Frig drain hose

My Frig drain hose hangs outside and after one year is now turning to chalk... I want to put on a better quality hose and route it to the bottom which is the way they should have been made.

It's a project i want to undertake soon. How difficult is it to remove that hose and replace? Can I get to the connection without removing the Frig?

Just remove the outside vent door to get to the drain hose. I think the frig only drains when it is shut off and it does not drain a lot of liquid. I put a plastic container inside the back of the frig compartment and let the hose go into the container. The water will evaporate from this container before you take the next trip.

MTPockets said:

My Frig drain hose hangs outside and after one year is now turning to chalk.

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Mine is 100% fine after two years and I am quite often in 100+ degree heat. It looks brand new.

I suspect you may have gotten a defective plastic part.

Since you are probably still under warranty, I would call Dometic and ask them to send you a new one. Trace

This probelm of the cracking drain hose has been discussed on many forums. EVERYBODY has ( or will have) this problem. As I previosly mentioned, I put an evaporator container in the compartment. Find RV education 101 on the web and find the refrigerator section. He very briefly discusses the drain hose. However, in the brief discussion he shows a model with an evaporator pan. Dometic uses the drain hose which vents outside. Norcold uses the evaporator pan. I did one more thing. I fabricated a screen to go over the refrigerator side vent openings. This keeps out any critter from making a nest in your back frig compartment. Bees like to nest in there.

Just spent some time digging into my hose issue.... The 3 inches that they stick out the vent cover (actually the dealer stuck it through) is the part that crumbles. In order to replace the entire hose, I would have to remove the frig to get access to where the hose connects. It's too high and out of site from the outside access panel. I got as far as removing the screws from the inside and decided I didn't want to go any further, so I put it all back together and then put a clear hose over the white plastic hose, inserting it as far as it would slide on, but still a foot or so from the top.

The installation instructions clearly tell the installer to route the drain hose through a hole in the floor, then seal around it. Obviously Heartland doesn't follow this and instead decides to aggravate owners later when that hose deteriorates. Don't mistake this aggravation with my belief that I have a great unit - it's these little things that drive me mad that Heartland could avoid during manufacture... I would gladly have paid the extra 50 bucks for them to have done it right.....

This and 4 or 5 other 'little' things that they could do on the manfacturing floor would do wonders for user morale! I'm sure cost is their issue, but I'm talking about nickel dime stuff that for me to do costs hundreds, plus the attitude blip.

Anyone else agree with me?

Every manufacturer run the hose in the same place, not right but thats the way it is.

Most of our fridges have a compartment or drawer below the fridge. If you decide to route it down, you'll have to determine the best way to get it down and out through the underbelly or into the lower wrapped area. I had prior exposure to this issue years ago and learned to wrap the exposed portion of the hose/tube with foil tape to prevent UV damage. That's a lot easier than trying to get through the lower sections of the RV.

Ray LeTourneau said:

Most of our fridges have a compartment or drawer below the fridge. If you decide to route it down, you'll have to determine the best way to get it down and out through the underbelly or into the lower wrapped area. I had prior exposure to this issue years ago and learned to wrap the exposed portion of the hose/tube with foil tape to prevent UV damage. That's a lot easier than trying to get through the lower sections of the RV.

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Wrapping it with foil tape is a great idea Ray..Thanks!..Don

I am going to paint mine with Fusion paint. This will stop the UV from deteriorating it.

Replaced the fridge drain hose after 2 years with a clear plastic one and let it drain out the vent as the original.It amazes me
how these companies get off with such poor quality materials.Its not a big job but it is a job you shouldn't have to do.

Birchwood said:

Replaced the fridge drain hose after 2 years with a clear plastic one and let it drain out the vent as the original.It amazes me
how these companies get off with such poor quality materials.Its not a big job but it is a job you shouldn't have to do.

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Someone who gets it! ...... The buyer should "not" have to deal with this piddly little item... That hose could be either a better quality, or routed under the way it's supposed to done during the assembly process.

The evap. pan sounds like a dust & muck collector to me.
Ever look at the one under your home refer and see all the junk that collects in it? And that's not even rolling down the road with dirt swirling into it.
I'll stick with my hose as it is, until such time as I may route it out the bottom of the rig, if I end up seeing it as a problem.

Also pet flea collars are a quick fix to keep pests out of the back of the refer. Trace

Birchwood said:

Replaced the fridge drain hose after 2 years with a clear plastic one and let it drain out the vent as the original.It amazes me
how these companies get off with such poor quality materials.Its not a big job but it is a job you shouldn't have to do.

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I did the same thing-don't forget to keep the plug in the end of the tube. The original hose broke easily. I think Heartland builds a great 5ver-non of them are perfect.

I noticed the end of my hose was about to fall off. I took some clear Rescue Tape & taped it up several inches from the end & so far the problem has been taken care of.

I took the screws out of the front of the trim on the fridge and pulled it out enough that I could get at the hose and replace it. I rested the front of the fridge on a garden stool with catalogs built up enough to balance the fridge on. The fridge will balance pretty easy on a stool if the door is removed. Somebody said that you can replace the hose by pulling the little tray out of the inside and running a new one down and back out the back without having to pull the fridge out to access it. I am pretty good at fishing things around with a stiff piece of wire so I will probably try it this way if I ever change one again. It is pretty easy to find the clear vinyl or rubber hose the right size to replace the old corrugated ones that fall apart. The hose just sticks on to the back of the tray and runs out of the vent on the outside. Tom

OK... secret fix. Remove drain tray from inside fridge, just under cooling fins, small drain catcher under the tray will pull out of fridge from inside. I replaced my hose with a piece of old white water hose. It fits the drain very tight, no clamp needed. I pushed it through the hole to the back of fridge and out to the vent. To keep weight off the plastic drain I secured it to something in behind the fridge that you can reach with a tie wrap. You need the original end piece if you can find it as it keeps bugs out. I left it long enough to have a U shape at bottom (like original was made) to keep air from getting in the fridge from outside. The fridge does a defrost every once in a while, that's what the drain is for, so it will have a little water in the bend of the hose.

Now this is on my 08, Bighorn, 3055RL, others should be about the same. Mine has been there for 3+ years.

Jim M

Thanks Jim. When the time comes, I'll try it. Trace.

jimtoo said:

OK... secret fix. Remove drain tray from inside fridge, just under cooling fins, small drain catcher under the tray will pull out of fridge from inside. I replaced my hose with a piece of old white water hose. It fits the drain very tight, no clamp needed. I pushed it through the hole to the back of fridge and out to the vent. To keep weight off the plastic drain I secured it to something in behind the fridge that you can reach with a tie wrap. You need the original end piece if you can find it as it keeps bugs out. I left it long enough to have a U shape at bottom (like original was made) to keep air from getting in the fridge from outside. The fridge does a defrost every once in a while, that's what the drain is for, so it will have a little water in the bend of the hose.

Now this is on my 08, Bighorn, 3055RL, others should be about the same. Mine has been there for 3+ years.

Jim M

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"This" worked! ...... I took a pair of pliers to get a grip on the inside drain hole flange, and had to pull fairly hard, but it came out. I used a 1/2" OD vinyl tube and fished it thru, using the original bug cap on the outside hose end as jimtoo suggested. I also used the inside flange, but had to cut it shorter for the 1/2" OD hose to fit snugly on the inside of the flange. I used some tub caulk around the tube and flange before pushing it back into the hole. Looks fine. I wire tied the hose at the back of the frig to keep it in place. Whole job took about 10 minutes. Thanks Jimtoo.

MTPockets said:

"This" worked! ...... I took a pair of pliers to get a grip on the inside drain hole flange, and had to pull fairly hard, but it came out. I used a 1/2" OD vinyl tube and fished it thru, using the original bug cap on the outside hose end as jimtoo suggested. I also used the inside flange, but had to cut it shorter for the 1/2" OD hose to fit snugly on the inside of the flange. I used some tub caulk around the tube and flange before pushing it back into the hole. Looks fine. I wire tied the hose at the back of the frig to keep it in place. Whole job took about 10 minutes. Thanks Jimtoo.

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Your Welcome!! Would you prefer to use PayPal or just send me a check?

jimtoo said:

Your Welcome!! Would you prefer to use PayPal or just send me a check?

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We'll be in San Antonio in April..... I'll leave the check on the bulletin board at the rest stop on I-10 - near Kingsbury, TX.