HELP ... big trip coming up and fridge quits

Dometic refrigerator on my 2008 Sundance quits working. Freezer only gets to about 45 degrees and refrigerator is basically room temperature.

It's in the shop ... a day to determine the thermistor is NOT the problem. Now another day to determine if it's the control board or the cooling unit. Still in warranty but Camperland in Conroe, Texas says the warranty service from Dometic will not allow them to exchange a purchased unit with a warranty unit. So you can't round up a unit somewhere and then replace it with the warranty unit that Dometic ships, even if it means destroying a vacation. The cooling unit retails for $980, so it's not something you eat just to get out of town. You can buy a brand new fridge for just a couple of hundred more dollars.

I had the same issue with this about a year ago and, maybe it's my imagination, but the unit started working properly after we bounced along the highway for a few hours. Does that make sense to anybody? The only logical situation that I can think of is a short of some kind, maybe on that control board.

So ... anybody have experience with using dry ice as a crisis management solution? How much do I need and how long will it last (understanding that will be a function of how often the unit gets opened)?

Aaaaaaargh.

How level is the unit when stored/not being used? The refrigerant can pool and crystallize if not level enough. if it starts working after going down the road for a few hours that could your problem.

As far as using dry-ice, I would place the food and dry-ice in a cooler, as to not "fool" the refer into think it is cool. That way when the refer starts working it will actually cool the unit down and not stop because the thermistor thinks it is cool.

It's within a degree or so of being dead level. But it has sat in enclosed storage for about 6 months since the last time we used it. How does the bouncing along affect the crystalization? Are you thinking enough fluid might work through it and redissolve the crystals?

I would use the dry ice to essentially make the unit a cooler, leaving the unit turned off ... unless it decides to work along the way.

StevieWonder said:

Are you thinking enough fluid might work through it and redissolve the crystals?

Click to expand...

Yes.

I see your in Texas, When we where in TX this summer we had to run the refer on propane and turn the exhaust fans on 24/7, but it was 100+ degrees outside then, and it is probably cooler there now. When we tried it on elec. w/o the fans turned on the unit would only cool to about 45 degrees. On propane and the fans turned on it would cool it to 37 degrees. Now in WA we are back on elec. and no fans and it will cool to 32 degrees.

It's in the 90's now, but cooling down into the 70's with lows in the 50's tomorrow.

I think you may be on to something about the crystalization and the redissolving with agitation provided by the trailer's natural motion on the road.

Cooling Unit Diagnosis

The cooling unit, or coils, of an ammonia absorption refrigerator is the heart of the refrigerator--it does the actual cooling. Everything else on the refrigerator either supports the cooling unit, or is an accessory. No matter how simple or complicated the controls of the refrigerator are, all cooling units require the same three things to operate:

• The unit has to be level
• The unit has to have adequate ventilation
• The unit has to have CORRECT heat
• A fourth issue is raised if the cooling unit has recently been changed. The cooling unit has to have been properly installed into the refrigerator.

If the three above requirements are provided to the cooling unit, it should work and should work well. If it doesn't work well, then it is a bad cooling unit. It's really that simple. (Also, failure to meet the three requirements above when the refrigerator is in operation can cause permanent damage to the cooling unit.) Of course, don't overlook mitigating circumstances such as a main door that seals very poorly, which would cause a good cooling unit to look bad because of warm air continuously entering the box.
Also, if the cooling unit seems to work poorly only during warm weather, it's possible that one of the requirements above is in a border line state. In other words, the venting, for example, may be adequate for mild weather, but not adequate for warm weather. A cooling unit could also be border line, but it would be prudent to look elsewhere first.
Testing the cooling unit

First of all, if the cooling unit cools properly on one heat source (i.e. gas or electric) and not the other, then the cooling unit, with only a few exceptions, is good and the problem lies in the heat source that is not functioning properly.
Secondly, there are obvious signs of a bad cooling unit.

• If you smell ammonia in or around the refrigerator, and you haven't recently used ammonia for cleaning, the cooling unit is bad. No further testing is necessary.
• If sodium chromate is present on the outside of the cooling unit, the cooling unit is bad. Sodium chromate is a yellowish-greenish powder in solution inside the cooling unit. If sodium chromate is outside the cooling unit, the cooling unit has a hole in it.
• If you hear a relatively loud gurgling or percolating sound when the refrigerator is in operation (being heated), it is a sign of a bad cooling unit. The key words here are "relatively loud". A good cooling unit percolates when in operation, and if you get close enough and listen carefully enough, you can hear it percolate. However, if you hear noise a few feet away, it is a sign that the cooling unit has lost pressure and is bad.

Testing the cooling unit is simply insuring that the three necessary requirements for the operation of a cooling unit (level, ventilation, correct heat) are met. Do whatever it takes to meet these requirements. If you suspect a venting problem, pull the refrigerator and set it on the floor. In fact, pulling the refrigerator and setting it on a level floor meets two of the requirements and leaves only one, correct heat, to worry about. Always test the refrigerator on the electric heat source, unless you are unable to because you have a gas only refrigerator. The reason for testing on the electric side is if the electric heat element gets hot, you can be better than 95% sure that you have correct heat, whereas even a poor gas flame will produce heat. To insure that the heat element is getting hot, you can touch the insulation pack (a rectangular or round sheet metal container filled with insulation located directly above the propane burner) to see if it is warm after about a half hour of operation. CAUTION: touch the pack lightly at first; it is possible under certain conditions for the pack to get super hot and burn you. If the insulation pack does not get warm, you have an electrical problem that needs to be corrected before continuing. If an electrical problem is not the electric heat element itself and/or you want to insure that some other electrical component (such as a thermostat) is not interrupting the heat element, you can hot wire the heat element for better testing conditions. The only weak link in this testing procedure is the less than 5% of the time that a working heat element is not producing the correct heat. See hot wiring for information on verifying the output of the heat element.
After you have provided the cooling unit with its three requirements, allow plenty of time for the cooling unit to function. You should see signs of cooling in the freezer after about two hours. Allow six to eight hours, or even over night, for an empty refrigerator to come down to temperature. The ammonia absorption style of refrigeration is slower than the compressor style in terms of initially bringing the refrigerator down to temperature. However, once the desired temperature is reached, there should be no problem in maintaining that temperature.
If you have done everything in this section up to this point and the cooling unit does not work or does not work well, the cooling unit is bad and will need to be rebuilt or replaced

Thanks for the HUGE amount of great information.

OEM cooling unit; trailer is a couple of years old with something along the line of 15 days cumulative usage
Level within a degree or so; nothing other than road grade variations while in transit/in use
Unit is level while in storage, not in operation while in storage, so unit not on for 6 months
Heating coils are quite warm with both gas and electric
No smell of ammonia
Nothing but nice black paint, no chemical traces of any kind
No gurgling sounds of any kind, loud or subdued

So they are checking the board. At 9:30 tomorrow morning they'll know if that works. If the board is bad, they can hot wire around it which essentially means no temperature control but otherwise fully functional. If the cooling unit is bad, I'm screwed since Dometic will not pay for installation of an in-stock replacement part. Dometic insists that the warranty dept supply the replacement cooling unit and turn around time is a minimum of one week.

Last time I pulled the trailer out of storage (also about 6 mos), the freezer was very slow to cool but finally worked, however the fridge was barely cool after being on overnight. Decide to use icechest to save the scheduled trip. Drive 4 hrs down the road and, bingo, the fridge is working fine. Works fine for the whole trip. Back into storage and six months later, a repeat of freezer but no fridge. Everyone tells me storage with the unit off should not create a problem for use after 6 mos, but this a repetitive problem.

Perhaps you knock the mud dobber nest loose.

Actually checked that first ... slick as a Safeway chicken.

Cooling unit bad. Camperland in Conroe says they didn't sell the unit so they are not responsible for failing to do the service checks, which Dometic apparently requires at the 1yr and 2yr points to retain the warranty to the 3yr point.

This is total BS ... this unit has no more than 15 total days of usage. I am one PO'd owner. Dealers shouldn't be allowed to blame everything on the "we didn't sell it" schtick.

Get on the horn to Dometic and get them involved. But that annual inspection business is contained in the fine print at the back of the fridge user manual. Another PITA to deal with and pay for. I just called my dealer and added it to the laundry list while they've got it in the shop.

Don't believe what Camperland tells you. They have lied to me before. I will not use them for service anymore if they were the last one on earth.

I can't believe "Dometic apparently requires service checks at the 1yr and 2yr points to retain the warranty to the 3yr point." I am a 6 hour drive through the Rockies to get to the dealer - not an easy trip, especially when the snow flies. This is yet another example of a manufacturer avoiding responsibility for having to make a quality product. Also, not allowing you to get repairs and then replace the stock unit with the warranty unit from the manufacturer?
This forum is a great source of information, I am glad to have all of you as experts to guide us through problems. I have created a library of great information, such as the post by lwmcguir. Give us first timers a sense of security. We have not had a problem (knock on wood) but now know where to go to start the process of getting a problem resolved.

Well my unit doesn't have 15 days of cumulative usage. I'm going to raise **** with Dometic. Honestly, Camperland has been proactive on this warranty issue so I have to give credit where credit is due. My complaint with them has been about communications with me. Three "I'm going into the shop to talk to the tech and I'll call you back" generated no returned calls. Eventually I dragged it out of them.

BTW, does anybody know what this annual "service" entails? Can't be much since there's really nothing to service as a closed system.

SW-

Use this link to see what they do. Most of it is visual but there a couple of tests that require tools that some of us do not have. AND they require that it be done by an authorized service center.

Bob

http://www2.dometicusa.com/pdf/referwarranty.pdf

Thanks for the info.

Camperland says there is a blockage in the unit which they attribute to extended storage without use, almost exactly what was stated earlier by another poster. I'm going to try to see if the bouncing-along-the-road fix will reoccur and then we can address it longer term with, hopefully, a warranty fix from Dometic.

If not, I'll replace it with a Norcold just to get even.

Well, sure enough, I get home and the freezer is frozen solid and the fridge is very, very cold.

We have always let our campers sit over the winter and the refrigerators always worked in the spring. Eight different ones. Something isnt quite right here. Would like to hear what you ultimately find out as a root cause.

StevieWonder said:

Well, sure enough, I get home and the freezer is frozen solid and the fridge is very, very cold.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to find a longer route home from the storage area, that way the "blockage" can dissolve by the time you get home.