Dometic refrigerator stopped cooling

[kitejunky1]

Propane is in and pipe stays hot, freezer is trying to cool but fridge is not. On a 6 week trip and has worked fine till yesterday. Not sure what yo check or do? Tried running on electric for 15 hours with no change.

[KyDan]

Sometimes you can get one to start working again by turning it off and letting it sit a day or so and then turn it back on. If you're on the road with a fridge full of food that's not a good option I know.....

[kitejunky1]

Thanks called a Mobil rv repair guy. Said it's my cooling unit and would cost $1000. To fix

[jmck1737]

We had similar issues and one of the checks that was suggested was to disconnect the thermistor from the circuit board. If the thermistor was bad the frig would cool down below “normal” temps. That would tell u if thermistor was bad and may also cool the frig down. Also I have heard to hang thermistor down not connected to clip on the fins. Ours struggles if in direct sun or it is above 90.

[The_Rhino]

Research & a controller board/thermistor test swap indicated that our 5 yr. old Dometic's cooling unit was failing (freezer OK, fridge wouldn't go below 50 in 80 degree weather)… A refurbished DIY cooling unit was around $450 so I elected to replace our 8 cu. ft. w/a $300 12 cu. ft. Whirlpool residential that fit in the same place powered by a $150 Harbor Freight 2000W inverter & additional $75 12V battery. I just wired a separate 110V line from the inverter & manually swap the fridge power cord when needed. However, most trips I just leave it on inverter power because charging the batteries vs. compressor leaves more amps for A/C & skillets without tripping breakers...

We LOVE the extra space, especially in the freezer, for our family of 5. It holds 2 gallons of milk/ice tea in the door plus extra freezer space for ice cream & frozen meat for 2+ weeks... The fridge runs fine for 24 hours on 2 batteries & we typically charge the batteries daily via 2 quiet generators.... When driving, the truck's alternator keeps everything charged - our fridge was fine on a 2 day drive to Yellowstone without charging at our Walmart overnight stay...

While I was running the wires I also installed a separate 30A breaker box & external connection for a future 2nd A/C... I ran inverter/2nd box color-coded outlets to key areas so we now have our choice between the 3 separate power sources...

[KyDan]

You say your on a 6 week trip.
Are you anywhere near Norther Indiana???


There is an Amish guy there that replaces cooling units for around $500

And he does it in 4 hours while you wait.
You do need an appointment but he typically can get you in within a day or so.

Here's contact info just in case you're interested....
260-768-7059
National RV RefrigerationGood Luck!

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by kitejunky1

Propane is in and pipe stays hot, freezer is trying to cool but fridge is not. On a 6 week trip and has worked fine till yesterday. Not sure what yo check or do? Tried running on electric for 15 hours with no change.

Try my Thermistor hack:
Dometic RM2652 Thermistor Adjustment fix


I had to move it down as fidge got down to 32F.

Amazon: AcuRite 00986A2 Refrigerator/Freezer Wireless Digital Thermometer

[jmck1737]

KyDan. Thanks for info. We are now in ,mountains of western NC. Actually we’re up that we earlier in MI then Georgetown KY. Will keep him in mind if I need to swap out.

[jmck1737]

Also will try rk06382 simple fix as mine slides inside the sleeve also.