Refrigerator = Frustration

MrWizard wrote:
you need 12v for the fridge controls
...

X2

Here is a link to the manual for the RM2612: Click Here That may help a bit.

Did you make sure the fridge is plugged into 120 source? Mine plugs in at the rear, accessed from the outside.

Plug it in to an extension cord for 24 hours

EXTENSION CORD, not camper cord

When plugged into 120V AC power source your 'converter' will charge the battery and provide 12V DC system
When not on 120V AC power source your battery will supply the 12V DC system
You need a good fully charged battery........converter should put out 13.6V DC to battery for charging. There are 2 large amp fuses on converter to protect from 'reverse polarity' (battery connected backwards). IF they are blown you will NOT charge battery OR have 12V DC from battery.

The fridge need 12V DC for the controls in order to operate on Gas or electric.
The fridge has two fuses on module (outside compartment under module cover)
One is for the AC heating element...5A
Other is for the DC control circuit....3A

The heating element also has to be 'good' for it to work on AC

Initial startup will take 6-8 hrs for cooling to begin (freezer section gets cold first THEN fridge section will begin to cool down
Some times it takes several start attempts to operate on gas...purge lines/get full gas flow)

Manual for RM 2612.......LINK
Manual is limited but does have some good info.....diagrams/wiring etc.

Beaker , That was already done…

“1)I plugged trailer in...realized the refrigerator was not turning on, period.
2)I decided to trouble shoot through trial and error...so I replaced the battery and left it running on the plugged in cord for 24 hours and still nothing(strange thing is that the radio was not turning on either).”

Plug it in to an extension cord for 24 hours.

you need 12v for the fridge controls

if you have a blow fuse, could be no power is getting from or too the battery

if the converter is bad (not producing 13+volts for charging)

and there is a bad fuse or bad connection, then your 12v systems will Not work
lights, water pump, fridge controls

btw..
on many trailers, the wires up front for the battery are blk & wht

the blk is Positive the wht is the negative
nothing works if that is connected wrong, plus you will blow fuses someplace

Get out your voltmeter. You got some tracing to do.

The fridge does need 12 volts, whether running on gas or electric. There are two kinds of fridges in common use, one runs only on gas or 120 volt shore power, the other also will run entirely on 12 volt. That, needless to say, sucks a lot of power out of the battery, and is usually only on rigs with multiple batteries.

When you plug in the shore power, it is also supposed to make 12 volts for recharging the battery, but will also power the fridge 12 volt circuits. You need to check to see that when plugged in, you have 120 volts at the converter and the outlets. You also need to disconnect the battery and see that you still have 12 volts. It may be that the converter is bad or there are blown fuses/circuit breakers.

After you verify 120 volts and 12 volts where it's supposed to be, check the electric heater in the fridge to see that IT gets 120 volts. If so, and still no joy on electric, it means the heater is burnt out.

That the fridge throws intermittant error messages suggests you've got a bad connection somewhere.

If it requires 12v and most likely it will, it needs the 12v for both gas and electric…
so
If it works on gas but not electric chances are the 110v electric heater element is bad…
or it’s not getting the AC power to the heater…

I have a new battery on it now...we will see. I hear from some people that a battery is required and I hear from some people that a battery is not required.

It makes sense to me that a battery would be required to control the control circuitry...and the cooling can run on gas or electric.

i guess I'm back to trial and error.