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maxum1989's avatar
maxum1989
Explorer II
Sep 28, 2016

Dometic rm2354 fridge issues.

I am having ongoing issues with my camper fridge. It works perfectly on electric but not so much on propane. So with that I learned the cooling unit is fine. The flame looks good. I have removed and cleaned the baffle, the jet, and the burner. I have taken the wire connections off the board and put them back to make sure the connections were good. I checked the propane pressure, its good. I checked the flue for obstructions-none.

Any advice on what to do next. Could it be the board? Last night I thought I had it fixed with the baffle cleaning. It went down quite cold in the fridge getting below freezing but then today it went way up to in mid 40's. Checked and monitored with a wireless thermometer. Any ideas?

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  • maxum1989's avatar
    maxum1989
    Explorer II
    Oct 02, 2016
    dougrainer wrote:
    maxum1989 wrote:
    I thought I should update this in case someone has a similar issue.

    After giving some serious thought and staring at the fridge for a while I determined that the flame size/intensity had to be the issue. The baffle and flue were crazy clean and the flame was burning so that had to be it. So I cleaned the jet again. This time I let it soak for hours in alcohol. Last time was about an hour. Well, it worked. I just got back from a 3 day road trip and the fridge has never worked better. It was even cycling on propane. So, if you have a fridge on propane that has a flame but just can't keep the temps down, check your propane pressure and then clean the heck out of the jet.


    I never soak a orifice. I ALWAYS blow out with compressed air and in 37 years have never failed to get the orifice opened up. Doug



    When I looked into how to clean the orifice I saw several places that said to soak it in some kind of solvent/cleaner. I even saw where it said to NOT use compressed air as that can dislodge the ruby and just let it air dry. Anyways, maybe I'll try your method in the future if I have a repeat of this issue. It sure would be faster than waiting for the soaking to do its thing.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Oct 02, 2016
    maxum1989 wrote:
    I thought I should update this in case someone has a similar issue.

    After giving some serious thought and staring at the fridge for a while I determined that the flame size/intensity had to be the issue. The baffle and flue were crazy clean and the flame was burning so that had to be it. So I cleaned the jet again. This time I let it soak for hours in alcohol. Last time was about an hour. Well, it worked. I just got back from a 3 day road trip and the fridge has never worked better. It was even cycling on propane. So, if you have a fridge on propane that has a flame but just can't keep the temps down, check your propane pressure and then clean the heck out of the jet.


    I never soak a orifice. I ALWAYS blow out with compressed air and in 37 years have never failed to get the orifice opened up. Doug
  • maxum1989's avatar
    maxum1989
    Explorer II
    Oct 02, 2016
    I thought I should update this in case someone has a similar issue.

    After giving some serious thought and staring at the fridge for a while I determined that the flame size/intensity had to be the issue. The baffle and flue were crazy clean and the flame was burning so that had to be it. So I cleaned the jet again. This time I let it soak for hours in alcohol. Last time was about an hour. Well, it worked. I just got back from a 3 day road trip and the fridge has never worked better. It was even cycling on propane. So, if you have a fridge on propane that has a flame but just can't keep the temps down, check your propane pressure and then clean the heck out of the jet.
  • maxum1989's avatar
    maxum1989
    Explorer II
    Sep 28, 2016
    dougrainer wrote:
    maxum1989 wrote:
    Checking the propane pressure was one of the things I have done already. Its good. I even replaced the regulator in case. Still no change.


    HOW did you check it? Doug


    With a manometer at the test port in the rear of the fridge. It was at 10.5 with the stove running so I adjusted it up to 11 inches with no change in fridge performance.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Sep 28, 2016
    maxum1989 wrote:
    Checking the propane pressure was one of the things I have done already. Its good. I even replaced the regulator in case. Still no change.


    HOW did you check it? Doug
  • maxum1989's avatar
    maxum1989
    Explorer II
    Sep 28, 2016
    I would agree that the flame for whatever reason is not hot enough since its working fine on electric. I have taken the jet out and had that soaking in alcohol for quite a while. No change. I am at a loss right now. I think I have cleaned everything there is to clean. Perhaps something didn't get clean enough? Not sure, but everything looked pretty brand new when I put it back together.
    Could the board still be a possible cause with improper cooling on gas?
  • Gene_Ginny's avatar
    Gene_Ginny
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2016
    maxum1989 wrote:
    ... I checked the propane pressure, its good. ...
    OOPS, I missed that in the first post. :o


    :h
  • mike-s's avatar
    mike-s
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2016
    If it works on electric but not propane, it's an issue with the gas system. The only difference between the two is how much heat they put into the system.

    Assuming it used to work fine, have you pulled the jet and soaked it in alcohol or carb cleaner?
  • maxum1989's avatar
    maxum1989
    Explorer II
    Sep 28, 2016
    Checking the propane pressure was one of the things I have done already. Its good. I even replaced the regulator in case. Still no change.
  • Gene_Ginny's avatar
    Gene_Ginny
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2016
    Some time back I had that problem and cleaned everything. The flame "looked good". I checked the gas pressure with a home made manometer and found I had 8 inches WC pressure instead of the required 11 inches WC. Replaced regulator. Now the box never gets as high as 40 F unless DW leaves the door open.

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