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portscanner's avatar
portscanner
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013

Did my fridge die? - UPDATE it fixed itself!

Loaded the fridge up last Tuesday, running on 110V. Left the house last Thursday, fridge and freezer was full. Everything in the freezer was frozen, everything in the fridge was cold. No "fail" light. Turned on the gas for the drive down to the campground. Got to the campground late Thursday afternoon and plugged in to 110V. By Friday morning the fridge was at 40F. Switched to gas - no improvement. Thought it might be the heat - figured it would cool off over night. Saturday mornng - 45F and went down hill from there.

Got home last night and plugged everything back in. Still no fail light. Just touched the coils in the back (outside) of the fridge a few minutes ago. They are probably around 95F (guessing by touch). So the electric heater is working. Do not see any yellow stains on the back or funny smells that I have heard about in the past. The fridge is as old as the camper. Could it be dead?

It is a Dometic RM3663 with a Dinosaur board Micro P-711. (Dinosaur board was installed two years ago)
Seeking Advice

15 Replies

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  • Bonefish's avatar
    Bonefish
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2013
    Check for loose wiring. Vibration going down the highway can do it to you. Ours failed once because a wire came loose after a 270 mile trip. It was not working and I was pushing on the wires at the terminal strip when one just slipped out from under the screw. Replaced it and tightened all the screws and it fired back up. The coils can get pretty hot.
  • jason4598's avatar
    jason4598
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2013
    I have the same unit. It quit three weeks ago. I had the yellow leaking mess in back. For $680 I got a new cooling unit from rvcoolingunit.com. It shipped right away and I put it in myself. So far I am happy with everything. The website has videos so you can see what is involved.
  • portscanner's avatar
    portscanner
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2013
    ScottG wrote:
    The "Fail" light only comes on in the event your 12V is low or you run out of propane or it fails to light for any reason. It won't detect a problem with the cooling unit.
    It sounds like your cooling unit is blocked so sadly, yes, it's probably time for a new CU or fridge.


    Ug!

    and I did verify I have 13.4 volts right now and 116.7 VAC so it definately is not a power issue.

    I am going to start researching the 12V compressor units.

    Unless someone can make a suggestion as to something else to check....???
  • frankdamp's avatar
    frankdamp
    Explorer
    Jul 02, 2013
    Our Dometic (original equipment in '02) died just before we went on a trip down the Oregon Coast in May. I found the powdered sulfur round the bottom of the flue, so it was obviously a dead cooling unit.

    Discussion with our local repair shop provided the details that replacing the cooling unit would cost a lot more in labor charges (about 10% less than replacing the fridge) and we'd still have 11-year old everything else.

    We replaced the fridge and got one with an adjustable temperature control for only $50 more. The old unit was a Swedish-made Dometic with the "we know how cold your food needs to be" system.

    We discovered what a pain it is to be buying ice every day and having to park a 32' Class A in grocery store parking lots. I think we visited just about every Fred Meyer store between Astoria and Brookings!
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Jul 02, 2013
    The "Fail" light only comes on in the event your 12V is low or you run out of propane or it fails to light for any reason. It won't detect a problem with the cooling unit.
    It sounds like your cooling unit is blocked so sadly, yes, it's probably time for a new CU or fridge.

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