general Born free repair and service

[glazx2]

Since our wonderful Born Free Company went out of business we've been trying to find a reliable service dealer who is familiar with Born Frees and has parts, etc. for maintenance and repair. How I long for the days when one phone call to Kim Olsen would solve all of our problems. Does anyone have a suggestion? Location is not important, we can drive there.

[Roger H]

Born Free coaches are a pretty generic motorhome. All of the systems are off-the-shelf, and parts are supplied by the manufacturers, either directly or through any RV dealer's parts and service department. The chassis, is of course, repaired by any dealership who works on medium duty trucks of the brand of your chassis, or any other competent mechanic, and work on the coach body can be performed by any competent body shop who does fiberglass work, or a boat repair shop.

All of the window and hatch parts that are still in production can be found from their suppliers, most of the furniture was Flexsteel who have a customer service number.

What do you need to have repaired?

Roger

[glazx2]

Thanks Roger. Yes, I am aware of the basic and generic nature of our Born Free. As I mentioned in my post, we long for the days when little problems would arise and we would add it to a list that would be completely addressed by Kim Olsen and Bill in Humboldt. They built this coach and they knew how to fix it, period. Now, with Born Free no longer an option, something will come up and we have to just take our chances with service companies where we are often met with comments like "Who makes this thing?" or "I've never seen one of these." I guess what I was hoping for with my inquiry is information about a company that eagerly filled the needs of Born Free owners once that wonderful company ceased to exist.

[glazx2]

One more question, Roger. It seems that the door on our 2011, 27RSB is too narrow to accommodate the refrigerator in case we want to move it out and replace it with a new one. I'm wondering if Born Free built our coach around the refrigerator once is was put in place. Our concern is a possible leak of some corrosive substance that could possibly start a fire. Apparently there is a law suit against Dometic which alleges just that. Also, I've heard there is a recall issued by Dometic for this very reason. Can you comment on any of this? I will call Dometic today to see what they say about all of this but I'm expecting them to play this all "close to the vest" because they are a defendant in a class action lawsuit.

[DeanPreston]

My 2012 Dometic refrigerator did have a major ammonia leak last year when I started my summer vacation. I had a large local dealer (General RV in the Detroit area) replace the refrigerator. They removed a side window to get the old unit out and put the new unit in. I am interest in the recall, which I had not heard about before.

[Roger H]

One more question, Roger. It seems that the door on our 2011, 27RSB is too narrow to accommodate the refrigerator in case we want to move it out and replace it with a new one. I'm wondering if Born Free built our coach around the refrigerator once is was put in place. Our concern is a possible leak of some corrosive substance that could possibly start a fire. Apparently there is a law suit against Dometic which alleges just that. Also, I've heard there is a recall issued by Dometic for this very reason. Can you comment on any of this? I will call Dometic today to see what they say about all of this but I'm expecting them to play this all "close to the vest" because they are a defendant in a class action lawsuit.

Yes, there's a recall on certain Dometic models. The "fix" is to install extra flashing around the burner. When the ammonia leaks out of an ammonia-absorption refrigerator, it basically vents to atmosphere. The flashing prevents the ammonia from running directly onto the flame.

I don't know for sure how your coach was built, but it's possible that the refrigerator was placed before the walls were erected.

The factory, Kim and Bill were amazing. I too had my coaches serviced there both as a matter of convenience (I live in Iowa) and knowing that the repairs would be done correctly the first time. I, too grieve for that. But the truth is that, just like any other repair facility, if you cultivate a good relationship with a competent facility, they can handle pretty much anything that your coach will need.

[glazx2]

Thanks Dean for all the info. I've been discussing my refrigerator problems with a good RV mechanic here in Palm Deseret, CA, and he has horror stories to tell. He has dealt with lots of RVs with Dometic refrigeraors and says that fires caused by these leaks are a very real possibility. In fact, he has been hired by various law firms which have joined a class action suit action suit Dometic. They hire him to go to junk yards where burned out hulks of motor homes have been deposited and remove from them the source of the fire which destroyed them, a Dometic refrigerator. He says that there is a retro-fit of the cooling system of the affected refrigerators available from an Amish company but it's very expensive, $2,700 for the parts alone. The Dometic recall is real but they have not done a very good job notifying their customers. Here is a link to a website with information about the recall: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... Recall.pdf

[Dallas Baillio]

At the bottom of the recall notice link above the year 2007 is written. I don’t think this is current. Am I wrong?

[Roger H]

At the bottom of the recall notice link above the year 2007 is written. I don’t think this is current. Am I wrong?

No Dallas, you're right. This is old news.

From the notice: "Large Scale Dometic Refrigerator Recall Announced:

Dometic Corporation is in the process of issuing recalls for over 900,000 RV refrigerators. The problem, a potential fire hazard, affects many refrigerators manufactured between 1997 and 2003"

And Dometic has provided a link that you can tell whether or not your particular refrigerator was in the recall by serial number. It's pretty unlikely that a 2003 refrigerator would have been installed as OEM equipment in any coach much past 2006.