Die, Fridge, Die!

Before moving into the Desert Pub (our RV), we lived in a 2000 sq. foot house with just under a quarter acre of land. We did lawn and garden maintenance, grew a vegetable garden, were constantly remodeling, added new appliances, fixing broken things, etc. Because that is what you do in a house. So you would think an RV, being a much smaller house, would be easier to right? Sometimes, not so much. Today's case, the refrigerator.

When RV manufacturers build, they get the shell ready, move all the furniture, cabinetry and appliances in. Then they seal the whole thing up, with windows and slides, until you have the rolling home you have today. What they don't care so much about, is when those items have to be replaced.

Our fridge door just suddenly popped off a couple days ago. I looked at the hinge, which is what separated from the door, and realized it was held into plastic to begin with. Not the strongest of mounted items for something that bounces down the highway. Research time it was. I found out no one makes a repair kit for these anymore, not even the manufacturer and a new door would cost $400. Some, who had also had this happen to them, had fixed it with L brackets, but to me this would just be short term as it would still be mounted into frail plastic. Last option, a new fridge.

This is the way we decided to go, putting the $400 into a new appliance, instead of trying to Frankenstein a 15 year old appliance. A RV fridge does have advantages, being to run on 3 power sources being one (propane, 12v, and 120v), but it also has several disadvantages. Interior space, and staying cool enough in high heat, are examples. A residential fridge, while needing constant power, still seemed a better option than $2000-$3000 for a new 3 way RV specialty fridge. The big box store was searched, and the new fridge was on its way.

I took a day off work, as I knew this would be a bit harder than in the house, where space was taken for granted. This was my (extremely long) day, with swearing removed to save space.

• A visit to Home Depot to grab parts that I knew were going to be needed

• Blowing up our kayak, to become a temporary fridge

• Moving all food into the kayak

• Buying a pile of ice to dump on food in kayak

• Disconnecting and capping the propane line to the fridge

• Removing all doors and shelves from fridge

• Finding all the screws and removing so fridge can be pulled out

• Pulling out the fridge

• Measuring at least 6 times to see if it will fit out front door

• Remove front passenger chair

• Remove items that might be in the way (fan, grab bar, etc.)

• Removing front door

• Interrupting Marsha's work day several times

• Trying to remove old fridge out front door and giving up when it just won't make it

• Removing side RV window

• Lifting old fridge out window

• Taking all doors and shelves out of new fridge

• Lifting new fridge in window (at least it was lighter)

• Running to Home Depot again, this time to get items to reseal the window on

• Cleaning up the old window and applying new seals

• Putting window back on

• Rebuilding cabinet because height is a bit different (say goodbye to under fridge drawer)

• Sealing off exterior access doors as AC only fridge doesn't need the outside air

• Testing fridge fit and making adjustments, both for size and levelness

• Hooking up water line

• Fixing things that I accidently broke

• Adding mounts to hold the fridge in place while moving

• Putting on all doors, and shelves

• Letting the fridge cool down and moving all food back in

• Collapsing from tiredness

• Admiring a nice new fridge

• Noticing all the painting touch up that now needs done

• Contemplate how we're going to get the old fridge hauled away in 1 day

The one thing we've noticed while remodeling the RV is that each of the changes we've made help the RV look more like a home and less like an RV on the inside. This change has helped on that transition even more. So far we're very happy with the extra fridge space and not worrying about temperature. Would I do it again? Definitely. Besides, we may have lost the water dispenser, but have gained a working ice maker!

A lot of RV manufacturers have moved to just doing residential fridges in their coaches anyway, and with today's world of being able to add solar easily, providing the AC needed is not as big of deal as it used to be. If you are at all handy, and thinking of replacing your fridge, this may be the way to go for you as well.