Refrigerator woes again - so frustrating

[TheLexx]

Thats exactly why we changed it out. Last year at the rally I was stressing out cause the temperature kept climbing. We had the Dometic guy stop by and he said everything was fine and explained the defrost thing, and after that it seemed fine. Then this last trip it was get up to the 45-46 range while we were travelling and I was just done. Especially given what a residential cost vs eventually having to replace the cooling unit or something anyway. On top of that the organization was terrible in the RV unit, with the freezer on top anything in the drawers was impossible to get to, and stuff was always getting lost in the back. I just thought this would be a better way to go.

Which model residential fridge did you end up replacing the Dometic with? Our front entry doors measure out to 28.25" which is a bit on the narrow side.

And when you pulled out the Dometic, how did you seal up the back panel?

[ncitro]

Which model residential fridge did you end up replacing the Dometic with? Our front entry doors measure out to 28.25" which is a bit on the narrow side.

And when you pulled out the Dometic, how did you seal up the back panel?

I started off looking at the Samsung Grand Design installs from the factory, and it would have fit in the best, but in the 28bh unit the fridge is all by itself away from the counters and cabinets. That allowed me to completely remove the fridge cabinet and get pretty much whatever counter depth fridge we wanted, so I went with a little bigger unit with more space and a lot more organization. I found an open box unit with a couple small dents in it we picked up, it was a Samsung RM22KREDBSS. Had plenty of room going through the door, just had to remove the fridge doors. Old one came out in one piece without removing the doors.

Hardest part was figuring out the best way to close up the back panels. I wanted to keep them removable for access to the power cord and water line. I went with black spray foam. I am not super in love with it, but it is water tight, and insulated better than nothing until I think of something else.

[TheLexx]

I started off looking at the Samsung Grand Design installs from the factory, and it would have fit in the best, but in the 28bh unit the fridge is all by itself away from the counters and cabinets. That allowed me to completely remove the fridge cabinet and get pretty much whatever counter depth fridge we wanted, so I went with a little bigger unit with more space and a lot more organization. I found an open box unit with a couple small dents in it we picked up, it was a Samsung RM22KREDBSS. Had plenty of room going through the door, just had to remove the fridge doors. Old one came out in one piece without removing the doors.

Hardest part was figuring out the best way to close up the back panels. I wanted to keep them removable for access to the power cord and water line. I went with black spray foam. I am not super in love with it, but it is water tight, and insulated better than nothing until I think of something else.

Ugh.....I can't find a Samsung fridge with that model #, not even on the product support page.

[ncitro]

Ugh.....I can't find a Samsung fridge with that model #, not even on the product support page.

Yeah it was last year's model. Any counter depth should work if you're not opposed to removing the cabinet. I've got some pictures I'll post later.

If you want less work I'm pretty sure that the factory puts RF18HFENBSR in the solitudes and would fit in the cabinet with no width modifications. It's taller, so you'd need to cut out the top and bottom some, but that work would be minimal.

[TheLexx]

Yeah it was last year's model. Any counter depth should work if you're not opposed to removing the cabinet. I've got some pictures I'll post later.

If you want less work I'm pretty sure that the factory puts RF18HFENBSR in the solitudes and would fit in the cabinet with no width modifications. It's taller, so you'd need to cut out the top and bottom some, but that work would be minimal.

Yep, that model looks like it'll get through the door with no issues. Thanks!

Now I just have to convince the wife that we "need" this lol!!!

[ncitro]

Yep, that model looks like it'll get through the door with no issues. Thanks!

Now I just have to convince the wife that we "need" this lol!!!

I think this is the current model of mine. https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appl...f22r7351sg-aa/

Yeah mine was easy to convince the second time we threw food away, and when I had chunks in my milk lol. We had bags of ice in ours the last three days of our trip and it just exhausting worrying about it all the time. Helped that we found the dented unit in clearance, but it's still a fraction of what the RV fridge costs anyway. I'm hoping to sell either my cooling unit or entire fridge to recoup at least some of the cost.

[ncitro]

Here is the link to the pictures I took of my install (not my strength). Was lucky enough to have my father in law with me that week for another set of hands.

Refrigerator Pictures

[TheLexx]

Here is the link to the pictures I took of my install (not my strength). Was lucky enough to have my father in law with me that week for another set of hands.

Refrigerator Pictures

OMG, that is so sweet! I'm going to show that to my wife!

Did you route a water line to the ice maker?

And did you somehow bolt he fridge to the wall or the floor?

[ncitro]

OMG, that is so sweet! I'm going to show that to my wife!

Did you route a water line to the ice maker?

And did you somehow bolt he fridge to the wall or the floor?

We were really debating going with something that nice, and when we found it on sale with the dent and in black stainless it made it easy. Its actually nicer than the fridge we have at home lol.

Yeah I pulled out the propane line and ran the water line in through there. Was pretty easy, the water line running to the kitchen sink is right in that area above the coroplast.

Yeah we put two big screws through the feet in the front and three in the back. We also put it on top of a piece of 1/2 plywood rather than pulling the carpet up. We were going to fabricate some brackets for the top, but we wound up screwing a piece of trim to the ceiling to hide the wire that goes into the ceiling to feed the lights, and with that there there is no real way for it to tip forward unless we are in a catastrophic accident, which in that case the rig is totaled anyway.

[TheLexx]

We were really debating going with something that nice, and when we found it on sale with the dent and in black stainless it made it easy. Its actually nicer than the fridge we have at home lol.

Yeah I pulled out the propane line and ran the water line in through there. Was pretty easy, the water line running to the kitchen sink is right in that area above the coroplast.

Yeah we put two big screws through the feet in the front and three in the back. We also put it on top of a piece of 1/2 plywood rather than pulling the carpet up. We were going to fabricate some brackets for the top, but we wound up screwing a piece of trim to the ceiling to hide the wire that goes into the ceiling to feed the lights, and with that there there is no real way for it to tip forward unless we are in a catastrophic accident, which in that case the rig is totaled anyway.

Sounds like you did it right. But it is a bit of work. I guess there's no real easy way to secure the thing otherwise. Nicely done!