Dometic Heat Strip DMR702

dougrainer wrote:
Climate control and Ambient heaters on Dometics are not supposed to be INSIDE the plastic case. There is NO system to reduce frost in the freezer compartment. Ambient heater just leaves the Interior light on. Climate heaters remove the moisture drops on the steel frame. I have never seen what you have in that pic. Of course, I have never worked on a DMR 702. Maybe the 702 has a heater in that case. But, I doubt it. Doug

The DMR702 does have a heater in that location and this is sort of a common issue. Some do what the OP's did and some, actually most don't. There are a lot of them out there as they are in most if not all 15,16,17 and some 2018 Rockwoods and Flagstaffs, and some other brands. Dometic has provided some people new units when the heater melted the case. I habe now seen two actually melted, not just discolored. From what I understand the heater was not mounted correctly during manufacture and that is the root of what causes it.

These DMR702's are what Dometic called the Renaissance series and they were totally made in China. Interestingly they are no longer offered. Do a search and try and find parts for one using the DMR702 model number. It's a lesson in frustration and info is even limited at Dometics website. Almost like Dometic just wants them to go away. Atwood did the same with the helium fridges which in actuality were a **** good piece IMO, or most likely Dometic nixed them in the takeover/buyout.

If the board goes south a different Dometic board can be substituted, as well as a lot of the other parts. But some parts are just not availible. Don't break a handle, latch, or a hinge, or the eyebrow controls / board. That could be a problem.

Solution!
Thanks to all who responded. SoundGuy sent me a PM with a solution.
The Blue LED light in the refrigerator compartment has a circuit board with the connection for the heat strip. Disconnect the two-wire plug and problem solved!
I love it when a solution is easy (and free).
Thanks SoundGuy!

Climate control and Ambient heaters on Dometics are not supposed to be INSIDE the plastic case. There is NO system to reduce frost in the freezer compartment. Ambient heater just leaves the Interior light on. Climate heaters remove the moisture drops on the steel frame. I have never seen what you have in that pic. Of course, I have never worked on a DMR 702. Maybe the 702 has a heater in that case. But, I doubt it. Doug

Old Tread on this subject. You need to cut a wire.

safeman wrote:
I did a search and found this photo. It looks exactly like mine...
Is it possible to disconnect or bypass this heat strip?

Presumably by "heat strip" you mean the fridge's climate control 12 vdc heating element that's intended to control frost build up around the freezer section. If so, and assuming your particular fridge doesn't already have a switch to turn this element off (as some models do) then you can add your own switch, just as I did with my Dometic RM2652. Take a look at the fridge's interior light bulb fixture and you should see 2 red wires going to it - one thin and one thicker. Cut the thicker wire and run both ends to a SPST switch that you can then use to turn off power to the heating element anytime you're dry camping and want to minimize draw down on your battery.

This is the wiring diagram...

Click For Full-Size Image.