Urgent! Electrolux RM275 fridge u/s, which replacement? (1 Viewer)

[veevee]

We are off on Monday for the start of a 3 week tour, Saturday afternoon switched the fridge on 230v and nothing. Lit it on gas and ... nothing. It's the original fridge I guess as was superseded in 1993 (our Hymer is 1992) so doesn't owe anybody anything. It worked last year but not as well as we had hoped, guessed then that we would be looking for a new one before long.

Camping without a fridge is nowadays almost unimaginable, so trying to find a suitable replacement in a hurry that will more or less just slot in.

Have researched replacement lists, not all offer the same replacements and as the original RM275 is so old many of the replacements have been replaced too.

One list suggests the RM4261LM but can't find any listing for this model. Another list suggests RM4230 but these are just about gone and have been replaced themselves.

One dealer (Jacksons) has suggested the RM4230 is replaced by the RM5330, which is the wheel arch version (which we don't need). The flat rear panel model is the RM5380 which is what we think would work well for us . It does have an interior light which we didn't find we required, so are slightly tempted to find an earlier RM4230 as it may be simpler with less to go wrong?

Has anybody an opinion as to whether our choice will fit without too much alteration or any experience on replacing a fridge from the early 1990's S class Hymers.

If we can't sort this in a hurry we will cancel our trip, but have waited a long time for this to come around so would be a great shame.

 

[TheBig1]

i have repaired and replaced quite a few fridges over the years. to be honest a fridge of that age is nowhere near as efficient as later replacements.

why not pick up a newer second hand fridge from a caravan breaker. they are generally standard width, so simple enough to just swap out. although you will also need to change the vents and flue outlet to suit too. probably meaning you will need to patch one round hole and cut 2 larger vent holes

all the parts are easy to find on ebay and its pretty straight forward as a DIY job. however I would suggest you have the gas connection and safety checked by a professional before you use it

 

[cbrookson]

Have you tried getting the ammonia cooling liquid which sometimes forms into crystals to dissolve - like here?

These absorption fridges should go on for years, if it was just on the gas you had problems I'd suggest jet cleaning and de-sooting, but yours sounds something different. Just a passing thought!

Cheers

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[johnp10]

Off thread a little, but....
Re my query about my RM4505 not working on 240v:
As was suggested, the circuit board needed replacement.
Thanks to those who advised.

 

[veevee]

Following on from advice given above switched fridge onto mains for 2 hours and found a couple of cold spots on the black tubes running across the back of the fridge, the other parts were hot to very hot.

The suggestion is these cold spots are blocked or partially blocked by crystals forming inside the tubes. The remedy is to heat the fridge and tap gently around the blocked area to free the blocked section.

Are a few tapping sessions it came down to one area at the bottom left of the back of the fridge either side of the U bend (photo), the tube here became mildly warm at best.

Although the gas and mains electric heaters are working very well now it wasn't possible to bring the temperature inside the fridge down below 22 o C (it was 34 o C inside the camper), until the tapping trick was tried.

At one point about 2 hours after the tapping session the temperature was down to 14 o C so although not good enough it made a substantial improvement.

Hope this is of help in the future to someone else, we are off to locate a replacement fridge tomorrow.

Thanks for the help given

 

[TheBig1]

Following on from advice given above switched fridge onto mains for 2 hours and found a couple of cold spots on the black tubes running across the back of the fridge, the other parts were hot to very hot.

The suggestion is these cold spots are blocked or partially blocked by crystals forming inside the tubes. The remedy is to heat the fridge and tap gently around the blocked area to free the blocked section.

Are a few tapping sessions it came down to one area at the bottom left of the back of the fridge either side of the U bend (photo), the tube here became mildly warm at best.

Although the gas and mains electric heaters are working very well now it wasn't possible to bring the temperature inside the fridge down below 22 o C (it was 34 o C inside the camper), until the tapping trick was tried.

At one point about 2 hours after the tapping session the temperature was down to 14 o C so although not good enough it made a substantial improvement.

Hope this is of help in the future to someone else, we are off to locate a replacement fridge tomorrow.

Thanks for the help given

just for future reference, its never a good idea to tap a rusty pipe carrying ammonia. Russian roulette as to when its going to crack through the rust and leak out the contents. not a particularly nice chemical to deal with, plus its fatal for the fridge

remove the fridge and "gently" agitate the liquid by rocking the fridge side to side. then turn the fridge upside down and repeat. once you hear it gurgle and the fluid moving freely, refit it. it wont save the fridge long term but will get some going for a while longer

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