Troubleshooting Dometic Refrigerator Not Cooling
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- This customer has a Dometic refrigerator that stopped cooling. I go thru some tests to try to figure out what is wrong with it.
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We recently had trouble with our Dometic Refrigerator in our 5th wheel. Before we headed out for our 9 day camping trip the fridge registered 33 degrees. Once we got to the campground it was up to 59. After watching several you tubers we found that we had loaded too much in to the fridge, and the refrigerator was not able to keep up. Once we off loaded some of the food into a cooler the temperature slowly started to drop. By morning we were back to 33 degrees. 🎉. Another thing we learned is that once you purchase your RV good luck finding someone who wants to help with repairs. Even our dealership treated us badly. Be your own steward, there’s a lot of good advise given on CZcams. Happy camping!!
Absorption refrigerators just won't recover very fast. Always try to prechill things before putting them in. There is a lot of good advice, but there is a LOT of bad advice on CZcams also, be careful.
While my husband was at work the other day I told him that the fridge was broken but he couldn't figure it out and then didn't necessarily believe it so I ran a test with 2 water, in the freezer one was frozen, and in the fridge it was lukewarm. So I but my big girl pants on and went ham testing and fidgeting and figured out it was the therm and replace💪☺️
Awesome
Was the fridge on AC or gas?
Thank you for explaining how you diagnose these frig units.
You are welcome
Great video like always. If my RV refrigerator ever goes bad I’m replacing it with a residential refrigerator.
That is an option.
Excellent video and diagnostic tests Kenny! For folks who are stationary, I suggest they buy a 12vdc refrigerator from HD. 1/4 of the cost, and a little trim work.
That is an option.
There has been a lot of issues with the 12DC refrigerators. The compressor go bad all
the time. That’s why a lot of RV techs are really against them.
@@Hugo-Hernandez That has been my experience with them too.
What is a "12vdc refrigerator from HD". I guess I'm wondering what HD is and how is this different from the refrigerators that come in our RVs...mine is made to work on propane or AC.
@hillbillyrv sorry, I meant 120vac and not 12vdc
Yesterday I pulled the vents off the outside of my truck camper and blew out the fins in the back of the refrigerator and blowed around on the fans and just kind of cleaned up in there it made a heck of a big difference I couldn't believe the dust that was on those fans being only a year old the fans haven't kicked on since and it stayed a lot cooler that's something to try it worked for me
I like the thermistor test! Thank God for snow!
Use what ya got.
Thanks for this video. Found out pretty fast I have a coolant leak. Appreciate the troubleshooting thought process. Living in my camper full time due to how expensive the Hill Country is to live in.
It sucks that you lost your fridge.
Everybody needs to check and make sure your freezer is level . Both side to side and front to rear . If its not level the coolant won't circulate properly which will affect the temperature in refrigerator. Run for a period of time like that will lead to blockage like what this guy had . Level by the freezer only , not the camper , its the only thing in the camper that is level sensitive . These type of refrigerators should a orange sticker on door that says so . Just sayin
It could be as big as the refrigerator and people would still not read the sticker.
This freeze we just had everywhere caused lots of problems. Everyone in Facebook was complaining their fridges weren’t cooling. I was made aware that the coolant inside can gel up like diesel fuel. Takes a bit to thaw out. Could that have been the issue? It happened to a customer of mine. Ram all the tests you ram. No solution for him. He went home. Few days later the fridge was working fine. 🤷♂️
This was after the cold snap. This cooling unit is just bad.
sometime if you run a viberator sander with out the sandpaper over the coil as far up as you can reach it will break the blockage loose and it will start coolin agn.
ok
I have a wiring harness I made to straight wire the electrical heating element and a cheap timer. Made it to use just as a backup when camping.
That's a new one.
I don’t think most new conventional refrigerator freezers will last 10 years, that seems like a good lifetime for that unit. I work on Commercial Absorption Chillers, it is not the same chemicals as the RV Refrigerators, but basically the same principles. It seems foreign to most people to apply heat in one end and get cold out of the other.
It would be neat to see an in depth how it works with one of those units.
Thanks for the Videos. You and the Mrs Have a Happy New Year.
I didn't know the absorption technology was still being used anywhere other than RV refrigerators. My RV Works has a great video on how RV refrigerators work. Go check it out. Happy New Year to you also.
Thanks great info ! We have a 2006 f450 c class in the uk! Our fridge keeps coming up with the check light and not cooling a real pain.
That sucks.
you can tap on cooling unit with a rubber mallet everywhere and put fridge back in. worked on my 2006 norcold n611 that had a blockage and would not cool. would only get down to 40 in fridge before. after it went down to 34 in fridge
I have seen that work 1 time in my career and then it blocked again a couple of weeks later. Not a long-term fix in my book.
@@hillbillyrv worked on my fridge and still works almost a month later
Thank you for your help. I'm trying to figure out what happened to my brothers frig in camper & I bought new board cause electric was good until I got to board...got it in & orange light come on top of frig but not sure what's going on.
That sounds like a tough one.
You can test the thermistor by putting the end in ice water and testing resistance.
Yes but it knew it wasn’t a thermister problem. I wanted to take all the controls out of the picture and test the cooling unit.
Thanks for the info, mine will be working good and then cuts out, I do see a little yellow on the back wall small dried stain. And it’s hot outdoors will that affect the performance? Fridge is 20 yrs old Dometic. is hot in there like it’s supposed to be
It’s hard to say for sure.
Fridge suddenly stopped cooling. Back wall of freezer is cool, but by no means freezing. Replaced thermistor (cheapest part) but not hopeful. No yellow to be seen, and repair guy wants way too much to diagnose.
Sorry. I hope you find a solution.
Love your attitude!
lol. You are one of the few.
My RV freezer works fine but the refrigerator doesnt get cold at all. What could cause this?
I have the same problem when it’s on AC.
Great info Kenny thank you sir. Happy new year to you and Mrs. Hillbilly
You too.
Been there did that but his thermistor was the problem. Happy New Year my friend
I was hoping, but nope.
Good job in that Service call. Just what I would have done.
Thanks Stan.
At the beginning of this presentation you checked to see if there was 12 volts coming into the system. What if a person does not have 12 volts DC coming into the system? I live in my RV and the battery is dead.
You need to figure out why the battery is dead. I have a bunch of videos on power converter testing and replacing.
Thank you for getting back with me. I have a pretty good idea of why the battery is dead. I hope we are talking about the one in the engine compartment. The RV has not been run in years, and as such there was no recharging of the battery. So, my questions remains. Do I need 12 volts coming in to run the fridge?@@hillbillyrv
YES@@rubarb0406
Thank you for the response. Much appreciated.@@hillbillyrv
If it's too cold block the access vent with cardboard to reduce the air circulation
Better to put a little heat back there.
Hi I have just been watching your videos on repairing a Dometic fridge with a replacement board! P711! I’m in the UK with a Dometic AESii RM6505. Don’t suppose you know if it would be compatible and the best place to find one might be? I’m having yet more problems and don’t want to have to buy a new one! Hope you can help. Regards Paul
I have had compatibility problems with some Dinosaur boards and Dometic refrigerators. I am not familiar with the model RM 6505. If board is bad, probably best to replace it with Dometic part.
Thanks for the great infomation.
You are welcome.
Im having this same issue with a Dometic RM2611. Just to clarify, if the final AC test with the heating element had worked. That would mean the control board was bad? Or did I miss something?
Correct
Wish you had shown what you were doing inside the the box
I wish I had a camera the size of a bug too. Sorry William, I do the best I can.
After going all over our 2000 Dometic with a multimeter and seeing that the upper board lights up, the burner lights up, but I can't get any cooling or light inside it looks like it's dead.
It doesn't sound good, but you can't really call it until you hot wire the 110 volt heating element and let it go wide open for 6-8 hours.
Question? Did the refrigerator have a winter heating unit on it? That is the first thing I thought to question. Or did I miss that part?
Winter heating unit? Of course, it was cold Christmas weekend, but in the 30s and 40s when I tested it.
If it was me I'd rip that fridge out n cap off the propane then just replace it with a little residential fridge. He's living in it full time and so I assume he's on shore power so a little 8.5 or a 10 cubic foot residential fridge will work just fine.
Can you switch to a residential refrigerator if the furnace unit is below the refrigerator?
He does travel sometimes.
Absolutely
Great informational video. Thanks Don
😂 I live in mine FULL TIME and I’m Never on Shore power. 😅
My unit doesnt work on ac or propane. I need it to work on ac. I did these tests, my thermistor is good, my heating element gets hot, my cooling unit heats up and fridge gets cold, while doing the hotwire. So the cooling unit, thermistor and heating element works. What does that leave? The control board?
The control board is getting both ac and current. The 3amp and 5amp fuses have continuity.
Fridges are tough. A lot of components and wiring that can go bad. Super hard to diagnose long distance.
@@hillbillyrv Thank you for your quick response. i figured it out. The negative connection (ground) on the control panel, for the heating element, wasn't grounded properly, so i disconnected that wire and re-grounded it, with good connections. THANK YOU, the heating element test is what helped me figure this out.
Awesome@@jordanmgold
so average life for an Rv fridge is about 10 years? i been living in mine for just over 10 years. heating Element is getting nice and hot but frigid just isn’t that cold. im assuming its only somewhat cold because its -15 C outside lol also i don’t know how long the fridge was in the Rv before i got it. thanks for the great video.
You need to have it checked by a good RV tech before you condemn it.
@@hillbillyrv thanks for getting back to me.
Mine is having the same issue but my heater element is really hot. Also I’ve been running it on a steep incline. If I have a blockage what are my chances of unblocking it?
In my experience. No chance at all.
Can a Thermistor blow out the glass fuse on the outside control board?
I would say no, but I can't say for sure.
Nice work!
Thanks Scott.
What does it mean if you find yellow residue?
That's real bad. The Ammonia has leaked out.
Great informational video. Thanks Don
Nice video!
Thanks
Nice tests Kenny would you option for your customer to do a 12 volt compressor fridge or go with the absorption fridge have a great new year’s 🎉
I am not a fan of the 12 volt refrigerators.
Need to show were your putting meter leads on?
Next time.
My reading 15 oms do you think is bad ?
They make different watt heaters. They all read different ohms. There is a formula for that. You need the wattage of the heater and the voltage (120 volt) and you can find the ohms. You should be able to find that formula online.
40 years ago my ant would take her fridge put it flat on its back in truck bed and fly up and down the road put it back in that would fix blockage
LOL.....that's funny.
My fridge is brand new i just turned it to max so it would get colder came back to a none working fridge
Bummer
The power on my refrigerator is on and it is not working help please
It could be MANY things.
That is NOT
“The Best you can do!”
Test and show us that you know how to test the thermistor..?
Before you just replace it!!!
I think you forgot to watch this video. In the video from 10:50-13:40 I show exactly how I tested the old thermister and the new thermister. So this is the BEST I can do.
Try burping the fridge, 90% of the time that will fix the fault of not cooling when you have a heat source!
Put it over your shoulder and pat it on the back?
@@hillbillyrv You got it, I normally put unit on its head then back normal again when the bubbling noises stop, repeat about 4 times, try it you will be surprised how effective it is fixing a non-cooling 3 way fridge using this method.
@@stealthkiwi1869 I have seen that tried many times. Even done it myself a couple of times. Never seen it work.
Freezer working find but the lower refrigerator not working any ideas
Many ideas. Bad thermistor, bad control board, bad cooling unit, hard to say really.
@@hillbillyrv interesting I thought if freezer was working it might be something minor. But I guess the freezer and refrigerator are two independent units. Thanks
@@iammichaelhughes Freezer gets the cold first. Whatever is left then goes to fridge.
There’s a fan that blows cold air from the freezer to the fridge.
@@rodneyhoskins8187 Nope. No moving parts in an absorption refrigerator. If refrigerator is installed in a slide out, it will have a fan on the back of the refrigerator. On the cooling unit.
OK a little less BULSHITTING and a little more what's wrong with it.
So, your first comment was before you even watched the video?
What are the possible causes of blockage in the cooling unit ?
Running refrigerator out of level while RV is stationary or sometimes it just happens. There are probably others causes too, just not sure.
@@hillbillyrv thank you for the quick response and advice
I'll definitely keep mine as level as possible.
❤
😀
Y’all got your money out of a 10 yr old refrigerator… 👍
For a full timer, yes.
What the h*** is a "thermister???" 🤣
It reads temperature.
@@hillbillyrv You mean a thermometer!?! 🤔
Google thermister.@@elizabethsantoro7332
An electric thermal resistor (thermistor)
Why can’t you show us what you’re doing closer up. Where is the thermastor wire. Where you checking voltage: come on now!
I do the best I can Joey. Anytime you want to volunteer to write and produce my videos, I am totally up for that.
Sorry but I'm with the other commenter on this - I've watched 80 hrs of yt vids - just in rv fridge crap. I've yet to figure 9ut how to do actual testing. I and I suspect many many others, didn't have the opportunity to learn how to use a multimeter. Please show details with coinciding instructions please please
@@kristinastevens509 I'll try to do better.
😅
Sorry but you talk a lot about nothing and then you say you are doing something but Don't show anything and you keep rambling on about something but not showing anything. yea I'm going to check the voltage on this and yep its right there. A total waste of time.....
Then thanks for wasting your time here. Have a great day Mark.
Worst video i've ever witnessed😂😂
Awesome. I have reached #1 status.
too much talking and wasting time!!
Ok
Terrible Video, can't see anything but this guy talking
Ok
Great Video, Thank You! So it's 9.4 K? Ohms instead of 9.4 Ohms?
9.4 k ohms.