kerryedwards
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Re: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07
Picked up a couple of thermal fuses at a Radio Shack store yesterday. The fuses have a coned end and a flat end. The packaging says the flat end is the sensitive fused end and to locate the fuse with this in mind. The closer the flat end is to the heat source, the quicker the fuse will activate. If the Dometic fuse is similar, this is worth knowing when placing the fuse in its holding bracket.454Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07
Radio Shack has thermal fuses that look very much like the ones Dometic is retrofitting. There's a maximum voltage listed (240v) so I don't know if they will work on 12 volts but at $1.50 a few simple experiments with a 12 volt source, a fuse and a match or lighter should confirm whether or not they will replace the Dometic original. It looks like they have at least two different temperature fuses available. http://www.radioshack.com/sm-ceramic-and-thermal-fuses--fi-2032300_cp-2032058.2032234.html454Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07
Irelands child wrote: QUOTEI will check mine shortly but as an interim "roadside fix" in case of an unexpected failure can the diode be bypassed and the reefer run without it in the circuit. I would expect that I could lift the two wires from the device, connect them together and operate the reefer until a proper repair could be made (these kind of failures usually happen, in my experience, on a Saturday evening 200 miles from the closest RV shop) Yes. Fuse is in the red hot line going from the limit switch to the circuit board. It's covered with a black rubber material. Simply slide back the black rubber and jump a piece of wire around the fuse (it looks like a diode). Wire is bare at each end of the diode so it is a simple repair. Dometic will have a fit if you tell them you are doing this. Does anyone know an on-line source for these thermal fuses or diodes?345Views0likes0CommentsRe: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07
Had the recall fix done. After 4 days of use, frig failed. No lights at all so I figured it was a lack of power. Called Camping World which did the fix and asked them if anything in the recall work would cut the power. Answer was no. After waiting for 20 minutes to talk to a tech, I gave up and called Dometic. Asked the tech there if anything in the recall would cause frig to lose power. Was told no, and that I probably had a bad circuit board. Didn't really believe this given the timing so started doing some investigating. Found power going to the initial wire going to the frig but no power coming out from the same wire once it disappeared behind the additional metal work. Disassembled the recall metal and found a failed diode which had been added during the recall. Called back Dometic and they finally admitted that the failed diode (thermal fuse) would cause a power failure. I then tried to figure out if the diode failed due to overheating or a bad diode. Measured the temperature of the burner (running with the diode jumped) on propane at a high of 300 degrees in one small spot with most of the chimney surrounding the burner in the 150-200 degree range. (measured with an infrared thermometer) Called Dometic and tried to get them to tell me what the normal operating temperatures were. They refused to tell me. I argued with them for about half an hour. Got nowhere. Called them back the next day and kept insisting that I wanted the info (which they denied they had) since I suspected that they had installed a diode that would fail at a low temperature to further limit their liabiities. Finally they told me that 300 degrees was a safe operating temperature. Since I was 4 days into a month long roadtrip, I had to pay $85 for a service call for a tech to replace the failed diode. The diode was installed within about one inch of the hot portion of the burner chimney. Tech said diode was installed too close and failed because of this. So, be warmed, the recall can cause the frig to fail and Dometic will deny that the recall had anything to do with it. It is in their interest to deny the connection and get the consumer to replace their frig since it takes a frig which is a liability to them out of service. I would like to know the exact temperatures at which the diode is designed to fail and also the temperatures of the limit switch which is installed in the burner chimney.469Views0likes0Comments
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