Dometic refrigerator gurgle

[Illinois Joe]

Help. Turned on my fridge to get ready for a trip and all I hear is a gurgling sound. No cooling. Dometic DM2683LBFX. New fridge, recently brought trailer home from Sumas, worked fine for a month. Trailer sat for one month, now turned back on and gurgling. Tried both electric and gas. Nothing in manual about that. Anyone know what's going on? Trailer is sitting level front to back and relatively level side to side. Would taking it for a drive to bounce ammonia solution around possibly solve anything?

 

[cpaharley2008]

Sounds like the flu to me...............

 

[Bobbie54]

Is it cold in the trailer? I sometimes have to run the heater to get the fridge to cool (mine has the internal freezer and that won't cool if the fridge is already cold enough due to ambient temp.)

 

[C&G in FL]

Help. Turned on my fridge to get ready for a trip and all I hear is a gurgling sound. No cooling. Dometic DM2683LBFX. New fridge, recently brought trailer home from Sumas, worked fine for a month. Trailer sat for one month, now turned back on and gurgling. Tried both electric and gas. Nothing in manual about that. Anyone know what's going on? Trailer is sitting level front to back and relatively level side to side. Would taking it for a drive to bounce ammonia solution around possibly solve anything?

I’m not an expert on absorption refrigerators, but it is my understanding that side-to-side leveling of the trailer WHEN RUNNING is more critical than front-to-rear of the trailer because Dometic literature states that front-to-back is more critical, and the refrigerator’s front and back are oriented toward the sides of the trailer. However, my perception of Dometic’s guidance could be incorrect.
That being said, it wouldn’t hurt towing it for a ways. But keep in mind they don’t cool off as fast as a compressor refrigerator. It could take a while. How long did you have it on before concluding it was not cooling?

 

[Illinois Joe]

Update

I tried towing it for 15 miles over hills and bumps and curves just to shake things up. Had fridge on whole time. Got home and still not cooling and still gurgling, though not as loud anymore. Lack of cooling based on temperature not changing (I have digital thermometers) and feeling bottom surface of freezer cavity. Based on what I've read on the internet it sounds most likely that I have a leak in the absorption piping and have lost ammonia, and what I hear is water boiling within the piping.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Oh no, it is brand new...............?

 

[Illinois Joe]

Fridge update

Update on refrigerator gurgle. I took my trailer into Camping World near where I live to have them check out the refrigerator. They said compressor needed to be replaced or entire refrigerator. They contacted Dometic and got them to replace under warranty. Took a little over 2 months for Dometic to send new one, and I am now waiting for the replacement to be completed.