridge, as you know there are no moving parts, so it suggests a failure of process.
When the fridge is on is that gurgling sound evident?

It points to two things really, a blockage (crystals) or leakage. (amonia)

Hi Kev
Got a 100Ah leisure so should run a compressor fridge quite happily (latest waeco draws about 1.2Ah/h on a warmish day if you believe the literature) for a day or so, which is what I want. With regard to old fridge, no gurgling when on and I haven't noticed any ammonia stink so a bit perplexed to be honest, I am also a bit pee'd off as this could put a big dent in the alloy wheel fund! Think I'll have a scan to check my options, memsahib wants me to go new route as she doesn't trust second hand and runny butter was the last straw

My RM 212 is more than adequate and I would gladly replace it with the same.

It reads like you've already made your mind up

I heard a few surprising stories re waeco fridges, it's not all green grass on t'other side.
Even with a solar panel.
I would suggest some research first from users.

kevtherev wrote:My RM 212 is more than adequate and I would gladly replace it with the same.

It reads like you've already made your mind up

I heard a few surprising stories re waeco fridges, it's not all green grass on t'other side.
Even with a solar panel.
I would suggest some research first from users.

Be good to hear more info on compressor fridges good and bad, will need to make this decision myself in a few months.

irishkeet wrote: Be good to hear more info on compressor fridges good and bad, will need to make this decision myself in a few months.

I would be interested to hear about any cons of compressor fridges too as I had more or less decided to save up and go for a compressor unit to fit in my existing Westy fridge (as per the Waeco in a Westy thread). I had my original 3-way fridge out last winter and did get it running on all 3 modes, but it's a pain to get it going on gas - for some reason it keeps blowing itself out when you first light it, and takes about 10-15 mins of sitting there relighting and relighting before it gets to a point where it can keep going. Don't know why, but presume that for whatever reason it improves as the burner/flue warms up or something; once it gets going initially it generally keeps going pretty well. But not ideal to have to go through this rigmarole every time you park up at a campsite or stop for a day trip.

Other cons of the 3-way are: it's meant to be kept level, but there are a surprising number of slopey car parks; and the need to change modes (I always drive off and then 5 mins later remember I forgot to switch it to 12V).

My hoped-for pros of a switch to compressor were that, in combination with solar power, you could switch on just before you leave home and then pretty much forget about it and let the fridge do its thing for your whole trip with no further faffing. My only concern about the compressor route is that the buzz could be annoying, close to where you sleep.

Be good to hear people's experiences.

mr_nunn wrote:
I would be interested to hear about any cons of compressor fridges too as I had more or less decided to save up and go for a compressor unit to fit in my existing Westy fridge (as per the Waeco in a Westy thread).

[/quote]

Yep this is what I am considering too. If I had the later grey interior I would go for the full fridge. My van is an 86 so I sourced a cream/brown westy interior to match the year and a grey fridge would not look great....posted a thread a while ago listing lots of the options in one place for future reference...
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... sty+thread

As siad before compressor views would be helpful

By way of a little update, after much thought and reading, I decided not to go for a compressor fridge and have installed a new 3 way. exact the same size as the old 212 and added bonus of lining up perfectly with the existing flue. For the kind of camping we do, this type of fridge suits us down to the ground and has meant no need to alter cabinets, wiring or close up redundant vents. I'm sure that compressor fridges are suited better for some set ups but for us the 3 way fits the bill. Horses for courses as they say. Happy days.

What one did you get?

Dometic RM5310. It's basically the replacement of the replacement for the RM212. Wanted new so shopped around and got for the same price as the best I could find for a CRX50.