Replacement Refrigerator

[0533]

FYI, for those of you who my have this vintage of refrigerator, you might want to know what the possibilities are? I decided to change out the refrigerator in my coach. I had reported a week ago that my frig was not staying cold. I had it inspected by a tech who said that the evaporator had a hole in it and all of the freon had leaked out. The cost of repair would be $745 from the outside tech and 3 hours from the dealer taking the unit in and out of the coach, protecting all the surfaces and taking the window out.

If any of you have an Amana Mod # P1190007WE.side by side from the 1998/1999 year then here is a possible solution:

Jenn-Air® 20 cu. ft. Cabinet-Depth French Door™ Refrigerator
JFC2089HE
*
Dimensions of new unit:
*36" W

68.5/8 " high ????? Possible problem area

24" D
*

Existing space:
*
36 1/8" W

68" H It fit in with some routing, wiggling

27"D
*
The hinges were, are the problem. To put the cover on the hinges at the top we will have to rout out a space on either end.

The result is a nice look if you want a three door high end stainless look, see attached image from marathon.



*

french 20c' frig. http://www.jennair.com/catalog/product.jsp?parentCat=10&cat=70&prod=116&tabOption=features#info
*

[Jerry Winchester]

Not bad at all. I just had my fridge fixed and the cost is right in line with what you said. All in it was $1100. Not good for a 6 year old unit, but the pain of finding a new one and installing it two days before I had to leave on spring break was the deal killer.

[0533]

Not bad at all. I just had my fridge fixed and the cost is right in line with what you said. All in it was $1100. Not good for a 6 year old unit, but the pain of finding a new one and installing it two days before I had to leave on spring break was the deal killer.
Did not want to drive over to San Antonio Fl. next Friday and jump onboard for Tn. and find no frig, Pam would not buy into that. The new frig costs 3 X's as much to replace as to repair the old unit, but its top of the line, Consumer report gave it a good rating, energy etc, and I do not want to face this issue for a while. Of course a new electronic device will go in the first 30 days or will run for ???. I hope that I rolled the dice and ended up on top.

By the way, Joe Stefanczuk, joes@marathoncoach.com service manager at marathon San Antonio has been great, knowledgable has good ideas, creative and gets things done, no messing around. I would recommend him to anyone who needs coach work, Marathon or not. Lucky find.

PS> They want to rout out the top of the cabinet above at each end to allow for the hinge caps, so there are no wires showing, wish I had another way to handle this, see image below.

Regards,

Bruce

[phorner]

Glad to hear that your problem with the refer is getting resolved.

Sounds great!

[0533]

Glad to hear that your problem with the refer is getting resolved.

Sounds great!
Good choice, nice people, excellent work ethic.

Bruce

[rickdesilva]

Bruce
What are they using or retrofiting to keep the doors closed while you are driving?

[0533]

Bruce
What are they using or retrofiting to keep the doors closed while you are driving?
Excellent question. I am not sure, but I assumed they kept the old locking system to re-install on the new Frig. As for the bottom lock for the the freezer, I am not sure either. Your questions has me sending an email today to Marathon to check on this. My excitement over the fact that it fit in the first place made me forget about the lock. I would have made it about 500' to the entrance of I-75 before I remembered I bet.

Thanks,

Bruce

[lewpopp]

I rigged up a "U" shaped piece of corian to slip over the upper doors of the Amana that I hav. Never have I had the single lower freezer door come open on a stop. A simple piece of plywood would do the trick.

So you guys seem to say not to get another Amana frig for a replacement. It's funny that the new coaches seem to have an owful lot of them. I guess where they are made is controlling the decision.

[0533]

I rigged up a "U" shaped piece of corian to slip over the upper doors of the Amana that I hav. Never have I had the single lower freezer door come open on a stop. A simple piece of plywood would do the trick.

So you guys seem to say not to get another Amana frig for a replacement. It's funny that the new coaches seem to have an owful lot of them. I guess where they are made is controlling the decision.
Good ideas. I'm thinking of a locking system that will lock all 3 doors at once and is located at the freezer drawer and connects all three at the handles. I will be interested in what Marathon comes up with as they are installing 2 of these frigs.

The reason for the Jenn-Air choice is 2 fold. My wife wanted a bottom freezer, felt that we mostly use the side by side parts for regular foods and the freezer less so. Therefore we will get more usable space this way. The second reason was that the trim level of the Jenn-Air seemed to be better.

I did look at Amana frigs and they are just fine. can't remember if the sizes were right or not. Amana is a fine frig, and if you can find one it will work well.