Club 80-90 Forums

Good move to keep the existing if you can - I replaced mine last year when the heating element on 240 gave up the ghost with a new RM5310 which is the new equivalent of the 212. Great bit of kit and I love the flexibility of 3 way as opposed to a compressor fridge - also didn't want to start upgrading wiring and leisure batteries, solar etc Similar price to a compressor (CRX 50) if you shop around but slightly better capacity (as is the old 212).

is the RM 5310 the same size?

550 quid, ouch

Pretty much the same size giver or a take a few mm and the flu has the same handing and although I needed a new flu kit it went out the same hole as the 212. I paid 485 for ours plus delivery (£20) early last summer - on fleabay after a lot of shopping around. It has a battery (AAA in the button) spark for the gas ignition whereas my old 212 was the E model with the 12v and flashing light if and when the flame went out. There is an LED light inside which is useful when the kids are asleep and you need some milk for your bedtime cuppa. Ultimately I could have probably stripped out the old heater elements etc but really couldn't be faffed as it was getting very scruffy and 12V heater never worked and Mrs SamsBus is a sucker for shiny new white goods!

For the op I would advise pulling the fresh air vent off ( not the flue vent) to get visual access to the back of the fridge, I had wires pulled through and laying on the flue, also had some crusty connecons and a bit of rust, check for the use of flexible gas pipes, if fitted you should replace.
To pull my fridge out and sort the problems I had to release the copper pipe union and remove some screws in the side cupboards.

The external fresh air vent screws were and holes were shot and winter cover missing letting water in, a new vent with winter cover was required, I used E profile draught excluder to seal and had to add new backing plates inside as larger self tappers would not fit. Some rust was treated and painted too.

then a co alarm was fitted, I have a smoke alarm and just about to refit my gas alarm to my new van.

itchyfeet wrote:For the op I would advise pulling the fresh air vent off ( not the flue vent) to get visual access to the back of the fridge, I had wires pulled through and laying on the flue, also had some crusty connecons and a bit of rust, check for the use of flexible gas pipes, if fitted you should replace.
To pull my fridge out and sort the problems I had to release the copper pipe union and remove some screws in the side cupboards.

The external fresh air vent screws were and holes were shot and winter cover missing letting water in, a new vent with winter cover was required, I used E profile draught excluder to seal and had to add new backing plates inside as larger self tappers would not fit. Some rust was treated and painted too.

then a co alarm was fitted, I have a smoke alarm and just about to refit my gas alarm to my new van.

Thanks very much for your advise, the fridge is removed from the van so will give it a good check over while its out. You mentioned flexible gas pipes, ours were rubber and we will be replacing them as they're not very supple anymore. We've just bought a new CO alarm as the van didn't have one fitted. Shelves have been ordered from ebay and now just looking for a replacement door or a way to tidy up the existing one.

Thanks again for your help.

Ben

My door was hanging down at the bottom where it has a join, I used a strip of aluminium which I bent but you could use asymmetrical angle Aluminium, then I used rivets to fit and it keeps the bottom of the door from sagging, looks ok

Need to replace flexible gas pipes every 5 years I think, they are date marked.

itchyfeet wrote:My door was hanging down at the bottom where it has a join, I used a strip of aluminium which I bent but you could use asymmetrical angle Aluminium, then I used rivets to fit and it keeps the bottom of the door from sagging, looks ok

Need to replace flexible gas pipes every 5 years I think, they are date marked.

Interestingly, dometic advise against the use of flexi pipes for the gas line in favour of small bore copper. Just be aware that the heat emitting from the heat exchanger at the back of the fridge will hasten the aging of your gas hose particularly if the hose is routed near it - they can get quite hot in the summer when the fridge is working hard. The hose is cheap enough so no reason why you cant replace more often. My old 212 had had a cooling fan out of an old PC case strapped to the heat exchanger by the previous owner. He said he thought it made the fridge more efficient - no idea if it did.