Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07

[MELM]

Click here to go directly to Updates.
Update Number 1 Nov 23, 2006
Update Number 2 Dec 5, 2006
Update Number 3 Jan 10, 2007
Update Number 4 Jan 19, 2007 - Recall Instructions - click here: Dometic Recall You need your model and serial numbers.
Update Number 5 Feb 13, 2007 - Added links to new info on the NHTSA website including the info/form for claiming reimbursement for a failure. These are at the end of the post below where all the updates are posted.

Also, edited the below Recall to include the change made prior to the Dec 5 update showing the proposed remedy.

Below is information from the NHTSA website on a recall of certain Dometic refrigerators. This recall is in its very early stages, and there is no resolution in place as of Nov 1, 2006.

From the NHTSA website:

Dometic Recall NHTSA Campaign ID 06E076000

Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
DOMETIC / NDR1062 9999
DOMETIC / RM2652 9999
DOMETIC / RM2662 9999
DOMETIC / RM2663 9999
DOMETIC / RM2852 9999
DOMETIC / RM2862 9999
DOMETIC / RM3662 9999
DOMETIC / RM3663 9999
DOMETIC / RM3862 9999
DOMETIC / RM3863 9999

Manufacturer : DOMETIC CORPORATION

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 06E076000 Mfg's Report Date : AUG 28, 2006

Component: EQUIPMENT: RECREATIONAL VEHICLE

Potential Number Of Units Affected : 926877

Summary:
CERTAIN DOMETIC TWO-DOOR REFRIGERATORS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN APRIL 1997 AND MAY 2003: SERIAL NOS.
713XXXXX THROUGH 752XXXXX;
801XXXXX THROUGH 852XXXXX;
901XXXXX THROUGH 952XXXXX;
001XXXXX THROUGH 052XXXXX;
101XXXXX THROUGH 152XXXXX;
201XXXXX THROUGH 252XXXXX;
301XXXXX THROUGH 319XXXXX,
INSTALLED IN CERTAIN RECREATIONAL VEHICLES AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND SOLD AS AFTERMARKET EQUIPMENT. A FATIGUE CRACK MAY DEVELOP IN THE BOILER TUBE WHICH MAY RELEASE A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF PRESSURIZED COOLANT SOLUTION INTO AN AREA WHERE AN IGNITION SOURCE (GAS FLAME) IS PRESENT.

Consequence:
THE RELEASE OF COOLANT UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS COULD IGNITE AND RESULT IN A FIRE.

Remedy:
THE VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS WILL NOTIFY OWNERS OF RECREATIONAL VEHICLES THAT HAD THE REFRIGERATORS INSTALLED AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND DOMETIC WILL NOTIFY OWNERS OF THE AFTERMARKET REFRIGERATORS. DOMETIC WILL INSTALL A SECONDARY BURNER HOUSING FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN BETWEEN APRIL AND JUNE 2007. OWNERS MAY CONTACT DOMETIC AT 888-446-5157.

Notes:
CUSTOMERS MAY CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

The following is extracted from the notice provided by Dometic to the NHTSA dated 8/26/06:

The potential defect is associated with cooling unit at the back of the refrigeration cabinet.

A fractional percentage of the potentially affected refrigerators have experienced a fatigue crack that may develop in the boiler tube in the area of the weld between the boiler tube and the heater pocket. A fatigue crack may release a sufficient amount of pressurized coolant solution into an area where an ignition source (gas flame) is present. Dometic's investigation has shown that a simulated release of cooling solution (refrigerant) in the area of the boiler, under certain conditions, could be ignited by the presence of an open flame. A boiler fatigue crack with the loss of cooling solution without ignition would result in a non-operational refrigerator that is not a safety issue. Under certain conditions, the released coolant could ignite and result in a fire. In order to have a fire, at a minimum, all of the following conditions must exist:

1. The refrigerator must be on and normally operating and gas burner must be lit;
2. 'There must be an oversized heating element in the refrigerator;
3. The boiler tube must develop a throughway fatigue crack of a
specific size;
4. There must be a release of the cooling solution at a rate which will
allow the accumulation of the cooling solution at a concentration within its range of flammability; and
5. There must be ignition source (gas flame) present.

If any of these conditions are not present, a release of the cooling solution will not result in a fire.

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.

The products in question are all refrigerators used in the original manufacture of recreation vehicles or as replacement equipment for recreation vehicles. The total population of refrigerators potentially containing the defect is 926,877. Dometic estimates a potential maximum incident rate of 0.01% related to boiler fatigue cracks that leak and may result in a fire. There have been no incidents of injury or death related to the affected population of Dometic refrigerators.

Dometic became aware of the occurrence of fires which may have involved their products and retained an independent engineering testing laboratory to fully evaluate and investigate any potential defect in their refrigerators which might result in a fire. A number of returned units were analyzed and microscopic fatigue cracks which could release coolant into the area of the burner were identified in the boiler tube metal in the area of the weld between the heater pocket and boiler tube. Tests simulating the cracks were conducted the week of August 18, 2006 and confirmed a possible cause of fire in the refrigerators under certain conditions. These test results prompted the preparation of this notice.

Dometic continues to gather information on the potential defect and will forward additional relevant information as it becomes available.

Dometic has not yet identified a proposed remedy for the potential defect. Dometic will continue a testing program designed to identify and evaluate possible remedies. This evaluation will take place both in the United States and in Sweden. Once a remedy has been identified, Dometic will initiate or participate in a remedy campaign initiated by the original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers who have purchased, sold, and distributed these products. A list of original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers to whom Dometic has sold the potentially defective refrigerators is being prepared and will be provided to the NHTSA upon its
completion.

The following is extracted from the NHTSA response on 9/18/06:

Please provide the following additional information and be reminded of the following requirements:

Dometic must provide an estimated dealer notification date as well as an owner notification date including the day, month, and year. You are required to submit a draft owner notification letter to this office no less than five days prior to mailing it to the customers. Also, copies of all notices, bulletins, dealer notifications, and other communications that relate to this recall, including a copy of the final owner notification letter and any subsequent owner follow-up notification letter(s), are required to be submitted to this office no later than 5 days after they are originally sent (if they are sent to more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or purchaser/owner).

Dometic must file a sample of the envelope which you intend to use to mail the recall notice to owners. The words "SAFETY", "RECALL", "NOTICE" in any order must be printed on the envelope in larger font than the customers name and address.

[J_Walker]

Melm, Thanks. That is what I would expect the recall to do. It appears that the hi-temp electrical switch is there to cut of in case of a fire, but it would a little late once the fire is started. If Dometic would come out and explain their kit we would not have to guess, but they have as many lawyers as engineers involved in this for good reason. Another thing I suspect is that the kit will present a big PITA when we have to service the cooling unit. When I see my kit I will know more but I can't see how the new cut-off switch will do more that cut off during a fire. I can't see how it could be fined tuned enough to regulate the heat going into the cooling unit. If my guestimae is correct, Dometic is doing just enough to protect them from liability.

[Just_Lee]

Yay.........

[MELM]

This was posted in a separate thread today 4/5/07: Dometic Recall Completed. I am reposting it here so the followers of this thread will see what the recall work was on his unit.

In that thread, another member reports that his dealer has his kit - so they are starting to show up and some dealers are installing them.

richardcoxid wrote:
Fellow Dometic Refer. Owners

The recall was completed on our Dometic refer Mod #3862 today 4/4/2007.

Contrary to the information that has been circulating on various RV web sites they did NOT pull the refer, replace the cooling unit, replace the electrical element with a lower wattage element etc!

? They- pop-riveted a “snap-stat” (on/off non-adjustable thermal-disk thermostat like on your HWH) to the sheet metal that surrounds the insulation on the boiler. This had the proper wiring connections to connect it to the circuit board. I assume that this is a “high temp cut out” safety shut off.

? They attached 3 pieces of light weight galvanized sheet metal baffling (about 20 gage) underneath, in front of and at the outside of the burner/boiler (this piece about 8”W and 10 ½”H) between it and the access cover with sheet metal screws. This large piece has a new wiring schematic on it. There may or may not be some internal bracing in the area of the burner/boiler.

The total time from the time that they drove the unit into the shop to completion out the door was about 35 minutes.

I hope that this clears any confusion about this recall.

Disclaimer- This was for MY Mod # refer, maybe on some other models the recall procedure will be different though.

Richard

[timsrv]

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, I think this is just a terminology issue. The term "boiler" is probably being loosely interchanged with the term "cooling unit". Of course the boiler would be still be replaced along with the cooling unit, as it's part of that assy. Tim

[Chris_Bryant]

trouble1263 wrote:
I called the hotline last week to confifm that my unit is affected and I asked the operator what repairs would be made. She replied that the boiler was going to be replaced.... Was I misinformed???

Short answer... yes. Long answer... yes ;). I don't know why the people they have hired to answer the phones have not been informed properly, but replacing the boiler would be a huge task- remove the refrigerator, drain the ammonia, cut the boiler tube out (which is not easy as there are tube within tubes there), weld in a new boiler tube, recharge and test.
It just ain't gonna happen.

[summerpaws]

I stopped by my local RV dealer today (Campers Inn of Kingston, NH) to get some butyl tape for my fantastic fan install. I stopped at the service desk and asked what they were doing with the recall. The parts manager told me that they were doing all the in-house stuff first then the public. He was getting kits in by the 20th of this month. He told me to make an appointment for sometime after that. I asked if I could wait while they installed it, and he said sure. I told him that I heard that Dometic was only paying them $40 for the install and he agreed, saying that if it takes an hour or more to do, it will be painfull. He figured he would lose a tech for most of the day for many days.
He asked me if I wanted a part time job installing the kits..
I think I'll install the new heater in the other tube sooner than later. Don't want to mess with the just installed kit!

[trouble1263]

I called the hotline last week to confifm that my unit is affected and I asked the operator what repairs would be made. She replied that the boiler was going to be replaced.... Was I misinformed???

[Skeet25]

Mine failed on Monday the 5th. We had returned from a two week trip to Fla. Had hooked up to shore power at home and the Fridge switched from Propane to Electric. Had run with propane on as I always do while traveling. At this time the temp in the fridge was about 39 Deg. This was about 2:00 in the evening. At 5:00 my wife opened the Fridge to bring the stuf in the house, the temp was 45 Deg. I checked to make sure the unit was still on and it was. Removed the outside cover and discovered the Coolant had leaked out. Was aware of the recall so I called Dometic and was told to take the unit to our local Camping World and they would Repair Or Replace. Am taking it in on the 16th. Will let everyone know if Dometic picks up the replacement.

CAMPING WORLD INFORMED ME THAT DOMETIC IS GOING TO REPLACE THE "COOLING UNIT" AT NO COST TO ME. LABOR AND MATERIAL.

[timsrv]

JBarca wrote:
Please do not stop sharing you opinions as if we all stop, well, we might as well shut down this site and stop trying to better ourselves.

We all have a "choice" to act or not on what to do with anyone's opinion.

Thanks again for posting.

John

Thanks John,

I never intended to stop posting. In case anybody got the wrong idea, I wasn't upset either (hard to tell ones state of mind sometimes on an internet forum). The reason for editing prior posts was the realization that others could be taking some of what I said and getting themselves into trouble. My dad used to tell me "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing". As a boy and young man I proved him right on numerous occasions :S.

Because I do this for a living & the fact that I'm a Master Certified RV Technician, I have a higher responsibility than the average Joe that may post or read the info here. I wouldn't want anybody to modify their equipment and create a safety hazard based on partial or incomplete information I may have posted for the sake of discussion. I should have thought about that before making some of my prior posts. I don't need that on my conscience and certainly don't need the potential liability.

For the record, I'm glad I found this forum, it's been fun so far & I plan on sticking around. I'll just be a little more carefully with content in the future. Tim

[JBarca]

timsrv wrote:

After further thought on this I am going to recant my earlier statements and suggestions. They were meant for discussion purpose only. I have come to the realization that I get absolutely no benefit for sharing my opinion here, yet I am potentially opening myself up for liability. How smart is that? So please let me repeat. Do not make any unauthorized mods or changes to your refer. If you do, you do at your own risk! I will go back and edit or delete my prior posts. Tim

Tim,

First off, I want to thank you for sharing your opinion. It is very much appreciated and I know you get no benefit from any of this. However a lot of us do and we are very appreciative for it. You have a lot of good camping spirit and it shows.

Knowledge and understanding is one of the strengths of this Open Roads Forum. We have good people from all over offering opinions from many different backgrounds. And yes we talk technical so we can better understand things. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't. But that's OK as this is just a learning place. Take what you read, go to your rig, and see, does this even fit??? Then make up your own mind. Anyone doing anything from opinions stated here on the forum, do so at their own risk. Whether it is a Dometic fridge, sanitizing your RV water system or lack of, how to adjust your WD hitch.

The day anyone of us hooks up a, PU, TT or a 5th wheel to the back of our TV's or climbs up in a MH to drive away, we accept the responsibility that goes with it. If we fail to take responsibility for our own actions, then sooner or later bad things will happen to us and others around us.

Please do not stop sharing you opinions as if we all stop, well, we might as well shut down this site and stop trying to better ourselves.

We all have a "choice" to act or not on what to do with anyone's opinion.

Thanks again for posting.

John

[magicbus]

Chris Bryant wrote:
The RM7732 is fine- it uses 2 low wattage elements, and is of a different design than the "caravan 95" units that are under recall.

Chris - thanks for this explanation. Just "taking it to the dealer" isn't so easy as the nearest RV dealer is 40 miles away. It would be easier doing it while traveling but then I would need an appointment and wait for parts to ship. This way I can quit worrying about it.

It wouldn't surprise me to find that today the model/serial number of each piece of equipment installed in an RV is tracked, but in 1998 it wouldn't surprise me that the information wasn't stored, so CC just sends out the generic recall notice saying I may have a bad fridge and leaves it to Dometic to make the determination.

Dave

[Chris_Bryant]

magicbus wrote:
So I got a recall notice from Country Coach and my serial number is in the list BUT my Model # is RM7732 which is not on the list. So I guess I'm not affected by this?

Dave

The RM7732 is fine- it uses 2 low wattage elements, and is of a different design than the "caravan 95" units that are under recall.

[WilleyB]

So I guess I'm not affected by this?

Better to be safe than sorry, if the manufacturer says to bring it in, it would be wise to do so because if you do have a failure in the future, legally you won't have a leg to stand on.

Willis

[magicbus]

So I got a recall notice from Country Coach and my serial number is in the list BUT my Model # is RM7732 which is not on the list. So I guess I'm not affected by this?

Dave

[balvert]

Take a picture to them. Sounds like they are being difficult.