Has anyone replaced the element on their Dometic 2553 fridge.
Can it be done through the bottom vent or do I need to slide the fridge out?
Can it be done through the bottom vent or do I need to slide the fridge out?
Electrical Fridge 240v Element Replacement
- Thread starter Turtle
- Start date
Well then.............I'm guessing I'm the only one that has NOW!
Not too difficult and yes, the fridge needs to be pulled out.
Luckily, being a Jayco, only the bottom 2 front screws had been utilised to fix the fridge in position out of the 6 available (for those of you dragging your rigs to the corner, this might be worth checking if it's not too late!).
Here's how to attack it anyway,
1) unplug 240v supply to the fridge
2) disconnect the 12v supply at the terminal block through the bottom vent
3) disconnect the gas. Access to this is through the top vent. You will need to remove the insulation sitting on top of the fridge (if it's installed)
4) make sure the flue is free to allow the fridge to slide forward
5) remove the fixing screws (there SHOULD be 2 front bottom, 2 front top and 2 rear bottom)
6) slide the fridge out enought to access the flue and bend the tabs back on the flue lagging cover and separate the cover
7) slide the old element out and put the new one in
8) follow the reverse proseses to put it all back together
Or you can pay someone else to do it for you
Not too difficult and yes, the fridge needs to be pulled out.
Luckily, being a Jayco, only the bottom 2 front screws had been utilised to fix the fridge in position out of the 6 available (for those of you dragging your rigs to the corner, this might be worth checking if it's not too late!).
Here's how to attack it anyway,
1) unplug 240v supply to the fridge
2) disconnect the 12v supply at the terminal block through the bottom vent
3) disconnect the gas. Access to this is through the top vent. You will need to remove the insulation sitting on top of the fridge (if it's installed)
4) make sure the flue is free to allow the fridge to slide forward
5) remove the fixing screws (there SHOULD be 2 front bottom, 2 front top and 2 rear bottom)
6) slide the fridge out enought to access the flue and bend the tabs back on the flue lagging cover and separate the cover
7) slide the old element out and put the new one in
8) follow the reverse proseses to put it all back together
Or you can pay someone else to do it for you
Thanks mate. Looks like thats a job for me now. Fridge works great on gas but doesnt cool at all on 240V. I felt the outside vent to see if any heat was coming out and nothing. So I`m presuming I have to change my fridge element too.
Glad to see someone else has done this.
If i do it, I`ll take some pics and post them in here.
Do you remember how much the new element cost and where you got it from by any chance?
Glad to see someone else has done this.
If i do it, I`ll take some pics and post them in here.
Do you remember how much the new element cost and where you got it from by any chance?
I bought the replacement element from our local caravan servicing place. It's pretty common that they require replacement so it shouldn't be to difficult to find one.
I suppose the only question you need to ask yourself is wether or not you replace the 12 volt element at the same time, I didn't based on usage but if your 12 volt one gets a workout often, then I probably would while I was at it.
I suppose the only question you need to ask yourself is wether or not you replace the 12 volt element at the same time, I didn't based on usage but if your 12 volt one gets a workout often, then I probably would while I was at it.
The video is pretty good too. The elements will slide out once you have taken the flue lagging off.
I've been told that sometimes you can be lucky and the element will lift up without undoing the lagging but that wasn't the case with mine.
I've been told that sometimes you can be lucky and the element will lift up without undoing the lagging but that wasn't the case with mine.
I was at a Dometic dealer last week, sniffing around Truma gas heaters. He has a 16ft starcraft (the same floor plan as the later 17:58-3) and it needed the 150litre Dometic removed for some reason. He said the way Jayco made the van the fridge wasn't even coming out of the cavity!! They had tried several ways, he said there was no way to remove the fridge from the van completely but that's not unusual but not to be able to slide it out was catastrophic. It was going back to jayco to do.
Mine was a 17.56-2. There was no way the fridge could be completely removed without dismantling a bed end or removing the roof.
I could however, pull it most of the way out of the hole and then turn it toward the front of the van. The slide at the bottom had even been cut short on the left hand side to allow this to happen. Just ment I had to climb over the sink to get to the back of the fridge. I sat it on a milk crate.