Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propane

[dlw930]

The Dometic fridge in our 2011 Big Country has quit working on propane (yes, there's propane in the tanks and the valves are open), but works just fine on shore power. If I disconnect the shore power or take it off "Auto", the "Check" light comes on. Any ideas on the possible problem/solution?

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propoane

Have you tried lighting a burner on the stove and let it run for a minute or so before trying the fridge? If you haven't used the gas in a while, that "trick" usually works if the water heater is balking, might be the same for the fridge.

 

[danemayer]

Re: Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propoane

If you open the tank valve a little too fast, the overflow protection device can activate. Close the valves, wait 15 seconds and open them very slowly. Then as JohnDar suggested, light a burner on the range to purge any air from the lines.

 

[dlw930]

Re: Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propoane

Thanks for the responses. We're able to light the stove burners and the furnace works, so I know propane is flowing from the tanks. When we go back out in a few days, I'll try JohnDar's suggestion of lighting a stove burner and then setting the fridge to run on propane.

 

[danemayer]

If stove and furnace are working:

Stand outside with the lower louvered vent removed. Have someone switch the frig from auto to LP operation. The propane valve solenoid should activate to allow the gas to flow to the burner and there should be 3 ignition tries before it locks out. If this is all happening, check under the slide to see if the propane line looks ok.

 

[JohnDar]

Speaking of checking propane lines, one of these is handy to have in your toolkit.

http://www.lorest.com/products/portablegasdetector

 

[Bobby A]

How's your battery ?? is it fully charged ?? I had something similar happen on our way south this year. Turns out the battery died. Put a new battery in and all was back to normal.

 

[wdk450]

If the problem seems to be your circuit board (after you have checked all the fuses on it), RV Cooling Unit Warehouse has the entire line of Dinosaur Electronics circuit boards deeply discounted off of list price. See: http://www.rvcoolingunit.net/servlet/StoreFront and http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/Company_Info.htm

 

[dlw930]

Thanks for all the advice. As things sometimes happen the problem seems to have resolved itself. We took our BC out of storage for a Thanksgiving trip and the fridge ran normally on propane without any intervention on my part. In hindsight, it may have been an issue of the coach not being level while temporarily parked.

 

[wdk450]

Thanks for all the advice. As things sometimes happen the problem seems to have resolved itself. We took our BC out of storage for a Thanksgiving trip and the fridge ran normally on propane without any intervention on my part. In hindsight, it may have been an issue of the coach not being level while temporarily parked.

This is something to "keep an eye on". You may have had an air bubble in the propane gas, a kinked flexible gas line, or problems with the refrigerator propane ignitor/controller circuits.

Severe misleveling won't cause the refrig not to run on propane - it will cause a blockage (like a lead plug) within the ammonia adsorption cooling unit, causing the refrigerator to quit working in either mode permanently. The good news is that the 2nd generation of RV ammonia adsorption cooling units need an off-level condition so bad that it is described as being uncomfortable to walk in the RV, to cause permanent damage.

 

[JohnD]

Severe misleveling won't cause the refrig not to run on propane...

More than once, when I've had our trailer parked along the curb in front of our house (not level side to side) for a couple of days before a trip and running the fridge on electric, I could not get the fridge to run on the LP until I pulled it away from the curb to a level spot, where I was able to get it going on LP without issue.

 

[wdk450]

More than once, when I've had our trailer parked along the curb in front of our house (not level side to side) for a couple of days before a trip and running the fridge on electric, I could not get the fridge to run on the LP until I pulled it away from the curb to a level spot, where I was able to get it going on LP without issue.

John:
I'm scratching my head about your posting. What I posted about the cooling unit and leveling comes from reading a bunch of sites on RV refrigeration. Read the "Cooling Unit Blockages" section on this webpage: http://rvcoolingunit.com/Tech_Information-W508.aspx

The cooling unit SHOULD work about equally with propane or electric as a boiler heat source.

 

[boatto5er]

Bill, From the Dometic manual:

"If the refrigerator is operated when it is not level and the vehicle is not moving, liquid ammonia will accumulate in sec- tions of the evaporator tubing. This will slow the circulation of hydrogen and ammonia gas, or in severe cases, completely block it, resulting in a loss of cooling."


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[crussian]

Re: Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propoane

I recently bought a 2015 Heartland Oakmont 345RS. It is leveled and currently without shore power. It has sat for about 3 days without anything for power except the two batteries it came with. Having said that, I went and opened the Frigidaire Refrigerator and it wasn't cold at all. I opened up the manual, on the Refrigerator (Use and Care Manual) and it never mentions anything about LP. Is it possible that this Ref is 110V only? LP tanks are full and the unit is level. I am crossing my fingers something else is amiss.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Cary

 

[danemayer]

Re: Dometic fridge doesn't operate on propoane

I recently bought a 2015 Heartland Oakmont 345RS. It is leveled and currently without shore power. It has sat for about 3 days without anything for power except the two batteries it came with. Having said that, I went and opened the Frigidaire Refrigerator and it wasn't cold at all. I opened up the manual, on the Refrigerator (Use and Care Manual) and it never mentions anything about LP. Is it possible that this Ref is 110V only? LP tanks are full and the unit is level. I am crossing my fingers something else is amiss.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Cary

Hi Cary,

The refrigerators that run on either 110 V AC or on Propane/12V DC are made by Norcold or Dometic. If you have a Frigidaire, it sounds like the 22 cubic foot Residential Refrigerator (residential as in what you would have in a sticks and bricks residence). It runs on 110V AC only.

When not on shore power, the batteries will supply power through an inverter to keep the refrigerator running. But the intent of the battery/inverter system is to keep the refrigerator powered while towing the rig, and perhaps also overnight if you stop somewhere without power.

Let me suggest you take a look at our owner-written Residential Refrigerator User Guide. It supplements the Frigidaire manual and covers the aspects of operation pertaining to RV owners.

If you plan on boondocking a lot, with this refrigerator you'll need either a generator to recharge your batteries, or a large solar array.

 

[crussian]

Thanks Dan. Will go over the guide and make sure the batteries are fully charged. I did have have an ONAN 5.5KW installed and ran it yesterday. You could hear the Ref kick in. I let it run for about 15 mins and sure enough, the Ref started getting cold. I am still concerned after sitting only 3 days, that the Ref unit wasn't even cool to the touch. I can't imagine the batteries running down that fast. Unfortunately I didn't check their charge strength at the time. I will do that this morning.

Again, many thanks to all for the support.

Cary

 

[fredwrichardson]

On our unit you need to turn the inverter on if you want to run the refrigerator off of batteries. We have a Landmark Ashland and the inverter switch is in the dashboard area with all the other switches. Actually the only thing on the inverter is the refrigerator. When you ran the generator that produces 110 volts so the inverter was by passed.

Thanks Dan. Will go over the guide and make sure the batteries are fully charged. I did have have an ONAN 5.5KW installed and ran it yesterday. You could hear the Ref kick in. I let it run for about 15 mins and sure enough, the Ref started getting cold. I am still concerned after sitting only 3 days, that the Ref unit wasn't even cool to the touch. I can't imagine the batteries running down that fast. Unfortunately I didn't check their charge strength at the time. I will do that this morning.

Again, many thanks to all for the support.

Cary

 

[branson4020]

Thanks Dan. Will go over the guide and make sure the batteries are fully charged. I did have have an ONAN 5.5KW installed and ran it yesterday. You could hear the Ref kick in. I let it run for about 15 mins and sure enough, the Ref started getting cold. I am still concerned after sitting only 3 days, that the Ref unit wasn't even cool to the touch. I can't imagine the batteries running down that fast. Unfortunately I didn't check their charge strength at the time. I will do that this morning.

Again, many thanks to all for the support.

Cary

Cary,

Once you turn on the inverter to power the fridge from the batteries, they will only last 8-12 hours. As Dan said earlier, if you expect to be without hookups for any length of time, you'll either need to get a good sized solar setup or plan on running that genny a lot.

 

[dlw930]

If stove and furnace are working:

Stand outside with the lower louvered vent removed. Have someone switch the frig from auto to LP operation. The propane valve solenoid should activate to allow the gas to flow to the burner and there should be 3 ignition tries before it locks out. If this is all happening, check under the slide to see if the propane line looks ok.

Update on my propane fridge issue: I bought a new battery, but this didn't solve the problem. Was at a rally here in TX and talked to Terry H. He suggested checking circuit board for loose components and electrical connections. I took the cover off the circuit board and pulled of the connector to the propane valve/igniter and put it back on. Voila!! Click, click, ignition! It's worked ever since, although I plan to further clean the connection when this crazy TX weather warms up a little. I had a similar problem with my awning motor connection that Terry helped with!

David


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[boatto5er]

Another endorsement for attending rally's in your area. There's never a lack of people willing, and knowledgable, to help solve problems.


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