Fridge/hot water tank question for 345.

[swinginping]

I just got my 345 back in january which if you've read any of my posts, you probably know that. But ive got pretty much everything figured out except my fridge and hot water tank. I've had trailers before but never any trouble with either, and i never really camped without power hook-ups, so i was wondering if my fridge wont work with full power supply, will it work possibly off power plus gas... and if so how do i go about lighting it?? It is a dometic royale. When i turn it on regular power mode i hear a lot of gurgling, is it possible i have some air bubbles in the line and ive heard of people burping them?? It sat for about a year or more without running. I was looking on ebay and saw a cooling unit... if i replaced this would it work??? Anotherwards i guess the cooling unit replaces all pipes and cooling parts?? Also my hot water tank will fill up when i take my flow off bypass, but when i turn my hot water faucets on nothing comes out.... and i know my tank isnt leaking because i can drain it and it still retains the water. I've never had the electric ignition model before....i flipped the toggle switch which turned red.. and then i heard it try and ignite a few times, then it stopped. Im assuming it probably has some air lines and needs to bleed out a little. But am i missing a step anywhere???? But has anyone ever had their tank stopped up?? i guess it what im asking??

[balrgn]

Did you give it a really long time to get cold on AC? It can take hours to notice a change, then it works, too good sometimes.

I manually light my gas fridges. From the back, it is quite easy.

[balrgn]

Oh yeah, this may help?

Open the access pannel, there is a cover that swings away for the flame, I Turn the gas on, Depress the plunger that you "pull" from the inside, while hilding a Match light stick thing in the area. Use caution to NOT allow too much gas to build up in there. Let go of the plunger after a few seconds, it should stay lit.

[lewster]

Swin,

RV refers are made to operate on LP, so yours should also assuming that the cooling unit is in tact. As balgrn said, these types of refers take 8 ours or longer to reach the cooling temps, so plug it in on electric and wait a day and see what happens. The gurgling is usually the liquid ammonia startng to move around in the coils as it gets heated. Be patient!

Your water heater probably has a bad check valve at the hot water outlet fitting that is stuck in the closed position and will not allow water to pass. I would suggest replacing it with an all metal model like the Camco 23303. All of the others, even if they have a brass shell, use plastic components on the inside.

Hope this helps!

[tn2]

Be sure to have you RV on pretty level ground....can hurt the Refrig cooling unit if not

[swinginping]

Got water heater fixed... it was a closed pressure valve right there where the bypass valve is.. i let the fridge run a good 6-8 hours last time, as i know they can take awhile, but the coils on the interior of the fridge and freezer are warm.... not the slightest bit cool. I got the hot water heather lit as well, it fired right up as well. Did the 345's come stock with the dsi models?? or i wonder if this is an aftermarket... i was wondering if it works off electric as well.

[lewster]

Water heaters come in lots of flavors...............

Send me your model # and manufacturer and I'll look it up for you to see exactly what features your heater has............

[vswingfield]

The Dometic 1303 AES (Automatic Energy Selector) in my 1983 Excella detects when it is disconnected from AC and automatically lights itself.

[swinginping]

Mine has an option at the top which says automatic, so maybe i will try this. Is that how yours works??

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by swinginping

Mine has an option at the top which says automatic, so maybe i will try this. Is that how yours works??

I don’t have that choice. It appears to operate completely automagicly. I will try to post a photo of the instruction sticker mounted, crookedly now, on the floor inside. May take a couple of days, though. I’d go ahead and try it in the meantime. Let us know what happens.

[raveson]

After I got my 89 345, the frig would cool only on AC power. I took it to a dometic dealer for service. All seemed to work fine at the shop. Needless to say, by the time I drove home (approx 1 hour) the gas was no longer working and refrig loosing cool in the check mode. The tech said the only possibility was the circut board might be defective and was expensive to replace. So I ran the gen when traveling to keep the cool! Finally had enough and started looking for a board replacement. Through these forums found a lead to gator electronics in Washington state. Bought the board for approx $100 and installed it myself. It was try for about a hundred bucks or buy a new frig to the tune of $1200 or more and install myself. THE BOARD WORKED!!! Keep trying and it will work!