Dometic fridge trouble shooting

[mandolindave]

I am not a very good aim...I want to shoot the darn thing. haha
Seriously...I have flame but no cooling. How can I trouble shoot to determine if it is the board or the pipes?
It is level and in my driveway, flame stays on while traveling

[Belegedhel]

Does it cool when hooked to 110?

Do you (or have you) ever smell ammonia?

How old is the unit, and what model?

Does it also have a 12V DC input?

Has it ever cooled while you have owned it?

How long are you waiting for it to cool down (it can take 12-24 hrs to get good and cold)?

[Lumatic]

Check that the coils above the burner are heating. Also a common problem is the exhaust chimney is misaligned or clogged. Are you giving it enough time? Give it at least 12 hours to really start to cool.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by mandolindave

I am not a very good aim...I want to shoot the darn thing. haha
Seriously...I have flame but no cooling. How can I trouble shoot to determine if it is the board or the pipes?
It is level and in my driveway, flame stays on while traveling

What is the year and model # of your fridge?

It typically takes a minimum of 8 hours to notice cooling in these types of units.

If you have flame and you have a 12VDC control board, that indicates that the board is working; sending current to open the LP valve and ignite the flame and then keeping the LP valve open.

You should be getting heating thru the absorber coils and the accumulator tank directly above the access opening at the same rate.....they should be warm to the touch at about the same temps.

If you are heating in the boiler section (above the flame area) and you get no warmth in the coils of accumulator, you could have a blockage in the tubing (probably clumped sodium chromate salt....an internal anti-corrosive agent) that is not allowing the heated ammonia to flow thru the tubing.

If this is the case (or if you have had a leak and there is no refrigerant remaining) you will need to replace the cooling unit. Give it some time and see what happens. These units do not respond like a residential fridge.

[mandolindave]

I had this Dometic RM2352 2way propane/110ac, installed around 2005, so I am familiar with it. One door about 30 inches high. I have only used it on 110 a view times. The only problem that I have had was that it froze milk if I tried to rush it by turning it past three. I gave it few days to cool. I do have flame, and the insulated cylinder above the burner is was warm but not enough to burn me.

My research so far ( Dometic is closed for the weekend, and their site said zero repair centers near me ) leads me to believe that it does not have a control board, and PPL RV said they don't have a dinosaur board listed for it. And I sure couldn't find one, unless it is way up high on the back where I can't see.

I did read, to do testing, using electric not gas. After 8 hours on electric, the freezer is cold. I will test gas again. Maybe the blockage went away, only to come back sometime.

[mandolindave]

Its running off of 110 now.....the lower horizontal tank is warm, and the coil is warm except for the top loop. The freezer section is cold and frosting up. The vent looks good but I am going to make sure that the screen on top isn't clogged up.
My friend said that the flame was blue and looked good, but when I took all the covers off, there was remnants of a mouse nest that I was able to blow out. I will try on gas after I have let it get warm.

It might have been the bits of mouse nest by the burner, or a clog in the coil that went away.