My buddy just bought a 1981 Prowler 19' TT with a Dometic refrigerator that looks like the original. He has it very level and plugged into a 110 outlet. Everything else is working good except the fridge. It just donned on me that he does not have the battery hooked up, will that cause issues with the fridge? Also, it has a converter should that be on or off when he has it plugged in and the battery installed as well? My toy hauler is much newer and does all these things for me...

Must have 12 volts to run the controls on fridge but some converters will provide that without a battery.I doubt one that old will.Do the lights work? They are 12 volt.The converter will charge the battery if all is well and you hook it up .Good Luck, Mike

I just texted him and told him to put the battery back in and hook it up! I dont remember the lights in the fridge coming on or not...

Depends on the model of the fridge, actually; what Dometic model is it? Since the trailer's a 1981 it may well not need 12v to run on propane or shorepower. Mine's a '78 and it doesn't. It's even still possible to buy new fridges that run the same way, though they're getting scarcer all the time.

I will get the model off of it when I swing by his house, it has a couple of dial controls on the bottom of it for the thermostat and the power source.

Thermostat would require 12 volt power. It MAY get that power from the converter (most do) but if it did NOT take 12 volt power then it wouldn't work on gas alone (nothing to run the light inside or the thermostat).

12v necessary to run refer | Good Sam Community

rupp49er
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
Well, adding the battery didn't help, still no cooling. The model is Dometic RM660 5.1 cubic inch. On the coils on the back, the large part at the bottom gets hot but the coils are not, should they be? I am going over there after work to try to help him out with it, going to check and make sure the box it is plugged into is actually live...
Caveman_Charlie
Explorer II
Jun 26, 2014
It will take up too 10 hours for the fridge to get cold. If the coils are getting hot and the fridge is not getting cold inside I feel you might be in bad shape. But, give it 24 hours with the door closed to make sure.
rupp49er
Explorer
Jun 26, 2014
We have it running on gas now, the coils are heating up more evenly. He is not very patient but I told him to leave it alone, the freezer was actually a little warmer inside right after we turned it on, I never mess with mine so I don't know if this is normal. going to let it run all night and tomorrow as well.

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