Dometic Refrigerator Propane Mode

[rpm3129]

On a recent two week camping trip, our 2012 Sport 22' FB Dometic Refrigerator quit operating in the propane mode after 3 days. After returning home, our RV Repair Shop, who happens to be a Dometic dealer, identified the problem as a faulty propane regulator in the unit. The replacement part costs 150.00, but upon trying to secure one, he found that the part was no longer available through Dometic, Airstream, or any other distributors. After market sites were investigated and still no source was found. Dometic has changed their design and supplier, and offers no support for our unit. Airstream was of no help as well. The original part was made in England, and the company no longer exists. We will have to replace the entire Refrigerator unit at a cost of 1750.00, instead of being able to repair the otherwise intact unit. Very frustrating having NO help offered by either Dometic, or Airstream. Would welcome advice from any others who have encountered similar problems with denial of ANY responsibility from either the unit manufacturer, Dometic, or the RV vendor, Airstream. Let the buyer beware. They love you when you are a purchaser, but abandon you as soon as legally possible.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

End of support after 5 years is not an uncommon thing in a lot of industries. A 2012 is really a "June 2011" release so the design / sourcing decisions are 6 years old. In some states (or inside the EU) that might be a bit short.

I'd suggest escalating this a bit with AS if you have not already. The first answer you get on something like this is rarely the absolute and final answer. Dometic is not going to do much. On this deal, AS is their customer not you.

Bob

[TG Twinkie]

I am not aware of a regulator in a Dometic refer. They operate on an external regulator at the propane tanks.
Not sure what the tech means unless he calls the thermostat a regulator.
I would get a second opinion.

[rpm3129]

Thanks for help. It seems that even though our unit s a 2012, the Dometic Refrigerator installed by Airstream was actually manufactured in 2009. Guess they were using up old inventory at the plant. The faulty "regulator" is in the refrigerator panel. Photo included.

[Mikemerc]

Try this site getrvpartscom I have a dometic refrigerator in my 1972 slide on camper ,and actually can get parts for it. Give them a shot. Mike.

[Anders79]

I know you said after market parts were looked at - but wanted to make sure you looked at Ebay - as they do carry various used / new RV parts.

[switz]

For that much money, you might consider a Vitrifrigo marine style refrigerator that has a freon based DanFoss compressor that uses 12Vdc and comes with it's own inverter so 120Vac can be reduced to 12Vdc when on shore power. We installed the DP150iL unit in our 23D.

http://www.suremarineservice.com/ref...mpressors.aspx

This removes the fire hazard associated with the ammonia based refrigerator cooling system that is nearly 100 years old and the trailer can be out of level with the Vitrifrigo..

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you go with a 12V fridge, be sure you have the "amp hours per day" side of things covered. It's not undoable, but it's worth digging into first.

Bob

[TravlinMan]

These propane fridges have so many limitations it's silly. They have gotta be level, they're very sensitive to outside temp changes, they can't operate in half the places I camp cause of elevation and they don't take well to food that ain't already cold...

They shouldn't even call em fridges, they should call em 'low elevation cold food mainatiners'.

If I was in your situation I'd replace it with a 12v... I'm almost ready to spend the cash and do it even though my fridge 'works' (not where I am right now though....)

Thank goodness for the 12v in my truck or I'd have a bunch of spoiled food.

[switz]

The Vitrifrigo DP150iL is doing a great job at 6,800 feet keeping the ice frozen and the food cold even if the three awnings have to be retracted due to wind. At the heat of the day, the 23D is in direct Arizona sunshine and the skin gets very hot.

The fridge door panels were switched to magnetic stainless steel so my wife can put magnets on them.

We did modify the top vent of the refrigerator space so it actually pulls cooling air through the space from the bottom vent. The single factory installed fan was a very sad joke.

The fans are wired to only come on with the DanFoss compressor cycles.

[TravlinMan]

Originally Posted by switz

The Vitrifrigo DP150iL is doing a great job at 6,800 feet keeping the ice frozen and the food cold even if the three awnings have to be retracted due to wind. At the heat of the day, the 23D is in direct Arizona sunshine and the skin gets very hot.

The fridge door panels were switched to magnetic stainless steel so my wife can put magnets on them.

We did modify the top vent of the refrigerator space so it actually pulls cooling air through the space from the bottom vent. The single factory installed fan was a very sad joke.

The fans are wired to only come on with the DanFoss compressor cycles.

I believe it. My ARB is also danfloss and has run perfectly the whole time I've been camped here at 9000'. I can leave it outside in 100 degrees and come home to rock hard ice cream.

Meanwhile, the dometic can't make it through a day.

[SilverHouseDreams]

rpm3129, did you end up getting this fixed? Curious what you came up with. I have a 2011 Sport 22FB that we just bought and so far everything works, except for propane mode on the fridge. We likely have the same fridge, if I put the fridge into "test mode" the propane burner lights immediately and stays lit, however if I put the fridge into propane mode it immediately blinks the red fault light.

I tried cleaning the flue out using a compressor but that didn't seem to make much difference. The fridge seems pretty basic, there is a flame sense on the ignitor...which clearly works as it stops sparking as soon as it ignites. The first time I tried to turn the gas mode on I know there was air in the line and the fridge likely failed to ignite, I suspect it just keeps holding that fault...but I cannot seem to find a way to clear it.

Was wondering what you ended up finding as a solution. I'll spend some more time on this while waiting for a manometer to arrive, hoping I can find one to rent or borrow for this 10 minute task as I would hope it isn't something I have to do on a frequent basis.

[rpm3129]

Xipper....
I did get it fixed, but with great disappointment. I attempted to contact Airstream as well as Dometic. It turns out my 2012 Sport was fitted with a 2009 Refrigerator by Airstream. Guess they needed to get rid of old inventory. I heard nothing back from either. My repair shop, who is an authorized Dometic dealer, got no assistance from them, and all searches for a used, or aftermarket regulator failed. The company that made the regulator was in England, and had gone out of business. The new Sports are fitted with a Dometic Refrigerator, but it is now sized differently, and protrudes farther from the wall, and is an inch different in height. So, we either had to re-build the interior space, or have Dometic construct a unit that would fit our space. Dometic offered to custom construct a unit to fit the old design space for the cost of a new unit. As we wanted to get back on the road, we chose that option. Instead of a 150.00 replacement part, we ended up spending 2,000.00 for the new unit, and installation. The entire process took six weeks to complete. Thinking about purchasing a replacement regulator now so that I will be prepared for the next time. Ain't Planned Obsolescence great!

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by TravlinMan

They shouldn't even call em fridges, they should call em 'low elevation cold food mainatiners'.

NOOooooooo! Then someone would start calling them LECFM's.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Given what was going on in the RV industry around 2008 to 2010, *everybody* piled up a lot of inventory. It's quite possible that Dometic (or one of their distributors) had a warehouse full of stuff they needed to move.

Bob

[SilverHouseDreams]

Originally Posted by rpm3129

Xipper....
I did get it fixed, but with great disappointment. I attempted to contact Airstream as well as Dometic. It turns out my 2012 Sport was fitted with a 2009 Refrigerator by Airstream. Guess they needed to get rid of old inventory. I heard nothing back from either. My repair shop, who is an authorized Dometic dealer, got no assistance from them, and all searches for a used, or aftermarket regulator failed. The company that made the regulator was in England, and had gone out of business. The new Sports are fitted with a Dometic Refrigerator, but it is now sized differently, and protrudes farther from the wall, and is an inch different in height. So, we either had to re-build the interior space, or have Dometic construct a unit that would fit our space. Dometic offered to custom construct a unit to fit the old design space for the cost of a new unit. As we wanted to get back on the road, we chose that option. Instead of a 150.00 replacement part, we ended up spending 2,000.00 for the new unit, and installation. The entire process took six weeks to complete. Thinking about purchasing a replacement regulator now so that I will be prepared for the next time. Ain't Planned Obsolescence great!

Wow, thanks for the update. I am hoping that the problem I am seeing is not the same, I fear that the odds are I have the same fridge in my 2011 22FB. My propane burner ignites and seems to operate fine when in test mode, but when I put the refer into propane mode it blinks a fault immediately. It isn't that it even tries to ignite the burner, but as soon as the propane option is selected the fault light blinks along with the propane selector light. I currently have the trailer with all power disconnected in hope that the board will reset and clear, as the first time I switched it to propane it did actually try to operate but faulted due to air in the line (assumption)...after I purged the lines using the stove and then put it into test mode the fridge lit up fine.

I cleaned my flue and inspected the burner assembly, I also bought a manometer to check the gas pressure and found it quite low. The fridge is spec'd for 11" W.C., but when the stove was on it was below 10" at the refrigerator. I adjusted the regulator such that it now sits at 11" when 2 burners are flowing, it is about 11.25" when no appliances are running.

I have no idea what I will do if I find out the problem is the same as yours, I'd say I would just screw propane mode and use a generator but that isn't really practical...and while I love the idea of the 12V marine refrigerator with a compressor, I am just not sure that we can get enough battery capacity on our Bambis without going to lithium chemistry...but I have seen mention of those using a 12V compressor refrigerator on a single 150Ah AGM while boon docking, so that is positive.

[SilverHouseDreams]

Positive news on my end, thankfully. I left the fridge unpowered for 24 hours, gave it 12VDC and set to propane mode...it fired and stayed operational. Dropped 20 degrees in 45 minutes, with an ambient temperature of 90+...and I finally experienced the fan noise. Those will get replaced soon enough, I may even have replacement fans in a box of PC parts

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There is an enormous range of performance between various 12V fans (like 100:1). If people find a "magic" combo, it's probably worth recording the model of fan they used.

Bob