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Old 01-19-2016, 09:26 PM   #1
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Dometic 4door refrigerator

OK guys, I'm perplexed by this and need suggestions. I have a Cedar Creek 36ckts (2014). Back before Thanksgiving last year the fridge quit cooling in both freezer and fridge. We keep this plugged in always as we use it spontaneously and keep food in the fridge. About 3 weeks prior to noticing the problems we had an electrical spike that tripped several breakers including the fridge. Now, the fridge temp gets up to about 59° and stays there. We have tried turning off and back on. We have tried lp only a and still wouldn't cool. Now here is the catcher. The system started working correctly when I took it to have it repaired. The servic3 center called me the day after I left it to say it was ready. I asked what they found wrong and was told nothing. It was working as designed. I brought it home,, set it up, and lugged it back in. The fridge worked for another day before it started warming up again.

I took the camper back to the service center again with the same issue. Now, two days before it went back, guess what, yep it started cooling again and for the last10 days at the service center it has not failed to work. I'm thinking that the mother board may have some snafu and needs replacing. When it works it works as it should on gas or electric. I have trailer plugged into 30 amp service and have 120 volts coming in according to volt meter. Any ideas? Warranty won't cover unless problem shows itself and I've already had to pay once to be told nothing is wrong with it. Thanks.
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Old 01-20-2016, 06:56 PM   #2
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My vote would be that the PC board got zapped with the electrical spike you experienced.

A main power input transient suppressor is the best investment you can make as there are so many IC/microprocessor based components in a RV today it does not take much to zap them.

If you still had the RV at home and were having the issue, one way to be fairly sure if it is the main board is when it won't cool on AC, run the refrig on gas only and see if it cools correctly then. If it does, you know the problem is electrical. If it won't cool correctly on gas either, then the problem may still be the main board but could be something else.

I'm an electronics engineer that in my 40 industry years have seen a lot of strange things happen with PC boards that are "supposedly good" but the equipment won't function correctly. But when replaced, the piece of equipment miraculously starts working correctly again. No explanation other than it does not take much on a PC board to cause it to act erratically. Hardly anyone troubleshoots to the component level on PC boards anymore... if they suspect an issue they just replace it.

Personally, I don't like the newer Dometic refrigerators and in my opinion don't work as well as the Norcold units. My current RV (Blue Ridge) also has the 4-door Dometic and it is always not cooling to my satisfaction (either the outside air is too cold or it is too hot). My prior RV (Open Range) had a Norcold and that thing always cooled, winter or summer.
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Old 01-20-2016, 07:41 PM   #3
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Major, prior to the event the fridge worked flawlessly in all temperatures. I have a spike suppressor but it was not on the camper at the time. I think my best bet is to get it back from service center and just buy the panel and install it myself. You know, I had a 2000 Cherokee prior to the one and used it the same way and never had a problem with the fridge. I guess they were better built back then. I just hate to thinking I paid for the extended warranty because of all the electronics on this thing. Thanks for your advice.
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Old 01-21-2016, 02:25 PM   #4
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"Warranty won't cover unless the problem shows itself." With all respect to your dealer, the problem has shown itself multiple times just not on their lot. It's an intermittent failure and that does not mean it's not a failure covered by warranty.

I think your options are to call the coverage company and argue it with them, replace it yourself and send them the bill and prepare to argue with them, or buy the new board and bring it along for next time it fails, then replace the board and send them the bad one with the bill for the new one along with a photo of the high temperature in the refrig.

Or depending on the cost, just write it off and move on. Intermittent failures are such a pain in any product.


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Old 01-21-2016, 03:20 PM   #5
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MN, this sounds like great advice and something that may happen soon. Honestly I'm tired of the headache. Realistically owning one of these things is like owning a boat or Harley, if you can't work on it you don't need it.......
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Old 01-21-2016, 03:31 PM   #6
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Old 01-28-2016, 11:19 PM   #7
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Got a call tonight from service provider. He said that the fridge finally started a acting up Monday this week. Technician said lower control panel and thermister were bad and that parts were ordered from Dometic and should be here within a week. I'm getting happy again.
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Old 02-09-2016, 11:34 AM   #8
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Soooo, just how long does it take to mail/ ship parts from Indiana to NC? I could have driven up there and back in less time. I wonder if the word "overnight" is in their vocabulary. A person would think the dealer is trying to save themselves money by having snail mail shipping. Come on folks, its covered under warranty. Seems like the shop would want the camper out of the way if they are as busy as they say they are.
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Old 02-10-2016, 09:55 PM   #9
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Now to end this. Today I got a call saying that the camper was ready to pick up. I checked all around the unit and found the bad parts inside the camper. The fridge was working correctly. Now back in December I was charged for the labor to tell me nothing was wrong with the fridge. Today I was not charged for the deductible because of December. Even though I have been somewhat impatient with this situation, this was a good business move and just the right move on their part. My baby is home again! Happy Camper.
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