Strange set up of a Dometic fridge

[PeterCK]

We've just taken delivery of a new Autotrail and have the standard Dometic under counter fridge. Now we have had these similar fridges in many caravans and motorhomes but this one is different.

Traditionally there is a salad box compartment at the bottom of the fridge and in the door is a bottle rack with the usual plastic fingers to hold wine bottles (this is very important ) upright. With the new fridge the salad box is too big, if it is in place then the bottle holder has to be moved up to the next level, making one of the door shelves redundant. The only way to have the fridge in the 'old way' is to take out the salad box which seems stupid. What it needs is a smaller salad box but the dealer says that all the new m/h are like it, does anyone have any views on the problem?

PS. going to the show at the NEC will talk to Dometic there if not resolved

Thanks :-(

[Derek Uzzell]

Can you say, please, exactly which model of Dometic fridge your new Auto-Trail motorhome is fitted with? (There should be a label inside the fridge that has the model-reference on it.)

 

I’ve looked at the current Auto-Trail brochure and it would appear that - when an ‘under counter’ fridge is fitted - it will be a 96-litre capacity version.

 

Photos in the brochure suggest that the fridge will be a Dometic “85” model as shown here

 

https://www.dometic.com/en-gb/uk/products/food-and-beverage/refrigeration/refrigerators

 

and all the 96-litre capacity versions are over-wheel-arch type where the rear of the fridge has a stepped ‘cut-away’ at the base. The RMS 8500 is shown here

 

https://www.dometic.com/en-gb/uk/products/food-and-beverage/refrigeration/refrigerators/dometic-rms-8500-_-31120

 

with the cut-away clearly visible. It’s possible to scroll the main picture sideways and the door-open photo certainly suggests that the salad-box would hit the bottle-holder if the latter were in its lowest position on the door.

 

Doing the same thing with the non-over-wheel-arch RM 8501 model

 

https://www.dometic.com/en-gb/uk/products/food-and-beverage/refrigeration/refrigerators/dometic-rm-8501-_-31134

 

suggests that - as there’s no rear cut-away - the salad-box’s position can be further back, meaning that it won’t contact the bottle-holder if this is in the lowest position on the door.

 

It’s possible to download the Operating Manual for Dometic “84” and “85” fridges and the drawings in the Manual show the “Lower door shelf with bottle holders” positioned part way up the door (ie. not in the bottom position) where it cannot potentially contact the salad-box.

 

It looks like Dometic have standardised on the dimensions of the salad-box, resulting in it being impracticable to do what you’d like to be able to do (and what one might reasonably expect to be able to do) on their over-wheel-arch 85 models.

 

Suggest you e-mail Dometic about this, just in case there is a less-deep salad-box available.

 

 

 

 

[colin]

The fridge on our Globecar has no salad box, can't say I've ever considered it a problem, so I'd say use it without and see how you get on.

[Derek Uzzell]

It’s not that Peter’s Dometic fridge cannot be used with the salad-box in place, just that it’s not possible to fit a door-mounted ‘shelf’ in the lowest door-position where it will be directly opposite the salad-box.

 

To some extent Peter’s criticism is based on habituation, as he has had fridges in the past that allow a ‘shelf’ to be positioned at the very bottom of the door and still leave the salad-box in place. If someone brand-new to motorhomes/caravans bought a leisure-vehicle with the same Dometic fridge as Peter’s and were told that the choice is to have the salad-box in the fridge and position the ’ bottle shelf’ mid-way up the door (as shown in the fridge’s Operating Instructions) or position the ‘bottle shelf’ at the bottom of the door and dispense with the salad-box, I’m pretty sure they would not choose the latter option.

 

It’s not difficult to understand Dometic’s reasons for standardising the salad-box’s dimensions, nor to appreciate why Auto-Trail might standardise on a particular model of under-counter fridge.

 

I’d also prefer a less-deep salad-box and have the bottle-shelf at the door’s base, but if that’s not practicable with Peter’s fridge so be it.

 

(It should be easy for Peter to identify whether his fridge is an ’over-wheel-arch’ model from the shape of the fridge’s rear wall at the back of the salad-box area.)

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi PeterCK,

Having to choose between removing a new motorhome's fridge "salad box" or leaving it in place but in doing so, being faced with making one of it's fridge door shelves "redundant"- both with the main aim of facilitating the storage of wine- probably falls into the category known as "First World Problems"... (lol) (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

I’ve assumed that Peter’s Dometic fridge is a RMS 8500 ‘wheel-arch’ model (which assumption may, of course, be completely wrong!)

 

The RMS 8500 is shown in more detail here

 

http://tinyurl.com/zmcq3rb

 

and it wiil be apparent a) that the front of the salad-box is right at the front edge of the floor of the fridge, and b) that the lowest door-shelf is shown positioned about half way up the door where it will clear the top of the salad-box when the door is closed. If tall bottles were to be carried in that door-shelf it would be necessary to remove the shelf above it, but this could be avoided if the salad-box were narrower so that its front was further back in the fridge.

 

If anyone is to blame for the ‘mismatch’ it should really be Auto-Trail rather than Dometic, as Dometic market non-wheel-arch fridges that do not have the limitation that Peter has highlighted. Having said that, the wheel-arch design allows a motorhome manufacturer like Auto-Trail to install the fridge in places where a non-wheel-arch model can’t go, potentially improving the motorhome’s interior layout to the benefit of the buyer.

[PeterCK]

Thank you to all those who responded to my query and I think I have several options

1) Ditch the salad tray and keep the wine rack

2) Look for a shallow salad tray from a van breakers

3) As I said, talk to Dometic at the show and see what they say (will update the site afterwards)

Cheers :-)

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi again..

 

We occasionally used to use those telescopic, twin retaining bars, to stop stuff tumbling put of our fridge (and cupboards)...

One of those, used instead of the salad box, may be an option..?

 

(I tried to post a link from ebay but it was H---U----G-----E ... (lol) )

 

Edit: These- http://www.johnscross.co.uk/products/double-cupboard-retaining-bars.html