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Old 04-30-2016, 08:58 AM   #1
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Intermittent Refrigerant Blockage

Our new 21RB has been into the Dealer twice due to the refrigerator not working on propane. Each time we take it in, they test it and works fine which was the case went we picked it up yesterday. It has only worked for us on one occasion and that was when first testing it on 120v. On Propane it lights, has a nice blue flame, but the refrigerant tubing does not get warm (for us).

The tect at the the dealer said an intermittent blockage floating around the system is a possibility and they have seen it before. FR usually will not replace a part unless it is proven defective by an authorized dealer/shop so we are kinda in limbo. We have been using an ice chest when we go camping as the refer has not worked each time we setup to leave.

Has anyone experienced this situation and will the blockage continue to be a potential problem? Also will the blockage cause more problems as the flame heats the refrigerant with no circulation?
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Old 04-30-2016, 06:30 PM   #2
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All there is in the tubing in ammonia, water, nitrogen and a rust inhabiter. they don't know what is wrong. Neither do I.


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Old 05-01-2016, 06:45 PM   #3
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Intermittent Refrigerant Blockage

Firsthere, Does your unit have the double door refrigerator? I know this sounds like a loaded question, but how mechanically inclined are you? If you feel comfortable in doing some testing there is a 24 hour run test that should have been done by your dealers tech. If your fridge is working correctly it will do no harm. If it is not working correctly it will either stop working or will not cool properly.

The refrigerator work the same wether on gas or electric, so a blockage would affect either one. Please let us know what model fridge you have.
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Old 05-01-2016, 07:12 PM   #4
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I have a 2011 Berkshire Moho with a Dometic 4 door fridge. It had been a pain the entire time we have owned the Moho. The problem was not consistent. It seemed every time we stopped the fridge would work different. Finally at the rally last year FR had the Dometic service people come by to look it over. They tried all kinds of things and mostly made it worse. They called in the engineer for Dometic and he checked a few things including touching the coils. Two minutes and he said we had " slag" in the lines. It happens when they use to much solder and it gets stuck in the pipes. It moves when the rig moves. Sometimes it wasn't bad but others the temp would be in the 50's.
The fix was to replace the fridge. They did that at the factory last year and it was no charge to me. The new fridge works so much better. We were in Fort Myers all winter and temps were in the mid 90's some days. The fridge never got above 35. Absolutely wonderful. I can't say enough about the service levels we receiveB from FR diesel Division. They are the absolute best there is.



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Old 05-02-2016, 09:22 AM   #5
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I don't have the model off hand, It's the basic dometic with just the freezer on top and a single refer door. To start it you just push the button to "on" and select gas or auto. I believe the dealer ran it over nite as there was icing in the freezer when we picked it up the next morning.

I tested it yesterday and within an hour it was 20 degrees in the freezer, humm....
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Old 07-12-2016, 09:00 AM   #6
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We made two camping trips then on the third the refrigerator quit working the day we left. I have noticed when its not functioning the flame stays low like a pilot light. Usually it can be heard burning outside from the louvered access panel.

Hopefully when it goes back for service (#4 in 6 outings) it doesn't decide to start cooling again. This is getting old.
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Old 07-12-2016, 09:37 AM   #7
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That sounds like a loose connection on the control board. It could be the thermistor connection intermittent.

Do you know if the dealer has removed and cleaned the connections?

If not, you might try doing it yourself.
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Old 07-12-2016, 09:05 PM   #8
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Good thinking. I checked all the connections and fuses, after two hours it still did not begin cooling so I switch over to AC, after another two hours the freezer was at zero and refer at 38 degrees.

Possibly the electric mode burned away a blockage but I tend to think there is a 12v/propane failure somewhere. Plenty of fuel in the tanks so maybe a sensor or control panel?
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