Empty Nest wrote:
I just went out and checked the impedance of the heating element in our fridge. At about 40 degrees F ambient temperature, I get a value of 38.0 ohms. Therefore, I definitely want to change that to the new electric element to (hopefully) prolong the life of the fridge, plus extra insurance against a fire.
Note: The label inside the door said 120V, 2.7 amps, but the label on the cover of the printed circuit said 2.9 amps!
Hi Wayne, that's the way mine was, same labels, even the heater element was stamped 120v 325w. I do believe Chris was correct when he posted that it was possible a bunch of elements below tolerance specs were installed. It's easy for me to believe Dometic was aware of the substandard heaters because my manual states the element is supposed to be 115v 325w. Now to take this a bit further such an element at 2.7amp would have a resistance of 44.58 ohms However using the voltage formula 115v 325w returns a resistance of 40.69 ohms now apply a +/- 10% tolerance to this even 36 ohms doesn't look too bad, and at 38 ohms the current should be around 2.93 amps. On paper well it all looks in tolerance, so one has to ask Why mark the element 120v 325w ? The only answer I can come up with is "that's what it was supposed to be"
Most nominal AC voltage supplies are 120v and can even be up to 125v nominal at times. So! our defective elements that supposedly are now rated at 354w on the recall paper figure out like this. At 120v and 38 ohms figure out to 378.95w so it's small wonder that some fridges failed. Considering that there seems to be a low incident of failure 0.01% it's also possible there are other factors contributing to the failure, such as when stopped or camping longer periods and operating the fridge when it isn't close to being level.
I hope this is of some use to anyone who feels overly nervous about using their fridge. My RV is a 2000, it has spent it's first five years on the rental circuit. I contacted the manager of the rental Company that I purchased it from, asking about the recall. (to cut to the chase) he wasn't aware of the recall and suggested I call the number. He also wasn't aware of any fridges in their other RV units failing either. So the instance of failure is low. If you intend to use it on 120v, replace the element and get the Dometic mod just for safety's sake.
As I understand the problem, using the fridge on 120VAC with the too-hot electric element can cause a leak (due to corrosion/cracked weld?). The refrigerant can then be ignited by the flame if the fridge is thereafter being run on LP gas.
Yes that's as I understand it also. That is why I replaced the heating element with a new one. My new element measures 44 ohms exactly. It's quite easy to install, it just sits in a well attached to the boiler tube. The Boiler tube is fairly well enclosed with fiberglass insulation and the aluminum cover, I wouldn't disturb much of this. The notice states if there is a powdery yellow residue around the back of the fridge or a smell of ammonia, to turn it all off. I didn't have that, the fridge still functions, so I believe there are no cracks as of yet. I will take it in for the modification when it becomes available since the idea of the mod is to prevent fire should cracks form and the boiler fails.
Irelands child wrote:
(mine is a '01 Sunline, purchased from a defunct dealer - so who will 'officially' notify me?)
I would suggest you just call the telephone # that's posted. And yes I do believe Dometic will try to cut its costs pertaining to this fiasco. There's no doubt they'll try to save as much money as they can while trying to save face at the same time. That might have worked at one time before the power of the internet communication became obvious. The only other thing I can think of is measure your new element to ensure it is 44 ohms or a little higher.
Willis
