Dealing With Refrigerator Failure

[wetzk]

At the rally we are at one of the Casita's could not get the gas working on the fridge. An Oliver owner got it working by pulling the red leads off a small relay next to the circuit box and inserting them into a 15amp fuse. He said I have the same relay as do most dometics and it is a common failure point. The part is a couple bucks at an auto parts store and way more from dometic. So I'll add one to my kit one day.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by wetzk

At the rally we are at one of the Casita's could not get the gas working on the fridge. An Oliver owner got it working by pulling the red leads off a small relay next to the circuit box and inserting them into a 15amp fuse. He said I have the same relay as do most dometics and it is a common failure point. The part is a couple bucks at an auto parts store and way more from dometic. So I'll add one to my kit one day.

Can you post a picture? I don't understand the "inserting them into a 15 amp fuse" part, but whatever is going on, it could be very helpful.

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by Chris R

Our RMD8555 has also failed to work on gas, same as yours. It seems to be an electrical issue. Mobile tech coming out next week. On our last camping trip, we kept the bottom bin filled with cubed ice, at least the fridge part remained cool. Oh sigh........

Well the mobile tech could not provide proper Dometic service, so he bailed and I had to go to the RV repair place. The solution to my issue, (worked on 110v, 12v, but intermittent on propane) was a loose cable connection to the eyebrow. If you are wondering what an "eyebrow" is in the RV world, it is the panel on the fridge that houses the buttons/lights. So at the end of the day, no parts needed, just about 1/2 hour of labour.

[rbryan4]

That's good news Chris. Something for others to check if they experience the same issue.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Chris R

Well the mobile tech could not provide proper Dometic service, so he bailed and I had to go to the RV repair place. The solution to my issue, (worked on 110v, 12v, but intermittent on propane) was a loose cable connection to the eyebrow. If you are wondering what an "eyebrow" is in the RV world, it is the panel on the fridge that houses the buttons/lights. So at the end of the day, no parts needed, just about 1/2 hour of labour.

That sounds familiar. I think someone else here had the same problem.

[cpaharley2008]

Here are a whole bunch of eyebrows, where are my tweezers?
Replacement Eyebrows

[fudge_brownie]

I am awaiting a new "eyebrow" from Dometic. I have had the eyebrow off the mounting on the refrigerator but did leave both connectors plugged in. Pretty simple with two common connectors. I am not sure that the technician removed and reconnected the connectors, I did not, but I was just looking for the part number.

I may try to remove and reconnect the two connectors. They are typical electronic computer that are found frequently. They do not seem to be prone to coming apart easily, I sure hope this solves your problem.

I noticed a substantial amount of moisture in the area of the eyebrow board. The technician noted that that particular board was coated in a very thick layer of clear sealant. Could moisture be an issue on the connector?

I have not had an issue with intermittent problems, unless you count the one time difficulty I had starting it before it failed completely. At this point, as soon as you switch to gas it goes into an audio alarm, flashes red and of course fails to start on gas. Apparently there is a hard reset when encountering a gas error.


The steps I have in my notes are:

1. Turn refrigerator to gas
2. Beeping starts
3. Press exclamation button
4. Push gas again
5. Then turn off with that button
6. Turn back on

It maybe necessary to repeat this several times. I saw this work once when the technician did these steps. However it would not work in subsequent tries.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

That sounds familiar. I think someone else here had the same problem.

That was me a couple of months ago after I had the fridge trim off to pack in some more insulation. The plug partially disconnected and gave error messages etc.

Memo: when working on the fridge don't tug on the cables.

Ron

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

That was me a couple of months ago after I had the fridge trim off to pack in some more insulation. The plug partially disconnected and gave error messages etc.

Memo: when working on the fridge don't tug on the cables.

Ron

So I'm not losing it? .......... much.

[Chris R]

Under the eyebrow there are 4 or 5 screws in the fridge compartment, undo them and the eyebrow comes out. Probably removing each connector and plugging them back in would be a good step.
Another problem that the technician mentioned was a poor ground in the trailer or with the fridge, it does require the 12v to work properly.

[Parker]

Another problem that the technician mentioned was a poor ground in the trailer or with the fridge, it does require the 12v to work properly.

Hmmm, you got my attention with that one. Any more details about where there might be an issue?

[Chris R]

Originally Posted by Parker

Hmmm, you got my attention with that one. Any more details about where there might be an issue?

Note being the electrical expert, I assume it maybe the connection to the frame from the electrical panel, or a loose wire/corrosion in the circuit from the fridge to the panel. The connection to the frame is exposed to wet conditions. Maybe someone with more knowledge could chime in.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Chris R

Note being the electrical expert, I assume it maybe the connection to the frame from the electrical panel, or a loose wire/corrosion in the circuit from the fridge to the panel. The connection to the frame is exposed to wet conditions. Maybe someone with more knowledge could chime in.

If it was a bad ground connection to the trailer frame it would affect everything served by 12V in the trailer, not just the fridge.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Chris R

Note being the electrical expert, I assume it maybe the connection to the frame from the electrical panel, or a loose wire/corrosion in the circuit from the fridge to the panel. The connection to the frame is exposed to wet conditions. Maybe someone with more knowledge could chime in.

Without getting into it too much, I didn't like the ETI way of wiring things. I particularly didn't like the battery ground cable screwed to the frame, then 18" away the converter ground cable was screwed to the frame. Either point could be subject to corrosion and contact degradation. As well, things like the 4 brake negatives were also screwed to the frame. Again, 4 connections that could corrode.

I ran a copper buss wire from all frame ground points to a central s/s stud. All my negative terminals have a lower resistance copper buss that isn't likely to suffer the same potential for degradation over time. The connections are coated in liquid electrical tape.

Ron

[Parker]

I agree.....a good ground buss and minimizing connection points makes a lot of sense. I think I just added that to my "to do" list.

[Santiago]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Without getting into it too much, I didn't like the ETI way of wiring things. I particularly didn't like the battery ground cable screwed to the frame, then 18" away the converter ground cable was screwed to the frame. Either point could be subject to corrosion and contact degradation. As well, things like the 4 brake negatives were also screwed to the frame. Again, 4 connections that could corrode.

I ran a copper buss wire from all frame ground points to a central s/s stud. All my negative terminals have a lower resistance copper buss that isn't likely to suffer the same potential for degradation over time. The connections are coated in liquid electrical tape.

Ron

Ron, I agree with your assessment.

Over the years have seen 'flaky" ground connections be very problematic. When I had a trailer, I replaced ground connection self threading screw with fine thread machine NF screw tapping the frame followed by grinding frame surface around hole so that terminal's washer makes even more contact with frame. All this encased in liquid tape or equivalent so as to keep moisture, salt our of a vital electrical connection.

[fudge_brownie]

Here is an update on my refrigerator failure as described in the first post. The mobile repair company shipped me the new eyebrow controller. Took three weeks, almost to the day for Dometic to manufacture it, ship it to the repair company and then transship to me.

Installation was very easy, less than 15 minutes. After firing up the power it tried to go to twelve volt, perhaps that was where I was running it last. Turning the refrigerator off and back on caused it to seek a source for power, since shore power was not available it started the gas and began cooling down.

It is fixed.

So the issue was the eyebrow circuit board. Did I need to replace the main circuit board as part of the repair process? Who knows. Short of reinstalling the original main board I will not know, I did keep the original. Sometimes a failure on one board will affect another, at least that is what I may take as the explanation.


The particular mobile company that I used relied very heavily on Dometic dealer support for the diagnostic process. Dometic made the recommendation to replace the main board via a support call. Some take aways from this process:

1. There are many models of Dometic and Norcold refrigerators, it is not possible for a service person to know or even have encountered your model.
2. I was provided a copy of the service manual for my refrigerator by the service tech, it is not very good.
3. Asking if your tech is an authorized Dometic service person or his/her company has a dealer number to contact support might be a good idea. Someone to call when the usual trouble shooting does not turn up the solution.
4. A quick fix might be possible but be prepared for the long run. Parts are the issue.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

Took three weeks, almost to the day for Dometic to manufacture it, ship it to the repair company and then transship to me.

A quick fix might be possible but be prepared for the long run. Parts are the issue.[/LIST]

Glad to hear that it's fixed. It's disappointing and a bit of a surprise that a company the size of Dometic can't have repair parts on hand.

Ron

[Rossue]

Finally!!

[wetzk]

Welcome to the world of as needed, Instead of keeping items in stock a lot of companies are going to a system where items are ordered as needed. Lots of literature showing how it saves money, less is more and such.


It used to kill me trying to keep our work sites stocked with needed supplies. I'd go to order an item and would be told it its not available. Estimated time of arrival 3 to 4 weeks. Or they need to wait for more people to order the item before they can submit for bids. Very quickly myself and the other's who ran areas developed a back channel where we over ordered some items and would trade. It's hard to explain to people that you could not accommodate them because you did not have what was needed to do the job. But I never could convince upper management that it was not working. But that is someones else's problem now.
Retirement is soooooo good