Community Forums

don springhetti · 06-04-2011, 03:25 PM

Hi Everyone,
Just got home from a couple of days on Cape Cod. Had a great time except that my refrigerator stopped working yesterday.
I have a 2007 Gulfstream BTCrusier with an electric/gas Dometic refridg.
For no apparent reason the control panel stopped working, no indicator lights on whether I switched from gas or electric. Plenty of propane on board and the electric connection was fine with everything else.
Manual says there are fuses in the back of the refer. Access from the outside through a panel.
Questions???
The access panel is held on by two small rectangular clips?? that do not "pop" out easily. Did not want to use pliers and muscel till I asked if there is some "trick" to popping the panel off. There are 3 slots the size of a screwdriver blade under it but did not want to pry on the fiberglass.
Secondly, anyone had this problem? do you think it could be a fuse to the control panel?
and, cannot find the circuit breaker to the refer in the fuse box. Thought I read somewhere that it is behind the refer?
Any help is appreciated.
Don

Gary - K7GLD · 06-04-2011, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by don springhetti

Hi Everyone,
Just got home from a couple of days on Cape Cod. Had a great time except that my refrigerator stopped working yesterday.
I have a 2007 Gulfstream BTCrusier with an electric/gas Dometic refridg.
For no apparent reason the control panel stopped working, no indicator lights on whether I switched from gas or electric. Plenty of propane on board and the electric connection was fine with everything else.
Manual says there are fuses in the back of the refer. Access from the outside through a panel.
Questions???
The access panel is held on by two small rectangular clips?? that do not "pop" out easily. Did not want to use pliers and muscel till I asked if there is some "trick" to popping the panel off. There are 3 slots the size of a screwdriver blade under it but did not want to pry on the fiberglass.
Secondly, anyone had this problem? do you think it could be a fuse to the control panel?
and, cannot find the circuit breaker to the refer in the fuse box. Thought I read somewhere that it is behind the refer?
Any help is appreciated.
Don

If yours is like our older MH, give those "rectangular" gadgets 1/4 turn to unlatch them, and the panel should pull free.

RJay · 06-04-2011, 03:41 PM

The circuit breaker for the refrigerator should be in the main AC circuit panel.

wa8yxm · 06-04-2011, 07:47 PM

The Fridge draws 3 types of "power"

Propane (When runing on gas)
120vac (When running on electric)
and 12vdc to control it all,, That's where your problem most likely lies.

The retanglar clips.. Is there a slot in the clip? On mine they do not "pop out" they are quarter turn locks,, you turn them 1/4 turn (either way) and the retangular tab on the inside lines up with the retangular hole and to "Door" opens.. I have 4 of them if I recall correctly on mine though, 1 at each corner.

If your fridge is a DOMETIC, there is s drip hose that is supposed to come out via one of the vent holes so it drips on the ground, instead of the control electronics inside.

Gary RVRoamer · 06-04-2011, 09:14 PM

No lights on the control panel or interior of fridge means no 12v power to the fridge. Check the supply fuse in the RV and another fuse on the fridge circuit board itself.

Give those little wedge-thingies a 1/4 turn to loosen.

Mr_D · 06-04-2011, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

No lights on the control panel or interior of fridge means no 12v power to the fridge. Check the supply fuse in the RV and another fuse on the fridge circuit board itself

Or you've had an ammonia leak and the unit shut down to avoid a fire. That's what ours did. It first quit on electricity, so I switched over to propane, I heard it start the burner and a short time later it shut down totally. When i pulled the sheet metal off around the burner I found yellow powder and smelled ammonia.
I replaced the cooling unit with a new Amish built unit, cheaper than the Dometic unit and has a 5 year warranty.
Got it from RV Cooling Unit Warehouse

don springhetti · 06-05-2011, 09:45 AM

Hi everyone,
Got the quarter turn latches to turn and was able to see the two cartridge fuses in the electronics box in the back of the refer. Both look ok wire down the center is not burnt. For the life of me I can not find the remote fuses or circuit breaker for the refer. opened the main fuse box for the umpteenth time, all fuses are labeled and none refer to the refer.
Will talk to the dealer on Monday.
Thanks again everyone.
Hey Gary the rv roamer, are you one of the woodworkers we met last Feb. in the barn/workshop in Ocala? Great place will be back next winter.
Don

wa8yxm · 06-05-2011, 07:31 PM

If it is a Dometic fridge there may be more fuses in another box off to the left. Just so you know.. I think there are 4 or five fuses on mine.

Don't know about Norcold.. But start looking for 12vdc using a volt meter or test lamp.

NOTE: fuses have a tendency to fail, not blow, but fail, they look 100%, but are 0%

Again, test with multi-meter, only way to be sure.

jeepfreak · 06-09-2011, 08:30 AM

Don, I live in the next town over and currently unemployed so if I can help let me know, I'm on my third RV and have done all my own repairs. I'd be glad to help!

Mr_D · 06-09-2011, 11:20 PM

OP, did you smell ammonia or see any yellow stain/powder around the burner? If then you've had an ammonia leak and the unit shut down to prevent a fire. That's exactly how mine acted when I had an ammonia leak. The leak was just above the gas burner and was evident when I moved the shroud.

don springhetti · 06-16-2011, 09:30 PM

I buought the rig down to a local repair shop. The problem is the cooling unit. My extended warranty guys say they will pay for a rebuilt cooling unit. About 800 bucks installed. But the shop says that they have to take the refer out of the house to get at the cooling unit.
If they are going to do that I am wondering if it is better to pay the difference, close to 1000 bucks, and have them put in a whole new refer??? What are the chances of something else going wrong in the current refer if the cooling unit is replaced. Do not want to go through the hassel again later. Would rather pay 1k now for a new refer than 2k latter if some other part in it quits.
What do you think, the rig is only 4 years old and this is the first real problem we have had
Don