Dometic RML8551 921078387 RML 8551 Absorption (2024)

FAQs

What is the absorption refrigerator operation? ›

An absorption refrigerator uses two coolants: the first coolant performs evaporative cooling and then is absorbed into the second coolant; heat is needed to reset the two coolants to their initial states.

An absorption refrigerator operates by heat and chemical reactions, using a combination of water and ammonia. The refrigerator is equipped with a number of different tubes which once reaching the boiling point in the internal generator and in reaction mode, move into the separator, dividing the water and the ammonia.

These gas absorption refrigerators have caused and/or contributed to numerous cooling unit leaks of flammable gas and fires.”

If the van is not level, the fridge won't be level, either, and the refrigerant within the fridge will collect in certain areas and stop the cooling process. If an absorption fridge is out of level by just a few degrees, it might not work at all, especially in ambient temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius or more.

Answer: Advantages of absorption refrigeration include energy efficiency, low noise levels, low maintenance, and being environmentally friendly. Disadvantages include higher initial costs, lower coefficient of performance, large size and weight, and limited applications.

You do not charge these fridges they are a sealed unit and it is possible the cooling unit needs to be replaced. If you smell ammonia in or around the refrigerator, and you haven't recently used ammonia for cleaning, the cooling unit is bad.

If you plan to go off-grid for longer periods of time, an absorption fridge might be your best choice. If you are looking for a fridge that cools quicker and performs better in hotter environments, the compressor 12V fridge would be your best bet.

Absorption fridges need adequate ventilation and even then they can struggle to keep cool when the outside temperature is high.

In the vapor absorption refrigeration cycle, a combination of an absorber and a generator is used as the pressure lifting device instead of a mechanical compressor. In this type of refrigeration unit, refrigerant vapor exiting the evaporator enters the absorber and gets absorbed by an absorbent.

RV Refrigerator Usage and Maintenance. The average RV refrigerator will last between 15 and 20 years.

Are absorption fridges silent? ›

An absorption fridge works differently from compressor fridges. It uses a source of heat, such as an electric heating element. Because there is no motor, they are a lot quieter than compressor fridges.

Instead of a compressor, RV refrigerators are cooled through a chemical absorption process, using a special coolant mix of hydrogen, ammonia, and water. The power source boils the chemical coolant and passes it through the coils (pictured in the graphic below).

How RV Fridges Work. RV fridges are susceptible to issues when not level because it can cause the ammonia/water solution to not flow properly and accumulate in low points of the system. Additionally, an unlevel RV can allow ammonia crystals to form inside the refrigerators piping.

They need to be fairly level because they rely on gravity to pull the liquid refrigerant down to the bottom to be heated and recycled. But a couple of degrees off shouldn't matter.

If this is an absorption fridge and it has power, first thing is to check for loss of refrigerant. Open the back bottom on the outside of the rig, the look carefully at the cooling tubes for signs of leaking. If it has leaked you will see yellowish like marks where the loss occurred.

Adsorption is sometimes referred to as solid sorption. It is very similar to absorption refrigeration (note that the second letter is different). The difference is that in adsorption refrigeration, the refrigerant or adsorbate vapour molecules adsorb onto the surface of a solid instead of dissolving into a liquid.

If you plan to go off-grid for longer periods of time, an absorption fridge might be your best choice. If you are looking for a fridge that cools quicker and performs better in hotter environments, the compressor 12V fridge would be your best bet.

Simply put, the absorption chiller does not compress refrigerant vapor; instead, it dissolves the vapor in an absorbent, and transfers the resulting product to higher-pressure environment using a pump with a very low electricity consumption.