Fridge/Help

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 11:10 AM

Ok so I went dry camping this past weekend and everything went fine until my fridge which was running on gas started acting up. It would run about 5hrs and then the check gas light would blink and I would turn it off and then a few minutes later turn it back on and it would run for awhile and then do it again. This time it would not relight so I went out and opened the compartment and then opened the spot to use a lighter and relight it and it would run several hours and do it again. I'm thinking the igniter is bad but not sure. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

**JRTJH** · 04-15-2013, 11:24 AM

I'd try it with the trailer plugged into shore power. After a few hours of "camping" the 12V battery may run down enough that it can't provide enough DC power to operate the igniter. My first hunch would be the batter was too far discharged...

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 11:44 AM

I could hear the igniter clicking and the battery showed three of four bars on my display.

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 11:56 AM

JRTJH, I plugged my camper into shore power and turned on gas then turned fridge on in gas mode and will see what happens. Thanks for the reply. Will see if it does it this way.

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 06:01 PM

Well I just went out to check fridge and lo and behold the lights were blinking. Any ideas?

**JRTJH** · 04-15-2013, 07:02 PM

Is it plugged into shore power?

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 07:30 PM

Yes it is pluged into shore power.

**JRTJH** · 04-15-2013, 07:52 PM

You may well have a defective cooling unit on the refrigerator. Ours did much the same thing, it would start and cool properly, then when it cycled off, it wouldn't come back on and would start to warm up.

Ours did it on electricity as well as gas. The solution, according to Dometic was to replace the cooling unit. Dometic overnighted a new cooling unit to the dealer and they replaced it. That was 3 years ago and all is good.

If it keeps doing it, take it in and have them fix it properly, no need for you to lose camping time with a reefer that won't work

dk1ret · 04-15-2013, 08:22 PM

Thanks for the info. I'll take it in next week.

**JRTJH** · 04-15-2013, 10:04 PM

I am assuming that you took the cover off the black box in the back of the refrigerator and checked the two fuses there? There are two glass fuses (like the old automotive fuses) inside that panel. Check them carefully, they may be your problem. I think, if I remember Hankaye's comments correctly, the 3 amp fuse is the culprit for the gas operation ?? I'm not sure of that, but there are two fuses that you should check. Then,

If the refrigerator works normally on electricity but not on gas, then it's the control panel either inside on the refrigerator "brow" or it's the control/igniter board in the back of the refrigerator. If, however, it is doing the same thing on gas and on electricity, it is probably the cooling unit.

The reefer has either a 2 or 3 year warranty, so you may still be covered by the Dometic warranty. If you bought an extended warranty, it also may (probably will) cover any repairs that are beyond the deductible.

dk1ret · 04-16-2013, 05:50 AM

John,
I checked the fuses and they were fine. I'm going to take it in and have it looked at because I am afraid i'll screw something up and them be up the creek with out a paddle. Besides thats why I bought the extended warranty. Thanks for all your help. I'll try to post what the verdict is when its done. This truly is a great forum!!!!!

**JRTJH** · 04-16-2013, 06:22 AM

Good luck, Bill, I hope they get you fixed up and back on the road quickly.

dk1ret · 04-22-2013, 08:27 AM

Well I dropped it off at camping world last friday and picked it up today. They could not find anything wrong with it. It relit as it was supposed to. I replaced a relay on the front of the camper where the bolt was rusting to put on a longer wire to my battery as I installed another battery to run two versus one. I guess my battery was not charged enough. They(camping world) said if the batteries were low even on electric it would cause it to do that. I don't know. So i'll just wait and see if it happens again or i'm just loosing it!!!! Thanks for all your help John!! I guess time will tell!

dk1ret · 04-23-2013, 03:14 PM

Well after I got camper set up at house I plugged into shore power and turned on gas and turn on fridge in gas mode and left it on all night checking it every onse and a while and no problem at all. Unplugged from shore power and ran on battery for at least six hours and no problems so I guess all is ok, I hope!

iamrwnut · 04-23-2013, 04:29 PM

Great news DK1. Hopefully you have a permanent fix. Thanks for you service in the United States Navy. BT1(SW) here, civilian now, but not retired.

dk1ret · 04-23-2013, 05:29 PM

iamrwnut, Thanks for your service too.

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