1977 dometic refridgerator

2 hours on propain the fridge portion works and the freezer works...is this to long for things to get cold? how long does it normaly take with older friges?


i was checking out my fridge some more today and that black wire i was refering to comes out of the wall with the wires for the air conditioner/heater thermostate. anyways it's just hanging there and it has no power.....my air conditioner and heater works so i have a mystery wire....almost impossable to trace becouse i have no wiring diagram....i was thinking that its part of the feed for the 12v on my fridge, the (negitive wire). ......on my fridge i found that their is no feed for the 12 volt thats why it didn't work..... i took a 12 volt battery and jumped the 12 volt side of the fridge....and i got the fridge to start working....

now here is my problem what color wires are used on the input for the 12 volt feed and were do they come from...i cant find the wires anywere they were removed for some reason. i looked at my fuse box and i dont know were the fridge gets its power from what color wires or what leg it might be on. were does the fridge get its power from? i'm thinking about running new wires from one of the empty terminals with power....i'd like to hook it back up the way its suppost to be.... next i'll have to figure out whats wrong with the 110 side of my fridge.


heres what i need to now if anyone can help

- is 2 hours to long? how long does it take for one of these fridges to get to usable temperatures?

-what color wires are the input wires for the 12volt feed and were do they come from?

[Pahaska]

My brand new Dometic takes 4 hours this time of year with the help of a frozen blue-ice pack and a pitcher of ice. In the summer, it took 6 or 7 hours. That's about par for the course.

For an old refrigerator, figure as long as overnight to get down without help with ice-pack.

cool thanks

[thenewkid64]

If your Air conditioner is not an armstrong unit the mystery wires are for the Air conditioner thermostat. If you look closely you will find a hole in the wall above the credenza and may find the screw holes that were made when the thermostat was mounted.

As to the original hook up to 12 VDC in 77 I don't belive there was a referigerator made that was auto ignition, let alone had a circut board to control stuff. So tere would have been no 12 VDC there as factory wiring. You could always tap into the 12 volt feed to the antenna/tv outlet on the wall in the lounge??

yes i know all about the thermostate..... it's still there and works great.......i can see were the wires come out of the wall and i know wich wires go to the theremostat....i have removed the thermostat to see if the black wire was for it and doen't look like it......... .if the black wire is for my theremostate why does it work correctly?

I am not talking about automatic....my fridge is a dinasour and EVERYTHING is manual....i didn't say it was automatic........ anyways my fridge has the capability to work on 12 volts becouse it has a 12 volt heating element .......i want to know were the power comes from and what color wires are for the 12 volt side of the fridge.....fridge is a RM100 its old and does not have a computer or chip board and doesn't have automatic anything....but can run off of 12 volt if you turn the switch to 12 volt. and you have power going to it ....doe you know what color wires are used and were do they come from to power the 12 volt side of the fridge

[PeterH-79MH]

On my 79 MH the black wire is the 12V +, the white wire is -.
The black wire goes straight to the 12 V distribution panel and has its own 20 amp fuse.
The + goes on down to the slector switch, which has to be pushed in and turned clockwise to 12V (and elec).
This activates the small solenoid switch via the blue wire allowing 12V to flow to 12V heater element.
These old 3-way RM-100's are fine old refers and are well worth using until they blow.

thanks
thats what i need to know......mine works on 12v when jumped with test leads..... my black wire has no power so thats probable maybe why someone disconeccted it..........mine has a fuse on the back of the fridge tied into a yellow green stripe wire with a fuse in it......i know it's for the 12 volt but i cant remember of hand what it's tied into.......i'm going to run new wires and i'll have the 12v working on my fridge....i'm going to use it tell it quits

thanks again

[PeterH-79MH]

Just remember that running the refer on 12V will discharge your batteries in no time. I use the 12V when going down the road only. You would have to have a heavy charge lead coming from your tow to use it.

yeah i noticed that when i jumped with a battery i had my multimeter on it and watched the voltage go down. i was going to use the 12 volt for towing i thought it would be nice to not have to shut of the fridge while towing....i'm just in the process of trying to fix everything and getting it to work like it's suppost to.

[thenewkid64]

In the newer model trailers with the 3 way refers the 12 VDC feed to the heating element is an individual wire that does not connect to the battery of the trailer at all. It is wired thru the pigtail and has a relay installed on the tow vehicle so power is only present if the engine is on. This is to assure you of a fully charged trailer battery and allow you to tow with the propane off. Depending on the number of wires in your connectors you may have an additional one that could be used for this purpose.

Sorry if I led you down the wrong path, I was not aware that there were 12 VDC powered models of your vintage.

mine hasa a 7 way plug

[PeterH-79MH]

I wired a red indicator light to the white wire on the relay and mounted it right by the door.
This tells me:
1. The switch is really set to 12V
2. The relay is working
3. Don't walk away with the refer on 12V or you'll be sorry.

[thenewkid64]

1. Brake feed for trailer brakes
2. Right turn signal
3. Left turn Signal
4. Back up lights
5. Trailer battery charge line
6. Running lights
7. Ground

8. Feed for refer. You would need to replace your current setup to wire for the refer 12 VDC Feed. Just a suggestion as I have had a battery go dead because I left something (the furnace in storage) on and it was not fun having to wait for it charge back up from the tow vehicle so I could jack it up to hook up.

Those are not pin locations, just my way of thinking of them. There are links that show the correct wiring pin outs But I am unsure as to the addresses.

yeah i wave mine set up my own way when i bought the trailer i had to rewire the trailer pig tail for my truck.....the trailer came with a four wire plug somebody stuck on there......i put a seven way back on it