Dometic Fridge

erniebpk wrote:
Ok. The circuit breaker was tripped. After reseting it the circuit breaker the fridge returned to AC mode and the gas turned off.
Why do u think the circuit breaker tripped n the 3 amp fuse blew?
Oh ya. I checked the two red wires on the heat stack and there was 12 volt power to both sides.

Thanks again for the help.

Ernie.

Prior to the breaker tripping/fuse blowing out....where you messing around with anything?

The AC circuit breaker would trip due to overload (probably on a 15A CB)
so for some reason? the CB sensed excessive amp draw......usually the 5A fuse on fridge control module will blow if the electric element was shorted.

The 3A fuse on fridge control module is for the DC circuits....

So where you messing around with the wiring?

Those 2 red wires on on stack....they go to the stack temp sensor and would lose 12V DC IF the sensor had tripped from overheating.

With fridge ON and in 'Auto'.....the fridge will use electric heater when AC Power is available. IF no AC power then it will auto swap to gas operation. Swaps back to electric when AC power becomes available again. Taking it out of 'auto' places it in gas operation mode only.

Ok. The circuit breaker was tripped. After reseting it the circuit breaker the fridge returned to AC mode and the gas turned off.
Why do u think the circuit breaker tripped n the 3 amp fuse blew?
Oh ya. I checked the two red wires on the heat stack and there was 12 volt power to both sides.

Thanks again for the help.

Ernie.

OK Erine you frig. on Elec. uses 12 volt and 120 volt. Do you have a test meter? There should be a 120 volt plug in the frig. area outside when the outside door is off. Plug a lamp into the plug if you don't have a meter, do you have power at the plug? If not could be a breaker tripped or a tripped gfi. (usually at an inside plug). If you have 120 it could be the heating element is bad. Next to the chimney for the frig. just above the gas flame area you should see two wires if you have a meter you can runs continuity check on these wires to make sure the heating element is not burned out.
Then with a test light or meter check for 12 volt at the rear of the frig.

Hello everyone. First of all i would like everybody who gave me there advance. This web site is a blessing. Thank all of you.

Ok, looks like the electrical went out on my fridge. The fridge light went out. The 3 amp fuse blew. I replaced the fuse but now my fridge will not turn on with AC. The setting on the fridge is set for auto. I turned the gas on to see if the fridge gets cold. I also put the thermometer back into its hold onto the last fin and with the thermometer sticking out a little from the plastic holder.
If it gets cold on gas what n how do i fix the electrical part?

Thanks
Ernie
Chino, CA.

I was pleasently surprised at how well one of those cheap battery fans worked in my Dometic. I can actually tell the difference in milk/drinks. I'm giving serious thought to putting one of the fancier models in that doesn't need batteries.

Put a 12 volt computer fan on the back side of the refrigerator blowing the air up over the back of the coils. Or you could put the fan in the refrigerator roof vent.

Sloop Smitten wrote:

The Freezer has nothing to do with the temp Thermister.

Since the refirgerator fins are cooled by the freezer the thermistor has everything to do with the freezer. Once the thermistor senses a certain temperatue in the frig it cuts power to the freezer to maintain the frig temperature. Temperatures in the frig are dependent on the temp in the freezer.

Not really.....

The cooling fins in food section of fridge are cooled by the evaporator section for food section.

The freezer section of fridge are cooled by the evaporator section for the freezer

2 separate evaporator coolers.

Freeze evap cooler is first in the cooling process so it gets the majority of the cooling effect until it gets down in temp then the food section evap cooler can cool the food section.
Thermistor is located in the food section to sense fridge food section temp. The thermostat gets input from that temp being sensed and runs fridge heat source accordingly to maintain food section temps.....freezer temps stay down because of the location of it's evap cooler (1st).

That is why the food section will freeze when the thermistor goes bad.

The Freezer has nothing to do with the temp Thermister.

Since the refirgerator fins are cooled by the freezer the thermistor has everything to do with the freezer. Once the thermistor senses a certain temperatue in the frig it cuts power to the freezer to maintain the frig temperature. Temperatures in the frig are dependent on the temp in the freezer.

The 'thermistor' is the temp sensor for the fridge thermostat.

IF you can not adjust temp set point via upper panel then moving the thermistor UP will make food compartment cooler.....moving it down with make it less cooler (about a 6*-8*F change).

IF you can change temp set point via upper panel......moving thermistor won't do much

The tip of thermistor should just be sticking out of top of clip..clip so be on far right hand fin.

Unplugging the thermistor.......no temp sensing so fridge will run continuously freezing the items in food section.

You say you are getting a fluctuation in temps while operating fridge on AC.
Have you tried running it on 'gas'? So you get the same fluctuations in temps?
If you haven't tried 'gas'.....try it and see if problem still exists.

And you do have the RV LEVEL...correct? Level is critical to fridge operation. It doesn't have to be perfectly level BUT needs to be reasonably level..level enough that you can comfortably walk around inside RV, full glass of water on counter doesn't spill out one side of glass.

Fridge needs good ventilation thru lower vent cover up/across backside of fridge cooling coils and out top vent for it to properly cool.
Is that side of rig heavily exposed to direct sunlight?
Is fridge in a slideout?
What Dometic Model?

Sloop Smitten wrote:
You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.

The Freezer has nothing to do with the temp Thermister. The Thermister senses the temp of the evaporator fins, nothing else. If you have an AUTO temp refer (no adjustable tstat) then moving the thermistor up and down only changes the refer temp 4 to 5 degrees. If NOT cooling below 40 degrees, then he has a operational problem. Doug