Atwood HE-801 trouble & replacement options

[Explorer]

I have an Atwood HE-801 2-way refrigerator in my 2014 Keystone Bullet Premier that I really liked up until our last 2 trips. The freezer stays around 15F-20F but did get get down to 7F on our last trip as the outside temperatures got in the low 70s. The refrigerator stayed around 50F-55F but also got down to 44F at the end or our trip. Doesn't matter if I'm on AC or LP, results are the same. I've replaced the thermistor since I was only getting about 5.3K ohms at 32F while it should have been around 8K. It didn't matter. Flame stays lit when on LP and the burner tube stays hot. The tubing right above the accumulator tank is warm but I wouldn't say it's hot. I can easily keep my hand on it. I went ahead and replaced the resettable TCO on the burner since the reset button was very loose and it measured about 10 ohms when it should have been a dead short. Venting on the back is clear. I have a temperature controlled dual fan system mounted at the roof vent to suck the air through the rear cavity. The AC heater pulls about 2.5A which is in line with the specs of 300W the refrigerator is rated for. The fins inside the refrigerator get cool but don't get frosty cold like they used to. Since both AC and LP produce the same results, the fact that the LP flame stays lit and looks large and blue and the AC heater produces 300W I am almost certain that the cooling unit has died. When I pulled the refrigerator out before my last trip to trouble shoot it there was no sign or smell of the yellow ammonia to indicate a potential leak. I'm wondering if the cooling unit can fail in other ways without actually leaking and if so, can it be corrected? I have not been able to find a compatible cooling unit for my refrigerator but even if I did I would like to be dead certain that the cooling unit would fix it. I really like the convenience of running it off LP when boondocking since it's a lot easier on my solar system when I don't have optimal sun available. In the event that I have to replace the refrigerator it looks like I'll end up going with a 12V compressor refrigerator but am concerned that on hot days or cloudy or shaded days I will have trouble keeping the battery up. I have a 200AH LifePo4 battery, 800W roof mounted solar on a 50A MPPT controller and 300W portable solar on a separate 20A MPPT controller. Out trip last week we were on the Pacific coast from 10/5 through 10/12. On 10/6 we had record high temperatures and inside our trailer we hit 94F before I started up the generator to turn on the A/C. I had both of my roof vent fans, exterior refrigerator fan and interior refrigerator fan running all day. I also was running my 4CuFt refrigerator in my outdoor kitchen off my inverter. The first couple of days I made just about as much power as I consumed but my chargers never went to Absorption or Float modes. As the outside temperature started dropping during the week my charge controllers started going into Absorption and Float modes since the roof vent fans weren't on as much and the outside refrigerator didn't have to run as much. So that brings up my concern with getting a 12V compressor refrigerator. The ones I'm looking at use between 9A & 15A when cooling while my current outside refrigerator only uses 5A when cooling. I could skip using my outside refrigerator if power became an issue but the extra 4A-10A draw might pose a problem that is difficult to overcome. Does anyone have any other things I could try on my Atwood before scrapping it? How efficient are the 12V compressor refrigerators? The two I'm looking at that match my available dimensions the best are the GE Appliances 9.8 Cu. Ft. 12 Volt DC Refrigerator - Stainless Steel GPV10FSNSB and CONTOURE 10.7 cu. ft. 12V DC Power Frost-Free Compact Refrigerator, Black – Camping World Exclusive.

[Old-Biscuit]

The Atwood HE-801 (and 601) models are HELIUM based versions and were only available for a few years.
When Dometic acquired Atwood they dropped the HELUM models ----more expensive and Dometic already had RV Fridge models (HYDROGEN Based)
Atwood Helium Fridges (HE601/801) were first produced in late 2011 and GONE by 2016 (Dometic purchased the Atwood Fridge division in 2014??? and discontinued the HE Series in 2016)

Your suspensions of cooling unit being the problem vs other components is a good bet.
Freezer getting cold, food compartment not be it on AC or LP (both working properly) is a classic sign of an obstructed cooling unit----blockage between freezer coil and food compartment coil.
Blockage is created by the sodium chromate (rust inhibitor) in the coolant becoming crystalized and plating out inside the tubes.
Damage is accumulative and permanent

HE Manual
https://techsupport.pdxrvwholesale.c...0801-Rev-4.pdf

AS for replacement........I do not have a recommendation

[Explorer]

Thank You, that was what I suspected. When I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago, I did it to flip it upside down for several hours to hopefully dislodge the blockage. It didn't work. I could hear the fluid moving around inside the cooling unit but had no way to tell where the fluid was and if it was able to travel throughout the entire system. If there is a permanent blockage as I fear, then I understand why it didn't help turning it upside down. After doing some more research on the 12V compressor refrigerators I think it might be a good choice with my current solar setup. I like the GE 9.8 cu.ft. one better than the Contour 10.7 cu.ft. one but have some concerns regarding reliability after reading many bad reviews on GE's web-site. Last concern is the vent pipe for my black tank goes up behind my current refrigerator to my roof which limits me to 21" in depth. The refrigerator requires 24.5" which I would have if it weren't for that pesky pipe. Height and width are fine.

[Jkwilson1989]

You can rig a plug to apply 120V directly to the heating element. This will run the refrigerator without any controls or sensors in the loop. If it doesn’t work that way, then the cooling unit or door seals are bad.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Jkwilson1989

You can rig a plug to apply 120V directly to the heating element. This will run the refrigerator without any controls or sensors in the loop. If it doesn’t work that way, then the cooling unit or door seals are bad.

Unplug the fridge power cord from outlet

Unplug the 2 leads for the heater element from lower circuit board
(J12/Not lead & J13/Neutral lead)

Plug the leads directly into the 120VAC outlet for fridge with RV plugged into Shore power
This will continuously energize the heater element.....no controls so MONITOR
Run for 12 hrs.

If freezer AND Food compartment get COLD then circuit board is the issue
If Freezer gets cold but food compartment still doesn't then blockage in cooling unit


If-------Big IF it is the circuit board search E-Bay for one
Atwood 14002

E-Bay will be the only option.....vendors do not have only in stock