Well out of 25 new elements, the best tested at 346W and the worst tested at 363W:E, but most tested at around 355W:h. Seems a little high considering the problem they are having with these recalls. I would sure feel better if the new ones were on the low end of the new acceptable range (292W - 357W). I guess they are better than before though because I tested an element in a recalled unit the other day and it tested at 390W, then another one today tested at 397W. The thing that keeps bugging me is the statement made by Dometic in the notice they provided to the NHTSA dated 8/26/06:
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.
If this is true, then why are these new elements still testing an average of 355W? I know that most are still within the accepted limits (barely), but then so were the 354W elements that started all of this. Unless of course they were using the 354W as a target with an acceptable range of ± 10% (318W - 389W) and most were testing at the top end or slightly above that. Something here still doesn't add up & it continues bugging me. I hate to be the turd and 2nd guessing Dometic's engineers, but I'd really like all the pieces to fit before I sell and install anymore of these.
For anybody interested, I checked my inventory and found Dometic part# 3108702.386 295W 120VAC element is dimensionally the same. I'd be willing to bet the refer would work just fine with one of these. Maybe I'll try it in an RM2862 I've got and let you know what happens. I can't see how it could possibly hurt the refer. Tim
