Fridge Issues

[rookiehookie]

hi all

hoping to get some help from y'all.

recently I stumbled into some issues with my (older) RV fridge. it's a dometic RM2352 fridge and I always run it on propane.

today, I turned on the fridge like always (on propane) and the marker/needle wandered into the green field indicating the fridge was on. after 1 hour I noticed the fridge wasn't cool at all (which it usually is by then) although the needle was still in the green field = fridge on.
I went to have a look at the cooling unit and noticed no flame was burning but the boiling unit on the right hand side was a bit warm... so there must have been going on something...

I recently changed the propane tank, both the stove and water heater work without issues. the fridge worked fine for the last few weeks.

does anybody have an idea what this could be about? thank you in advance for your help.

[Grit_dog]

pianotuna wrote:

rookiehookie wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

the boiling unit is still working, I can feel that is warm and by the part the flame is, it's even hot.

are the boiling unit and the cooling unit separate from each other, meaning the one can still work (boiling unit) and the other not (cooling unit)?

The tube may be blocked. Some times the blockage may be shifted by taking the fridge out and "rolling it". This is a "hail mary" attempt to get it to work. How long will it work? 5 minutes or 5 days?

It is a sealed unit. Replacement is the only true fix. Consider moving to a 120 volt cooling unit.

So, new fridge, more $$ and a big ole electrical upgrade, batteries, solar, inverter, etc plus all the wiring and install cost since he don’t sound like a diy guy….
Yeah that makes almost no sense in his case, practically or financially.

[Grit_dog]

Gotta do some more work and diagnosis before throwing it out and calling it toast.
You didn’t say whether the pilot light is working and you haven’t attempted to clean the burner out. Start there.

[Scottiemom]

Spiders are notorious for building webs in the flame tubes. This was always the first place we looked when the fridge wasn't running on gas. A thorough inspection and cleaning of that tube is required. Does it run on electric? If so, it's not the cooling unit.

Dale

[tmartin000]

https://jc-refrigeration.com/

Make sure you know exactly which unit you have now. I’d, make & model

[riah]

From where did you get that? Which model, brand, size?

tmartin000 wrote:
I went the Amish 12vDC unit three months ago. $800. DONE!!!

[tmartin000]

I went the Amish 12vDC unit three months ago. $800. DONE!!!

[rookiehookie]

pianotuna wrote:

rookiehookie wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

the boiling unit is still working, I can feel that is warm and by the part the flame is, it's even hot.

are the boiling unit and the cooling unit separate from each other, meaning the one can still work (boiling unit) and the other not (cooling unit)?

The tube is blocked. Some times the blockage may be shifted by taking the fridge out and "rolling it". This is a "hail mary" attempt to get it to work. How long will it work? 5 minutes or 5 days?

It is a sealed unit. Replacement is the only true fix. Consider moving to a 120 volt cooling unit.

ok thank you.

I will look into replacements.

thanks all for your help!

[pianotuna]

rookiehookie wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

the boiling unit is still working, I can feel that is warm and by the part the flame is, it's even hot.

are the boiling unit and the cooling unit separate from each other, meaning the one can still work (boiling unit) and the other not (cooling unit)?

The tube may be blocked. Some times the blockage may be shifted by taking the fridge out and "rolling it". This is a "hail mary" attempt to get it to work. How long will it work? 5 minutes or 5 days?

It is a sealed unit. Replacement is the only true fix. Consider moving to a 120 volt cooling unit.

[camperfamily]

The boiler is part of the cooling loop – it is really one unit. If the flame is heating the boiler but your not getting cooling there is a fair chance the cooling unit is in need of replacement. They are not repairable. I suggest doing some research on cooling unit replacement if you want to consider doing this yourself. There is a lot of good information out there to help you diagnose the issue. I just replaced our cooling unit with great results. Half the cost of a new refrigerator and not at all hard to make the swap.

[rookiehookie]

pianotuna wrote:
Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

the boiling unit is still working, I can feel that is warm and by the part the flame is, it's even hot.

are the boiling unit and the cooling unit separate from each other, meaning the one can still work (boiling unit) and the other not (cooling unit)?

[rookiehookie]

pianotuna wrote:
Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

would this mean the whole fridge needs to be replaced?

[Buzzcut1]

If you need a new cooling unit, here it is. I have bought from these folks. top quality units

https://rvcoolingunit.trueims.com/item/388

[pianotuna]

Rookiehookie,

I expect the cooling unit is toast.

[ScottG]

rookiehookie wrote:
thanks for all the answers.
I tried multiple times to turn it on/off. The boiling unit always gets warm, however the fridge doesn't cool, even if I leave it on for the whole night.

Could this be an issue with the coolant (needing to be refilled)?

No, the system is sealed - you cannot check levels or refill.