Dometic refrigerator

[DadD45]

Have Dometic 2-way, 2-door refrig in a 2004 Coachmen MH.....stopped cooling this weekend at cg.....opened access panel and found yellow residue at base of flue...propane burner functioning...GFI outlet has power....cannot cool on EITHER gas or 120V...ideas??? Is it toast????

[DadD45]

Have Dometic 2-way, 2-door refrig in a 2004 Coachmen MH.....stopped cooling this weekend at cg.....opened access panel and found yellow residue at base of flue...propane burner functioning...GFI outlet has power....cannot cool on EITHER gas or 120V...ideas??? Is it toast????

[GaryKD]

The residue may be the smoking gun. If you have power coming out of the control board (this checks the fuses and power sources) and nothing works, sounds like a new cooling unit or new fridge. The only other componet, I can think of, that is used on both gas and electric is the thermostat.

Good luck

[Woodpeckertoo]

You have a leak in your cooling coils. Yellow is residue from the coolant.

[Homeless Vagabonds]

Per my own experience with a "Recalled" Dometic refrigerator. Initially had the safety equipment installed per Dometic recall. The tech told me to watch for the yellow residue. Said it was the leaking ammonia from the cooling system. It can be very flammible - the ammonia gas -- so turn off the refrigerator immediately. Especially the gas side. As my refrigerator was involved in the recall, Dometic replaced the cooling unit. Now the refrigerator is working very well.

[DadD45]

homeless vagabonds, there's hope yet...ours is a recall unit also....couldn't get it in for update until this spring so it's still due....hope you're right!!!!!!

[hamguy]

I don't believe ammonia gas is flammable. It can kill you if you try/have to breathe it though.

[cvrvr]

hamguy, yes the ammonia is toxic, but the hydroden gas that is the cooling system is very flammable.

DadD45 The yellow is put in the cooling system for one reason, to indicate that there is a leak. Any leak means a new cooling unit. Dometic might replace the unit under warranty if you scream loud enough.

Good luck.
George

[hamguy]

"but the hydroden gas that is the cooling system is very flammable."

What hydrogen gas in what cooling system?

I'm confused

[RustyJC]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hamguy:
I don't believe ammonia gas is flammable. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Please see HERE.

Rusty

[hamguy]

see- http://www.iiar.org/aaranswers_safety.cfm

Is ammonia explosive?
Pure ammonia is difficult to ignite and has a very narrow range of flammability. Ammonia is flammable only at high concentrations and under extremely limited conditions. Ammonia vapor that contains oil or another flammable contaminant can increase the possibility of an explosion. However, ammonia will not sustain a flame on its own; ignition of ammonia vapor requires an uninterrupted external flame source.

I believe the hazard from the hydrogen component is so slight as to be virtually unimportant. I suspect a person is far more likely to create a hazardous situation by careless cooking habits and the like.

JMHO, YMMV.

[RustyJC]

The "uninterrupted external flame source" in question is the propane flame used to heat the boiler. I know of at least one Mobile Suites 5th wheel that burned to the ground - the investigation traced the source back to a Dometic fridge that had a fatigue failure in the cooling pack tubing and puked the ammonia into the area of the propane flame.

15% to 28% concentration in a confined area is hardly a narrow range of flammability. Natural gas (methane) has a flammability range of only 5% to 15% at standard conditions in air.

Rusty

[hamguy]

To each his own. One anecdotal incident is hardly enough to make me paranoid about a potential danger when the probability of injury due to a common traffic accident is thousands of times higher. If I doted on all the possibles sources of danger, I would be a raging nut.

In any event, what do you propose to minimize any dangers?

[RustyJC]

I'm not proposing anything. I'm just saying that it can happen - that's why Dometic is having a recall and putting flame shields around the boiler area (which does nothing to fix the root cause of the problem).

I don't lie awake worrying about it, either. That's what insurance is for.

Rusty