Community Forums

Blue74 · 04-14-2008, 08:09 PM

This morning when I checked the refrigerator the freezer had started to defrost. I removed the ice from the back and also noticed that the ice had fallen off the fins and had a puddle under the trailer where the drain is. I cycled the controls several times and changed to gas and then back to electric and the bottom and back of the freezer felt to be getting colder. When I left for an appointment it still was not frozen but was very cold. When I returned several hours later it had warmed up in the freezer and the refrigerator had warmed to over 45 deg.

I went out and using an air hose cleaned the fine slit from the back of the unit and the cover that houses the heater (gas and electric) was hot but I could hold it for several minutes. I have changed it over to LP for the night to see if it will cool down over night. I removed the power module cover and the 3 and 5 amp fuses are good.

Any ideas that I can check? Have to head out of town on Wednesday and will be gone for several weeks so I need to get the electric part working since it would run out of LP before I return.

Thanks Paul

Blue74 · 04-14-2008, 08:09 PM

This morning when I checked the refrigerator the freezer had started to defrost. I removed the ice from the back and also noticed that the ice had fallen off the fins and had a puddle under the trailer where the drain is. I cycled the controls several times and changed to gas and then back to electric and the bottom and back of the freezer felt to be getting colder. When I left for an appointment it still was not frozen but was very cold. When I returned several hours later it had warmed up in the freezer and the refrigerator had warmed to over 45 deg.

I went out and using an air hose cleaned the fine slit from the back of the unit and the cover that houses the heater (gas and electric) was hot but I could hold it for several minutes. I have changed it over to LP for the night to see if it will cool down over night. I removed the power module cover and the 3 and 5 amp fuses are good.

Any ideas that I can check? Have to head out of town on Wednesday and will be gone for several weeks so I need to get the electric part working since it would run out of LP before I return.

Thanks Paul

RV Wizard · 04-15-2008, 12:46 AM

Paul, first make sure the coach (refrigerator) is level. Did you notice any ammonia odor or see any yellowish powder? By chance is the light staying on inside when the door is closed? What is the ambient temperature average? If hot do you hear the fan on the outside running? Let us know.

Blue74 · 04-15-2008, 07:56 AM

Its level, I live in it and it has not moved out of the site in over a year. I did not notice an ammonia odor but I did have the A/C on and the dust I cleaned out of the back, at night looked to be the fine silt from the cotton fields in the area. I did notice some staining on a label and a tan stain on parts of the lower shield on the cover for the heat tube. I can't fit inside to check the light,

but it appears to be going off. Do you know you cannot find an indoor/outdoor thermometer at Wal-mart?

The lower unit would stay at 38 to 40 deg by a small thermometer and stick butter in the top would break when I would cut it into slices. As far as I know there are no fans on the outside. I see nothing in the access panel on back and when I removed the vent on the roof to install solar panels I saw no fans there. Was something I had thought of adding?

I got into town very early in the morning on Saturday and it was running good then. Later in the day I went shopping and put items in the freezer and refrigerator and everything was still working well. Sunday when I got up I used some of the frozen butter and it was very solid as was everything in the freezer and the colas where good and cold in the bottom. Monday when I went to use the butter I noticed that it was soft and cut with ease. That is when I checked the package of burritos and they where soft and the bottom had water in it. As I removed items the ice on the back was dripping, so I removed it and played with the controls (turning it off and on and changing from electric to gas and back) and the back and bottom of the freezer felt to be getting colder. So I returned everything to it and went on with my day. I was not too concerned because a large box of frozen food did not fit well and I thought that the door may have not been sealed tight. When I returned later in the day it was still cool up top and the bottom had risen but was still below 50 deg. After I had finished some things I need to do I checked and it was going higher so I moved items into the small freezer I have and late last night I returned to Wal-mart and purchased a 4.3 cuft refrigerator and emptied it out but left it on gas to see if that worked but no help so it is now turned off.

I was going to call a RV repairman (The RV Smith) to see if he can come out and look at it. I guess my first concern is if it is repaired how long can I expect it to work before more work might need to be done or should I just replace it with a new unit.

Paul

Blue74 · 04-15-2008, 12:08 PM

FYI I am taking tomorrow off and renting a small trailer to pick up a new refrigerator and be done with it. Would not trust this one while I was gone and have to do it later.

A few questions. They are made with right hand swing doors can I just reverse them so it swings from the left or use some parts from the old one to do it. It is a RM2852RB will it fit in the old opening of the RM2852 that I have now? Will the wooden door panels switch to the new one? Anything I should watch for when changing them over? Should I add the cooling fans like I have seen in some posts and where can I find them? Camping World shows a small one but not like in post.

I have a doctor appointment today and plan to remove the old one tonight. I have read about turning the unit over and letting it set and then it will start working, is this something that I should try?

Paul

RV Wizard · 04-16-2008, 01:00 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Blue74:
FYI I am taking tomorrow off and renting a small trailer to pick up a new refrigerator and be done with it. Would not trust this one while I was gone and have to do it later.

A few questions. They are made with right hand swing doors can I just reverse them so it swings from the left or use some parts from the old one to do it. It is a RM2852RB will it fit in the old opening of the RM2852 that I have now? Will the wooden door panels switch to the new one? Anything I should watch for when changing them over? Should I add the cooling fans like I have seen in some posts and where can I find them? Camping World shows a small one but not like in post.

I have a doctor appointment today and plan to remove the old one tonight. I have read about turning the unit over and letting it set and then it will start working, is this something that I should try?

Paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Paul, the dealer or store you are buying the refrigerator from can look up the specs to see if you need new door panels or not. Otherwise it should be the same size. You can by 12 volt fans from Radio Shack. You may want to add a thermostat that will close the circuit around 90 degrees; a power roof vent t'stat will work, usually they are adjustable. If it had developed a restriction, burping it is a temporary fix. It may last a few days, monh or even a year but will one day stop again. THe tanish stain should be investigated closer. I would think you would smell the ammonia if it is a leak. Good luck and keep us posted to the fix.

Bill Davis · 04-16-2008, 05:36 AM

We just had our Dometic refrigerator repaired. Although it did not qualify under the rebate qualifications discussed here earlier, Dometic provided replacement parts free of charge. We had the strong ammonia smell and yellow dust, but noticed the smell only when a side wind was forcing the smell into the coach. Repair time was four hours by a local shop. Works fine now, a new refrigerator would be even better.

Blue74 · 04-16-2008, 04:01 PM

Well I hope I did not screw up on this deal. I had ran my serial last year when the recall came out and was not one of the units BUT when the repairman started to pull the unit he pointed out the yellow powder along the bottom back edge of the unit so it was an ammonia leak and my unit ran on 120V power 99.9 percent of the time for the last 5 years. I sent an e-mail to the repairman and will see if I hear anything. He does have to return to change the doors over to left swing. At least I have a new unit ($1685.00 installed) and it is already starting to get cold.

Paul

RV Wizard · 04-17-2008, 12:44 AM

Paul, glad to hear you have got it replaced and you are back to cold. Thanks for the updates and stay safe.

Sunny · 04-18-2008, 10:17 PM

What is this rebate about? <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">We just had our Dometic refrigerator repaired. Although it did not qualify under the rebate qualifications discussed here earlier, Dometic provided replacement parts free of charge. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
My Dometic refrigerator is out and last week talked to two other that have the same.
One is an 2004, one is 2002, mine is an 2001.

Tom

Bill Davis · 04-19-2008, 04:39 AM

Whatta you know. Looks like old fumble fingers did it again. Forum before coffee, never works out right. To the best of my knowledge, there is no rebate offered on installed Dometic fridges. But there was a RECALL. More info somewhere here from the good folks at IRV2. So how come no one caught it before now, huh? Guess I earned myself a cup of coffee. First one today. Ooops!