Forum Discussion

Adam_F's avatar
Adam_F
Explorer
Jun 21, 2013

Dometic Fridge Quit Working

I have a dometic freedom refrigerator in my motorhome. Worked fine all last year. Worked fine for a month or so this year. We were away from the camper for 2 weeks. When we returned, the fridge was warm and all the food was ruined. The coils in the back were not getting hot like they were supposed to.

There was a windstorm that passed through with some lightning. I don't know if this had anything to do with it?

The light on the front panel is still lit. I popped the fuse panel off the back, the 2 fuses are good. Getting 110v to a few places on the board. The 12v input only reads 5.9v. I don't know if that makes a difference. The camper is plugged in to 120v all the time.

I've never leveled the camper, as it seems to be level enough on its own. I checked the bubble level on the side and it says about 2.5 degrees off. (not even sure if the level is correct, its an old motorhome)

Was the 2.5 degrees enough to slowly ruin the cooler? It worked fine for over a month like this, and all of last year. There is no ammonia smell (at least I didn't notice it over the smell of rancid meat) and I didn't see any evidence of a leak.


Unfortunatly I have no money to fix this with a new RV fridge. So, either I replace it with a standard 120v fridge, or I have an OLD dometic from the 70's I can get for free (not sure if it works)

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

  • Dog, I given that idea allot of thought. My Dometic is mounted over the shore line connection box but there is about 12 inches above it. What type of refig did you use?
  • When our Dometic quit this spring, my wife noted that I was not even mad. I was happy and relived to get rid of that potential fire hazard.

    As we never boon dock, and don't need propane capabilities, we upgraded to a an residential refrigerator. Much more cold space inside, yet it occupies the same space in the camper and it self defrosts.
  • 12 volts run the circuit board. Circuit board controls the frig. Yes, you need 12 volts to the frig.
  • Circuit breakers are all OK, not tripped. I'll check the converter. All my interior lighting was still nice and bright, so I'm assuming the converter is OK. What else could it be?

    Could I hook up an external power supply, 10 amp, directly to the back of the fridge and see if it starts to work?

    So, even on 120v, the fridge still needs 12v to operate?
  • yep if you only have 5.9 volts thats a good starting point check all the above and your battery. start at the battery .with no 12v even plugged to 120v it all starts at the battery.
  • You need 12 volts when on 120 volts. Check your converter. Circuit Breaker for it may have tripped.