Community Forums

mikemc53 · 08-06-2022, 06:42 PM

OK, new Class C (Gulf Stream) with 12V Dometic fridge. I have had the unit plugged into shore power, at my home, for a couple of months and have been using the fridge to keep some small things in (overflow from house fridge). Everything was fine until today (very hot day) when I went out just to check things, early evening, and the fridge was strangely quiet. You can normally hear the compressor running and now it wasn't. Thought maybe it had just reached temp and had cycled off but when I opened it things were not cold. It appeared to have stopped cooling, probably 3-4 hours prior. Checked the fuse and it is good. The light works and the controls work - I'm able to change settings, etc. - but when I clicked it to a cooler temp it seemed to engage something, but no compressor noise. Hope this is something I can look into because there are no dealers anywhere near me. Maybe some kind of reset? The manual has almost no information so I am hoping someone here might have some experience with this type of thing.

Thanks in advance

Old-Biscuit · 08-06-2022, 06:47 PM

Model?

mikemc53 · 08-06-2022, 07:37 PM

It's a DMC4101

Old-Biscuit · 08-07-2022, 10:14 AM

Dometic DMC4101

Other then : Check power cord, turn fridge on, check fuse there is NOT much info about that model (or series) or about controls/parts etc

Dometic doesn't have/provide much info to help troubleshoot.
*Even RV Tech would just have to start with basic testing

mikemc53 · 08-08-2022, 03:09 AM

Well, I think I have figured this out and a good part of the issue stems from the fact that I...am an idiot.

I got to start digging into this, later in the day, and wanted to check things as close as possible before actually removing the fridge to look at the guts of it. I checked the voltage at the fuse block, and it was extremely low (abt 10.5V). This fridge requires a minimum of 10.5V so any fluctuation at all would shut down the compressor. I went out to check the batteries and that is when I noticed that the GFCI that I am plugged into was tripped. Have no idea how long it was tripped, or why, because that particular outlet has never tripped in all the years I've been here. Any way the batteries, were quite low so I needed to charge them. Funny thing is I never noticed the lack of shore power because I hadn't used any 120V appliances and my lights inside worked, albeit a bit dimly, so I never considered that possibility. Also, I am impatient, and not super efficient, so I just jumped into analyzing the fridge itself.

Anyway, once the batteries were charged up the fridge ran like a champ so...

One more funny thing: Even with low batteries my generator started up and that surprised me but, hey, I'll take it. Now I will troubleshoot the outlet on the house but that is a different matter. I am just glad that I don't have a bad fridge in a new unit since I am heading out to camp with the family in about 2 weeks.

Later gang.

Tugboat · 08-08-2022, 06:31 AM

GFI’s out doors will eventually fail just from the moisture in the air. There is GFI’s that are made for damp locations. I would just replace with a new one especially if it is more then 4 years old and outside.