Dometic fridge not cooling on DC or gas - Escape Trailer Owners Community
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Escape Trailer Owners Community > Escape Tech > Problem Solving | Owners helping each other
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-21-2019, 09:20 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Sequim, Washington
Trailer: 2018 5.0TA towed with a 2017 GMC Canyon V6
Posts: 143
Dometic fridge not cooling on DC or gas

So we started our trip and it seems the Dometic fridge in our 5.0TA doesn't cool in gas or DC mode. Not hooked up so can't tell if it works on AC now, but previously worked fine on AC. Our fridge is the larger one. Battery has been at 75% or so and I verified that when on gas the outside vent inside the compartment is hot. It's been about 24 hrs and still not very cool. I've been going between gas and DC and don't see any difference. Checked the manual and it's no help. Thanks.
jkordzi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 10:45 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Ron in BC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: North Van., British Columbia
Trailer: 2014 Escape 19, sold; 2019 Escape 21, Sept. 2019
Posts: 8,743
Quote:
Originally Posted by jkordzi View Post
I verified that when on gas the outside vent inside the compartment is hot. It's been about 24 hrs and still not very cool. I've been going between gas and DC and don't see any difference.
There's hot and there's, ouch, hot. Seriously. The flame can be in pilot mode and the chimney will feel hot. But, by comparison, when in full heating mode, it makes the chimney uncomfortably hot to touch. Also, if you listen carefully, when it's heating correctly, you can hear the hiss of the flame.

If you don't think that you have a good size healthy flame one thing that you can do is check that the orifice isn't obstructed. Lots of youtube videos to show how.

An even quicker thing to do, and one that I had to do several times on my last trip to keep the fridge working, was just removing the test plug, letting the system pressure drop to zero and then the system fired up normally. I suspect in my case the gas valve was sticking.

Good luck.

Ron
Ron in BC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 12:15 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Vermilye's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Oswego, New York
Trailer: 2017 Escape 21C, 2018 Ford F150
Posts: 5,363
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron in BC View Post
There's hot and there's, ouch, hot. Seriously. The flame can be in pilot mode and the chimney will feel hot. But, by comparison, when in full heating mode, it makes the chimney uncomfortably hot to touch. Also, if you listen carefully, when it's heating correctly, you can hear the hiss of the flame.

If you don't think that you have a good size healthy flame one thing that you can do is check that the orifice isn't obstructed. Lots of youtube videos to show how.

An even quicker thing to do, and one that I had to do several times on my last trip to keep the fridge working, was just removing the test plug, letting the system pressure drop to zero and then the system fired up normally. I suspect in my case the gas valve was sticking.

Good luck.

Ron
I'll second the "hot & ouch hot". At Quartzsite a couple years back a 21 had problems running on gas. The chimney felt hot enough, but I took an infrared thermometer and compared it to mine (same model) and mine was quite a bit hotter. After a cleaning of the gas nozzle, the refrigerator was back to normal.
__________________
Jon Vermilye My Travel Blog
Travel and Photo Web Page ... My Collection of RV Blogs 2018 F150 3.5EB, 2017 21
Vermilye is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 01:51 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Sequim, Washington
Trailer: 2018 5.0TA towed with a 2017 GMC Canyon V6
Posts: 143
Thanks for the replies. I do remember hearing the hissing sound of the gas up the chimney but I will check to see if the orifice was plugged once we get settled. Any ideas why it wasn't working on DC very well?
I
jkordzi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2019, 01:59 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
gbaglo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: North Vancouver, British Columbia
Trailer: 2009 Escape 17B 2020 Toyota Highlander XLE
Posts: 17,136
Fridge doesn't work well on DC in any case. I plug mine in to AC a couple days prior to leaving. Propane seems to cool quicker. And, use a remote thermometer so that you're not opening the door and spilling cold to check the temp.
__________________
What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?
- Bertolt Brecht
gbaglo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
dometic refrigerator, fridge

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Escape Trailer Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2023 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.