Legacy Elite II Dometic RM2454 refer

[Overland]

Thanks for the compliment. I do like how it looks but I’m always frustrated when looks get in the way of functionality.

 

The vent is the one on the backsplash. There’s a matching one that you can’t see in the photo that’s opposite that one but close to the floor, next to the door as you come in.

 

The fitting that you see to the right of the fridge is actually a recessed tie down from Sea Dog that is my solution for keeping the drawers shut while traveling. There’s one under each of the drawer sets and before we take off I just hook a short bungee from the towel rail to the tie down. Takes two seconds, does the job, and I think the tie downs themselves look good. I throw the bungees in the bottom drawer when I take them off.

[SeaDawg]

Form v function. I get it. But I don't think most of the current fridges open 180. I was surprised that ours did...

 

Love the towel bar, too. Did you install it, or Oliver? The seadog fitting is clever, and looks good. I'll file that. Our Oliver drawers always stay shut, but we'll see how ikea/ Blum works on the road. The old school self closers on our oliver drawers are really hard to open, and close, both.

 

Today was a much better day with the new fridge. Up until about 6 pm, we stayed at 97 or 100 per cent battery. Paul replaced the blown fuse on the tv and stereo, and we played them both/ignored them both while we worked. We discovered that our 10 year old Jensen system sucks almost 3 amps.  Just another reason to avoid tv...

 

We'll see what we have in the morning. We're both really happy with the quiet, steady operation of the fridge. Swapped in the sensor thermometer. Around 78 to 80 in the trailer most of the day. Fridge averaging 37.

 

Worked on the microwave cabinet some more. Here's a photo of last dry fit of the cabinet.

 

Very happy with upswing door. And big storage space within. When we take the last clamps off, and put away the tools, etc., I will post another photo.

 

Sherry

 

 

[Try2Relax]

Overland, I have to agree, that fridge is gorgeous!

 

I don't know where you travel to, but I would be concerned with that venting Oliver installed, the Isotherm minimum required is 15 sq. in. and it looks like that vent plate is a max of 6 sq. in. without a fan forcing more air through it, the natural convection process does not have enough space to perform properly. Whether this results in poor performance or shortened life, due to overworking to compensate, I would definitely keep a close eye on it, in hotter areas where it might not be able to keep up.

[Overland]

Sherry, I'm digging the flip up door.  I want to see it in action!  Is that a standard size door from Ikea?  Looks like a perfect fit.

 

The towel bar is an Ikea drawer/fridge pull.  I got the idea from another owner at last year's rally.  I had to remove the sink to have room to screw in the left side, but other than that it was a cinch.

 

Randy, I was concerned about that, too - especially at first when we were having trouble with the ASU unit.  But I ran it for a while with the vent covers removed, and even pulled the fridge out for a few days to see if it ran better, but no difference.  It actually stays pretty cool back there - there's a ton of space behind the fridge, at least 10" or more I'd say, and the venting is diagonal across the back - bottom left to top right, so there's actually plenty of air.  I can take the cover off by the sink and reach in to feel the coils and they're at most a little warm to the touch.  And the air back there is no warmer than the cabin.  It has a small coil pack with a fan that sits pretty much next to the upper vent, which probably helps as well.  This summer I'll test it for a few days to see how it does in the heat, but we're more winter campers so I'm not too worried about it.

[SeaDawg]

Overland, I really like the flipup door. It's a 12 x 24 drawer front, in high gloss white, with an Ikea Blankett 24 inch pull. Beneath it is a hacked 6 x 24 drawer front, cut down to 3.25 x 24. The bottom front gives me a lip to help contain items; the 12 x 24 with linear pull breaks up the great expanse of white. We had originally thought about ( and purchased) a 15 x 24 door, but the 12 intrudes just a little less into the space, and looks better, I think. The bottom lip could be hinged for drop-down, but I don't think I want that. I like the big clear opening, without having to clear the tiny counter of the stuff that usually lands there.. phones, glasses, flashlights, and anything else I don't want the dog to be able to reach.

 

I can still reach into the cabinet easily. I put a second coat of paint on the interior this morning, without issue. I also love the interior led light we dug out of the " archives", and Paul installed it for me on the ceiling of the cabinet. Really makes a difference.

 

We used the small Ikea hinges. I'd thought about the Blum aventos xs, as they'd take a little less space, but the Ikea ones were local, and work fine. They're Blum for Ikea, and very well built, and allow for a number of adjustments. And, we're familiar with them, as I have a bunch in my home kitchen...

 

The Ikea highgloss white is a pretty close match to our gel coat. Just a little brighter/ tiny fraction less grey.

 

I so love your towel bar, but with our molded in fiberglass sink, it could be a very tough "blind " install, removing drawers and working from below, IF I could even get tools into the space.

 

Randy, how did you seal your existing exterior vents in your retrofit? We have plenty of venting to the interior, and I'd like to close up that cold air coming in the big vents. Thanks.

 

Sherry

[Overland]

Great info - thanks!  I was wondering what the split in the door was about - I like the way it looks and shortening the door projection should be an advantage.  Our door folds down, and I can't decide if I like it or not.  It's never in the way, but it looks like it is so that bothers me, lol.  It does make for a nice shelf when it's down.

 

But I like the look of the gloss cabinet so this is something I'll definitely have to file away for consideration.

[Try2Relax]

Sherry,  I haven't "permanently" sealed them off, I haven't figured out which way I would like to go. My semi-permanent solution, so far, has been that the bubble wrap insulation I lined the back of the cabinet with the insulating bubble wrap it was first laid into all the contours so that it was built up to make an ultimate flat wall, each layer was taped in place with aluminum flashing tape. So overall, from the vent perspective it is completely tight up against the opening. From the outside, I had some left over 1/32 thick hard sheet vinyl from a crappy tub surround that I cut to fit the opening, with the top part slid in behind the opening and the bottom on the outside of the lip, so that any water that gets in runs out and the vent cover is enough to keep it place. While I don't consider it permanent, everything about it works if it is still there 10 years from now.

[SeaDawg]

Thanks, Randy. That's helpful. We haven't done anything else with the vents yet, but it's on the list. We'll probably do something on the order of your method.

Happy to report that the new fridge has been very quietly humming away for over two weeks now, maintaing frozen bottles frozen, and interior at an average of 37 in the fridge, set on Midway/ 4 setting. I'm loving the interior light, and being able to reach stuff on the bottom shelf without getting down on the floor.

I put a couple coats of paint on the plywood sidewalls and the black back wall/inside of the hull. Put some Ikea shelf liner on the bottom fiberglass. We'll wait to add any lipped shelves til we use it awhile.

I did take a few photos of the lift up door, and the open drawer. I'm very pleased with the additional storage space.

The fridge uses about 20 amp hours a day, in the dense shade of its home parking place, net of the tiny solar gain we get between two tall houses and a bunch of tall palms. When it runs, it uses about 4.2 amps, and runs a few minutes every ten or fifteen minutes. And, we've had a very warm two weeks, with temps like mountain summer weather. In 36 hours, I'm down to 79 to 80 per cent battery used.

I think that's totally manageable for us, and quite efficient. Travel camping, we won't have to plug in. We may have to adjust our panels if we stay put for a week or two at a time, or figure out how to connect one of our portable panels. Or, run the Honda 1000 every few days, if we camp in total shade. We'll see what works out.

 

Sherry

[SeaDawg]

With everything closed...

 

 

 

[DavidS]

I recently posted about how Berts RV Service fixed my Truma AquaGo. When Bert was finished was finished, he wanted to hook a manometer to the propane line. If there are no leaks, the pressure should remain constant. He tried hooking it up to the stove, but the connection did not fit. I suggested he remove the access panel for the fridge since there is a propane connection there. He did that, and although he did not find a fitting he could connect the manometer to, he did discover something.

 

When he pulled off the access panel and reached in he said “The drain tube is not installed correctly.” I learned is that the fridge has a tube to drain condensation from the fridge. On the Oliver this drain comes thru the fiberglass just below the lower access panel, and protrudes about an inch. This is just to the left of the steps.

 

He said the problem was that the drain tube did not have a P-trap. Even I know that every sink has a P-trap. A P-trap is designed to collect water, and the water prevents gases from going from the sewer to the sink.

 

If the drain tube on an RV fridge lacks a P-trap then hot air from the outside will conduct heat into the fridge. The P-trap acts as a barrier, preventing the hot air from entering the fridge.

 

We were able to quickly make a P-trap by anchoring the drain tube to other things in the compartment, in two places, with some cable ties.

 

I did a google search for “rv fridge p-trap drain tube” and found that others agree with Bert.

 

I have posted previously in this thread that our fridge struggles to maintain temperature in hot weather. Bert said that the P-trap will likely solve this problem.

 

I asked Bert whether this P-trap needs winterizing in some way. He said no, the small amount of water will evaporate quickly, and that the tubing is flexible and could expand if needed.

 

Bert showed me the fins at the back of the top shelf of the fridge, below the freezer. These fins are designed so that water that evaporates in the fridge will condense on the fins, and then drip into a drip tray. This drip tray leads into the drain tube. Bert suggested that before starting on a trip in hot weather I should “prime the pump” by pouring a little water into the drip tray, so that the water fills the P-trap. Sounds like a good idea.

[daveruth]

We picked up our 2018LE2 in late March. We were soon highly annoyed by the noise of the exhaust fan. We’ve scoured the manual for info on the fan in the RM 2454, and there is none.  Some of their other models mention a thermostatically controlled fan- but not this model. The wiring diagrams indicate that there is probably a fuse for the fan separately from other fuses.  Jason Essary said their early 2018 shipment had this addition, and that Dometic had provided no information on this change to the model. No on/off switch. Dometic has not responded to my inquiry to them. Jason may have better results-   It’s on our list of things for OTT to check when we visit in Sept. Anyone have any insights on this?

 

Dave and Ruth Hull 316

 

 

[Mirna]

We are happy to read about installing a propane free refrigerator. We just preferred our Ollie. Can we buy the solar refrigerator and ask the Oliver mechanics to install it? Each one of you have provided excellent data! Thank you!

 

Mirna.

[Overland]

You can always ask service if they'd be willing to do it after delivery, but I suspect that right now it's something that you'd have to do yourself.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

Can anyone tell me which 3-way fridge is installed in current builds - Norcold or Dometic?  Model #?

I'm happy to hear these absorption units are performing well in the Olivers.  We have a larger 6.8 cu. ft. Dometic in our current RV which struggles to maintain an acceptable temperature.  Except at night, it must be turned to "5" on the controls to maintain 40 degrees.  I attribute some of the problem to the plastic shelving (which I hate) that restricts airflow.  Are the new Olivers equipped with fridges with wire/open shelving?  Perhaps the venting system in these is better than our RV.

[Geronimo John]

On 1/30/2018 at 10:54 AM, SeaDawg said:

So, as I mentioned on another thread, we decided to order a truckfridge tf130

Santa:  For Christmas can I get the Tall Boy version of the TruckFridge that would fill the whole cavity?  

[SeaDawg]

26 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

Santa:  For Christmas can I get the Tall Boy version of the TruckFridge that would fill the whole cavity?  

Santa gave me a drawer underneath,  instead... perfect place for my wok skillet. 🙂

though, I wouldn't have minded a taller fridge, either.