Dometic Fridge miswired, Now What?

[jyobp]

I have been reworking a 1968 Tradewind this winter and found that the previous owners miswired the refridgerator and connected the 12v dc input wires to 120v ac. The fridge still runs on ac but there is no response on the gas. We have another similar Dometic that requires that you hold a button in until the gas system catches... and there is a 'click' when you hold that button in. No click here at all now.

Any suggestions as to where to start?

Thanks.
Jim

[Boondocker]

I have no idea what I am talking about here, but I'm not going to let that slow me up. I wonder if they didn't fry the board. '68 Trade Winds are WAY cool btw.


(oh yeah, Lew will know)

[lewster]

Originally Posted by jyobp

I have been reworking a 1968 Tradewind this winter and found that the previous owners miswired the refridgerator and connected the 12v dc input wires to 120v ac. The fridge still runs on ac but there is no response on the gas. We have another similar Dometic that requires that you hold a button in until the gas system catches... and there is a 'click' when you hold that button in. No click here at all now.

Any suggestions as to where to start?

Thanks.
Jim

OUCH!!!

What an idiot!!!!!! (unless you happen to be personally aquainted with said 'idiot'!!)

Anyway, 'The Gen' is probably correct in that whatever electronics you have in that fridge are TOAST after having 120VAC applied to it.

Better start looking for a replacement control board for your fridge......

[richinny]

is there power coming to the 12v wires? i'd guess that as soon as the wires were hooked up that the fuse blew. now, if they hooked the 12v dc to the 120 ac, the board is a ghost.

Originally Posted by jyobp

I have been reworking a 1968 Tradewind this winter and found that the previous owners miswired the refridgerator and connected the 12v dc input wires to 120v ac. The fridge still runs on ac but there is no response on the gas. We have another similar Dometic that requires that you hold a button in until the gas system catches... and there is a 'click' when you hold that button in. No click here at all now.

Any suggestions as to where to start?

Thanks.
Jim

[jyobp]

Thanks for the ideas... & btw... no relation to said 'idiot'.

There was a fried wire that I did replace on the back of the fridge where the 12v line first comes into the unit. I now get 12v to the... I'll call it the 'distribution block' on the back of the fridge but once it leaves there, I got nothin'.

How difficult is it to replace a control board?

Jim

[Excella CM]

Gee, let's see. If it runs good on 12V maybe it'll get ten times colder on 120V

[raveson]

To replace a board on newer units, is not to bad. DON'T take the old one off until the new one arrives! The connection should be the same or with similar instructions for install. My dometic board came from Dionsour electronics and cost approx $100. I thought that it would be a good gamble before purchasing a new frig at about $1,200. It was and works fine. My unit is from 1989, don't know how far back DE goes back. Contact them on line, there is a full cataglogue.
GOOD LUCK!

[jyobp]

Ok... as of now I have found out that this unit is a Manual Refrigerator and has no control board. Thanks for all the thoughts. I'll keep plugging away and hoping for a cheap(er) fix.

[overlander63]

Manual fridge has a manual gas valve that needs to be rotated to get gas to the burner. You can light the burner with an aim-n-flame. There's a thermocouple that shuts off the gas if the flame goes out, so you would need to hold the bypass/pilot valve lever open to light the burner, hold the valve open for a minute or so, then see if the burner remains lit. If it's a nice blue flame like the pilot on your stove or water heater, then you know it works.
If the burner doesn't light, or stay lit, you will have a direction to go. If it doesn't light at all, and you have LP in the tanks, and you can light something else, like the water heater or stove, check for blockages in the line to the fridge. Check to make sure the valve is opening to let LP into the burner, and last, check the burner to make sure it isn't clogged (they get that way just from use).

[Excella CM]

Set the thermostat to "4" and the switch to gas and then go around to the access panel and take a look at the valve. There is a little lever that pushes up on a button to open the pilot bypass (the same lever that is operated from the inside). Lift the lever with your finger or a screwdriver and light the burner while holding lever up. After the burner is lit for 30 seconds, release the lever and the burner should stay lit. If it doesn't, the thermocuple is bad. If it wont light at all, then something else is preventing gas from getting to the fridge.

[jyobp]

Alrighty then... after doing this and trying that (never one to shy away from trying or doing), I found that the Igniter/Reigniter was toast. This is a pretty simple fridge so there was not much to get fried on it. I called around and found one in town for $45. came home and put it in and reconnected everything and she is up and running on propane!
Thanks for all you input. I hope this help someone else as well.

Jim