Replace Dometic with electric

[DCprogrammer]

Hi all,

First time posting here. The Dometic gas/elec 'fridge in my 2001 T2053 has about had it. The "performance" has been falling off for the last couple of years. I and a few others have done some troubleshooting on it, and it seems like the cooling unit is just about shot.

I want to replace it with a small electric. I've seen a few small double door type 'fridges at home depot and a few other places that'll fit the space (and maybe give me some extra shelf space on top!).

I have a few questions/concerns that I was hoping some of you may have experience with:

When disconnecting the gas line, is there a "cap" or a "plug" that I can use to cap off the gas line? The elec frigdge obviously won't be using gas.

Is there a elec fridge that anyone can recommend? How well do they hold up bouncing down the road? I'm probably only going to keep the trailer for another year or so.

How do you fasten the doors shut?

How did you affix the elec fridge to the RV?

Thanks in advance!

[Steve Collins]

That propane fitting on the fridge is standard stuff. The best place to find a cap for the fitting is at a welding supply shop. They carry all kinds of brass fittings for gas and propane and can fix you up in a jiffy. That's if you want to cap the propane line right where it connects to the fridge.

If you want to pull the copper line completely, you should find that it connects to plain black iron pipe down by the frame of the trailer directly below the fridge. If you do that, then you'll just need standard 1/2" NPT fittings available at any hardware/home improvement store.

In either case, just be sure to use pipe dope or teflon tape that is designed for propane. The same stores carry that too.

[Honda03842]

We have the Magic Chef 4.1 cubic foot refrigerator, about $120. We've used it for three years now without a single problem including probably 20,000 tow miles with 1000 of the miles dirt roads. When we're not raveling we tend to leave it on so basically it's been on for three years.

One other neat feature I never thought about before, is if it fails you can immediately get a replacement just about anywhere in North America.

I don't know what size you need but ours is 19 inches deep, 19 inches wide and 32 inches high.


We keep it closed with a 2 inch O-ring. A hook in the cabinet frame and a screw in the top of the door. Works great.

Anything you buy has to fit thru your trailer door.

I had to increase the size of the opening for the refridge in our cabinet by about an inch at the top. Once I placed it on the former refridegerator platform I put a wooden strip all around the fridge to close up any gap. If you go to other files and look up Preparing a can see our fridge.

To keep it in place I placed a metal L bracket on the back edges of the fridge and screwed it into the floor. (Depending on your floor you may need to strengthen it. I also put some foam board in each side after installation, sort of wedging it in place; no side to side tipping.

You can buy a plug for the end of the gas line Lowes or Home Depot. After tightening it in place test to see there's no leakage.

I will say, at least on ours, the freezer is useless, small and not cold enough. We simply use it for more fridge space.

On our typical four hour drive or less, the fridge stays cold.

We do have a 1200 watt Inverter to allow us to run the fridge on extremely hot days or really long drives. As well we have solar panels and the ability to keep our battery charged from our car while driving.

All in all it's been a good solution. It actuially provides more storage than the original.

Hope that helps, if you need more details just ask

[40_Acre_Mule]

You check for gas leaks with a match, right?

[Honda03842]

Personally I own a small hand held battery operated detector but I have also used soapy water, looking for bubbles. The hand held orks very well and you can always test it at the stove.

[dkasten39828]

You check for gas leaks with a match, right?

... as long as it ain't lit...

I once used my daughter's bubble blowing soap to test for a leaking hose on my popup. It worked well... found the leak.

[luvrque]

Originally Posted by 40_Acre_Mule

You check for gas leaks with a match, right?

I guess you are joking
But I worked with propane almost every day for 35 yrs. and 40 to 50 yrs. ago we did ck. for leaks with a match. Never had a problem if there was a leak at a fitting it would just make a very small flame.
We would not use a match if we smelled propane at a fitting that ment there was a larger leak, so no need to ck. just fix it.

NO I don't recommend using a match, I don't use one today.

Things are different today, had no seatbelts or bike helmets then either

[DCprogrammer]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, the info was very useful. Now, on to the next problem.....

Thanks!
Bill