Dometic 8 cubic foot fridge problem/question
We just completed our 34 day jaunt looping around the US from Florida to Colorado to Maine.
The fridge was working great until we hit Indiana; it started to lose its cool. It wasn't that hot out, either.
I checked the fuse in the back of the fridge (accessible from the outside); I cycled from gas to electric; I checked the sliding thermostat; I turned it off for a considerable while before restarting. Nothing worked. All lights illuminated and I could hear the gas burner running (when on gas) but the unit did not cool.
We lost quite a bit of food, but saved some, too, by placing it in an ice chest (reminds me of the days when we camped with the VW pop-up).
I know the unit takes a while to cool off - when checking I let it run over-night on shore power and on gas while traveling.
When we finally got to Maine we took it in to CW for warranty work (the unit is only 18 months old). They said they'd have to trouble-shoot it before determining if it could be worked under warranty, otherwise if nothing was wrong I'd get billed for 1/2 hour (it's amazing the rate they charge for a tech these days ... well over $100/hour).
Wouldn't you know it, but when they plugged it in the fridge cooled down to more-than-satisfactory levels. I asked if they did any poking around to see what the problem could have been. Of course not! I paid my money and after we got home plugged the unit in ... and it worked.
Does anyone have the slightest idea why the unit would refuse to cool for 10 days and then suddenly start working? The service advisor at CW wasn't much help ... he commented on possibly too high an ambient temperature (which we hadn't had when the issue occurred, and it's a lot hotter in Florida and we never had a problem), and blocked vents (which they did not check for). I did a search of older posts relating to "refrigerator not working" and Gearhead's response of 10-23-2015 made the most sense to me (dealing with crystallizing refrigerant - but how does that happen, and can it self-correct?).
Thanks.
PS I won't be able to reply right away; I have no Internet access at the house we are staying at and must travel to the local town library.
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Now: 2019 Winnebago 2500FL w/e2 WDH;Sold: 2015 Bullet Premier 19FBPR (shown)
2012 Ford F-250 Lariat Super Duty Crew Cab (gas 6.2 L, 3.73 gear ratio 2WD, 172" WB)
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