RM1350--The SAGA continues

sdagro

Well-known member
Well here we are in our 6th month of ownership of this beautiful 3670RL with the nightmare of a THIRD....I DID SAY THIRD RM1350 fridge and we are no closer to solving this problem than we were 5 months ago. Went in camper today, and with an outside temp of 75 degrees, the fridge temp was 47 DEGREES. Didn't believe it so I tried 2 other thermometers and got the same reading. The freezer was at 20 degrees. I thought for sure it would work great til next May. Boy was I wrong. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steve
 
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cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Wow Steve, yes you must be frustrated. I find it hard to believe that they installed three bad refers. I mean what are the odds. I know this doesn't help, but our RM1350 stays at 34 in the hottest temps. Having said all of that, maybe your dealer should be looking at an installation problem. Something must be causing this because like I said before, what are the odds of three bad ones in a row. You have been running them at #5 the coldest? Or should I say trying to.
I know the nerve must be getting thin, but stay focused and keep us informed of the progress.

Peace
Dave
 

sdagro

Well-known member
My tech at the dealer told me from the beginning that it was an install problem. My new fridge(#3) as well as #2 the one they just took out both worked when set-up in the shop. They ran them both for 3-4 days and ran fine. The digital readout on fridge is at least 5-8 degrees off in relationship to my 2 digital probe units. Checked my digitals at boiling and again at freezing temp and they are both on. My frozen Bacardi mixers were VERY SOFT when I checked them in the freezer today. Tech says the bottom cabinet drawer should come out and lower the fridge by that amount and that would vent it better. Pretty radical but if it will work----what the heck, give it a shot. Have to get authorization and give up my 1st born to get the factory to allow this. What baffles me is that if my fridge is installed the same as everyone else s'....why am I having trouble.
 

KENNY COCHRAN

MCNEESE STATE COWBOYS #1
My partner in crime, i mean in dometic abuse!!
We got back from hammond last weekend, i turned my fridge off, and could not get it back on. Dead, would not turn back on, period. Brought to local rv dealer and he got it back on, but would not turn off!!!! So, he ordered some kind of board for it. I told him i would pay for next day air to get it quicker from dometic. He told me today, it would be in hopefully soon, dometic refused to ship it by air even though i was paying for it. Nice people at dometic. So, i picked it up anyhow, and will take it tailgating this weekend and hopefully get it back running next week.
You & i both knew it was a waste of time putting the 3rd unit in your rv. I guess dometic thinks they can just throw more money at it and sooner or later it will magically start working.
Mine is working better when it is running. Still waiting for the door gaskets.
 

DougAndJudy

Well-known member
Well here we are in our 6th month of ownership of this beautiful 3670RL with the nightmare of a THIRD....I DID SAY THIRD RM1350 fridge and we are no closer to solving this problem than we were 5 months ago. Went in camper today, and with an outside temp of 75 degrees, the fridge temp was 47 DEGREES. Didn't believe it so I tried 2 other thermometers and got the same reading. The freezer was at 20 degrees. I thought for sure it would work great til next May. Boy was I wrong. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steve

Ours does the same thing about every 5 days or so. Apparently the frig has a de-icing cycle that it goes into on a regular basis. After reading posts on a number of different forums I decided to try turning it off then back on. This is supposed to reset the timing for the cycle. It has worked for us for the last month - just after we got our 2nd cooling unit transplant... If I notice the temp staying at or above 44, I hit the on-off switch. The frig starts cooling down within an hour. BTW we are in 90+ degrees during the day.

Do I think this is right? No! But having been inconvenienced by Dometic several times in the last 2 months, I am going to tolerate having to manually managing the temps for a while longer.
 

sgtbigb

Well-known member
L
Well here we are in our 6th month of ownership of this beautiful 3670RL with the nightmare of a THIRD....I DID SAY THIRD RM1350 fridge and we are no closer to solving this problem than we were 5 months ago. Went in camper today, and with an outside temp of 75 degrees, the fridge temp was 47 DEGREES. Didn't believe it so I tried 2 other thermometers and got the same reading. The freezer was at 20 degrees. I thought for sure it would work great til next May. Boy was I wrong. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Steve
I am wondering, did you try using the unit with LP rather than auto, to see if there was any difference. It ease with my unit!
 

Jellystone

Well-known member
sdagro, i've been following your (lack of) progress on getting that fridge problem fixed through your posts. All I can say is UNBELIEVABLE!! RV's today have all of this fancy equipment/ammenities and you cannot even get your fridge to work after several attempts. I'm sure the RV techs have checked, but is there some lack of voltage problem going to the fridge? There may be an electrical problem in that area of the trailer causing the damage to the units (all 3). Just an idea. BTW-GEAUX TIGERS!!! :)
 

sdagro

Well-known member
Spoke to Eric at Heartland on Friday and he told me to reinstall the "REDNECK" fan on the exterior of the top vent. I wish I knew how to attach a photo on this post. Talk about embarrassing to try to explain to someone what it is I am trying to do. Anyway...did this and the temp in the fridge is still in the mid to upper 40's. Have to call him tomorrow and give him an update. Can't wait to hear their solution. Wish i had a name and # of a real live person at Dometic that I can actually contact and speak to my self. Still Frustered!!!!
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I can certainly understand your frustration. Especially with Dometic. A couple years ago I battled with them regarding the cooling unit in our Bighorn. After several days, e-mails, pictures and trying to remain calm on the phone, we were back in business.

I was mostly disappointed regarding the recall to add a safety net to our fridge that really didn't fix the potential problem, only gave us added protection in the event of a fire. When they had to replace our cooling unit, it was replaced with the exact same type of unit with the same potential issue. Why not a newly designed safer cooling unit?

Hang in there Steve, I hope it all works out in the end.

At least it's been working since the repair. We still have a major frost issue. Even in super dry, no humidity southern CA, we had to defrost every 2 weeks. Yes we have a new door seal. No improvement.
 

Tankie

Well-known member
sdagro, I went through 2 RM1350's in 6 months in our 3670RL, tried the redneck fan, ran it on propane, put insulation on top and it all did not work. I think it is a install problem, they are not vented right. The people I have talked to with the ones that are not installed in slides have not had as many problems.
They are vented through the roof, which allows the heat to rise like a chimney.

To fix my problem I installed a household fridge, and framed it in. I have drove 8-10 hrs. a day and have not had any issues. We love it, plus it is 15.3 cf. :D
I fill your pain and frustrations. Good luck Lonnie
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
We've had a similar situation with circuit boards on our Dometic fridge with two that have gone out within a years time. We got the last one in two days before leaving on our two-month-long summer trip and so far, it is still working. I too feel your pain and wish you the best.
 

sdagro

Well-known member
I can certainly understand your frustration. Especially with Dometic. A couple years ago I battled with them regarding the cooling unit in our Bighorn. After several days, e-mails, pictures and trying to remain calm on the phone, we were back in business.

I was mostly disappointed regarding the recall to add a safety net to our fridge that really didn't fix the potential problem, only gave us added protection in the event of a fire. When they had to replace our cooling unit, it was replaced with the exact same type of unit with the same potential issue. Why not a newly designed safer cooling unit?

Hang in there Steve, I hope it all works out in the end.

At least it's been working since the repair. We still have a major frost issue. Even in super dry, no humidity southern CA, we had to defrost every 2 weeks. Yes we have a new door seal. No improvement.

Hi Ray,

Actually it is not working after the 3rd replacement. I really think they are CLUELESS. I think Heartland needs to get another brand of fridge. If not they are as much at fault as Dometic is. Mine ices up after a week or so also. I told Heartland they should try a NORCOLD of comparable size and there exact response was"Well Dometic is not going to pay for replacing their fridge with another brand". DUH...No JOKE(I'm trying to be nice Mr. Moderator)..I think it's time that Heartland steps up to the plate and quit blaming Dometic. If it is an ongoing Dometic isssue, then I feel it is time for heartland to chasnge to another brand at THEIR EXPENSE. What do y'all think?? Steve
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
The problem is that statistically, there are few Dometics with problems compared to the large numbers that are not having problems. I'm not saying yours doesn't need to be corrected, but unless a large percentage of the 1350's are having the same or similar problems, you can't expect Heartland to make a wholesale swapout at their expense.
 

KENNY COCHRAN

MCNEESE STATE COWBOYS #1
Steve - ok, i've got our solution. We just cut a hole in the side of the rv behind the fridge. Take the "redneck" fan and mount it in the hole. That way, nobody will be laughing at us and it will look real good. We just hang a "blue tarp" from katrina or rita over the hole when it rains....................
Kenny
 

sdagro

Well-known member
Steve - ok, i've got our solution. We just cut a hole in the side of the rv behind the fridge. Take the "redneck" fan and mount it in the hole. That way, nobody will be laughing at us and it will look real good. We just hang a "blue tarp" from katrina or rita over the hole when it rains....................
Kenny

Darn you. Now why didn't I think of that. Only one problem. Does the tarp have to be BLUE? Why not PURPLE? or GOLD? Anyway, this guy Tankie on this thread gave me some good info from rv.net. Did a search on residential fridges and found some interesting facts. There are actually a few co. out there that make what they call counter depth fridges as well as a Custom coach remodel guy. I inquired to him about my scenario/crisis and am awaiting his reply. Steve
 

KENNY COCHRAN

MCNEESE STATE COWBOYS #1
I just checked my fridge and it has been on 39 since the rv man changed the fridge computer board. Was thinking in bed about our "problem" and it just dawned on me to check and see what he set the temp., just checked and it was on 2, i changed it to 4 and it is now on 34'. Wow!! I think mine may now be fixed!! Still waiting on gaskets from dometic now for a month or so. Also not sure if it will work on lp gas going down the road, still have the flashing lp when i do that.
****** question for the rest of you rv guys, is there a cutoff valve on the propane line to the fridge???? ******
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Kenny - there is a valve at the input of the refer. Small brass knurled nut I think. I don't think there is a valve from there back to the regulator.
 

hogan

Past Mississippi Chapter Leader (Founding)
Kenny, check to see if your flexible LP line to the slide out is getting pinched closed when the slide is in retract position. I had the same blinking LP light until I checked and found the LP flex line was folded into a pinch that was preventing the flow of gas to the refer.
 

KENNY COCHRAN

MCNEESE STATE COWBOYS #1
Thanks to both of you, i will look for it in the am if possible before we head back home. Other than that, hopefully my fridge is ok!
 
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