RE: [A/S] Dometic RM2801

["Tricia & Conrad Holsomback" <triconholsomback@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Maurice,
We did replace our with a 2820 last year.  We are very disappointed!!
And that is a major understatement!!
We have beautiful oak panels that will not fit the new fridge doors, and
the quality of the new fridge is very poor!  Food freezes or won't stay
cold, we have to monitor it all the time, adjusting the temp to suit.
We had replaced the cooling unit with a rebuilt unit in Florida when we
picked up the 88 Limited.  When the unit failed 5 months later we were
in California and just the freight for a replacement, plus the labor to
remove, install and return the failed unit was prohibitive, we thought.
If we had it to do over, we would even buy a new cooling unit which
costs almost as much as a new fridge, but worth every penny.
By the way, we learned the problem that causes it too fail is the heat
in the compartment so we have installed baffles to direct the heat.
Airstream factory said they didn't have to install baffles until 1995 or
so.  Can't remember the exact year, but the problem is the fridge is
located about 18" off the floor and therefore has too deep a compartment
outside and the heat builds up.
Our fridge in the 83 Excella was floor level, which at the time we
thought was uncomfortable, but the outside compartment wasn't as deep
and therefore didn't build up as much heat.  We never had a problem with
it!
There is a company in Washington state, who rebuild and have a website
with lots of info, unfortunately, we lost our "favorites" last year and
I can't tell you the address, but we found it thru an internet search,
so it shouldn't be hard to locate.
If you have the same setup, and don't have baffles in the compartment,
we would suggest you have them installed, they are simple, I, Tricia,
did it myself and I'm not quite as handy as Hunter, with tools and
repairs that is!
Hope this helps and you have better luck.

Tricia and Conrad