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

MELM
Explorer
Explorer
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.
Mel & Mary Ann; Mo'Be (More Behave...) and Bella
"If you have an RV, you don't need another hobby." Comment from a friend...

90 Champion LaSalle MH 29 ft P30 (89 Chassis)

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854 REPLIES 854

Claude_B
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Explorer
Well, mine is done and from my experience, I would advise you to carefully check when the job is completed, if the sheet metal with the electrical drawing (see WilleyB post with pictures on page 52) doe's not get in contact with the plastic vent cover bacause in my case, it was blocking at least 40 % of the vent. I noticed that at home so I rework it to make sure there was enough clearance for the cooling air to circulate. This maybe the reason why an earlier post (96Bounder...) parent's fridg did not work properly after the recall was done. Now, am I impressed with the kit ? To be honest, they could have done better ! Anyway ! And I did install a dimmer to control the power of the element. The fridg is on a test run at the moment. I will let you know.
Claude
2013 Gulf Stream VISA 19ERD
VW Touareg TDI 2013
VW Passat 2012 TDI

Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Explorer II
beetle1963 wrote:
I just took my 03 with 13,000 miles unit in for the recall. they tell me that its leaking but not near the recall, and dometic says it not covered under warranty


A couple of questions- what is the refrigerator serial number and model number, and where did it leak?
-- Chris Bryant

beetle1963
Explorer
Explorer
I just took my 03 with 13,000 miles unit in for the recall. they tell me that its leaking but not near the recall, and dometic says it not covered under warranty

Crabbypatty
Explorer
Explorer
How do you clean it out? You mean where the flame is? I have an appointment for 5/3. My dealer wants the TT first then he is going to order the part and repair it. Ill keep you informed.
John, Lisa & Tara:B:C:)
2015 F250 4x4 6.2L 6 spd 3.73s, CC Short Bed, Pullrite Slide 2700, 648 Wts Solar, 4 T-125s, 2000 Watt Xantrax Inverter, Trimetric 2030 Meter, LED Lights, Hawkings Smart Repeater, Wilson Extreme Cellular Repeater, Beer, Ribs, Smoker

rsg33
Explorer
Explorer
Bounder, it may be possible that some rust and paint flakes have fallen onto the burner when the techs were installing the recall kit. Probably just needs a cleanout.

Claude_B
Explorer
Explorer
First thing to look at is if the TT level ?
Claude
2013 Gulf Stream VISA 19ERD
VW Touareg TDI 2013
VW Passat 2012 TDI

96Bounder30E
Explorer II
Explorer II
My parents had the fix done to their refer last week and now their fridge isn't cooling properly......it still cools but the temp has risen about 5 degrees in the fridge compartment..........Ice cream in the freezer is now soft........this is on gas operation.......they haven't been home since the work was done to check for proper 110v operation......


any ideas on what the problem may be?
Eric
96 Bounder 30E-F53(460)
stock Ford intake w/K&N air filter
used Thorley headers
new Banks resonator, muffler, tail pipe and 4" polished SS exhaust tip

USAFBILL
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budlute wrote:
The heating element that I ordered from rv mobile inc. had a resistance of 45.6 compared to the original one which is 38.7, placed it in the 12v tube. Hope this helps, Bud

More help by scaning the past posts.

Exactly what I did also. I checked one from Campers World and it was way out of tolerance. Ordered one from RV Mobile and it was 45.4 ohms. Stuck it in the 12 volt cavity and just left the original element still in. Also picked up the red jumper that the installer tossed on the ground while installing the "fix". Figured the thermo fuse he stuck in might fail or be out of tolerance so will by-pass it down the road it I need to.
2003 Cougar 285EFS
2000 Chev 2500 Ex Cab

budlute
Explorer
Explorer
The heating element that I ordered from rv mobile inc. had a resistance of 45.6 compared to the original one which is 38.7, placed it in the 12v tube. Hope this helps, Bud

More help by scaning the past posts.

Community Alumni
Not applicable
royl wrote:
mrsmokey wrote:
Wow, what did I do ? This post scares me ! I had the recall parts put on my unit this week, thermal cut out switch and lots of covers. Are you saying this baby can still catch on fire ? Are you saying this is just a Band-Aid fix ? What should I do ? It's a model RM2652, and has worked fine on gas and electric. Should I ask the manufacturer for a new unit???

Keep in mind that the failure rate is only about 98 to 100 out of 976,000 units, so as far as I am concerned it is business as usual for mine. I had the recall done and I am not going to worry about it. The failure rate of RV tires is much higher than that, and the failure rate of most other parts. I would say the chance of an engine fire on the RV is at least that, so why worry? Camp, relax and don't worry so much.:)

I agree, mine's going in May 7th for 'the fix' and I'll use it a I normally did before. One of the preventative measure would be to change the heating element but like Claude B stated in a earlier post the one he ordered was still a 350+ watt unit stamped 325W. I tried to order one this week and got the same reply; they are all stamped 325W and you don't really know what you will get until you receive it and test it. Very frustrating.

I guess the only satisfaction will be in knowing that if the unit fails, it shouldn't burn the house down.

If someone has a box full of true (tested) 325w elements, it looks like they could make a small fortune.

... Eric

royl
Explorer
Explorer
mrsmokey wrote:
Wow, what did I do ? This post scares me ! I had the recall parts put on my unit this week, thermal cut out switch and lots of covers. Are you saying this baby can still catch on fire ? Are you saying this is just a Band-Aid fix ? What should I do ? It's a model RM2652, and has worked fine on gas and electric. Should I ask the manufacturer for a new unit???

Keep in mind that the failure rate is only about 98 to 100 out of 976,000 units, so as far as I am concerned it is business as usual for mine. I had the recall done and I am not going to worry about it. The failure rate of RV tires is much higher than that, and the failure rate of most other parts. I would say the chance of an engine fire on the RV is at least that, so why worry? Camp, relax and don't worry so much.:)
Roy & Sabine
2000 Coachman Classic 27 RK Fifthwheel
1992 Dodge D250

bigdodgeram
Explorer
Explorer
read this

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19588160.cfm
95,Dodge RAM 2500 Club Cab, Red, SLT Laramie 2WD, 5.9 V-8, 46RH Trany. 5th Wheel Hitch & Tailgate. Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. 1998 Fleetwood 28' Wilderness 5th wheel, 2 legged hitch support.
lovely wife, & Molly & Cassie our black & yellow labs.

mrsmokey
Explorer
Explorer
Wow, what did I do ? This post scares me ! I had the recall parts put on my unit this week, thermal cut out switch and lots of covers. Are you saying this baby can still catch on fire ? Are you saying this is just a Band-Aid fix ? What should I do ? It's a model RM2652, and has worked fine on gas and electric. Should I ask the manufacturer for a new unit???
SMOKEY

WilleyB
Explorer
Explorer
Hi trouble1263, and thank you for your kind thought.

For those members who would like to do the transformer fix :W I'll try to clean up my drawing and terminology. As LScamper has suggested an autotransformer is an expensive item indeed. What is proposed here is a method to compensate for, by lowering the wattage of an underrated 120 volt element. Namely those heating elements with a resistance below 40 ohms.
What is proposed is a Radio Shack #: 273-1511 or Circuit City #: 2731511 Transformer
Transformer: primary is 120 VAC, HD type. Volts: 12.6V CT. 3.0A. in either case the price is about $10. The 120 volt PRIMARY winding has two black wires that are smaller in diameter than the three wires of the 12.6 volt SECONDARY winding. The CT in the "12,6 CT" stands for "Center Tap" meaning that the 12.6 volt winding is equally divided. There are two yellow wires which are the 12.6 volt leads with a black lead from the Center Tap and from the black lead to either yellow lead we would measure 6.3 volts while in operation.
Click-->

The connections:
Connect one wire of the fridge 120v element to a transformer Primary wire as shown (like Red wire shown) and to one side of the 120 volt line (AC black wire). The other element wire will be connect to the other transformer Primary wire. Then connect the white 120v AC supply (from the control board where the element is connected to now) wire to the black Center Tap wire of the Secondary winding. Then connect one of the 12.6 volt secondary wires (yellow A or B) to the point marked "C" as shown on the diagram. These connections make the transformer operate like a step down transformer in that now there are many more windings across the 120 volts, by using only the primary leads as an output the voltage will be reduced to about 113.7 volts. (120 - 6.3= 113.7) If you have less you can connect point "C" to the opposite side of the secondary.
Unused leads should be taped (insulated as voltage will be present) In operation the Transformer will be warm to the touch, but it should not real hot. I anyone wishes to do this instead of replacing the heating element and wishes to ask questions " go for it " if can help I'll be glad to.
Willis

My thanks to LScamper for pointing out my omission that the 120V for the circuit comes from the circuit board and not directly from the line voltage ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
Vanguard VXL2000
2000 Ford V10 Triton, E350 Super Duty
Just for me,the Mrs and Gabby

trouble1263
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We are a bit down in the chin around our home as our dog of 12 years passed away last Tuesday

Sorry for your loss
We are a bit down in the chin around our home as our dog of 12 years passed away last Tuesday
2005 Cardinal 29 TSLX
2001 Ford F-250 CC 4x4 7.3 PSD Long Bed,Firestone Airbags,4" Exhaust,Isspro Gauges,DP-Tuner,Reese 16K Select