Does Dometic Help With After Warranty Repairs?

[Coolharts]

My 2017 Surveyor is a little over 2 years old and my 15K Dometic Brisk Air II is not outputting like it should. I have a 13.5K in the bedroom.

The 15K at ambient 88 degrees the out put is 14 degrees less than ambient. the 13.5K is 26 degrees below ambient. The 15K also freezes up. I am sure the 15K is low on refrigerant which means replacement.

I contacted Dometic and they will not state that they can help with after warranty repairs but to take it to a service center. There are no service centers close by. I have trips planned and cannot leave it at the dealer. We are planning some hot weather trips next year so I need to get this fixed, the 13.5 can handle what we have left this year.

My 13.5 was installed in December 2016, I did it myself. This past spring it had 0 cold air output. I worked with a mobile repair guy out of my area but my dealer recommended that let me do the diagnosis and sent him videos and other info and he ordered a replacement unit under the 2 year warranty. I removed the bad unit, drove the 2 1/2 hr round trip to his shop and returned with a new unit that has been working great.

Should I ask the dealer or mobile tech if Dometic will assist or warranty the 15K or just buy another unit? Does Dometic help with after warranty adjustments? The unit has to be replaced either way.

[Splitshaft]

My past experience with Dometic regarding after warranty assistance is less than satisfying. Perhaps yours will be better. If the 15K unit is under warranty, an authorized Dometic service center should be able to repair or replace it, including likely incurring some additional costs not covered by warranty. If the 15K is out of warranty, just repair or replace it yourself, unless the hermetically sealed refrigeration system is still under warranty and you know it is leaking. Removing the outdoor shroud and looking for dirt, dust, collecting on oil stained areas is a good visual indication of leakage without measuring performance with gauges and thermocouples to determine charge levels.

I could likely live 14 degrees below ambient on a ducted system with good air flow, but not on a direct vent unit though where I would rather see 20 below. The icing would be unacceptable if it iced quickly. Otherwise if the compressor was cycling periodically due to ice buildup as being detected by a thermocouple to melt the ice, I could live with that too. In fact, I might even deny warranty if I felt the unit was not working optimum, but still cooling. Low refrigerant can reduce evaporator pressure and cause localized icing with reduced cooling. Many perfectly good units will ice too when operated at low fan settings and low thermostat temperature settings.

[Coolharts]

Originally Posted by Splitshaft

My past experience with Dometic regarding after warranty assistance is less than satisfying. Perhaps yours will be better. If the 15K unit is under warranty, an authorized Dometic service center should be able to repair or replace it, including likely incurring some additional costs not covered by warranty. If the 15K is out of warranty, just repair or replace it yourself, unless the hermetically sealed refrigeration system is still under warranty and you know it is leaking. Removing the outdoor shroud and looking for dirt, dust, collecting on oil stained areas is a good visual indication of leakage without measuring performance with gauges and thermocouples to determine charge levels.

I could likely live 14 degrees below ambient on a ducted system with good air flow, but not on a direct vent unit though where I would rather see 20 below. The icing would be unacceptable if it iced quickly. Otherwise if the compressor was cycling periodically due to ice buildup as being detected by a thermocouple to melt the ice, I could live with that too. In fact, I might even deny warranty if I felt the unit was not working optimum, but still cooling. Low refrigerant can reduce evaporator pressure and cause localized icing with reduced cooling. Many perfectly good units will ice too when operated at low fan settings and low thermostat temperature settings.

Thank You for the response. I will probably be replacing the unit on my own because it is definitely not cooling properly. We have trips to Southern South Carolina and to the Keys planned for next year and both units need to be at 100%. I believe you are correct when you said if the unit is cooling some they may not help plus it is over 2 years old.

[Kirk S]

It's a sad thing that infrequently used RV appliances seem to have such a short life.

Just for the sake of curiosity I decided when we bought our Forester that I would leave it plugged into shore power with the fridge and ac/heat pump on. If they were gonna die, by God it would be during the warranty.
Don't want to jinx myself but 20 months later everything is still working. The unit is comfortable to work in and we have have overflow room in the fridge when needed. I'm still scratching my head about the reduction in my power bill.

[Coolharts]

Originally Posted by Netgain

It's a sad thing that infrequently used RV appliances seem to have such a short life.

Just for the sake of curiosity I decided when we bought our Forester that I would leave it plugged into shore power with the fridge and ac/heat pump on. If they were gonna die, by God it would be during the warranty.
Don't want to jinx myself but 20 months later everything is still working. The unit is comfortable to work in and we have have overflow room in the fridge when needed. I'm still scratching my head about the reduction in my power bill.

The funny thing is I have mine plugged into a 30 AMP shore power year round. The A/C was frequently used as I keep it set on 90 in the summer.

I talked to my dealer and a mobile repair shop I have used, both said Dometic is strict about their warranty. The dealer wanted me to bring the camper in as they had a few openings this week, I know they were angling to sell an A/C unit and install it. They gave me a estimate of $1500, $1200 for the unit plus labor. I can replace it for $700 and it is easy. I am going to wait till the winter to do it, the A/C units are cheaper then.

[Barry Smith]

I just found a 15k Dometic unit $631.83 free shipping. Amazon

[hydrope]

Get an Atwood AC, much, much better!

[Coolharts]

Atwood and Dometic are now the same company.

[phillyg]

I doubt Dometic will help, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Why are you looking at replacing the unit? I'm reasonably sure that any HVAC tech that has the unit specs should be able to find the freon leak, if that's the problem, fix it and recharge it.

[emoney]

Not for nothing, but I've heard of places that sell rebuilt AC's and offer a 2 year warranty while purchasing the new replacement is often only covered by 1 year. Being in Florida, we have more access to things like this, but something to look into anyway.