Refrigerator Stopped Cooling

[jimtoo]

Had unpleasant surprise today. We normally leave fridge running, usually have something in freezer and a few drinks in fridge. Went out this evening to add to it, kinda stockpiling for the RGV trip... Fridge was warm inside, freezer completely thawed out,, bad smell. All lights on fridge control panel were normal. Was OK 3 days ago. Interior of freezer felt unusually warm. Turned it off while we were cleaning and removing eveything.. Was off for about 45 min.. turned on and checked outside, felt like was working. Just went and rechecked after about 2 hours, I can tell it is starting to cool. Filled freezer compartment with charcoal to help get rid of the smell. It is a Dometic RM2862. Has anyone else had theirs do this? All other electrical working normal, clocks still on time, ice maker working.

Jim M

 

[TravelTiger]

Jim, was it on gas, or electric?

I got no answers, but thought this might help with troubleshooting.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Jim, IF you've had the recall done, try to look in behind the flat burner shield for anything appearing like an acid leak. It's been a few years since ours died but I think I remember a few times it did what your's is doing. Picture attached is with the flat shield removed.

 

[jimtoo]

Thanks guys,,, It is on electric, and like I said, all other things appear normal,, clock on micro is ok, ice maker still on, (if elec goes off or just blinks off the ice maker will not reset itself).
Ray, I will remove the burner shield tomorrow and check that ,,, Thanks.

Jim M

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

Jim - the fridge just wanted some attention. It may be just a glitch in the computer board, loose wire, or it may be a female fridge. You know they will always give you trouble. You heard that old saying, if it has *its or an engine it will give you trouble. Hopefully it was just a glitch and will work from now on. Ours did similar stuff for a while, worked great for a week, then off a few days and back on and etc. We had a bad mother board with a crack in a solder joint. They finally found it and changed the board out.

 

[jimtoo]

Went to Boerne, Tx today to party hardy with 1 year old Great Grandson and family. Got back about 8:30pm and .....

Well went to camper,,, fridge is not working… turned it off this morning.. hoping for something.. left it off for about an hour….and turned it back on. Been on since and the back of the freezer compartment feels a little cool,,, but it’s not working. All lights on panel work normal, look normal.

Ray,,, I took flame shield off of back side.. looks like something has maybe leaked out over time. Yellow looking stain. But not up on stack like your picture,, mine is in the bottom area that is behind the shield on the metal.

Guess I will be calling someone for help.

Jim M

 

[slmayor]

Jim,
the cooling unit is shot. The tip off is the ammonia coolant seepage. You can get a rebuilt or a new one from Dometic or through any authorized dealer. It should run around $7-800 for the unit and labor. A little more for a new cooling unit. There are some good prices on the newer refrigerators right now, so might want to see if it would be cost effective to just get a newer fridge. You can get cheaper cooling units on ebay, but you have no idea what they have used to test them or rebuild them, and with the easy possibility of a fire, I think I'd stick with a Dometic rebuilt. PS, the cooling units are now built in the US.

 

[jimtoo]

Thanks Deb & Ray,

I was hoping for the 50cent fuse,, but never been that lucky. Thats' kinda what I thought.

Jim M

 

[brianharrison]

Hi Jim,

Sorry to hear it may be a new fridge - I have replaced fridges before and it is a straight forward job if you are a little handy and have a second set of strong hands to help remove/replace main unit.

Dometic publishes a good cross reference chart for replacing fridges --> Link to Dometic X-Reference Chart. Even though your RM2862 is still current there is a newer RM3962 which is shown as a replacement. However - it is about 3 inches taller - not sure if you have the extra upper room or not.

Take care,
Brian

 

[jimtoo]

Thanks for the link Brian, good information. I am checking on repairs now. Will let everyone know what happens, whether repair or replace.

Thanks
Jim M

 

[ultrafarmer]

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

 

[jimtoo]

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Yep,,, we do

I am making use of it now and it is great. NOW,,, if somebody would just FIX IT for me... It would even be better.

Jim M

 

[SmokeyBare]

I changed my Cooling unit out on an afternoon. Its not difficult for an Ol Wrench Cranker like you Jim...

I ordered it from one of the after market re-builders. It was cooling with in an hour after being stuffed back in the cabinet and we had Ice cubes by the AM the next day.

With Shipping it was under $500.00. I did this December 2010... Hope this gives you confidence to consider taking on the task. It just seemed so wrong to toss a perfectly good fridge just because the cooling unit failed.

If you do take on the task... take photos where things are located... where wires are attached... it can sure help when putting it back together again.

Good Luck... PM me if you want to talk about it... or Call.

 

[DougS]

Jim,
Should you or someone else replace the cooling unit, make sure you buy a tube of thermal mastic (like caulking) to re-install. Very important, thermal mastic transfers cooling temp where caulking stops temp transfer. Take pictures for referrance to where to apply thermal mastic.

 

[57chevyconvt]

Doug,
Where did you purchase the Thermal Mastic? Does it come in a tube or container? Is this something similiar to what is used by Thermon Corp. for heat transfer on such things as heat tracing with steam or electric tape?

 

[DougS]

You should buy the thermal mastic when new cooling unit is bought. Might come in different names. Not sure what else it is used for other then refrig. Usually comes in a tube for a caulking gun. Not cheap, I understand it is greater then $15 per tube, but one tube should be enough, cooling unit may come with it. Company selling cooling unit would know better. I do know that is a very important step.

 

[SmokeyBare]

The Tube of Thermo Mastic came with the Cooling Unit I purchased.
It was plenty, more than enough to coat well all the pipes and plate where they attach so the Cold transfers properly.

Good Suggestion though to make sure its is provided with the Cooling unit.