Last Updated: 30/06/2023
Last year I did purchase the Dometic RPD 218 refrigerator and since this week the construction of the kitchen has begun, the first job was to set the fridge in the right spot and get the feeling for it..
Now I wouldn’t have noticed any of this, if it wasn’t for the fact that the fridge did open to the left, while I actually need it to open to the right.
Before I proceed with sharing my discovery, I better show the few places that do sell this fridge and their listed Description..
First is My Generator, the place where I bought it..
If you scroll down the page you can see under Product material in the description:
door exterior is finished with a 3mm laminated decor panel with plastic trim. The interior liner is made with high impact polystyrene.
Now this was changed today after I left a review there (that I guess it won’t be published now),. stating the fact that there is no metal sheet in either the door or the side. Originally they had:
Sheet Steel body and doors, with a high impact polystyrene interior liner
Few other Store are still advertising this fridge as made of steel:
AwardRV price is also confusing as the $2399.00 seem the price everybody else are selling for, so I really don’t know where that RRP was taken from..
Caravan RV camping also had the original description. The thing is that in the Dometic website there is no mentioning of what material the fridge is made of, so my educated guess would be that those sites mentioned above, do copy from each other for their products description. It does save a lot of time, when you are first setting up an online shop, but as you can see, it can lead to serious problems and misleading customer into believing something that is not true.
So, this morning after following the instruction on how to convert the doors from left to right, I eventually had to remove one of the plastic frame that hold the front panel. That’s when I discover that the panel is not made of steel sheet as advertised where I purchase it, but merely of a 3 mm laminated MDF sheet.
Now that was disappointing considering the cost of this fridge. However, we must remember that this fridge is designed to fit in an RV and therefore saving weight was probably part of the equation. The side of the fridge are not made of steel sheet either, but are made of polystyrene covered in aluminium foil. Now that’s the standard for enclosed fridge, as you never get to see the side of it anyway..
A good point about this is that it only takes about $40.00 to change the look of this fridge to anything we want. You have acrylics and composite panel in 3 mm that do come in 100 of colours, or theme. So, while disappointed about the material supplied with the fridge (if MDF gets wet does expand and it destroys itself), I like the fact that I can change it to what ever I like..
Lastly the plastic handles do feel cheap to the touch and don’t seem to be either strong or made to last. Again, they do follow the weight theory but now I’m thinking this fridge should not cost more than $1000 dollars, considering the material used in its construction.
Beside all this, it seems a really good fridge. The hinges are steel (thanks God 😀) and the electronic board was moved from the bottom (in the previous model) to the top of the fridge where it does make more sense. Unfortunately, the LED used are just too bright at night.
The inside of the fridge is simple but practical. It has metal shelves with front riser to stop products moving and adjustable plastic shelves in both doors.
The power consumption is very good for such fridge size and it does offer 12/24 and 240 Volts connection.
Update 12/02/2020
The Dometic Coolmatic 218 RPD has now being replaced by the new RUC 8408x. Same fridge with a new facelift and another $500 added to the listing price.. 😂
Update 26/05/2021
For the past week I notice that the battery consumption had gone up for no apparent reason.. After a bit of investigation I decided to disconnect the 24 volts from the fridge and just leave the 240 Volts on.. Imagine my surprise when the fridge just went off.. At first I thought about the fuse, but then I remember reading something about resetting the fridge on a forum…
So I did turn all the power to the fridge off for 30 second, and it worked. The fridge runs again on 240 Volts.. This however made me realise that my way of keeping both 240 and 24 Volts connected at all the time, while keeping the food safe, it does hide, at least for a while, this possible situation where the fridge only works on 24 volts. From now on, I’ll keep the fridge running only on one connection at a time, to see if the 240 Volts does stop working again..
Update 25/09/2021
It seems that Dometic no longer sell a 200+ litre 12/24/240 Volts fridge. The only one left and listed on their site is the RUC 6408 (188 Litre for a wopping $2950)..
Not sure if related to world shortages or company policies..
Built Quality
Ease of Use
Performance
Value for Money
Well after a trip with the van around Australia the Dometic PRD218 lasted 1/2 way one of the gas lines cracked ,had it replaced in Perth under warranty…We set off once again after lock down Note we havent moved the van in over 3 years…the new fridge was working fine for around 6000kms and same thing its stopped working.From what i can see how these Dometic fridges are made its no wonder they dont last…Id say if you stay on the made roads it may last longer but as for an off road Caravan Fridge they cant handle the trip. Shame ENGEL dont make a caravan fridge :)
Hi Dirk
Thank you for your comment..
I got to agree with you. I don’t believe Dometic makes any products, but they do pay some Asian/Chinese company to make those fridges, and the quality is simply not there. Besides that, and this is not just Dometic but all the companies involved in the RV/caravan industry, they all have absurd prices for what the product is…
My RPD218 has been working 24/7 since 2017, but then again I only travel on tarmac roads.. So in a sense, I can’t really complain about the fridge not lasting, but I had my share of wondering why such an expensive product does work the way it does. For instance, since day one the internal temperature has been a real problem as in, it fluctuated too much, from 0° to 8° all the time. I also don’t understand why in 2020 Dometic doesn’t make the fridge “frost free”.
Having to remove the ice every three months is just another unnecessary job. My next fridge will be a proper home kitchen one, possibly from Samsung or LG…
Same performance for around $600 instead of $2800. Who are we kidding!?!?!
Hi mate ,, just spoke to a guy here who works on them and he said its a problem hes known about for over 5 years . He is coming out next week and making it bullet proof he rekons :)…..I took the top vent off and sure enough the pipe coming out of the compressor is broken….i cant see myself paying over 3k for a new one…GEKO make one aswell mate for around $700……thanx for your reply ill keep you posted :)
Looking forward to it… We all need help with those fridges and any improvement that can be made, are always welcome…
have a rpd218 wich has stopped working on 12 volt.i am trying to find the internal fuse location.cheers jedd
Hi Jedd
The RPD 218 only has two electronic boards. One on the front where you adjust temperature, on/off and mode, and the other one at the back on the left of the compressor. I haven’t had the need to open mine yet, but I would say that like most Waeco/Dometic fridges, the fuses, should be in there in the black box Model MFC20AD.. If I had the fridge out, I would have taken pictures for you.. Let me know how you go..
I just got a new RPD218 myself and need some help with the connections. Can I have both 12 and the 240 Volts plugged in at the same time? The manual doesn’t say.
Jackson
Hi Jackson
Yes, you can have both power supply (12/24 and 240 Volts) connected simultaneously. I notice that too, regarding the manual not mentioning anything as far as connections.
So, yes you are safe. The Dometic RPD 218 is after all a multivoltage fridge, and like many multivoltage devices, it adjust automatically to the highest voltage supplied.