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B92F
Explorer
Apr 09, 2017

UPDATE - Dometic #RM2652/2852 "Check" lignt blinking

We bought our 2007 Flagstaff 8524RLS last July and made several weekend trips. The Dometic fridge worked every time, bot on AC and gas. I turned the frig on, on Friday o prep for our first trip of the season. I noticed today that the "check" light was blinking all the time and it had not gotten cold. Gas was turned off at the tank, and the frig was set on auto. Light in the fridge does not come on, but when the door is open the "check" light stays lit and does not blink. Close the door or push the switch lever in, and the blinking resumes.

Disconnected the trailer from shore power and switched over to the gas settings, light continued to blink, and there is no gas getting to the igniter, nor does the sparker seem to function. Checked on line and found a link for a service tips manual on this model put out by Dometic and started checking.

First off let me say that why women do what they do makes more sense to me that electricity and anything powered by it. So following the directions given, I checked the AC at the main terminal block and got a reading of around 29.5 *+/-, using the 200 V~ setting on the meter. Manual said a reading of six volts or less is acceptable. Checked the resistance on the solenoid valve and got a reading of aprox 49 ohms, again with in the tolerance according to what the manual states.

Pulled the cover off of the circuit board and checked the two fuses that are in there, they both appear fine. Not having the understanding/confidence to check anything further on the board this is where I decided to stop.

I am assuming that since the fridge does not cool on AC or gas that the main circuit board may be gone. I'd much rather pay for a replacement, than pay for a new board and a service tech to come to the same conclusion (if the board is the problem).

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. We'll be heading out for a 5 day trip this Wednesday morning and will manage with a cooler unless there is something else I can look at.

19 Replies

  • Does the upper panel lights work.......On/OFF, Auto, Gas ??

    That measurement of the AC you posted :H

    With voltmeter set to DC 20V.
    Measure the DC for fridge at fridge terminal block

    (Yes you can check for AC Ripple on DC..voltmeter set to AC 200V and then measure the AC Ripple on DC at the terminal block......MAX 6V AC. But your 20.5 +/- is WAY out of whack and would mean ALL of your DC appliances --- water heater, furnace, water pump, lights, etc would be seeing that same very high AC Ripple and they would be giving you issues. Measuring at fridge terminal block measures the voltage on the whole system...being supplied by converter OR battery.
    More likely 2.95V AC vs that 29.5V AC)

    Also check that the DC Neg connection is tight...loose causes milivolt signal which make control board do erratic things
    Both DC POS & NEG should be tight (all 4 screws on terminal block)

    Measure the DC Voltage....low voltage would be issue (below 10V)
    Good voltage (above 11V---better if 12+)

    Did you check that the fuses were good by testing them (continuity thru fuse) or just look at them?

    TESTS
    With On/Off Switch "OFF" (don't test in ON position!!!)
    The 3A fuse is DC Controls.....j1 12V DC POS---j2 to interior light/climate control (j10 is ground)
    If you have good DC Voltage between j1 & j10 then check for DC Voltage on P1 connector (top left lower board)

    P1 6 pin connector (numbering starts bottom left to top left ---1,2,3 then bottom right to top right ---4,5,6)
    Check for voltage between pin 4 (orange wire) and pin 5 (red wire).
    No voltage on orange wire.....(Have good DC Voltage at terminal block, between j1 & j10) then bad circuit board


    Test/measure DC Voltages




    Also with fridge in Auto it would swap to GAS if AC Power was lost (even momentarily) but if GAS couldn't light off (tank valved out) then it would fail and trigger fault light (Check Light)
  • ktmrfs wrote:
    you mention the light in the fridge does NOT come on when you open the door. That indicates a problem with at least part of the 12V supply, it should come on. there are several fuses on the control board. check them and the bulb. once you get the fridge light to come on see if that fixes the problem.


    The bulb and all fuses seem to be okay. Interior lights work while on battery as well. As I posted above, when I turn the climate control switch on (located above the freezer door) the check light stays on constant and does not blink.

    If the bottom control board is faulty, would it prevent gas from flowing to that part of the system?
  • DiskDoctr wrote:
    Does your furnace make heat?


    Yes it does.
  • you mention the light in the fridge does NOT come on when you open the door. That indicates a problem with at least part of the 12V supply, it should come on. there are several fuses on the control board. check them and the bulb. once you get the fridge light to come on see if that fixes the problem.
  • kerrlakeroo wrote:
    2 items before going any further, And dont laugh but since the unit was "in storage" did you open a propane tank to get gas to the unit? And, is the unit level, or is it too nose up to simplify reconnect? And lastly, are the batteries charged?
    I say dont laugh because I have missed obvious things like that in the past.


    It's parked in the drive way and is level both ways. We filled both tanks up a couple of weeks ago and it's been plugged into shore power all winter. Batteries are good as well. I was hoping it was something obvious, and it still could be, just haven't found it yet.

    And also thanks for the quick reply.
  • donn0128 wrote:
    To work your refer requires 12VDC and either 120VAC or propane. Turn the propane on at the tanks, turn on stove burners until you get a good solid flame. If propane has been off there can be air inmthe lines. You need to purge the gas lines first.
    If you have strong 12VDC, then attempt to start the refer. It may still take several attempts to light it off. Once you know you have good 12VDC and 120VAC you can try switching to electric only. There is a fuse on the main panel that my have blown.


    Thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate that.

    We did purge the gas lines and check the main fuse as well. Trailer has been plugged into shore power all winter and the batteries are good. I tried every combination of AC, DC and gas with no luck. I did go out and try again to get it started with gas and AC. This time I also turned the climate control switch to ON, and this causes the check light to stay on constant.
  • 2 items before going any further, And dont laugh but since the unit was "in storage" did you open a propane tank to get gas to the unit? And, is the unit level, or is it too nose up to simplify reconnect? And lastly, are the batteries charged?
    I say dont laugh because I have missed obvious things like that in the past.
  • To work your refer requires 12VDC and either 120VAC or propane. Turn the propane on at the tanks, turn on stove burners until you get a good solid flame. If propane has been off there can be air inmthe lines. You need to purge the gas lines first.
    If you have strong 12VDC, then attempt to start the refer. It may still take several attempts to light it off. Once you know you have good 12VDC and 120VAC you can try switching to electric only. There is a fuse on the main panel that my have blown.