21 first trip: thoughts and issues

[Bill and Earline]

Can someone confirm the theory of the water cup? Is it to limit air infiltration via the drain?
We have had great temps with our frig except for the last two days of this most recent two month trip. Maybe the water evaporated out of the cup.

Enjoyed meeting thumpertx at Glacier on your initial trip home.
Best of luck.

 

[cpaharley2008]

It was suggested in other threads as a way to prevent warm air from entering the refer thru the drain hose. Try it and report back if you feel it makes a difference.

 

[thumper-tx]

Update: When I took the 21 to a Dometic repair rv center, the rmd8555 was off, dry and cleaned out.
That was 4 days ago. The service manager said It cooled down and stayed cool for the three days it ran. He also said the exterior blue light on the fridge door never went out that they saw. I picked it up and it was 35 in the fridge but the blue light was off!!! The service guy agreed the light was not on but didn't want to "invest " more time since Dometic would pay him nothing for his work thus far because they had not found a fixable problem.
I drove two hours home and the blue light was still off and the temp in the fridge was 57 degrees! The blue light came back on about an hour later and the fridge cooled a couple degrees.I talked too Reease and he said he would check with Dometic to see if they had any ideas and he thought they would eventually fix it.

Bottom line, still no fridge I can camp with.

 

[Rossue]

With that kind of reply about investing time when they most likely missed it in the first place I would scratch them off my list and a complain to Dometic. In the case of the shop who did the swap of our RML8555 for the RMD8555 and improperly installed the new fridge so that it very well might have caused a fire- the shop foreman took responsibility for the mechanic's work and refunded to me the amount ETI charged to do the install right. During the conversation he assumed I would never come back, however I told him not so as he had taken care of the customer. Am going in 8/2 to have my coupler latch replaced.

Really hate to hear you getting off on the wrong foot with such an important piece of equipment in your new 21. We had issues too with several components but have gotten through them pretty well and have to say we really do love our 21. Things like axles, fridges and many other ETI vendor components are warrantied by them separately and it is the "luck of the draw" on being 100% problem free with any of them. Believe me, I know how frustrated you must be right now but it will work out.

 

[freespirit]

Update: When I took the 21 to a Dometic repair rv center, the rmd8555 was off, dry and cleaned out.
That was 4 days ago. The service manager said It cooled down and stayed cool for the three days it ran. He also said the exterior blue light on the fridge door never went out that they saw. I picked it up and it was 35 in the fridge but the blue light was off!!! The service guy agreed the light was not on but didn't want to "invest " more time since Dometic would pay him nothing for his work thus far because they had not found a fixable problem.
I drove two hours home and the blue light was still off and the temp in the fridge was 57 degrees! The blue light came back on about an hour later and the fridge cooled a couple degrees.I talked too Reease and he said he would check with Dometic to see if they had any ideas and he thought they would eventually fix it.

Bottom line, still no fridge I can camp with.

bummer new stuff does not work, but perhaps a logger can substantiate your case better for Dometic
might try an inexpensive $20 USB cold chain data logger
lascar electronics # EL-CC-1

 

[Jim Bennett]

With that kind of reply about investing time when they most likely missed it in the first place I would scratch them off my list and a complain to Dometic. In the case of the shop who did the swap of our RML8555 for the RMD8555 and improperly installed the new fridge so that it very well might have caused a fire- the shop foreman took responsibility for the mechanic's work and refunded to me the amount ETI charged to do the install right. During the conversation he assumed I would never come back, however I told him not so as he had taken care of the customer. Am going in 8/2 to have my coupler latch replaced.

Great reactions on both the shops and your reaction to this mixup. That was quite the burn mark you had. Crap happens, and it is a sign of good service when they deal accordingly with it.

 

[thumper-tx]

bummer new stuff does not work, but perhaps a logger can substantiate your case better for Dometic
might try an inexpensive $20 USB cold chain data logger
lascar electronics # EL-CC-1

Whoa, You are talking out of my experience range. Exactly what is that and how would it work?

 

[tdf-texas]

It's a small data logger that can be placed inside the fridge and it will log the temps.

Here is one on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/display-Accu...e+Data+logger+/+recorder,+32000+points+Record

 

[freespirit]

Whoa, You are talking out of my experience range. Exactly what is that and how would it work?

sorry for the abbreviated description...it might be good to use this device or similar to record (log) the actual temperature data over time of your fridge's inside temperature..if the fridge is intermittent or not cooling properly, the temperature data recorded in the logger may help you prove it to Dometic.
TDF-Texas posted a link to a similar unit that is probably easier to use which includes a temperature display, and there are many variations of these depending on how much you want to spend....
Something like this or similar with an alarm feature and the length of time the alarm temp existed, might be used continuously while camping to make sure the food in the fridge has been at the proper temps all the time....

 

[vermilye]

sorry for the abbreviated description...it might be good to use this device or similar to record (log) the actual temperature data over time of your fridge's inside temperature..if the fridge is intermittent or not cooling properly, the temperature data recorded in the logger may help you prove it to Dometic.
TDF-Texas posted a link to a similar unit that is probably easier to use which includes a temperature display, and there are many variations of these depending on how much you want to spend....
Something like this or similar with an alarm feature and the length of time the alarm temp existed, might be used continuously while camping to make sure the food in the fridge has been at the proper temps all the time....

The only problem is you can't use this logger to measure refrigerator temperature the "Dometic" way. They insist on a thermometer in a glass of water. In some ways this makes sense since it averages the temperature & ignores air movement, but most of the remote thermometers (and loggers) would be unhappy in a glass of water.

 

[freespirit]

The only problem is you can't use this logger to measure refrigerator temperature the "Dometic" way. They insist on a thermometer in a glass of water. In some ways this makes sense since it averages the temperature & ignores air movement, but most of the remote thermometers (and loggers) would be unhappy in a glass of water.

good to know with regard to measuring Dometic fridge temps...if required, immersion should not be an issue with any device rated for IP67 = Protected against the effects of immersion in water to depth between 15 cm and 1 meter
The inexpensive $20 Lascar EL-CC-1 is listed as meeting this requirement initially while reuse if original seal is breached requires optional purchase of # EL-CC-Bag (pack of three bags IP67 rated for logger reuse)...and there should be other devices as well, depending on how much one wants to spend...just a suggestion as to how to prove Dometic fridge is performing/not performing for thumper-tx

 

[thumper-tx]

good to know with regard to measuring Dometic fridge temps...if required, immersion should not be an issue with any device rated for IP67 = Protected against the effects of immersion in water to depth between 15 cm and 1 meter
The inexpensive $20 Lascar EL-CC-1 is listed as meeting this requirement initially while reuse if original seal is breached requires optional purchase of # EL-CC-Bag (pack of three bags IP67 rated for logger reuse)...and there should be other devices as well, depending on how much one wants to spend...just a suggestion as to how to prove Dometic fridge is performing/not performing for thumper-tx

Thank you for the info as I had never heard of these .

As for Dometic measuring temps in a glass of water, the dealer I went to did not do that. They used metal stainless thermometers that sat on the fridge shelf and in the freezer.

 

[Klem]

The only problem is you can't use this logger to measure refrigerator temperature the "Dometic" way. They insist on a thermometer in a glass of water. In some ways this makes sense since it averages the temperature & ignores air movement, but most of the remote thermometers (and loggers) would be unhappy in a glass of water.

Drop it in a plastic bag? and set it in the glass of water should be the same? Thanks for reminding us of the proper measurement method.

 

[thumper-tx]

Update

Well, some time has passed and here is an update. Dometic sent a circuit board and the RV shop installed it. We brought the trailer home and started getting ready for a short trip to test it out.

Before leaving, my battery voltage went to near zero. I took the batteries to a Interstate distribution center [about 120 miles away] and the first one they tested was so dead that they just gave me two new batteries.

We went camping and nothing had changed, the fridge cooling was random with it often getting up to 50 degrees. The RV shop said they wanted to replace the fridge but Dometic said no. Instead I was told to bring it back in three weeks [the RV shops next opening] and they would check wiring harnesses and some other things that Dometic wanted done. So, Sept 19th it goes back. Needless to say, frustration levels are high.

 

[padlin]

We went camping and nothing had changed, the fridge cooling was random with it often getting up to 50 degrees. The RV shop said they wanted to replace the fridge but Dometic said no. Instead I was told to bring it back in three weeks [the RV shops next opening] and they would check wiring harnesses and some other things that Dometic wanted done. So, Sept 19th it goes back. Needless to say, frustration levels are high.

That's the normal, the rv tech has to do all the steps that Dometic insists on. Unfortunately many of us have been through the same thing, we'll hope for the best.