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campsmoke's avatar
campsmoke
Explorer
May 10, 2013

Dometic NDR1292 fridge-freezer

On our trip back from Texas our fridge stopped working - we pressed the off-on switch the indicator lights would come on and suddenly go off - this was while we were running on the coach battey. When we hooked up to a shoreline the same thing occured - we lost all of our food! Had service come and check - and of course it started to operate again just before they arrived! They thought that it was a solonoid near the engine that was not kicking-in and running the 12 volt system while we were on the road - but they did not know for sure! So $233 later and the probability that I have to take the coach to their repair centre for a day and no guarantee that they even have the solonoid in stock to try!Has anyone had this type of problem before? We did have some very cold weather on the way home in April - snow - freezing-rain - high winds etc. I checked both the 3 amp and 5 amp fuses and they were both ok. Thank you for your help gu
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    Sep 09, 2013
    Well the fridge stopped working again this morning around 3 am ! I am wondering if I should put some insulation in the area behind the fridge or perhaps some form of 12 volt heater fan to stop the refrigerant from turning to gel! I will see what Dometic thinks of this idea.
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 30, 2013
    OK here is the final chapter in the Dometic fridge/freezer episode - I emailed Dometic and told them what the service person at the RV dealership said. Well he was not quite right in saying that the unita are made that way {to shut down when the outside temp goes below 32F}
    Actually what happens is that the refrigerant starts to gel and the system will act in an abnormal manner until the unit warms up! LOL Happy travels folks!
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 28, 2013
    Well we went to an RV service/dealer and was told by the service person who looks after warranty that the Dometic fridges and fridge/freezers are built that way - yes, apparently when the outside temperature drops to 32 degrees outside the units will shut down!!! I find it hard to believe but that is the answer I was given to my problem! I had also emailed Dometic service and explained the problem I had to them and they replied that they thought that I had a control panel problem. I guess we are supposed to stay away from cold weather to protect our fridge/freezers! LOL Just another frustrating ongoing episode in the life of one Fulltimer!
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 20, 2013
    Well here a few new wrinkles on our fridge/freezer - while we were in Texas our neighbour had a fridge-man look at our fridge - he took some insulation out of the top vent area on our 2005 Fleetwood Pace Arrow which has all of our appliances in the slide-out- he said that there was too much insulation in there to allow for proper air circulation - now I am wondering if that might be the reason for the fridge stopping when the weather is arounf freezing! does anyone else with a 2005 or similar unit that has a side vented fridge had any experience like this? I also was told that there was a lot of moisture at the lower side vent of the fridge - so I drilled a hole in the vent cover and extended the hose which drains the defrost water which was soaking the floor behind the fridge. Safe travels to everyone!
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 15, 2013
    Our fridge/freezer has gone off completely the last two nights as the outside temp dropped to the low 30s - when the outside temps rise i will start again and run on shore power or propane - I think that the problem is with the board that is located at the rear back of the fridge - it may be cracked or something. I went to the "clicky" site that one of you gave me and found someone who had the same problem as I and the online tech mentioned this as a possible solution.
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 11, 2013
    Thanks for the info Doug - everything else on 12 volt worked fine in the coach - now I am wondering if perhaps the voltage regulator in the alternator is going bad! As I had mentioned we could not get it to run on shore-power - gas - or 12 volt. But now it is running perfectly!I will get a 12 volt monitor and see if we can isolate the problem. Thank you all for your input! safe travel!
  • Popsie's avatar
    Popsie
    Explorer
    May 10, 2013
    Google "12 volt monitor alarm" and choose one to make sure that you have good 12v power to your refrigerator.
  • campsmoke's avatar
    campsmoke
    Explorer
    May 10, 2013
    Ours does switch to propane also - but would not work on either at the time - but has been working on either one since we are on our site here in Niagara Falls. I had installed a new converter in Texas along with 2 new coach batterys and a new battery up front in the engine compartment. Should not have lost any battery power. Thanks for the reply anyway. Safe travels to you!
  • cougar88nw's avatar
    cougar88nw
    Explorer
    May 10, 2013
    Our Dometic (not the same model) will auto switch to propane if there's a problem with the electrical heating element or 120 voltage. We have experienced this when the campground power went out and the system functioned as designed, we had no loss of cooling. However, I do know all Dometic fridges need to have a constant 12 volt (battery power) for the system to work properly. It does sound like you lost battery voltage.

    The refrigerator model NDR 1292 require a continuous 12 volt DC supply.

    Manual

    Diagnostic Manual

    Clicky
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    May 10, 2013
    Almost everything in an RV runs off 12 volt. So, if you had a solenoid problem, EVERYTHING that was 12 volt in the motorhome would be malfunctioning. Is this the case?? Doug

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