Our Dometic Refrigerator started acting up. It stopped getting cold all together both refrigerator and freezer. After fiddling with the connections it started working again. So I fiddled some more with the connections just to make sure all had good contact and the refrigerator portion stopped getting cold. Freezer still worked. That old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it came to mind.
I unplugged the refrigerator and took each connector off of the control board and reseated each. Both sides are working and have been working for several days.
I nearly went to the local RV supply to buy a new $99 control board. I'm glad I took the time to re-seat all the connections.
GENECOP said
05:20 PM Sep 10, 2013
Good reminder, I am currently doing battle with our ice maker...
Sean said
05:48 PM Sep 11, 2013
Thanks for the heads up.
The freezer works fine in my Dometic but the fridge is slow to cool. I'll give it a good once over this weekend and hopefully get lucky.
dream reachers said
07:33 AM Sep 14, 2013
Thanks for the tip
Hina said
02:29 AM Sep 23, 2013
I was camping at Walmart for 2 1/2 days, and the frig on propane started getting "not cold". It's a 10 year old Dometic, not sure how much use it got.
Is it normal for the frig to not be cold on propane after 2-3 days? Should I get it tuned up? I have the button on "automatic", but there is also a button that says "gas", and it looks like if the button is up (not pushed in) it will be on gas? Maybe it's time to get out the book?
Lonney Wade said
05:56 AM Sep 23, 2013
Hina, take a look at this site, I learned a lot from this site and video.
I've been testing it, took the cover off the propane part, put the frig on "gas" with the button, and it lit OK, and the frig got cold again. Then last night, before bed, I put it on "automatic" again, and I think it's not as cold. I am judging this by the drips on the fins; they were liquid, I put it on gas, turned into ice, back on auto, liquid again. It looks like my RV is pretty level.
Lonney Wade said
05:23 PM Sep 24, 2013
Jane, it sounds like the heater element in the back of the fridge is gone out, when you put it on automatic it will go to electric first, unless you are unhooked to shore power, or the heater element is burned out then it will go to gas, they are about $30.00 to $70.00 on Amazon.
your refrigerator will run warmer on electric.....it uses an electric cal-rod which is fastened to the side of the heat tube......the heat the tube receives a double amount of heat transfer with a flame applied ,that makes the gas in the tubes move faster and remove more heat from the refrigerator...the element on the electric side cannot achieve this type of efficiency....(similar to trying to heat your RV hot water on electric)........I try to never run my fridge on electric....always on propane , it has a better recovery of temperature when things are added and holds a lower temperature consistently
Lucky Mike said
07:18 PM Sep 24, 2013
the heater element on 110 volts is only around 325 watts...heat production is low compared to an open gas flame.
when heating the ammonia gas mixture with a higher heat (propane) it causes the gas expansion to move faster to create a more efficient cooling process.
it would require a dedicated 20 amp service which is half of the power supplied to most RV's to use a 1500 watt heating element to just run the refrigerator at the same level that is produced using gas..
I run my fridge on propane always....cook , bake and sometimes run the hot water heater. during the warm season I use 1 onboard tank roughly every 4 to 5 months (40 gallon tank)
**hot water is subed by solar unit durring good weather...
even being plugged in in a park I still run propane for refrigeration...it keeps my fridge @ 35 degrees and the freezer 10 below....running on electric fridge runs 38 to 40 and has a slow recovery....freezer runs at 0 to 10 above and the ice cream is soft!!.................must save the ice cream at all costs!!!
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 24th of September 2013 07:19:00 PM
Hina said
01:36 AM Sep 25, 2013
I think Mikey is right... it was running colder on gas. I think the gas was not quite igniting, maybe due to the RV being in storage for years, and the propane on the frig hardly being used (I took off the housing for the flame, and it looks brand new). I'm not sure the automatic button switched it, but if I put the gas button on, it goes. Here's a 3 minute video of me fooling around with the frig. Probably nothing wrong with it, really. www.youtube.com/watch
Lucky Mike said
02:29 AM Sep 25, 2013
you also might want to check the screen up on the roof for birds nests or leaf and pineneedle debri.....if you dont have a good chimney convection air flow it will back the heat up and slow the cooling process
Hina said
03:00 PM Sep 25, 2013
Wow, a 40 gal onboard propane tank? I only have 10 gal. That lasts me about a month, with just cooking and heating water.
chiseye said
01:56 AM Sep 26, 2013
Some times I have had to turn it off and on to get it to recycle to gas.Give it a try cant hurt.
Our Dometic Refrigerator started acting up. It stopped getting cold all together both refrigerator and freezer. After fiddling with the connections it started working again. So I fiddled some more with the connections just to make sure all had good contact and the refrigerator portion stopped getting cold. Freezer still worked. That old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it came to mind.
I unplugged the refrigerator and took each connector off of the control board and reseated each. Both sides are working and have been working for several days.
I nearly went to the local RV supply to buy a new $99 control board. I'm glad I took the time to re-seat all the connections.
The freezer works fine in my Dometic but the fridge is slow to cool. I'll give it a good once over this weekend and hopefully get lucky.
Is it normal for the frig to not be cold on propane after 2-3 days? Should I get it tuned up? I have the button on "automatic", but there is also a button that says "gas", and it looks like if the button is up (not pushed in) it will be on gas? Maybe it's time to get out the book?
Hina, take a look at this site, I learned a lot from this site and video.
Rv Refrigerator Repair, No 1 Reason Why your Rv Fridge will not get cold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3uj6oiWfKo Have fun.
Lonney
Jane, it sounds like the heater element in the back of the fridge is gone out, when you put it on automatic it will go to electric first, unless you are unhooked to shore power, or the heater element is burned out then it will go to gas, they are about $30.00 to $70.00 on Amazon.
Here's a site to look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2zioJ7XwmM&list=TLe4Ndz6-SLE8MXzxcFy-QWRdJPvXjJxpm
Lonney
the heater element on 110 volts is only around 325 watts...heat production is low compared to an open gas flame.
when heating the ammonia gas mixture with a higher heat (propane) it causes the gas expansion to move faster to create a more efficient cooling process.
it would require a dedicated 20 amp service which is half of the power supplied to most RV's to use a 1500 watt heating element to just run the refrigerator at the same level that is produced using gas..
I run my fridge on propane always....cook , bake and sometimes run the hot water heater. during the warm season I use 1 onboard tank roughly every 4 to 5 months (40 gallon tank)
**hot water is subed by solar unit durring good weather...
even being plugged in in a park I still run propane for refrigeration...it keeps my fridge @ 35 degrees and the freezer 10 below....running on electric fridge runs 38 to 40 and has a slow recovery....freezer runs at 0 to 10 above and the ice cream is soft!!.................must save the ice cream at all costs!!!
-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Tuesday 24th of September 2013 07:19:00 PM
Some times I have had to turn it off and on to get it to recycle to gas.Give it a try cant hurt.