Off to the internet for a little troubleshooting, some Youtube "how to" viewing and some shopping. We ordered a new cooling unit (~$500 delivered) from RvCool.com
In the meantime, we needed to keep food cold! The answer was to put ice into the two drawers that sit on the bottom of the fridge. This turned the fridge into an ice box - the drawers controlled the melt water and the ice kept things cool.
The videos made a DIY cooling unit swap look do-able, so a decision was made!
We ordered the new cooling unit, which took awhile for them to make & get shipped to us on the west coast.
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| The cooling unit in the box |
We picked it up, loaded it across the back seat of the Camry and took it to the RV, which was in Santa Cruz, where we were staying.
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| This is the view from the top of the cliff that was a 5 minute walk from the RV park we stayed at. |
Watched two different videos on YouTube, as the cooling unit came with no instructions. We laid the box on the bed to get the unit out. The fridge was pulled and laid between the couch & the dinette (table down).
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| The fridge ready to be worked on in the RV. |
I took lots of pictures, swapped it over, put it back together and slipped it in its hole. That did take all day so we used it as an ice box that night and finished first thing in the morning. Taped up the old one & took it to the FedEx office. They scanned the (included) label, gave a receipt with the tracking number and off it went.
About the actual job. Nothing was real heavy, more awkward. Two of us did fine. Fitting the cooling unit back in the refrigerator took a little finessing but it was well within my capabilities. We saved well over a thousand dollars when you think about just having the refrigerator replaced.
It's nice having a working refrigerator!
Please be very happy that you still have the physical ability to handle the refrigerator. With my joint troubles, replacing mine last November was way out of my physical ability now days. When the two guys finished the installation I was really happy to pay the $180 installation expense to have a working refrigerator again.
ReplyDeleteI could not have done that by myself.
DeleteWow, you are indeed handy! From your pictures it looks complicated glad you and your wife were able to install it yourselves and save a bundle of cash.
ReplyDeleteOne question why did you have to send back the older unit? Does it work like when you buy a car battery you have to give up your old one?
I went to your link about Seacliff and it looks very nice and almost always full occupancy.
ReplyDeleteBet it costs a pretty penny but well worth it.
The fridge swap was not difficult, just awkward. Taking pictures before I disconnected stuff was a huge help.
DeleteSending it back gives us a warranty (there was no core charge). The label was in with the one they sent, we put the old one back in the box, taped it up, applied the label and took it to the Fedex office.
Seacliff is nice, I made a reservation before hand, almost necessary these days. It was $250 a week as I recall, not cheap but not as much as some places. The whole Santa Cruz area is nice, I'd like to go back for month or two.
Congratulations on the refrigerator work. That Coast Guard training is still paying off, uh? :) Be safe out there on the left coast.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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