dometic refrigerator propane issues

[CharlesPou]

I have 2018 Escape 21 with Dometic DM2663LDX refrigerator. bought trailer new Jul 2018, and has been great trailer. refrigerator has been great too, until now. so, just recently when it automatically switches to propane, the propane burner will properly light and burn, but the igniter continues to spark like there is no flame, and after a time the system automatically shuts off the propane. so, appears a safety feature is faulty, and won't allow the propane burner to stay on. refrigerator still works well on AC.

IMO it's not propane regulator, low propane tanks, dirty orifice, etc. I think igniter/ thermocouple or circuit board has gone bad, but IDK. I know about the thermal fuse on the side of the flue, and appears it was popped out, so I pushed it in, but to no effect, system still shuts off propane after it's burning properly. maybe the thermal fuse is bad, IDK.

recently, I have been camping in extremely hot weather, using both propane and AC, so suspect the hot weather has stressed out the refrigerator and caused something to fail.

what to do?, any and all comments welcomed. cheers

 

[Chamberman]

It sounds like a bad flame sensor. I haven't worked on the burner for this fridge,,,, yet, but I'm assuming it uses a thermocouple sensor placed directly in the propane burner flame to sense when the burner is lit. It should be a really thick wire like device, similar to the picture I included. The one in the picture is just a random flame sensor I found and is probably not the one for your fridge. You could try cleaning the tip of it it off with some scotchbrite, but it may have failed.

 

[CharlesPou]

thanks for reply Chamberman, think I'll order part, and try that 1st. just as you suggested, RV service I called suggested I use sandpaper the clean the tip. however, I recall reading about thermocouples, suggesting not to clean them, easy to damage. cheers

 

[CharlesPou]

I replaced flame sensor, didn't solve problem, same symptoms, properly lights propane, then keeps sparking, and finally turns off gas, like the propane never lit. so I don't think igniter, thermocouple, flame sensor whatever it's called is the issue?

so then I ordered another circuit board dometic 3316348.900 from amazon. just installed today, and has different symptoms, but still doesn't work. now, will not light propane, but panel on inside indicates all OK. I plugged into shore power, and now doesn't switch to AC. the old board at least ran on AC. new board almost exactly like old board, so I'm thinking I have right board, but may be bad, IDK? any and all comments welcomed.

 

[rubicon327]

Try a board from Dinosaur Electronics. Much better quality than Dometic. This should be the board you need:
Dinosaur Electronic's 3850712.01 replacement page

 

[CharlesPou]

rubicon, thanks for reply, looks like that may be the one?, I have communication to Dinosaur requesting what board to use for my Dometic DM2663LDX, I may need upper board too, IDK.

I hesitate to order another board from Amazon, they take returns, which is great, but I can imagine when they get a return, they just put it back in stock to be shipped out again and again until some poor sole keeps it lols. I'll be returning my Amazon board.

I don't find Dinosaur easy to figure out what boards to use. I remember when replacing the board on my furnace, I looked at their boards and couldn't figure out if they had it, or which one to use. then, I think there was another issue with slightly modifying the board for my application, which discouraged me, appeared too complicated, so I just ordered the OEM board which fixed the issue.

I'll probably order the board you suggested soon. actually, the more I research, I'm now thinking about replacing the refrigerator. it's a shame, refrigerator worked great until it didn't, and having trouble finding parts is discouraging. I read about 2018 Oliver that apparently had same refrigerator, worked great until ti didn't, then couldn't get parts to make repairs. ended up replacing refrigerator with Norcal as I remember. cheers

 

[Rockhead]

You can call Dinosaur customer support and they will ask a few question and get you the right board. That’s what I did to have a replacement board ready to go if the original ever fails.

 

[rubicon327]

The board I linked is listed as a replacement for the exact Dometic part # from Charles but it can’t hurt to call and confirm. Plus you can ask them about any particular settings, etc. that may be involved.

 

[CharlesPou]

thanks for replies, Dinosaur prefers messages over calls, so I sent a message. I'll verify with Dinosaur before I order anything, plus still need to know if Dinosaur has upper board, which I may need.

I read some about replacing the refrigerator, seems like an absolute nightmare. I'm getting new trailer fever, already been to Escape website looking around. appears I could get pretty much what I already have, just don't know wait time. I'm checking now what my trailer may be worth for sale, maybe best option is new trailer lols.

next I'll put it back the way it was, and return my parts for refund. hopefully, will still work on AC as before. cheers

 

[davidmurphy02]

If you have never cleaned the orifice that's worth a shot - pretty easy to do, remove the sheet metal cover, unscrew the brass orifice, clean in alcohol, dry completely and put it back in.

 

[CharlesPou]

david, thanks for suggestion. I think propane is OK, lights fast, has nice blue flame, problem is the electronics turns off the propane after it has been lit. actually, I have a lot of experience with cleaning the propane jet on my 2004 Casita, I purchased used 2006, and used for approximately 12 years. at some point I got a contaminated bottle of propane, that's my theory anyway, and for several years had to clean the propane jet from time to time. I could literally do it asleep, never tried that, just saying haha. cheers

 

[CharlesPou]

thinking about my 2004 Casita and it's Dometic refrigerator, which was not that great, I have to say the Dometic DM2663LDX in my 2018 Escape 21 has been outstanding, and I think has spoiled me. it has been one of the best features of my Escape 21, and was always reliable, for over 5 years, until it wasn't. hopefully, I can get it back to normal, we will see. cheers

 

[Rossue]

Hate to see you throw expensive parts at this problem. Although Amazon took back a board that didn't work I doubt Dinosaur will. Saw this on rvforum.net:

Post #5 on below link: "Any propane-powered fridge will have a flame sensor for safety reasons. If it cannot verify that the burner has ignited, it will shut off the gas supply to prevent a possible explosion. The clicking implies that the controller has failed to receive flame verification from the detector at the burner (a thermocouple) and it is trying to re-ignite. But since it apparenlty doesn't shut off the gas flow, it must then receive the flame verification signal and is happy again. That means an intermittent connection. The most common cause of that is corrosion on the wire from the flame sensor to the controller board. A less common cause is a faulty sensor (thermocouple). Often, the sensor is built into the igniter itself."
https://www.rvforum.net/threads/refrigerator-ignition-clicks-when-pilot-light-burning.140027/

 

[CharlesPou]

rossue, thanks for reply, your concern, and link, my issue exactly. notice John from Detroit says control board failure. I agree with John from Detroit. if you read the Dinosaur narrative about control boards, they even say contol boards often fail for various reasons. the igniter appears to work properly, to be in proper position, after it ignites the propane, the flame is nice and blue, and the tip of the igniter glows red. however, the board is not getting the signal for some reason, shuts down, and turns off the propane. notice, I replaced the igniter too, to no effect. may send that one back too for refund.

yesterday I installed the board from Amazon and concluded the board was trash. not only did it do the same with propane, but I lost the electric function too lols. fortunately, today, I was able to reinstall the OEM board and now I at least have electric refrigerator, yay!!!

I actually learned a little about the inside controls, never knew how to override the auto switch function, but know how now, interesting.

I'm contacted Escape for a service referral, and Dinosaur for more info, so expecting some more info early next week. cheers

 

[Bobbie54]

I hesitate to order another board from Amazon, they take returns, which is great, but I can imagine when they get a return, they just put it back in stock to be shipped out again and again until some poor sole keeps it lols. I'll be returning my Amazon board.

I put notes inside things that don't work stating that they don't work, ever since I got a returned (and not working) sewing machine that had other things in the box with it that weren't part of it. So at least if they just sell it again the buyer knows it doesn't work without a big hassle.

 

[CharlesPou]

Bobbie thanks for reply. you bring up interesting point, a agree with you 100%, but you do that when you make a return, you indicate why you are returning an item. problem is circuit boards are complicated, and IMO Amazon doesn't have people, is not setup to evaluate whether a returned electronic item is good or bad. IMO they allow returns to drive sales, works for me, although this time, didn't work, but trying their board didn't cost me $'s.

at this point, I'm just replacing parts, I started out with the cheapest part, i.e. the igniter/ flame sensor. that didn't fix problem, so I moved on the the next possibility, the circuit board. so, now IDK if problem is circuit board or not? next step is to get some expert help to diagnosis the problem, so I contacted Escape and Dinosaur for more information.

getting expert help is definitely problematic with RV's IMO. can be very expensive, see my thread about RV labor rates, I recently was at RV shop that charges $169 hour lols. next problem is they can be slow, and want you leave your trailer at their facility for days, weeks, months, depending. I could go on and on, but will stop here haha. cheers

 

[Rossue]

I would consider a mobile tech. These guys are local to you:
https://collincountyrvrepair.com/

Consider how much time you have already spent trying to fix this & how frustrating it could be spending hundreds of dollars on unreturnable parts and still not solving the problem.

 

[CharlesPou]

Rossue, thanks for reply, I think good advice. I made an appointment with authorized Dometic service center, next week, $170 diagnostic charge. maybe they can fix? we will see? cheers

 

[Radar1]

If you suspect the thermocouple is the culprit, you can actually test those with a voltmeter to see if they are working or failed before spending money on parts. Lots of information on the web about "testing a thermocouple".

 

[CharlesPou]

some time ago, I took trailer to authorized local Dometic Service Center, they diagnosed and said needed new circuit board and ordered it. wnen comes in, they will test, and if fixes all is well, but no guarantees.

I went on my planned trip and was successful using the refrigerator on AC function 100%. no problem when had shore power, but had to use generator whenever didn't have shore power.

actually, worked great on generator, appears to take very little power to run refrigerator on AC, generator basically idled, never ramped up at all, but had to run all day. I guess similar to DC mode, but IDK. depending on where camping could be problem with neighbors.

got call from Service Center today. bad news, Dometic sent wrong part, and appears no spares available for this refrigerator. probably need to replace refrigerator. waiting for call back from Service Center with more info and maybe quote to replace refrigerator, based upon Dometic's recommendation.

maybe time for new trailer? I anticipated this problem and have been looking at new trailers haha. will update when hear back from Service Center. cheers