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.

[brandijones]

Yes, the fridge is 2 yrs old! The entire unit is a 2006! We bought it new. One owner, after our home burned down. We have moved around being my husband working construction. We recently moved back home, with the anticipation of selling the camper to buy another home. Start the settling down process. Then the fridge went out! We don't have the $1500 to buy another NEW fridge. So, this is why I'm going to buy the rebuilt cooling unit from the Amish. I spoke secretly with one of the service guys yesterday, he even advised me to do this! It is unreal. Even the service company doesn't like dealing with Dometic over anything! He said the constantly find ways to get out from under the warranties! I am Sick to death of getting screwed.

[Rangerdave]

brandijones wrote:
Yes, I have tried and tried to deal with Dometic about this issue. I am going to go get the fridge at the service center then buy the cooling unit from the Amish, and let my husband install it. Someone really needs to start this class action law suit. I would be all in. This is crazy, we go out and spend all this money on these units and the appliance won't last two years? AND could possibly cause a FIRE! I lost a home to a fire, which is what put me in the camper, I can't imagine how fast this thing would go up! We wouldn't have time to get out! Lord.

Really?!! your fridge is 2 years old and dometic is giving you the boot? Ike..
Doing the fridge isnt that hard at all once you get the fridge out of its cubby, then its all downhill from there.

[brandijones]

Yes, I have tried and tried to deal with Dometic about this issue. I am going to go get the fridge at the service center then buy the cooling unit from the Amish, and let my husband install it. Someone really needs to start this class action law suit. I would be all in. This is crazy, we go out and spend all this money on these units and the appliance won't last two years? AND could possibly cause a FIRE! I lost a home to a fire, which is what put me in the camper, I can't imagine how fast this thing would go up! We wouldn't have time to get out! Lord.

[oregon-travler]

Has anyone thought about a "Class Action" suit?

[Rangerdave]

brandijones wrote:
We have found www.rvcoolingunits.net, we can pay $490.00 for a cooling unit, with $100.00 mail in rebate with old unit, with a warranty on it for three years. My husband is an electrician, so they gave me a cell phone number to call if he has any problems and they will walk him through installing it. My question is this, do we have to go with the 2 way? Or can we just go with A/C?

Have you called and talked to them yourself (dometic)? If the build date of the unit is really 2 years old you shouldn't have a problem.

If you husband if an electrican, there is little electrical work to be done in changing out the coil unit, so it will be a breeze to him. I did it myself on ours. I did have to pull it back out once since i didn't get the fridge fins to line up right on the screws to the coils, but other than that I was really glad to get into it and tackle it myself.

All in all it took me some 6 hours, if I had got it right at first it might have taken me about 4.

[Chris_Bryant]

brandijones wrote:
They told me for the 3 Year Warranty, I had to show where I had it inspected once a year, with all the paper work from the service centers. It says exactly, "This warranty requires the original purchaser to provide preventative maintenance on a yearly basis, starting at the anniversary of his date of purchase. The original purchaser must keep a record of the Preventative Maintenance to keep the warranty in effect."

That's actually bogus- they have to be able to show that the lack of maintenance caused the failure, which is did not.
Did Dometic tell you this or did the service center?

Keep after them- they have to fix it under warranty, though you might have to find a different service center.

[brandijones]

We have found www.rvcoolingunits.net, we can pay $490.00 for a cooling unit, with $100.00 mail in rebate with old unit, with a warranty on it for three years. My husband is an electrician, so they gave me a cell phone number to call if he has any problems and they will walk him through installing it. My question is this, do we have to go with the 2 way? Or can we just go with A/C?

[brandijones]

They told me for the 3 Year Warranty, I had to show where I had it inspected once a year, with all the paper work from the service centers. It says exactly, "This warranty requires the original purchaser to provide preventative maintenance on a yearly basis, starting at the anniversary of his date of purchase. The original purchaser must keep a record of the Preventative Maintenance to keep the warranty in effect."

[Chris_Bryant]

If it's 2 years old, it should fall under the Dometic 3 year warranty. I've had zero problems getting cooling units which are still under warranty from Dometic.

[brandijones]

We have a 2006 Forest River Cardinal fifth wheel. We just put it up for sale as we aren't traveling any longer for my husbands job. We discovered the Dometic model number RM 2862 RB was working on A/C or gas, and my husband smelled ammonia! He ran around and cut it off. I called the local service center and they told me all about the recall and mine fell under that heading. After having the refridgerator for one week, they called me and informed me that it was the cooling unit that had a leak and that wasn't covered under the recall! I could pay approximately $1200.00 total for the part and labor, or I could just buy a new fridge for about $1500.00! OMG.........WTH????????? I mean this unit is two years old! No, if anyone is wondering, we didn't buy an extended warranty on anything (stupid us). So, here I am, got a camper looks brand new, for sale, no dents, no damage, with NO FRIDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!

[Grillmeister]

1k of beer money

Thats the kind of math I can identify with :B:B:B

Congradulations on a tough job well done, I don't think many would want to tackle that one.

[Rangerdave]

i just replaced the coil unit in our fridge here. it was a nice toasty yellow and pretty cooked..
David Force at http://www.rvcoolingunit.net/servlet/StoreFront was full of good information on the how to's on how to get it done.
The product was pretty much an exact match, even down to all the quircky little bends in the tubing.
It took me some 6 hours total, that being with some stubborn parts not wanting to come out and some screws not lining up properly, but none the less, Mr. Force was really good on the support end on getting me back together.

As of some 4 hours ago the freezer is at -2F and still going further.

Finally-no more coolers with ice, water from the ice, ice, ice--gah--ice.
Oh did I say ice? LoL

And he even pays shipping for the old part back to him-what a champ.

I estimate I saved myself some 1k of beer money, or more.?

[Phils]

Jody,

I've read every post since the beginning. I was hoping to make the 800th post but I'll answer your question instead.

This "problem" happens from using the fridge on AC, not propane. If you only use yours on propane with an occasional pre-cool on AC, you'll never experience the problem IMO.

For my "milemark post" (I've before never been involved in a thread this long) I was going to mention that I sold the two side-by-side Dometics that I had installed in our home. The early years were on propane as I up-sized my array enough to be able to power them with AC from my solar panels. About the time I was reaching that goal, this recall and thread started. The thought of a leak and possible fire were too scary for me.

I bought a regular energy efficient fridge from Sears to replace them and have cut my home propane bill by way more than half (won't know exactly until the next fill-up). Looking like it'll be lower by 2/3s. WooHoo!

And but for RV.net, I'd still have the Dometics and be totally unaware of the hazard sitting in my kitchen.

Phil

[bigweave30]

Cant read 80 pages will turning off the gas help the problem? Going camping labor day weekend and just saw recall for the first time? Turning off gas with the small nob under fridge. please lmk at weaver_jody@hotmail.com
thanks

[oemtech]

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