Last year I replaced the board in my RM 3663 fridge. When I installed the Micro P-711 from Dinosaur Electronics everything came back to life. It has run flawless on shore power for about a year. Then 2 weeks ago everything went dead. No lights on eye brow or lights in the fridge . I checked all fuses with a meter and all input voltages are fine. I emailed dinosaur to see if they could tell me what pin the on light got power from but never got a response. I have decided I probably need to go with a regular fridge since I never dry camp. My dimensions are 25x55 and 24 inches deep. I can find stuff that will fit with some modification to the opening, but the depth is giving me a problem. I'm sure others have done this change out. The way my luck has been running lately they probably don't make anything that will fit. Any help would be appreciated.
Bill and Doris
93 GV gas
Counter depth residential units are 24" plus the doors. Look at AJ Madison or ABT websites to search, there you can search by size criteria You will find something, may require slight cabinet mods
Odd that Dinosaur did not get back to you, I've used their products in retro installs for years. Before you get carried away, I'd buy another board and try it. I'm not sure what warranty is on those boards, but I'm sure Dinosaur would stand behind it after a year.
Afterthought: They make a "Universal Board" that comes in two sizes and fits all of our appliances; I carry spares. ^.^d
It has a 3 year warranty. I will try calling them next week. When I looked up the warranty I noticed a statement about not turning in the card voids the warranty. Don't know if I did or not. Do know federal regulations specifically do not allow them to do that. I hope they keep better records than I do.
I am reminded of a power problem we had with our furnace and replaced the card, still did not work when fired-up. Traced it to an in-line fuse that had taken a surge, showed power without a draw, but not on demand. Check your wiring for a bad connection or a bad fuse.
This sort of thing is what I'd be looking for:
Check out Frigidaire FFTR 1022QB or FFTR 1022QW, keep in mind that the 24 inch depth is not the overall depth. ^.^d
Could one of you smart cookies explain to me WHY the change-over to resi-fridges? I assume they are 110 volt, so would require an inverter + some herky batteries to keep it cold on the road + does the bank charge off the engine alt.? Seems to me that we with pre-inverter coaches would do well to stick with our 110/propane fridges.
No fire hazard
More space inside for given exterior dimensions Cost vs new propane can be similar mine was less) Newer models very efficient, so electrical draw is minimal. Especially if you have solar.
Opportunity to go all electric if you don't have propane furnaces House bank charges when your plug to a pedestal or have the chassis motor running or generator running.
Converting to residential fridge is, I think, a "lifestyle" choice. Some owners get along fine with the OEM fridge, because it suits their needs and wants. Other members desire their RV to more closely approximate living in a house, especially in terms of the kitchen appliances. In our case, we bought our coach with the OEM fridge working OK, but not great. It "cooled", but never really got "cold". We did not completely trust it to safely preserve fresh food (meat, milk, etc) because it did not cool like our household fridge. When the 2-year-old replacement (Amish) cooling unit failed, we took the opportunity to upgrade. Now we have complete faith in the RV fridge, both on the road and at home, where we use it for our backup "overflow" fridge and freezer. Makes us happy!
Here (off the top of my head) are a few of my personal pros and cons:
Original 12v - propane fridge:
Good:
1. Already in place
2. When it is working right, it does the job
3. Dual power source is versatile
Bad:
1. The coach must be level
2. Limited interior space
3. Possible fire hazard
Residential fridge:
Good:
1. Larger capacity
2. More reliable
3. Works regardless of levelness (is that a word?)
Bad:
1. Requires 110v (shore power, generator, or inverter)
2. Requires custom install
3. Some loss of adjacent cabinet storage space
Thanks, all, I wondered what the deal was. One thing: we have a fresh Dometic that works perfect (cross fingers), and the manual says something like : "As long as one feels comfortable when the coach is landed, the fridge will work well". We're old school and sticklers for level, no matter what they say. ^.^d
Found the problem and Mike was pretty close. I though I had DC at the board, but when we turned the power switch on the voltage dropped to about .3 volts. Started tracing wires and found the 30 amp DC fuse in the battery bay that feeds the fridge had partially melted and turned into a resistor. Didn't have a 30 so put a 20 in and it ran all day without problem. Sometimes this stuff just makes me scratch my head. Will go back with a 30 and keep an eye on it.