Wednesday, April 11, 2012

the Rig

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Huzzah! Today we had some work done to the rig.

A week or so ago, our refrigerator started freezing everything. This has happened before, when we first got the motorhome and it was fixed under warranty. Now, six years later, the warranty is long expired, so we knew we'd have to spring for a fix.

From previous experience, we knew it was either the thermistor or the board, or possibly both.

In looking around, we saw that thermistors have vastly improved from the one installed in our fridge. Instead of a small wooden match-head sized unit, they now look like a thin tube of lipstick. Much better for sensing ambient temperature. Finding this, we decided no matter what, we were getting a new thermistor.

As to the board (which turned out to be the problem), we've heard for years that Dinosaur boards are much preferable to Dometic boards. For starters, Dinosaur boards come with a three year warranty as opposed to the ninety day warranty offered by Dometic. The Dinosaur board also has an external temperature setting, so that's what we went with.

While our repairman was here (aren't we lucky to have a mobile tech who comes to the rig?) we talked about our water pump.

Several years ago, our Shurflo 5.7 finally failed (years after a lot of others of that model). At the time, it was an emergency situation and fortunately (having heard of the Shurflo 5.7s high failure rate) we had a spare, a generic pump that we had purchased at Camping World. After a good friend installed the spare, I dealt with Shurflo.

While our 5.7 pump was well out of warranty, I persisted (are those who know me surprised?) and finally got Shurflo to send me a free replacement pump. They sent us the Revolution, which is what they ship in place of the faulty 5.7s.

For a few years now, we've carried the Revolution, making do with the other replacement, because we aren't all that handy when it comes to plumbing. That said, the replacement has been a huge pain in the heinie. The flow is poor, giving adequate water, but pulsing instead of providing an even flow.

Since we already had the replacement on hand and the repairman at the rig, we decided this would be a perfect time to have it installed.

Now we're happy campers!

Our water is flowing and our food is cold.

And once again,

5 comments:

Gaelyn said...

Depending on where you are the mobile tech is the easiest way. Cold food is very good. These dang RV fridges are so expensive to replace.

I have a few minor repairs to be done while I'm in Flagstaff next week.

Donna K said...

Glad you got the needed repairs done. Now you can hit the road that much easier when the time comes.

Erik's RV Blog said...

Hey, send him to Illinois ok? God knows I could use somebody who does the work right the first time!

Erik

Big Matt said...

Sounds like you have some restrictions in your pipes in your rig, I have the Shurflo Revolution 4008 series (3 gpm @ 55 PSI) and it has provided nothing but smooth water flow.

Jim and Gayle said...

We've used the Revolution for almost 2 1/2 years without fail, but have had to adjust it due to pulsing a few times. There is a screw on the front which can be turned a small amount to make the flow steadier. Sounds easy except it takes a contortionist to get to ours under the bed. I'm guessing yours is under one of the twin beds?
We've been lucky with our fridge so far but we know it's coming one of these days.