Fridge Problem - Page 5

berghild · 08-30-2008, 06:29 PM

well it looks like a refrigerator. it was hooked up to a battery and an electric cord...but no propane....hmmmm. they closed up the shop while we chatted and we are keeping our fingers crossed that in the morning he can get a couple of guys to help him out and deliver it abouit mid-morning....he very easily could have said , sorry come see us on Tuesday..it's a holiday. Family owned business so he works harder....I can bet this wouldn't have happened at camping world location on a holiday wekend. Now I guess we just pray that it works on propane......oh my Gosh, wouldn't that be awful. I never thought about that.

berghild · 08-30-2008, 06:29 PM

well it looks like a refrigerator. it was hooked up to a battery and an electric cord...but no propane....hmmmm. they closed up the shop while we chatted and we are keeping our fingers crossed that in the morning he can get a couple of guys to help him out and deliver it abouit mid-morning....he very easily could have said , sorry come see us on Tuesday..it's a holiday. Family owned business so he works harder....I can bet this wouldn't have happened at camping world location on a holiday wekend. Now I guess we just pray that it works on propane......oh my Gosh, wouldn't that be awful. I never thought about that.

bstark · 08-31-2008, 10:16 AM

Please don't panic on the propane issue. It would have been very easy for them to simply take a tank that has one of the standard 11" W/C regulator's (BBQ) on it and hook it up to try it but, if it is cooling on 120v, it will almost certainly cool on the higher 'boiler' pressures created with the hotter/quicker propane. You ignition section of the board was functioning before so, the likelyhood is great that it will again function correctly once all connections are re-established within the coach's body.

We're all keeping our fingers crossed for a happy outcome to your very trying saga!

**wingnut60** · 08-31-2008, 11:10 AM

Cyndy,

I am really sorry to be following all your troubles with the refrigerator--got ours back from CW last week, but was gone on business for the week.
Got the concrete pad poured while gone, got home and picked up the trailer, parked it and turned on the refrigerator--4PM yesterday. This morning at 8 it was showing 22 in the food side, so it looks like this time it is cured and working--will not shut it off again before we leave Thurs evening. Both fans were runnning last night, this morning they weren't, but kicked in soon as the sun came over the fence and hit the compartment side.

It still sound more like incompetence on the tech side, and uncooperativeness on the Dometic side. A new unit would have solved this weeks ago and been cheaper on Dometice, I would think. Then again, most of the expense is probably going to be on the service department where you have it.

For my part, the possibility exists that I caused my own problems with discharged batteries--had I replaced them first, I might not have had any further cooling problems. I have learned some lessons on this, and will be a little more patient with my own work toward solving refrigerator problems. The clue was the beeping propane alarm--inconsistent, but there was no leak in the system. Low voltage was probably the source of all my troubles, CW just didn't check for that. They (nor I) put the two symptoms together correctly.

Hang in there, it will work before long.

Joe

berghild · 09-02-2008, 01:58 PM

we waited all day saturday and all day sunday for a phone call saying they were bringing the refer or NOT bringing the refer....nothing. DH
went to shop today at 11:00 AM they had not even checked the temp yet!
THey said it should be 41..........????? I am confused....that doesn't seem very cold to me. What do you guys think..I am looking for my manual....again.
we are supposed to take the rig in there tomorrow at 9 AM
Cyndy

**wingnut60** · 09-02-2008, 05:29 PM

Cyndy,

You have more than just a non-operating refrigerator--you have both a non-operating service department AND a non-operating manufacturer. How sad to read of your frustrations--and just can't get it fixed.

Keep us up on the continuing soap opera.

Mine is staying at 26-30 most of the time, went to 33 during hottest part of day yesterday. BUT, we don't have anything in it yet. That comes tomorrow, as we leave Thursday.

Joe

berghild · 09-02-2008, 06:28 PM

i want cold milk, cold beer and cold water ....dammit

berghild · 09-02-2008, 07:45 PM

went to the shop...someone had unplugged refer!.....in 3 hours temp had gone from 70 to 55.....who knows what will happen overnite. good thing we went there or we would have packed up in the morning and gone down there without knowing if it was working. DH finally lost it, he is still venting....I have to write to DT and Dometic if this cooling unit is not the answer to the original problem...he is swearing now that he will replace it with NOrcold.

bstark · 09-02-2008, 09:15 PM

Makes me want to weep! This has been handled badly from the get-go. They've replaced the cooling unit but the thing still won't cool and how would they know if no one bothered to monitor it's temp reduction progress?

While this thing was sitting on the bench plugged into electric, they should have used a 'clamp meter' around one wire of the heater leads to verify the amperage being used by that electrode (especially if re-using the old electrode) and also it's time on vs time off cycle which would have given them info regarding the status of the electrode itself, the thermistor, and also more importantly the control board. They also could have performed any number of volt/ohm meter checks on the thermistor leads to observe the resistance change over a period of time and cooling differential.

Good grief, to go through all of that work and then simply walk away leaving the thing sitting on the bench with customers twisting in the wind is simply thoughtless in the extreme!

Boy this industry needs an overhaul!

bstark · 09-04-2008, 08:27 AM

Cyndy & Howard: We're on pins and needles here, waiting for the outcome!

berghild · 09-04-2008, 11:21 AM

well we are home and reinstalled in the park....what an ordeal.
the 1refer is at 42.6 after 17 hours of coolibng...hmmm
yesterday morning they said it was at 28 at the shop..so we are waiting not touching the door
BUT>>>the ice maker is not working...they checked it at the shop and they said it was cycling????whatever that means..they wer out there with a meter.

but we have not ice cubes....any ideas? we hav e heard that there is not much that can be done in the field. they are going to get us a new ice maker but i deo not want to wait around for that. also they are sending oiut womeone to check it..didn't say when of course...i am going to call and tell them that we are preparing to leave. they probably won't send anyone until lunch time.....grrr i want to get throiugh L.A. before rush hour...my itchy feet just want to be on the road!
anyway, let me know what youj thing about the ice ;maker

berghild · 09-04-2008, 11:54 AM

the refer has been running on 5 for 18 hours....i would think that would make the fins and compartment pretty hot...plus sun is on it. thye told me they used the old thermostat...the fans are not running.... temp at 41.7. we have installed a swtche but are not hoked to it right now. Didn't someone say they installed a thermostat with a lower setting? stil no ice...no tech either.

jdwilson3 · 09-04-2008, 01:29 PM

If they didn't hook up the water line when they re-installed the 'fridge...no water=no ice.

Also, the "bail" has to be reset from the upper position to make ice. Is it?

Stick your pinky finger into the ice maker and see if you can feel water.

Fridge on 5 for that long and not below 41 is just wrong. Ours is on 3 and runs about 30-32 degrees.

berghild · 09-04-2008, 01:47 PM

icemaker still not making ice, temp at 12....tech called Dometic and they said it had to be 14 degrees to make ice...bail is in right postition
, will check for water hubby on the phone with the tech...grrr...how long does it take to make ice..i am on hold with Dometic fans on are set to run steady now to see if that helps
just discovered 2 small dents in the freezer doorDAMN

berghild · 09-04-2008, 03:48 PM

stuck my finger in ice maker....frozen mass of ice. I am on my way to camping world to buy an portable ice maker....i am not no waiting around for more parts an d more screw ups...we will be back in October they can fix it then.
fridge is on fans running steady temp is 50 degrees
spoke to Dometic gal said it could be circuit board...DUHHHHH
easy fix that could have been done weeks ago probably, maybe who knows.

berghild · 09-05-2008, 10:12 AM

DH unplugged thermistor last night, left setting on 5 got up this morning and temp was at 32 degees., fans not running or it probably would have been colder.
it's 8:10 packing up to leave...no 8:00 a.m. tech yet...probably won't show.since they know we are leaving.
Ice maker from camping world 159.00 is drilling out ice cubes liike crazy so I will keep food cold one way or another!
I called Al Maguire...nice man....he documented our issues...I will call him again after tech comes or doesn't come...maybe wait a couple of days and address this circuit board issue.
We are leaving that's all I care about now...I can almost smell the Pine trees. cyndy

bstark · 09-05-2008, 10:31 AM

You're handling this whole mess with grace! Amazing given the inconvenience you were subjected to.

Manufacturer's should take heed when reading posts of this nature as I'm sure they do from time to time.

Folks contemplating the RV lifestyle, who by chance read a thread of this nature, might just throw their hands up and exclaim "no way am I gonna pay big bucks on something that gives us that much uncertainty and aggravation!"

For my part this is what I did:

wwww.customersupportcenter@dometicusa.com

"In response to the manner in which you have handled warranty and recall issues with your recent RV refridgerator offerings, it is my intent to insist, upon considering the purchase of any new RV, that absolutely NO DOMETIC products be used in it's manufacture. From awnings to appliances, I am prepared to pay additional manufacture's cost to ensure even a modicum of reliability!"

Probably won't amount to much but I sure felt better after pushing that send button and now I intend to visit other forums and insert this in the sticky's area at the top of most of them related to Dometic's recall notice.

berghild · 09-11-2008, 08:53 AM

just to let you know...refer is now cold...really cold. everything is back to normal settings . Now even on setting 1 it gets below freezing. I have to turn it off to keep the vegies from freezing.
the o;ther day it did it in the daytime when the temps were in the 70s, we arrived home about 5 and the temp outside was just dropping into the 60s..temp in refer was 18.
yesterday I left it off for hours in the late afternoon, returning nome around 11 the temp was around 34 so i figured i'd better turn it on this morning after 7 hours it is just under 30....so i turned it off again. this is a pain in the neck....I am going to call Al maguire and update him on our issues as soon as we get a signal and also email the shop that did the work. OH YEAH, the ice maker still down't work, have to tell them that too. In the meantime we are happy to be in the Sierras.
Now I am going to post about our ruined Goodyear Tire. Cyndy

rdunk · 09-11-2008, 01:50 PM

With the very low temps you are experiencing, and with the fact that the temp selections on the fridge seem to make no difference, it seems like your thermister may still be unplugged, or not on the cooling fin, or maybe it is just not functional.

berghild · 09-11-2008, 02:08 PM

okay, i have moved thermistor..geez i hate to go all through this again. this is the new thermistor. I will check also to make sure they plugged it in. it seemed to me that it was in a diffrent spot than before...at the very back of the fin now. i just moved it so that more of the tip is out of the clip.