There is nothing wrong with a dorm fridge if it is energy efficient enough, or you don't dry camp. Actually, I would probably change to a propane fridge if I thought I was going to be off commercial power for days at a stretch. I wouldn't like running the Onan to recharge the house battery, and solar panels need to be in the sun, which adds complications, and a smaller genset is just one more thing to have to fit in limited storage space.

It has been fun tinkering with this one, and it works fine. If I can get the groove in the door cleaned out and the gasket to seal without having to tape it to the door, I am going to install it in the Sequioa.

What dissolves PVC cement that won't eat up the door plastic?

"What dissolves PVC cement that won't eat up the door plastic? "

Gasoline or diesel fuel may release the bond with the plastic. Cover the glue with a rag and soak the rag to give it chronic exposure.

There is a distinct i$$ue with any RV reefer. One that the dorm reefer by-passes. All of the little reefers are Chinese and very few, if any, meet their published energy use numbers. In a regular season we "Dry Camp" (aka anchor out) about 20 nights. one night after a day of driving is well within the capability of 2ea GCs. Recovering the house bank with the generator after a day sitting in one place should be easier with the relocated charger. The run time right now is a little annoying. I'll put up with it.

I am now retired and for the last 15 years have been told I was too old to hire at all. While we are far from poverty, this was not what I had planned. The administrations abrogation of the bankruptcy laws allowed about 20 years of scrimping and saving for retirement to be "redistributed". (I have to remember to thank BHO and the UAW. I didn't even know I was RICH, I thought I just worked hard for 40 years) A 1K$ reefer would kill at least ten days of travel that year. That would mean no long excursion that year. I try to save up enough to do one big upgrade about every other year. When the dollar crashes, even that may end.

We plan to enjoy the coach and the GMC crowd until we absolutely cannot. That may require some compromise.

Matt

<snip>
I got the groove in the fridge door cleaned up enough for the gasket to seat in it, and discovered a new problem. The plastic liner of the door is warped on the bottom and the side opposite the hinges. When the gasket is installed in the liner, it can't close the gap in the bottom or the side where the plastic is bowed.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I can post pictures if I didn't explain the problem well enough.

A
You can probably get the door liner back where it belongs with careful, VERY Carefully applied heat. When plastics warp with age, it seems to be a result of the original forming not getting the plastic fully plastic (?). This left residual stress in the material that, over time, won out.

If I were doing this, I would take the door off and lie it down so I could weight it with something. That something need not be much, but it should be smooth as the surface finish may get transferred to the plastic. This will all have to be done by trial and error (or maybe try all and error). The plastic may also move the wrong way at first. I wish I could tell you some benchmarks to use, but it seems every piece of plastic is different and 40yo plastic will be very different. I did just resettle a piece of my door window trim this way.

Good Luck

Matt

When I had the bottom piece of trim off the door (so I cold slide out the panel), it seemed that the door was filled with foam which is now an integral part of it. I will take another look, but if the foam is adhered to the liner, I don't think that is an option.

All I got is a hand-held hair dryer for heat. Is that going to be hot enough?

Thanks and I will let you know how it goes.

Used the hair dryer to soften the gasket and expand the compressed areas where the gaps were. A little wavy, so the next good hot day I am going to put the gasket in the daily driver where it sits in the sun in the driveway and let it get good and toasty, then put it back on the door and close it up and let it conform perfectly.

Well,

I have a suggestion about the college educations. Unless scholarshipped through their own efforts, academic or athletic, I would get the first two years under their belt at a local community college, and then transfer to a state or other university for the last two years. They might be able to do it in three years if they try. Their diploma will say nothing about community college days. And, you will know their commitment to education by how well they do in community college, before you invest big bucks. If you have some resistance on the home front, get an appointment with a college financial aid worker to see how things might go. Not close to the start of semesters, someone might be willing to see you. Go with your wife. These workers solve financial problems every single day. Bring your pay stubs, everything, get over it. Just like going to the doctor. There's always student loan debt, which is increasingly the case. I would say it is the norm nowadays. The old days when daddy was able to fund 100% are gone, and where it still happens, it is getting rarer. A nice thing about it is the student is apt to work harder and value more his college experience nowadays when the sacrifice required is more evident. We are in trouble here in America. More and more highly-motivated foreign students are buzz-sawing our native students. If we can't work from on top, then we will have to learn to work from underneath.

It isn't worth completely mortgaging your own future to educate your kids. I saw in my job that college students who worked for our non-profit for ten to 12 hours per week actually did better in college than those who were footloose and fancy free. Since I don't think your own retirement savings 'count' toward net worth, your children could well qualify for needs-based scholarship support, and the federal work-study program. Amount of help available varies from university to university. You have to check. You will have to safeguard that money that is left. You have a tremendous handicap of your spouse apparently wanting to spend now. Speaking frankly, and surely not your case, when the money runs out sometimes the spouse runs out, too.

I wonder if it's time for us to start a scholarship fund for GMC owners' kids?

Editing now, I see from a reread of your post that my advice won't apply in your case, since you already have one in university. Sorry if it doesn't apply. We do have a lot of great GMC owners whose kids could use a hand. We aren't many of us swimming in money, but we are a close knit group....

Carey

Was just gonna say that Tenn offers free tuition to all high school grads with a C avg to a two year accredited community college / trade school. May not be the best reason for living here but it is a good one.

It got down to a little under 50F at a setting of 4. Turned it to 5 and it eventually got down to 40F plus or minus (39.7 to 40.1). The thermostat calls for cooling at 40.1 and shuts off at 39.7.

The freezer is still getting colder with time. Every time the thermostat calls for cooling, it is a little colder than the last time it called for cooling, and when it shuts off, it is a little colder than before. After a little less than 7 hours of cycling, the freezer is at 13.3F.

It appears if I want the fridge a couple of degrees cooler, or the freezer colder, I would have to replace the thermostat.