We arrived about 10:30am and went straight to Ruby Refrigeration. It was a very hot day in Exmouth and got to about 38 degrees. We both assisted Bill Ruby with the removal and installation of our new fridge. A major job as the fridge does not fit through the door opening. Apparently they install the fridge before completing door installation. The door frame needed to be completely removed and even then the fridge was scraping against the edges as Bill and I maneuvered the old one out and the new one in. Not too much to actually connecting the fridge once the physical installation takes place. One gas fitting to be fastened, one power lead to be plugged in, and two wires to be connected for 12V. Sandra tried to keep cool in the car while Bill and I worked on the fridge and door. We finished up about 2:30 and we loaded up and took the caravan over to the Big 4 to book in for two nights. We wanted to give the fridge a good test on gas and 240V while Bill collected information with the datalogger.
We took Sandra down to the Exmouth Hospital later in the afternoon as she thought she had an infection coming on. Luckily we got in quite quickly to see someone in Emergency and both the nurse and Doctor Knight whom she saw were very nice. Got a prescription and headed home. Received an email from Dometic Service Manager acknowledging all the problems we have experienced and offering us a Waeco CF50 fridge/freezer as a sign of goodwill. While hardly complete compensation it was a fairly generous offer given our low expectations from our previous contact with Dometic.
We suffered a windy night with the awning flapping again. Not a great sleep and then woke on Thursday morning to find the new fridge still isn't working properly. Temperature of 20 degrees in fridge and -6 degrees in the freezer. S*&t! Spent most of the morning at Ruby Refrigeration with Bill trying to contact Dometic Technical support. Bill fired up our old fridge yesterday in his shop and it appears to be working although not as cold as it should be given the temperature setting and much cooler environment it is in. Bill reckons the problem is with our caravan and in his words "Dometic won't cover all the work I've done if the problem is with the Caravan" Just Great! Finally got a hold of Dometic around lunch who gave us a couple of suggestions. We connected standalone gas bottle to fridge directly to rule out caravan supply. Bill also reviewed our upgraded ventilation (ceiling vent) and decided it should be more than ample and could be ruled out as the problem.
Sandra was already feeling much better from the prescription so we spent the afternoon touring Exmouth Marina and a new housing estate. They have a beautiful marina and the housing estate has canals through it where you can park your boat at the back door. What a great lifestyle!
Talked to Justine in Calgary. She was tired but had travelled safely and was looking forward to her vacation. We enjoyed some relaxation time at the Caravan Park Pool area before our barbecue dinner. Decided to put the awning down each night because of the wind. Thank goodness as it blew a gale during the night. Still didn't get a great sleep but at least we didn't have to worry about the awning. Fridge was still not working so I switched to 240V before bed to get it cold for the morning.
Friday morning found the fridge still not working and temperature has actually gone up to 25 degrees in Fridge and 0 Degrees in freezer. Bill Ruby has continued to come and go trying different things but I think it is safe to say this fridge is even worse than the first one and won't be an easy fix. At least he is acknowledging that the problem is with the replacement fridge and not our caravan.
Luckily the President's Cup is on and both Sandra and I enjoy watching it each morning. We did a small shop, extended our stay at the caravan park for two more nights, and enjoyed another afternoon relaxing around the pool. Also were lucky enough to see a very young Emu chick with it's Father (apparently Dad looks after eggs & chicks after Mum lays the eggs). They are funny creatures and they make the strangest grunting noises. Sound more like a pig than a bird.
Saturday morning woke up to find the fridge had quit completely with 29 degrees in both fridge and freezer. Contacted this morning by Dometic Service Manager who is working with us to come up with a new plan of action. We decided to ship a new (3rd) fridge to Geraldton where we already had a service call booked for December 7th. We will pickup the complimentary CF 50 at our next stop in Carnarvon. Meanwhile we have a 185 litre cupboard in the caravan and are living out of our esky and portable freezer. Our ice budget is going through the roof! We spent the day watching the President's Cup and enjoying the afternoon at the pool area. While it has been an incredibly frustrating 4 days with the fridge, Sandra and I have really enjoyed the relaxation watching golf on TV and enjoying the pool.
To Quote Monty Python from Life of Brian; "Always look at the bright side of life!" Our fridge may be dead as a door nail but we're still whistling!
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