tmw188

Good luck🤞

Mine says it resist temps up to 2000 deg. But obviously you can’t put it down the air line. I’ll need to get some.

I think I used some anti seize grease on mine one time. Ever heard of using that?

What type of lubrication do you use on that Jim don’t they make a special pack brake lube? I’d like to see a photo of your switch set up there?

Sounds like overkill but I would cover with a rag, wear gloves and maybe eye protection to be safe.

It would very interesting to know if any others had the burn thru hole, but will probably never know unless they noticed it while defrosting. Maybe we can can start a new thread for Any RF18 failures.

I really don’t know, I only ran mine while traveling too. After the headaches I had in FL and then the woman who bought my Dolphin had the same issue. She only lives 13 mi from me and after a few weeks of being home I went over there to look at hers and discovered the same type of hole behind the Evap cover but on the left side instead. She had a tech look at it while she was in FL too and he replaced the obvious sensors and when he left in a few days it was all iced up again. I just didn’t want it to happen again. I’ve have more time and hrs messing with it while in FL I was done with MSW if that was it? Here’s my setup now I’ll see how well it performs next week while on the rd to Door Co. The 700 still has about 30% of margin left.

Well I will say they ran during my travel time on the road just fine using the stock MSW, but both that failed were in the 5+ yr age. The one I put in originally in the photos above were I made all the modifications and then the one in my Windsor that came with the coach. I found that receipt and it was very very close in age. The new ones yes do not have the handles as Richard mentioned. I didn’t like that look at first and it’s more of a challenge securing the doors than the earlier models. It was very hard to get them out and in the Windsor believe me. Both seats had to be removed along with the screen door and hinge for the coach door. EVERY SCREW or clip or anything that took up any space had to come off. Took three of us to manage it in the Windsor. Side door entry on the Dolphin very easy, me and one woman both times.

I installed a stand alone TS. What inverter did you use? Anyone following I had to re word my first sentence in the post above it was messed up.

The two I replaced were the first rf18’s after the 197’s. Did you zoom in and see the burned hole in the pic above. Both units still cooled and the defrost htrs worked in the freezer. Something burned those holes. When talking to a online tech he said it’s happened where they have a failure with a wire you can’t ge to. When I sent him that pic he said yep there you go. 🤷

Hi Richard, well it was frosting up terribly and after weeks of defrosting every three days and doing much testing of sensors related to the defrost function and replacing some including the htr wand itself. The htr wasn’t getting power delivered to it. You can put these into a forced defrost mode and bring the heater on at will and that’s how I would do my testing. I even tried a new board that would tell the htr to come on. I would have power at the board terminals but nothing at the htr. I even tried a new board. I found this small hole burned thru the interior wall just behind the cover for the Evap coil. And I figured something had burned behind that interior wall maybe a wiring harness or something. I watched so many videos on how to perform different tests that I was exhausted, I don’t give up easy. Oddly enough while working on it one evening in FL I get a phone call from the people that bought my previous motorhome and they said theirs too was not defrosting what a coincidence! It too was about the same age roughly 5-6 yrs old. I did a quick inspection of their refrigerator after getting home and found the same type of whole burned in there’s but on a different side of that compartment. I Really feel that these MSW inverters may be the cause of this issue. I installed a small stand alone PSW inverter dedicated to this new refrigerator this past week. I have some boards and the user touch pad along with a new htr if someone may need one in the future.

Installed my 3rd RF18 today. It was actually the 2nd one in this mh which I was hired by the current owner to swap out the one I put in back in 2017 when I owned it. I was very fortunate the mounting plate I made for the original install worked out great with this one too. The pictures below was the modifications I had to make for the first install because it too had the furnace underneath, it was in a National Dolphin. This motorhome had two furnaces but I did not want to give up the main furnace under the refrigerator so I did a lot of planning and I actually removed the furnace cut a new hole in the side of the motorhome and installed the furnace in the bottom drawer location in the kitchen. I then modified the return grill to put in place of the drawer front. I then lowered the floor, modified the duct runs and installed the refrigerator. I took the kitchen drawer I gave up and reused it in the bedroom. I was very happy I didn’t give up my main furnace or loose one of my kitchen drawers. I guess sometimes if there is a will there is a way. Prior to this install I had to put one in my Windsor this past winter while in FL to replace the same model RF18 that someone put in before I bought it. Now that I know the bottom mounting plate will work with the new model I’m going to pull the one in the Windsor and install that plate. Some pics wouldn't rotate rotate for some reason.

I would say his advice is probably unfortunately the way it is. I would stop buy a few Big Truck repair shops near you and ask were they get their radiators repaired and rebuilt. Take some pictures and get some recommendations. You could drop it off and get some estimates. Ask Jim at Source Eng. if Radiator Specialties in Sacramento CA could copy build one if they had it in their shop? If so maybe someone else could too. Sorry this happened to you too, this happens more than we might think afraid.

I actually carry mine with me in the car spare tire compartment, you just never know.

I have a 1/2” drive electric impact from Harbor Freight that I used for both off and on that worked really well, if your wanting to add another tool to your arsenal.

I just went thru this myself a few mo ago on my Windsor. I’m not familiar with your radiator stack but I’m assuming your cooler is in the radiator header. Before you call Source Eng. look for the blue label on the radiator and take picture of it so you have the p/n. I sent them the pic so it was in their email from me and no mix up. I replaced the radiator too, comes all as one. Have the shop check your CAC for leaks too. This is a Very Expensive repair if you need the CAC too. Source is the distributor for the equipment you need and the radiator shop that probably built the one you have, they are in Sacramento and you can’t buy direct. Sorry this happened to you but this is somewhat common. I’m going to post some pics and video of my repair someday soon.

I have some used parts for that model including boards and user control pad. A brand new defrost htr for the refrigerator compartment too. I’ll check on the door htr. You can PM me if interested.

Probably a crap shoot, need to field measure.

I just remembered when I replaced all my gold puck lights I found they had the wires foil taped up to the inside bottom of the cabinets If I remember correctly. Look for a pc of foil tape maybe 3” sq that keeps the wire in place from moving around. Could be taped anywhere to that false bottom. I was able to feel around with my fingers looking for it once I knew what to look for.

Jim if this helps when I did mine yrs back and used the in house phone wire Jack I had to rotate the wire end 180 for it to work thru the in house phone wiring. It sure that’s what your asking?

Not a direct answer to your question but those had to have worked. Did you check fuses in the back bedroom in the 12v panel if located back there?

My 02 Windsor PST has two units and both have drain hoses. If yours have them and water is running off the roof they could be clogged or you are out of level enough keep it from running to the drain tube.

That’s correct thanks for posting.

I will have to look and will post it. I bought a digital caliper to get some measurements before ordering.