Atwood Helium 6 refrigerator

[jska142]

Bought the Passport new in 2013 it is a 2014 3220BH...yes I have had a few minor problems with the fridge but nothing that I couldn't fix myself...let's start by saying Google is my best friend and this forum...
Took wife and grandkids to a park...set up trailer..told them no microwave while A/C is running.Fridge was working fine.Electric at this NYS park is always a problem. Wife called twice to say circut breaker tripped. forgot about the micro second time she plugged in a crock pot when I get the 3rd call and drive up to pick them up.
fridge light is blue shows its on AC and 5 bars but its 76 degrees in both freezer and fridge. I swiitch it to gas pilot lights I opened up the outside door and I can see that the flame is lit and appears to be working...after 8 hrs..nothing.so power to fridge all lights look like it should work thermister is right where it should be..when going to gas it shows its working on GAS and 5 bars and gas is lit and rflame is showing but nothing is cold.
When got home pulled off the cover from the circuit board checked all 3 fuses with a tester all are good and the 15 amp blue fuse from inside the unit where al the fuses are..No tripped breakers in the trailer...battery was at 86 percent.
I don't know what else to do...no one makes parts anymore...I did find a used red wire from controller to the pilot light area when the gas wouldnt work on Ebay and luckily that fixed it and was working on both elec/gas up until last weekend. I'm taking a wild guess that the compressor quit but I don't know if that comes on when using gas?
I did find the "reset button" on the stack above the pilot light but it doesnt act like you can push it in I accidentally pulled off the little white plastic sheath and it looks like just a very short piece like the tip of a needle pushing it in did nothing and trying to go up and down didn't look like an option. I included a pic of a Dometic reset button...this heliem does not appear to have a button...just a little flimsy wire between the 2 wires.

[chuckster57]

Your fridge doesn’t have a compressor. It uses heat from a flame or a heating element to boil a solution, and as that solution cools it “absorbs” the heat from the interior of the fridge.

If your heating element is working and you see a flame but the fridge isn’t cooling, I’m afraid your cooling unit has failed. Dometic bought Atwood’s refer line years ago and quit supporting them.

Your best bet is to locate a working cooling unit or replace the fridge.

[JRTJH]

I would "TEMPORARILY" (as a test) disconnect the two red wires on the chimney temperature switch and connect them together (bypassing the thermal switch). Then see if the refrigerator will operate. If so, you might find a replacement on EBay or you could adapt a Dometic thermal switch to work.

If it's not the thermal switch, you're going to have problems finding repair parts and honestly, even finding someone to work on it. Almost every RV service facility will refuse to work on it because they know if they do find a problem, they can't get parts to fix it, so why do the troubleshooting, only to tell the owner they can't get parts.

As for a "compressor" there isn't one in an absorption refrigerator system. It works on an entirely different technology of high pressure liquid conversion to a gas which absorbs heat, creating the cooling affect.

When Dometic bought Atwood, they stopped manufacturing the He Technology refrigerator and, like my T-bird, parts are impossible to find. All I can suggest is you might get lucky and be able to "piece it back together" but eventually, it's going to be "replace it because it can't be fixed"....

[jska142]

Thanks guys I will try putting those 2 wires together then if noth9ing works I have the measurements on the Width Height and Depth of this helium 6 I may start looking for a regular house style refridgerator/freezer if I find one that small and plug it in the outlet near curcuit board.

[jska142]

maybe I'm getting lucky...but when I get home I'm going to put those 2 wires together and I found a cooling unit on Amazon says it is OEM for Aywood 8 and 6 we will see
RV Cooling Unit Warehouse Atwood Refrigerator AC Heating Element 300 watt HE601 HE801#14044

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by jska142

maybe I'm getting lucky...but when I get home I'm going to put those 2 wires together and I found a cooling unit on Amazon says it is OEM for Aywood 8 and 6 we will see
RV Cooling Unit Warehouse Atwood Refrigerator AC Heating Element 300 watt HE601 HE801#14044

Read the description carefully !!!!! I haven't seen any "complete cooling units" for the Atwood HE2 refrigerator advertised on Amazon. If there is one, it's probably going to be around $1000 or maybe even more. What I think you found is the "300 watt heating element" for the Atwood cooling unit. The 6 and 8 cuft units both use the same 300 watt electric element. So, maybe you did luck up on a complete refrigerator cooling unit, but just be sure what you're paying for because some of the Amazon vendors don't accept returns.

Also, if you're considering a replacement with a "house refrigerator" remember that there are two "HUGE" vents behind the refrigerator (if it's in a slide) or two "HUGE" vents, one if the sidewall and one on the roof, that you'll need to close/seal, or you'll have a direct opening to the outside with no screens and no way to stop heat, rain, bugs and mice/rats from making your trailer their "home away from home".... So, think through the conversion to a 120 VAC refrigerator. It can be done, but it does take some modifications to make it work satisfactorily.

[jska142]

Yes when I got out of work I looked again and it was just a heating tube element..I remember touching that tube and it was hot when I switched to gas... so on with the house fridge to replace it...thanks for the advice on sealing the roof and side vent...its against a sidewall not in the slide unit...

and If you don't mind...that electrical outlet where the gas/elec control panel etc is on the outside of the trailer...can I use that to plug in the house fridge?

now to find a baby refridge

[chuckster57]

The outlet in the lower access space can be used for the replacement fridge. Just be sure the wire and breaker are rated for the load.

[jska142]

Update
I had my finger on the trigger...I saw at Camping World a Norcold 7LX same size for about $1890.00 plus labor..was taking it there for them to see if they would have to remove a door or window to get the old/ new in and out. But I went and brought the trailer home from the storage unit...plugged it in and the next morning the freezer was 40 fridge at 60 ( 14hrs after plugging in)
later that day freezer was at 7 and fridge was at 30 ( fridged always seems to run cold ) but not complaining...so no new fridge and I assume it just got "froze over with ice" and after a few days it thawed...so I live another day

[chuckster57]

Hope it lives on for a long time.