Friday, April 17, 2009

The Downs And Ups Of My RV Fridge

2 years ago my RV fridge broke. It cost me $800 to fix it. Less than a year later it stopped working again and it cost me $160 to fix it even though I got a free circuit board. It still never worked right. The freezer worked fine but the fridge compartment wouldn't cool below 50 degrees. The repairman said to turn it off for a few hours and then try it again. It could be vapor lock he said. I turned it off for a few days and turned it on again. 50 degrees. I gave up and switched to propane power. To my surprise, it worked. I was happy because a replacement fridge with installation would cost me over $3,000, but I wasn't happy with my new monthly propane filling chore. People recommended a bigger propane tank. I said I couldn't lift anything bigger than 7 gallons. People recommended a stationary tank with fill-up service. I balked at the added cost of delivery plus the added cost of maintaining the dirt road so that a propane truck could get down it. I was resigned to continue my monthly propane chore until I could fix up the mobile home, buy a regular fridge and sell the RV.

The last time I got my propane bottle filled was approximately a month ago. I have been watching the green light on the fridge because when it turns red it means I need to switch to a full propane bottle quickly or else my ice cream will melt (we can't allow that!). Yesterday I went outside to check the bottles. I thought maybe I left both bottles open because I hadn't run out of gas yet. One bottle was full, the other nearly full. I was perplexed. I went back inside and looked at the fridge. It was set on electric! The last time I got propane I must have forgotten to push the gas button to switch it over. I checked the fridge temp...40 degrees plus or minus. Yea! My fridge fixed itself! I am so happy! Perhaps it was just vapor lock after all or maybe it didn't like working so hard in the summer. I am very glad it is working now and I hope it continues to work. I was already thinking about the discount I would have to give for a propane-only fridge when I sell the RV. Hopefully it will hang on for a few more years. This also means that my annoying propane fill-up chore only has to be done twice a year because I only use it for the stove top. One less chore, what a nice surprise.

Oh and another nice surprise was my electric bill for last month...$36.99. Nice and low. I will enjoy it while I can. Air conditioning season is right around the corner.

5 comments:

Over the Cubicle Wall said...

A fridge that repairs itself is probably worth three times what a normal fridge is. Nice selling point for the RV!

Daizy said...

Yes! Now if I could just spin my faulty water pump switch in a positive way.

Laura @ move to portugal said...

$3k for a replacement! I'm glad it fixed itself :)

well done on the electric bill, it's so great to reduce the cost of utility bills.

Tessie said...

Ha, that's funny. My car in college used to be just like that, too. It would start making funny noises so I would turn up the radio to drown those funny noises out. Before I knew it the funny noises had gone away - my car had healed itself! Yeah, we were a good team.

Daizy said...

Laura, yes, the propane/electric fridges are sooo expensive. It is ridiculous. And it's only half as big as a regular fridge.

Tessie, I love it when the radio trick works! I remember they made a commercial about that a few years ago. So funny :)