Furrion RV fridge breakdown

Buying something brand new usually comes with the assumption that it will function well and last awhile before breaking down. Electronics have the latest technology and security protection, tires have a lot of tread for better grip and maneuverability on the road, appliances are more energy efficient with their brand new components and structures are stable and immaculate with no blemishes.

That may be the case for most new items, but RVs fall into a different category. They are all built by hand and not constructed on an assembly line. These builders are probably paid slightly above minimum wage and perfection is not in their playbook. If a screw breaks, it’s easier to glue the screw head to the frame then to hunt down another screw. (We have found this to be the case on at least 4 screws on our rig so far.)

Many RVs are often built with less than stellar components. When demand is high, they are thrown together in record time. Obviously, some manufacturers are better than others, but, generally speaking, RVs are known for having multiple issues straight out the gate.

After a few short months, our 12 volt RV fridge stopped working. We woke up one morning to find the light inside the fridge off and the temperature a bit on the warm side. We had no idea when it died, but it had been a few hours at the very least.

Ryan got to work contacting Furrion, the manufacturer of the fridge. They said it is likely the glass cylinder fuse. Apparently, this is a well-known issue. The Furrion representative told Ryan he could replace the fuse, but it might happen again. Those fuses are fragile and not ideal for a home bouncing down the road. The Furrion rep recommended replacing the fuse and housing. They already had a printout with directions on how to make the switch.

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Guess where on the refrigerator the fuse is located? Of all the convenient places to put a fuse in an RV fridge, Furrion decided hiding it in the back was a great idea. That’s how most refrigerators are made; why change for an RV?

Fitting a 10 cubic foot refrigerator into 300 sqft of living space means there are no large gaps on the sides for fingers or hands to fit. Trying to wiggle 140 lb fridge from a tight cubie hole was a feat in itself. In case that wasn’t difficult enough, we had to carefully maneuver the fridge away from the wall while being cautious not to pull on the attached wires behind the unit. I had to balance the fridge on one edge while Ryan squeezed through the gap to disconnect the wires.

We made a trip to Advance Auto and purchased a 15amp flat car-type fuse because this wasn’t something we wanted to deal with again.

Once we got the fridge out of it’s cubie, we lowered it to the floor and Ryan got to work. Here is where 300 sqft feels very small. Between the fridge on the floor, tools spread around the floor, all the contents of the fridge on the floor (we weren’t about to lift a 140 lb fridge that was full of groceries!) and 3 anxious pets pacing the floor, it was near impossible to get around the rig. I got all 3 pets on the couch while I assisted Dr. Fix It with the fridge (meaning I held the hot soldering gun between uses).

Ryan made the replacement look easy. It took longer to clean up the mess than for him to replace the fuse and it’s housing. Once he was finished, we had to tackle the pools of water on the floor. Every tiny drop of ice that was in the fridge/freezer had melted and dripped onto our floor adding to the chaos. On the bright side, the freezer was completely defrosted!

Conclusion:

When owning an RV you have to be prepared for things to break down. If you enjoy fixing things yourself, then you will do well living in an RV. If you rely on calling a handyman for everything that goes wrong, you might be frustrated waiting for things to get fixed (not to mention, you might go broke). Ryan is a self-proclaimed “tinkerer” and has saved us money and frustration on many occasions since moving into the RV. He is now able to add Electrician to his resume.