New Dometic Recall Initiated March 11, 2008

[MELM]

Thanks to the members who have provided info on this new one.

Dometic has a new recall for refrigerators made between June 1, 2003 through September 30, 2006. Many of these are the same models as were in the older recall (Recall number 06E076000). (Technically, Dometic’s letter indicates an extension of the original, but NHTSA assigned a new Recall Number and the information is under that new number.)

Since it has a new NHTSA number, I’m starting a new thread on this one; but the actual work appears to be the same as in the first recall.

Text from the NHTSA website Recall 08E03200.

Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
DOMETIC / NDR1062 9999
DOMETIC / RM2652 9999
DOMETIC / RM2662 9999
DOMETIC / RM2852 9999
DOMETIC / RM2862 9999
DOMETIC / RM3662 9999
DOMETIC / RM3663 9999
DOMETIC / RM3862 9999
Recall Number: 08E032000
Summary:
DOMETIC HAS REPORTED A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT COVERING 745,574 TWO-DOOR REFRIGERATORS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JUNE 1, 2003 AND SEPTEMBER 30, 2006, WITH SERIAL NOS. 320XXXXX THROUGH 352XXXXX; 401XXXXX THROUGH 452XXXXX; 501XXXXX THROUGH 552XXXXX; AND 601XXXXX THROUGH 639XXXXX, INSTALLED IN CERTAIN RECREATIONAL VEHICLES AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND SOLD AS REPLACEMENT 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 DURING APRIL/MAY 2008. 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.

Some more links:

Dometic Recall Site

Dometic letter of April 11, 2008

NHTSA Response letter of April 21, 2008.

And here is a link to the original recall thread: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07

Edited to add a link to the original thread.

[mikebNJ]

The quote i got for dometic replacement cooling unit was 800, and 4 hours labor to replace. Dometic fridge was 900 and 4.5 hours to replace. I get a warranty on one and not the other. I think i will go with norcold new fridge for 1350.

[Admiral]

millertime wrote:
Like a previous poster said my frig was toast. I replaced the cooling unit myself, in my driveway. I found a company on the internet that sells rebuilt cooling units. He claims they are repaired by the Amish.
He sent a unit (big box 59 lbs) to me with written instructions (via Fed Ex) and his cell phone number for tech support. Also e-mail support. I got an answer to a question on a Saturday, These units have a 3 year warranty. Installed in less than 4 hours. I slid the frig out, laid it on the floor of my fiver and swapped it right there. It works. Every thing is sealed. No leaks. He claims that the coil that broke on my old one are replaced with heavier tube.
cost was $524 less $100 when they get my core back. Shipping is covered. $499 plus $25 shipping and $100 back for the core.
Sure beats buying a new frig. I have a Dometic RM2852 that makes ice.

www.rvcoolingunit.net Check it out
This guy knows customer service

Millertime, thanks for the information. I put that web site in my favorites for future reference. Keep us informed how it works and is holding up for you. Admiral

[Stan47]

A couple of comments that I can't resist making:

1. Replacing the cooling unit is always a good option, provided everything else is OK. My sister had some trouble with a door seal, on a fridge for which the replacement part was unavailable. The only choice was replacing the whole reefer. On the other hand, we'd had a cooling unit failure on a Starcraft that we'd bought used, and it was possible to replace just the guts.

2. Norcold is having its own problems.

3. As far as the Katrina business is concerned, I think the formaldehye contamination business is over-stated. We've all used RVs with paneling that had formaldehyde, and except for people with a particular sensitivity, there haven't been problems. Before EPA goes mucking around setting limits, someone ought to be conducting an epidemiological survey or RVers, to see whether we have a greater incidence of cancers or endocrine problems. As far as I can see, nobody has proven satisfactorily that there's actually a problem. But where the bidding on the FEMA trailers is concerned, if there'd been a formaldehyde requirement, all bidders would have been required to meet it, thus nobody would have been out of the running. FEMA has made numerous mistakes in the temporary housing business, but that's not one of them.

4. BTW, don't park homes and other manufactured housing use the same materials? Nobody talks about formaldehyde levels there.

5. Finally, the RV industry is rife with claims that such-and-such a component, or brand of RV is "made by the Amish." This is not only silly, but plays to a weird kind of religious prejudice. Suppose someone advertised that their stuff was built by Mormons, or Lubavitcher Jews? People would have a fit. The moment I read of someone making this "Amish" claim, I start to shop elsewhere.

[millertime]

Like a previous poster said my frig was toast. I replaced the cooling unit myself, in my driveway. I found a company on the internet that sells rebuilt cooling units. He claims they are repaired by the Amish.
He sent a unit (big box 59 lbs) to me with written instructions (via Fed Ex) and his cell phone number for tech support. Also e-mail support. I got an answer to a question on a Saturday, These units have a 3 year warranty. Installed in less than 4 hours. I slid the frig out, laid it on the floor of my fiver and swapped it right there. It works. Every thing is sealed. No leaks. He claims that the coil that broke on my old one are replaced with heavier tube.
cost was $524 less $100 when they get my core back. Shipping is covered. $499 plus $25 shipping and $100 back for the core.
Sure beats buying a new frig. I have a Dometic RM2852 that makes ice.

www.rvcoolingunit.net Check it out
This guy knows customer service

[Phantom59]

Anyone who believes that the RV industry cares cur us didn't watch the hearings on the Katrina trailers. The heads of the top manufacturers stated that if the EPA set guidelines to lower the formaldehyde levels in the units purchased they would be out of the biding. This says a lot for the thousands of RV's who live in an RV year round and are exposed to this. Another were not going to fix it can we make it go away.

[mikebNJ]

sign me up as well for a class action. I spoke to dometic today and even though they used to relace failed cooling units, they stopped that "act of goodwill" on april of this year and i am out of luck!

Looks like time for a new fridge. Dometic had the choice to make a customer for life, or to lose one for life. If they had stood by their product, I would go out of my way to always purchase dometic products. Sadly they have chosen to be shortsighted and anger their customers. I have a long memory and will never do business with them if I have a choice!

I will be looking into norcold replacement.

[Stan47]

Here's the email I just sent to Dometic's "contact us" address.

I will pass along any reply that I happen to receive.

Having received the recall notice on my model RM2852 refrigerator, I took it to an authorized dealer and had the remedial work performed.

This leaves me with several questions:

1. Does Dometic plan to reimburse affected customers the costs involved with this recall work? In my case, I am out more than $32 in fuel and tolls for the trip to the dealer, plus the better part of two days' work.

2. The recall notice states that "a fatigue crack may develop in the boiler tube..." I interpret that to mean that the refrigerator may fail prematurely. Does Dometic plan to extend warranty coverage, or at least offer partial reimbursement for refrigerators that fail prematurely? My experience with two previous trailers is that a refrigerator lasts well in excess of ten years.

3. What is the probability that, should I decide to replace this refrigerator prior to its failure, the replacement Dometic model will have a similar reliability problem? Specifically, what has the company done to change the design so fatigue cracks are less likely to occur?

4. A MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for anyhdrous ammonia (presumably used as the refrigerant) states that exposure causes potential health risks, as well as potential chemical reactivity problems. (See http://www.airgasspecialtyproducts.com/UserDyn/laroche/4001msds-r-07-18-2008.pdf). The recall notice should, at the very least, provide this information. Nowhere does the notice mention that in the event of a refrigerant leak, it may not be safe to occupy the RV in which it is installed.

[speediq99]

Hello everyone,

I somehow missed this thread. I have one of the recalled units so I am heading to the dealer next week. My problems, which may or may not be related are:

1. Insufficient cooling
2. LP Gas detector going off

I am outraged to hear that this company has acknowledged a problem with one of their products and won't repair and/or replaced a failed cooling unit unless the fridge is under warranty. This is ridiculous and very serious. Instead of just writing here, we should all visit the NHTSA website and complain there.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

If there is a recall because there could be a failure, the recall should replace the part that could fail, not shield it so it doesn't explode on us. All units in the recall are part of the recall for a reason. Dometic knows that sooner or later the parts involved will fail.

If anyone wants to start a class action, sign me up.

Mike

[Stan47]

squaredancer wrote:
I live in SoCal, Orange County and use a mobile repair service. Beats going to the dealer who is 15 miles and a lot of stop and go traffic away. It took him about 20 minutes to install and it cost me $ 50.0. To me it's well worth it.

The drive to and from the repair shop cost me at least $32 in fuel and tolls, and wasted the better part of two days. Fifty bucks for service on-the-spot would have been a bargain.

[squaredancer]

JohnG3 wrote:
Had my kit installed today. Repair facility came to the trailer (just over 1 mile from his shop) to install the parts. Cost me $40.00 for the service call. Is that normal? Were those who took their trailers to the dealers charged labor for the install? I called Dometic to ask about the labor charge but they were already closed. Only took the mechanic about 30 minutes to make the installation.

I live in SoCal, Orange County and use a mobile repair service. Beats going to the dealer who is 15 miles and a lot of stop and go traffic away. It took him about 20 minutes to install and it cost me $ 50.0. To me it's well worth it.

[Finally_Time]

I just finished going around and around with a supervisor at Dometic. Bottom line I kept getting the scripted response that a parts failure will only occur in a very small percentage of the refrigerators, but Dometic is so "concerned about your safety" that they are doing this retrofit to all units.

I asked if they would also show come concern to my wallet and replace my cooling unit if it should be one of the tiny percentage that fails due to the defect that they know exists and are not correcting. Answer - ONLY if the refrigerator is still under the original warrenty.

[Stan47]

Sage, you can find coolant sniffers at places that sell HVAC instruments, such as W.W. Grainger. Whether it's financially practical to own one is another question, and I don't think it would be useful unless you established a fairly rigid schedule of inspection.

As to the non-inclusion of your reefer, my experience has been that recalls or defects are associated with some change either in design or production/fabrication. For example, the risky units could have resulted from some poorly thought-out change in the assembly instructions that workers use on the production floor. In which case, the company's engineering department would know when the faulty instructions were put into effect, and when the error was discovered and corrected.

I spent more than ten years in quality-assurance and reliability engineering, and it's been my experience that sometimes the most innocuous omission from an instruction sheet mushrooms into a big problem. We had one run of stuff where a particular electric connector seemed especially prone to shorting-out. After a lot of destructive testing, we learned that the assemblers were leaving one of the internal wires too long. More specifically, they were stripping off more insulation than they should have been. We learned that their assembly instructions said to "strip at least 0.5 inch of insulation," but did not specify a maximum. So in the interest of working a little faster, the assemblers were just eyeballing it, sometimes leaving the exposed wire twice as long as it should have been. We corrected the instructions and created a comparative gauge for use on the assembly bench.

This stuff is not really rocket science, but it does involve using SOME of your brain cells. That's why so many of us are wondering whether Dometic will leave us twisting in the wind if these units fail, just because they've covered their butt on the liability for fire.

As for class action, as I understand the process an individual (known as the "lead plaintiff") files a lawsuit, and asks the court to certify it as a class action. Someone has to be willing to spend the time and up-front money to do that. Such an action is beyond my financial means, but I'd urge anyone to try it. There must be some RV-owning lawyer out there who could file, and cover some of his own costs.

Life would be far simpler if there were an advocacy group for RV owners, but as I've said, Good Sam is not an advocacy group, having financial ties to Camping World and countless other places. Perhaps the Escapees are the right organization.

[mikebNJ]

I just brought my unit in for recall (warranty expired in march) and was told the cooling unit burst. Anyone had any luck with getting dometic to cover replacing the cooling unit?

[AutoEngMike]

100ton wrote:
Quote: "And another quick one:
My refer is not on the list (right model number, wrong serial number), but if they are all essentially the same, why hasn't mine been recalled?"

Sage

Good question. I would hope that it is because you are lucky enough to have a refrigerator that does not actually have the flaw. However, my now negative and suspicious attitude towards Dometic tells me that it may be for reasons more in the interest of Dometic. I wouldn't be surprised if you (like many others) will be added to the recall after your WARRANTY has expired.

As you may know, many including myself, were never notified of the problem/flaw by Dometic. By luck, we happened upon news of the recall by other means, of course as mentioned above, for many, their (my) warranty had expired.

Stay tuned,

Robert

I was not part of the previous recall for the same thing. They just recently came out with this new recall. It may be as you state, they are waiting for the warranties to expire. I hope a competitor is reading and taking stock. If mine goes it will be replaced by a different make.

[100ton]

Quote: "And another quick one:
My refer is not on the list (right model number, wrong serial number), but if they are all essentially the same, why hasn't mine been recalled?"

Sage

Good question. I would hope that it is because you are lucky enough to have a refrigerator that does not actually have the flaw. However, my now negative and suspicious attitude towards Dometic tells me that it may be for reasons more in the interest of Dometic. I wouldn't be surprised if you (like many others) will be added to the recall after your WARRANTY has expired.

As you may know, many including myself, were never notified of the problem/flaw by Dometic. By luck, we happened upon news of the recall by other means, of course as mentioned above, for many, their (my) warranty had expired.

Stay tuned,

Robert