voltage question for old Dometic fridge

[386kustoms]

so i have a 77 argosy that has its orig fridge in it. works perfect on gas but does not cool on electric. i took the access cover off to chase the wires and see if there is any problem and this is what i came up with. the power cord going in has 120v. it then goes to the switch still has 120v. coming out of switch when fridge is turned on is still 120v. then it goes to the thermostat. 120v goes in but only .08 volts comes out of the thermostat. from there it goes to the heating element and that only has .08v as well. now no matter what setting i have the thermostat on it still reads .08v and never changes. what reading should be coming from the thermostat?

[RickDavis]

You should have 120 volts coming out of the thermostat also. The heater is 120 volt at about1.3 amps.

You could hook power directly to the heater terminals to check its operation as they go open also although if it did, the voltage would still be there.

I had the electric thermostat fail on a similiar age fridge. RM 60 or 66 as I recall
. I scavenged a used one out of a junker.

I had the heater fail this year so I have seen enough that back panel to last a while

[386kustoms]

how difficult is it to pull the thermostat out?

[idroba]

I have not pulled the thermostat on that specific refrigerator, but as I recall mostly you need access to everything, so the refrigerator will probably need to be removed. Then you can get at the thermostat, the capillary tube that goes into the box (and needs to be carefully handled on the new 'stat so you don't kink it). Then you can see all the components and figure out how to replace it.

Now, my solution would be just to forget it, and use the refrigerator on propane only. The cost of a new thermostat, the hassle of replacement and so on don't justify the effort. But then, I virtually never use the 120 volt side of any of my RV refrigerators. I don't have to change over, light them, fiddle with them from one system to the other. I am on a trip right now, and at a friends home, plugged into their power. But the refrigerator is on propane, as it was when I left.

[RickDavis]

Originally Posted by idroba

I have not pulled the thermostat on that specific refrigerator, but as I recall mostly you need access to everything, so the refrigerator will probably need to be removed. Then you can get at the thermostat, the capillary tube that goes into the box (and needs to be carefully handled on the new 'stat so you don't kink it). Then you can see all the components and figure out how to replace it.

Now, my solution would be just to forget it, and use the refrigerator on propane only. The cost of a new thermostat, the hassle of replacement and so on don't justify the effort. But then, I virtually never use the 120 volt side of any of my RV refrigerators. I don't have to change over, light them, fiddle with them from one system to the other. I am on a trip right now, and at a friends home, plugged into their power. But the refrigerator is on propane, as it was when I left.

I pretty much agree with the above, depending on the cost of the thermostat and your willingness to pull the fridge.

I generally figure that a 30 lb bottle of propane is good for 2 to 3 weeks for the fridge and cooking and we almost never have electric where we camp. We did our 2 month FL trip strictly on gas this year since the heater failed right before we left.

I will switch to electric for a several day stop but usually won't bother for overnight.