page 1 wrote:
In April of 1997 Dometic modified the design of the affected refrigerators by increasing the wattage of the heating element from 325 watts to 354 watts. All production of the affected units from April 1997 through May of 2003 utilized the 354 watt heating element. In May of 2003, in order to improve the operating life of the refrigerators, Dometic returned to the use of the 325 watt heating element which it continues to use today. It is now believed that the use of the higher wattage heater contributed to abnormal fatigue in the boiler tube.
Please note the element I removed was marked
120v 325 watt, however, its resistance is 38 ohms So:
Using the formula of Power(watts) is equal to the (Voltage squared) divided by the resistance. Also using the parts description of 115v an 325w we can determine the resistance to be 40.69 ohms, so 38 ohms is certainly within a 10% tolerance. The RV is a 2000 model so its well within the range of 1997 to 2003. To use this element at 120 volts results in a wattage of 353.895 watts, looks close enough to the 354 watts in the quote. Again using the same formula at 120volts and a wattage of 325 the result in resistance will be 44.3 ohms.
So my take on this is the elements are wrongly marked because at 120 volts they put out 354 watts.
Just my opinion, now I have to measure the resistance of the new element I installed in the RV.:M
Willis
