Refrigerator not Removed / Drain Hose Replaced...

[Bill-N-Donna]

Has anyone removed the refrigerator? I have to replace the drain hose for the tray inside and the only way I can get to it is to remove the refrigerator. It's the white one in the background that has to be replaced. It just kept breaking off little by litttle. Why do they make such cheap products that only get brittle and break away in time?



What I’m wondering about is where are all the screws are located which holds it in place? I found two screws at the bottom in the front and that is all I’ve found. After talking with the maintenance guy at the dealership he indicated there would be some buttons that would have to be removed. I found a few black flat buttons but after removing them I couldn’t find any screws.





There is an odd looking grey clip but it looks like it would be easy to break and I don’t want to break anything. It is soft and flexible but not sure if it holds anything.




Anybody got a clue on this?
Thanks!
On Edit: I found two more screws at the top. Still looking!

[1retired06]

Just last week helped a neighbor replace a single door dometic in a Motorhome. It was not particularly fun. Lug bolts into the floor, fasteners on the back wall from the outside and capped screws on the inside front. Unit had to be lifted up, over a 1x2 and pulled out from the inside. That took us a while to figure out. Unit plugged in from the back, so electric was fairly easy with a couple of odd wires, propane line had to be disconnected, and because of icemaker, water line as well. Every time we got ready to pull out, we would discover another hidden fastener somewhere we had to search for. Couple we only found by feel. Took three of us close to 4 hours just to get the old refrigerator out. An experienced RV Tech can probably do it in 30 minutes. As much as I prefer to do maintenance and repairs myself, faced with the same situation as yours, and with my refrigerator being a four door, I just might get an estimate for that Tech to do it, while I watch in my lawnchair. When the refrigerator is free of all connections/fasteners, you may not have to pull out, if you can tilt it enough to get to that hose connection. PS My hands have still not healed from that adventure, lots of sharp edges. Hope yours is easier, and good luck.

[bncinwv]

Silly question here Bill, but is it possible to access the area you need to access by removing the outside vent covers for the fridge? There should be one at the top rear of the fridge and one at the bottom. I would think there has got to be an easier way to get at that tube.
Bingo

[8.1al]

Bill,
Before you pull that fridge out look here;
http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...dge,drain,tube

[bncinwv]

and in line with what Charlie posted, here is a how-to from an SOB forum:
drain line fix
Keep us informed,
Bingo

[Bill-N-Donna]

Ok, thanks for the links. I believe it will work without pulling the fridge out. So far I managed to remove the drain hose completely and also I removed the drain plug from inside the tray. Still it’s going to be tough but it may be doable.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Finally got it!
The MOC came through again. Thanks again for the links and help! With my sons help we fished the tubing through the hole and worked it outside so the inside could be fitted on the drain plug.



You can see in this next photo where the drain line has to go. It was a little difficult to manipulate but we were able to work the hose down through the cavity and out the opening on the bottom vent. You can’t see where it comes out of the refrigerator because of the coiled tubing in the way but that is the area where you have to work the tubing down through. I could get one arm in there to feel of where it came out of the refrigerator but couldn't work anything on the plug because it was too restrictive to work in that area.

[img] http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...s/03201205.jpg [/img]


We almost had it completed when the drain plug exceeded the amount of pressure it could tolerate while I was pushing it into the hole. (In laymen’s terms, “I broke it”)

[img] http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/...03201209-1.jpg [/img]

After that I called Dometic to order a new one. With a cost of only $6.??; & a 5-7 day wait... I decided I better get more than 1 so I actually ordered 3 of them. Then I got an idea! (Sort of scary isn't it?) I went to the local hardware and purchased 1 plastic elbow that fit the tubing and I was able to work it into the tubing in place of the drain plug.





I had to shorten part of the elbow so it would fit but here is the end result



After I got this I canceled my order. I have $2.00 in the cost of the elbow. The only dis-advantage I see to this is that you would have to remove the tubing from the tray to remove it but then how often does one remove the tray? If you don't find this handy perhaps you'll find it entertaining!

Now on to the next repair project... I have a broken support harness for the wires underneath one of the slides. I may get into that tomorrow.

[bncinwv]

Hillbilly engineering is the only way to get-r-dun! Good job Bill, and I am truly glad that you did not have to remove the fridge. And great job of the pictures for future reference.
Bingo

[Bill-N-Donna]

One of the things I failed to mentioned was the size of the tubing used, ½” ID & 5/8 OD.

[Rondo]

Nice job Bill! If I ever have that problem pop up or pop out, I'll give you a call or you can come on out to the MOC Central Plains Regional Rally in July and show us all how you did it! This has been an innocent plug for the CPRR besides a congrats to Bill on a job well done!

[DQDick]

Thanks Bill, particularly for the pictures. Nice job.

[8.1al]

Another job well done, glad it all worked out for you Bill

[nunya]

Now I know how to do mine alot easier! Thanks! Found mine broke last weekend and need to get er done.

[1retired06]

Lesson learned for all of us!

[Hooker]

I do not understand why they put such cheap flimsy hoses on those drains. Last week we (me, the tech and his helper) replaced mine on our 2009 SOB MH. We had to slide the refrig into the RV. Biggest problem was that in addition to the screws holding it in, the top and bottom had been sealed with silicone...which is really tough to get through/cut/etc.

[Mudchief]

Great job. Thanks for the pictures.