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Old 10-06-2010, 12:51 PM   #1
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1992 25' Excella
Houston , Texas
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noob fridge ? :cooling down

I have a '92 Excella. I turned my fridge on last night in full electric mode, and all the lights showed that it was working right, as per instructions in dometic manual & on fridge itself. This afternoon it hasn't gotten cool yet. I've read other posts where the advice is to wait longer, and I'll do that.

However, my question is: I'm just running it on electric, and have my propane completely shut-off. So, do I need to have the propane on to light a pilot or something, even though I want to run my fridge on electric???


Thanks so much t

Tinlove
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Old 10-06-2010, 01:15 PM   #2
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The only thing I know is on my refrig. is the first thing it says in the manual is to be sure the gas is turned off then put it on the elec. Mine is older than yours but I see no reason for any gas being on when you are using elec. If I am wrong I stand humbly corrected.
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Old 10-06-2010, 01:39 PM   #3
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If you turned it on last night it should be cold by this afternoon. A couple things to check...

1. Is the trailer level? It must be level or in motion in order for the frig to work properly.
2. Check your fuses and/or circuit breakers.
3. Try running it on propane and see if that works.

If it still doesn't work, it may be a bad cooling unit. Did you notice an ammonia smell?
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Old 10-06-2010, 05:02 PM   #4
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Heating element?

The heating element could have failed. Hard to tell how much it was used in the last 18+ years. But the element is like a light bulb, it has a finite life. If you have access to the back of the refer, check to see if any of the piping is warm. You could also try it on propane, if it gets cold on propane, I would check out the electric element.
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Old 10-06-2010, 06:21 PM   #5
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Reffer madness

Open the outside access door and put your hand on the vertical flue to the right. Be careful, it should be hot.

You will also see what looks like one of those tee warmers sticking out of the vertical flue with 2 wires sticking out. This will be the electric heating element, it should be HOT.

I would next try running the fridge on propane.

Good luck...
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Old 10-07-2010, 09:35 AM   #6
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1992 25' Excella
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thanks everyone! Turned it on propane last night, and no hint of cool today? The trailer is level, no ammonia smell, and the indicator lights say it's working fine, but it's not cooling. I have now turned it completly off. I'll check the flue. There's also a little dial knob in the control panel outside the airstream. Maybe that's turned to the wrong position? thanks again

tinlove t
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Old 10-07-2010, 10:33 AM   #7
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ok...started it back up on electric to check out the flue warmth & heating element warmth. did unscrew the panel that covered what looks like a small propan/pilot burner under the bottom of the flue, but nothing is lit there. thanks
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Old 10-07-2010, 11:31 AM   #8
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1992 25' Excella
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flue & electric element arent' warm at all. tried switching to propane & pilot light doesn't light. going to pull off burner jet & clean.
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Old 10-07-2010, 01:26 PM   #9
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Don't forget to check the switches on the refer. There should be an on/off and an auto/LP. For the electric to work, the auto/LP has to be in the auto position.

If you place the auto/LP in LP, you should hear the click-click-click of the auto igniter. There is no pilot light, it is a spark igniter. The burner is very small though, and will resemble a pilot light sized flame in proper operation.

Lastly, the refer control board (read brain) must have 12 volt power (from the battery or convertor) to operate in either 120 volt AC or LP modes. The indicator lights seem to functioning, so it should be getting this 12 volt power, but you could check the board near the heating unit just be sure it is getting power there too.

GOOD LUCK.
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Old 10-07-2010, 03:45 PM   #10
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rvmobile.com has some wonderful information and diagrams of how these fridges are supposed to work.
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Old 10-07-2010, 04:44 PM   #11
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thanks all yeah, did all the switches on the unit right. no clicking for lp & no warmth of any kind on flue or elctric "deal" that runs into it higher up. I know my lp is working in the rest of the trailer, because my stove works just fine.
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Old 10-08-2010, 09:06 PM   #12
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Non cooling fridge

You didn't mention whether you have a 110/12v/propane fridge. I had an issue hooking up 110 volt, and propane, and expecting the unit to cool. However, the control panel uses 12VDC, and requires those connections to control the entire unit.

Hope that helps.
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Old 10-08-2010, 09:07 PM   #13
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Another thought, check the manual valve near the pilot to be sure it's open, I forgot to open mine, so, as one would expect, no ignition.
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Old 10-16-2010, 02:16 AM   #14
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thanks all :)

after many different failed troubleshooting attempts, I took it to a trailer dealership nearby that is is an official dometic repair shop. The conclusion is that the control board was out! Wow, the fridge has a control board...that was news to me anyway, it will be fixed next week. thanks for all the advice
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