Fridge doesn't like shore power

[Land Grover]

The domestic in my 85 excella is working just fine with gas, but as soon as I plug into shore power it shuts down. Since I am brand new to this and I don't have a clue what's going on, are there any airstream jedis out there who can suggest how I might remedy this?

[DKB_SATX]

Assuming your refrigerator is an auto-switching model, it's detecting the availability of 120v power, switching off the gas and failing to cool on 120v.

I'd say that the most likely problem is that the 120v heating element has failed, since the 120v input needs to be present to make it try to switch away from gas. In the short term, you should be able to set the refrigerator to gas-only operation. The electric heating element can be replaced, if tests find that the element itself is the problem. Hopefully someone with more detailed knowledge of auto-switching fridges will reply, but there are several useful threads on here about the electric heating element.

[WineStream]

I had a different issue but still one that resulted in replacing my elec. heating element. I have a Norcold, but I would assume the element is very similar for Dometic. I figured such a repair was going to be very labor intensive and expensive. I finally bit the bullet and dug in. I had the element out in less than 15 minutes and the replacement shipped to my house was less than $50. Don't be afraid to dig in there.

[Foiled Again]

The prior posters are probably right - but one question. Have you checked the circuit breaker? On my 2006 to reset a breaker you have to push it all the way to the solid "off" position, then push back "on". The flipped breaker kinda looks like it's still working because it doesn't always go all the way to the OFF position when it pops.

Paula

[HowieE]

If you re comfortable with a multimeter disconnect the power and disconnect the wires going to the heater element in the chimney. While set on the lowest resistance check for continuity across the element. If the element is open that is your problem.

If it is not open check the fuses on the board. the higher current one will be for the element. If the fuse is good plug in the power and read voltage on the wires going to the element. If you do not have voltage there it may be the control board but go through these checks before you go to a dealer because they may want to sell you board at $175.00+

[TBRich]

Another simple thing to check is to make sure that the refrigerator is plugged into the 120 outlet behind the frig in the compartment. If it's not plugged in, it can't run on electricity but it can still run on gas.