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Fridge parts or replacement fridge needed


Barryd999

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My ageing Kontiki 640 fridge is in need of some new bits or possibly a replacement fridge.

 

The current fridge is the original from 1996 and its an Electrolux RM4368.

 

The burner / jet in it is the incorrect one and it does not combust properly which led to problems last year when we used it and it smelt and set the Co2 alarm off. Its also prone to getting rust and bits on it and not lighting.

 

The bit we need is Product number 9212271.02 but my motorhome repairer cannot find it anywhere.

 

If we cant get the bits then I might need a replacement fridge from a breakers but we are both having trouble locating one of them. Dimensions are

 

31.5" height

19" wide

 

or 800mm height

482.6mm width

 

Any ideas where we might get the bits needed or a replacement fridge? I really dont want a new Fridge as I am probably selling the van and they are well north of £1000.

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Derek Uzzell - 2021-04-22 10:09 AM

 

This table shows Electrolux fridge model-changes up tp 2012

 

http://www.obrienscamping.co.uk/CaravanModelChanges.htm

 

and I’m guessing your RM4368 fridge would fall into the same category as RM4360/RM4361 models.

I found a breaker just up the road that says I wont get a jet or burner for it at least not new. He has an RM 4271 from a 1998 caravan / motorhome which he reckons will be the same dimensions. £225 and its tested and working. Trouble is I bet you cant get the bits for that either but it might be the only choice.

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This ebay advert

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOMETIC-ELECTROLUX-GAS-FRIDGE-BURNER-FITS-MOST-OLDER-FRIDGES-2923928408-/402775436699?hash=item5dc7496d9b

 

is for a "DOMETIC ELECTROLUX GAS FRIDGE BURNER FITS MOST OLDER FRIDGES 2923928408” and the fridge-model references given later in the advert include the RM4361 that one might expect to have the same burner unit as the RM4368.

 

(A GOOGLE-search on “2923928408” retrieves other potential suppliers.)

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Derek Uzzell - 2021-04-22 2:24 PM

 

This ebay advert

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOMETIC-ELECTROLUX-GAS-FRIDGE-BURNER-FITS-MOST-OLDER-FRIDGES-2923928408-/402775436699?hash=item5dc7496d9b

 

is for a "DOMETIC ELECTROLUX GAS FRIDGE BURNER FITS MOST OLDER FRIDGES 2923928408” and the fridge-model references given later in the advert include the RM4361 that one might expect to have the same burner unit as the RM4368.

 

(A GOOGLE-search on “2923928408” retrieves other potential suppliers.)

Thanks. Someone on Motorhome Fruitcakes found a similar one but without the Jet and this one includes the Jet. However I think there may well be another problem here. Its possible the Flue is knackered, coked up and rusty on the inside. I am told by my motorhome guy that it cant be replaced or cleaned properly. I am wondering if its the Flue that is causing the problems which maybe lead to a bad combustion, yellow flame instead of blue and the fumes.

 

I found a breaker up the road with a 1998 Electrolux fridge which he says is working and tested on all three settings. He wants £225 for it.

 

I dont mind spending the money on a burner but there may well be more to it I think. Our fridge will have had much more use than most. For the first ten years we had the van it was in use for at least six months of the year.

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The attached image (taken from an ebay advert) is the front page of the Electrolux handbook that includes information about the RM4368 fridge. It’s reasonable to assume that all the fridge-models listed use the same gas-burner assembly even though factors like capacity, shape and/or gas-ignition may differ.

 

Regarding your comments about debris dropping from the flue into the gas-burner and that this will "maybe lead to a bad combustion, yellow flame instead of blue and the fumes”, frankly, if your 1996-vintage fridge has never had its flue cleaned during the last 25 years, it’s a mircale that it operates at all on gas.

 

My 1996-built Herald Templar had an Electrolux fridge similar to yours and I had problems getting it to light on gas. Herald motorhomes had been built at Poole Dorset but, in 1995 the company went into liquidation and was taken over by Explorer Group. Production of Herald motorhomes was moved to the Explorer Group’s factory at Consett, County Durham where my Templar had been constructed.

 

My Consett-built Templar had a taller fridge than the earlier Poole-built version, but the position of the external ventilation grilles was not modified to match and this meant it was (literally) impossible to access the fridge’s gas-burner while the fridge remained in place. As it was evident using the fridge's sight-glass that debris falling into the gas-burner was causing the gas lighting difficulties, I cut a new aperture in the motorhome’s bodywork and fitted a 3rd ventilation grille that allowed me to clean the burner. This did not address the root cause of the problem, however, which was that the fridge’s gas-flue needed cleaning.

 

My Herald’s Electrolux fridge (and quite probably yours too) had the upper end of its gas-flue connected to the upper ventilation grille by a removable angled metal tube held on to the flue by a small screw. Except, with the fridge in situ, it was (again literally) impossible to reach and turn that screw through the ventilation grille’s aperture and the angled tube had to be removed in order to clean the flue. Hanging within the flue is a twisted metal ‘baffle’ (example here)

 

https://tinyurl.com/ynruyzhu

 

and before the flue can be ’swept’ that baffle MUST be lifted out. This YouTube video

 

 

decribes how to service an older-model Electrolux fridge and begins by removing the fridge from its enclusure. This task can be challenging and - unless an owner demands it - will not be carried out as part of a standard habitation service.

 

As your ‘motorhome guy’ has told you, the flue cannot be replaced and, although the flue can be cleaned properly, doing this can very often be impracticable while the fridge remains in situ. (I asked a motorhome dealer acquaintance what might be done flue-cleaning-wise without removing the fridge and was told “Try tapping the flue’s casing hard a few times with a spanner to cause any big chunks of debris to fall out of the flue's lower end into the burner where they could be sucked out with a vacuum cleaner” and that's what I used to do annually.)

 

It’s certainly the case that, even if you sourced a suitable gas-burner assembly for your RM4368, its flue would still need cleaning for the fridge to perform correctly (and that assumes that the flue itself is still sound). So, provided that the RM4271 the breaker is selling is in good working order and has been fully serviced, that may be your best option.

fridge.thumb.jpg.edd2dcc65923e930df00a39f5eb8c5ba.jpg

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Thanks very much for that excellent post Derek.

 

I think we have located the burner and jet now to purchase but as you say its a question of whether the Flue is knackered or not also. So the fridge will have to come out and be properly bench tested like i that video and the flue examined and cleaned. No point in putting a new burner and jet in if the Flue is blocked, too badly corroded or even if its got holes in it apparently. So the first task is to get it to my motorhome bloke next week and get him to take the fridge out.

 

I am wondering though like you say if its worth the hassle of the other fridge is in good working order.

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