Strange Dometic problems

[tmcran]

Finally got our new 2998 RB out. As we have not had the Dometic unit on for about a month( turn to off due to warranty work on other items). We packed up for a short trip. I didn't have shore power so I put it on Auto and the propane kicked on while we drove to our location. After an hour or so the unit was cooling. When we got where we were going I hooked up to shore power and went on about other things. After a couple of hrs there was a strange smell near the unit. ---like hot but not burning smell and not like ammonia. I checked the outside access cover and found no visible signs of anything and no odors. We were on shore power but I did find the unit was on propane and could see the burner was on. The unit was cooling well. I turned off the propane and the burner went off. Then I could hear the igniter clicking trying to find the propane and the check light came on. I unpluged the unit in the access panel and plugged it back in. No change. I used a tester and had no power to the plug. I looked inside for a braker but didn't see one labled refrigerator. of the fuses were bad. I checked all other connections in and outside and they all had power. I reset all the brakers and still had no power to the unit. I kicked the propane on again to keep the unit cooling. After a hour or two I checked the outside again and the burner was off and the refrig was still cooling. I tested the plug again and it had power. Ran the last 24 hrs without problems and power is still at the plug. No more odors and good cooling on shore power. Any thoughts????

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

tmcran, during all of this did you happen to notice if the GFI in the bathroom vanity had tripped? The 110 outlet for the fridge is lined off of the vanity GFI outlet. I see you said it's working OK now so I thought maybe you noticed the GFI was tripped and you reset it. This could explain what happened.

 

[jmgratz]

Not sure if your converter has an internal thermal cutoff, but ours does. If it overheats it will cutoff and then reset once it cools. If the converter cut off then the refrigerator will switch to propane. While you were on propane you could have gotton an air bubble in the line and it cut off the propane, hence the check light. The once the air bubble cleared and you reset the check light the propane worked again. Then once the converter cooled it reset and began working and the fridge switched back over to AC. Just guessing but sounds like a possible scenario. Then again it could have been the ghost of Christmas past LOL

 

[cookie]

tmcran, just one more thought here. You said that you checked and had no power to the plug. If you mean that you checked the receptacle for 120 volt power and had none, and then checked it again later and you did, you might want to take the front plate off the receptacle box and check for loose wires there. The odor you smelled could have been an arcing wire. Be certain to unplug from shore power before you mess around with 120 volts. I don't know if that receptacle is GFI protected, but if it is then Ray could be right about having reset the GFI in the bathroom. Let us know what you find when all is well again.
Peace
Dave

 

[tmcran]

Thanks for the replys. Ok, could be all or some of all. The RV had set without shore power for over a week. So when I plugged shore power in I also turned on the A/C as well as the W/H on electric and of course the fridge,could that have caused the converter to heat up ? I did notice the plug for the TV in the living room was not working and did check the plug by the lavatory and had to reset it. The TV plug was then ok. I rechecked the plug for the fridge and it was still not getting power. I didn't remove the plug cover to check for loose wires. ( I did notice one small blue wire that had a connector on it but I didn't see anything that it would plug into.)That was my next move when it just seemed to start working. I will check that. Does the plug cover just snap off? I noticed none of the covers have screws. Is there a bracker for the fridge? Could there have been a delay in the fridge plug coming on after resetting the plug? The odor was sort of like the smell when you turn on the home furnace for the first time . I'll not be at the Rv for a few days so will check the wiring on the plug.

 

[jmgratz]

Not sure if the Refrigerator outlet is on the GFI but it could be. When you reset it, that could have reset that outlet also. If the converter is working real hard it could have overheated and cut off but that would not have affected the AC outlet for the fridge, it would have only affected the 12volts for the fridge as the converter works on the 12 volt system. Look at it this way, if it is still working be thankful and keep and eye on it. If it happens again then worry but for now prayLOL

 

[tmcran]

Yep, on the keep on prayng. All of the 12V systems were working. I would think the A/C would be on its own circuit. When I reset the GFI the TV and lavatory were working fine. I'll pull the cover off the A/C plug and check the wiring . I will unplug the shore power first.

Thanks for the replys.

 

[tmcran]

Follow up on frige. I must have really been in a hurry today. I just noticed I kept referring to the A/C --I meant the frige. Well the GFI was the problem. The TV and frige are both on the GFI in the front bedroom. Also the breaker for the GFI was tripped adding to the problem of tracking down the lack of power. I used the tester and I had power to the frige plug. Then I tripped the GFI breaker and the test lights went off so I knew where the problem was. FIXED! Thanks guys for the ideas. Now if I can get the water leak fixed in the front slide I'll be happy. The repair to the dam didn't solve the problem so back to dealer in the AM.