# Dometic Fridge Recall Experience



## JimBo99 (Apr 25, 2006)

I followed the link provided on the forum and found that my fridge was under the recall. So I made an appointment for today with the local RV repair shop (45 miles away). They checked the model and serial number and said mine wasn't under recall. Only those through 2003 were. I asked them to go to Dometic's web site and check it out. They did and on the dealer side made no mention of 2006's. They sent me off with the tech just shaking his head, like "you should have done your homework before you brought this thing all the way over here."

When I got back home I checked the web again. I was right! So I called Dometic to double check. They too said mine was under recall. I them sent the repair shop the web link and 800 number as well as my model and serial number. They found the same thing I did then. The owner was livid and called Dometic. They hadn't sent a notice out to dealers yet. The owner was very apologetic and asked me to call to set up another appointment. So, if you need this recall mod make sure the dealer has the info before you get there. It seems that the additional recall includes over 740,000 fridges!! That's alot of bucks Dometic has to shell out.


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## daslobo777 (Mar 24, 2007)

JimBo99 -

Yea - several of us had this same experience including me (without the long drive though). When I took mine in to the dealer they also told me mine was not covered. I very nicely explained to them that Dometic had expanded the recall - they looked at me with that look like I was telling them how to do their job. Luckily, I had brought with me a copy from the Dometic website with my PN/SN info on it. I very politely said "here take this and please verify it with Dometic and let me know". They called back the same day and thanked me for letting them know as they had not heard that Dometic had expanded the recall. This wedsite is WAY out front.


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

Your lucky to find a service center willing to do the recall. I have two centers located within 10 minutes that refuse to do it, saying Domestic doesn't pay them enough to make it worth their while. Instead if i get it done, I'll have to drag the RV about 70 miles to get it done. I guess when its time for me to consider a new RV, it won't be worth my while to go to the two local dealers.

Regards, Glenn


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## Acadia Hiker (May 29, 2007)

Make sure your dealer makes up for this by providing you the $ to cover the first trip fuel costs...


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## 'Ohana (May 20, 2007)

Ditto for me as well

After finding out mine was on the list ( Thanks to Outbachers)








I contacted a mobile repair tech. whom I found via Dometic, who stated he'd been doing a lot of the recalls and scheduled him to come out as it would be cheaper than my fuel and time to take it elsewhere.

After arriving he checked my numbers and said sorry but yours is not one of the serial number sequences according to my list.







With that I showed him the paper work from Dometic which I had printed out and needless to say he was floored because he had heard nothing about the expanded recall









After installing the shields and whatnot he was mighty grateful for the new information that he had learned and stated that he would inform all of his customers who may be affected









Ed


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

Hi Jim,

I have a 2007 trailer and I just got my fridge (recall) work done Tuesday. When I called the nearest authorized repair place (they don't sell Outbacks), they said they could squeeze me in by mid-July. I then called the second place on the list and it turned out to be a mobile repair service.

I paid $35 for the guy to come to me and do the warranty work. Sounds like I got a good deal. For me, it got the work done about a week after I called and I didn't have to hitch up, drop off, hitch up, drop off. I would have spent at least $25 in gas just to tow the trailer there and back, so it was well worth the $35 for the service call!

Sorry to hear of your problems. I hope the dealership makes this up to you somehow. And don't believe the dealer's excuse about "no notification." The guy that did mine said he had already done about a dozen of them, and he left mine to go do another one, about 20 miles away. (And the "Jayco" dealership I first called was well aware of the recall and the procedure - had the kit in stock. Don't let them fool you!)

Just my opinion.

Mike


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## gerrym (Oct 23, 2006)

Good experience for me.
Got the serial number off the fridge, confirmed it was recalled on the 'net, called the dealer as I had my OB hooked up to the truck to move it anyhow. This was last Friday. They said bring it up if you don't need it on the weekend, up I went, they called last night and it's ready.......


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## Dark Green Dmax (Aug 2, 2005)

The last thing i'll do is spend more money(on gas & my time)is to take our 5er to a RV repair shop just to "add" odd sized sheet metal that servs no purpose other than the contain a fire that shouldn't happen in the first place. If they want to send it directly to me...i'll install it...but thats the only way i'll do it. Reason for the fire hazzard???? Dometic has(& has had for years) a design problem with a stress crack developing in the boiler area right under the weld the holds the electric heat element next to the boiler...right OVER the propane burner. This happens when the unit is run 24/7 on electric.(not every unit fails but when they do, this is the reason why) The fire hazzard comes into play AFTER the crack has already developed & the reefer is already on the fritz. The normally non flamable ammonia coolant cocktail in the lines starts to drip directly on the open flame (when you or the unit automatically switches over to gas). When ammonia is dripped directly on fire like this...it will burn!!! A couple of months ago i had to replace my cooling unit on our Dometic(had a crack in the same spot) The replacement cooling unit Dometic sent me was a exact copy of the one that failed...ie...NO design change to address this problem. Had my reefer been retro fitted with the sheet metal "band-aid" beforehand....it still would had failed!


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## MI Outback (Sep 24, 2007)

I took my 07 26RLS into the service center where we store our trailer. I lucked out compared to some of the other folks on this post I guess. They were more that willing to the repair. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I could not get it completed. I have a vent pipe that runs up right next to the back side of the fridge so the tech will have to pull out the fridge partially to do the work. I could not wait that long since we were leaving for a trip. But the tech showed me all the parts he was going to install and showed me the most importand part was a heat sensor that is installed on the shield to to shut down the system incase of overheating. It is wired directly into the control box. Mine already had that installed but not the new sheet metal shields. So, I feel safer that at least the sensor is there in case it overheats.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

keeper18 said:


> I checked the website before I booked the appointment. The dealer also cheked the website before booking me in. Mine is an '06 as well. I will be taking it in next friday, the 20th. Dealer says it should only take a couple of hours.


My guy came to my trailer on a motorcycle (with hard-case saddlebags). That was all the space he needed for the kits and the few tools. He was done in 20 minutes.

Mike


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## campfirenut (Aug 9, 2006)

I too experienced this same issue, looked up serial and model number on dometic link and my 06 27rsds had a recall. Made an appointment with dealer, took it in, went to work and after a couple of hours the dealer called and said my trailer was not listed as a recall. I explained to him how on OUTBACKERS.COM some one posted the information about the recall. He told me that mine again wasn't on his list. I sternly suggested he go to dometics web site. He said he would and about fifteen minutes later he called me back and agreed that mine was covered. He said the dometic expanded the recall and did not notify dealers. All is well now.

What if I wouldn't have been persistant or was naive about it? Probably would be camping in an unsafe TT.

Goes to show you, stand up and fight for what is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Bob


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Dark Green Dmax said:


> The last thing i'll do is spend more money(on gas & my time)is to take our 5er to a RV repair shop just to "add" odd sized sheet metal that servs no purpose other than the contain a fire that shouldn't happen in the first place. If they want to send it directly to me...i'll install it...but thats the only way i'll do it. Reason for the fire hazzard???? Dometic has(& has had for years) a design problem with a stress crack developing in the boiler area right under the weld the holds the electric heat element next to the boiler...right OVER the propane burner. This happens when the unit is run 24/7 on electric.(not every unit fails but when they do, this is the reason why) The fire hazzard comes into play AFTER the crack has already developed & the reefer is already on the fritz. The normally non flamable ammonia coolant cocktail in the lines starts to drip directly on the open flame (when you or the unit automatically switches over to gas). When ammonia is dripped directly on fire like this...it will burn!!! A couple of months ago i had to replace my cooling unit on our Dometic(had a crack in the same spot) The replacement cooling unit Dometic sent me was a exact copy of the one that failed...ie...NO design change to address this problem. Had my reefer been retro fitted with the sheet metal "band-aid" beforehand....it still would had failed!


Sort of like the flaming Pinto that ford put out. The "Fix" was a piece of plastic to minimized the potential for fuel tank rupture in the event of a rear end collision.


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Is dometic going to sent out a recall letter like Auto makers do????


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

battalionchief3 said:


> Is dometic going to sent out a recall letter like Auto makers do????


I received a letter last year for the first recall which I had taken care of and then received another recall letter a couple of months ago.

mike


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

battalionchief3 said:


> Is dometic going to sent out a recall letter like Auto makers do????


This is an official NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recall. The recall notice says:

"Remedy: THE *VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS *WILL NOTIFY OWNERS OF RECREATIONAL VEHICLES THAT HAD THE REFRIGERATORS INSTALLED AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND *DOMETIC* WILL NOTIFY OWNERS OF THE AFTERMARKET REFRIGERATORS. "

Translation: we should all expect to get a letter from Keystone, not Dometic. Exception: You had a defective refrigerator and had it replaced by Dometic or you bought a replacement directly from Dometic.

NHTSA says that owners should be notified within a "reasonable time". The date on the recall is April 11, 2008. Potentially 745,574 units are subject to the recall (wow!), so it's up to you to determine if two months is "reasonable" given the number of letters that have to go out. By the way, NHTSA says manufacturers often use DMV registration records to determine who the current owner is, so this would add some time too given that they have to check all the states, territories and provinces (anybody own an Outback in Hawaii?).

Ed


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

After finding out via Dometic's web site look up that I was effected by the expanded recall, I contacted my local RV dealership. Believe it or not, they were able to get me in two days after I called.







That was the easy part. Keep in mind, this should have been a 30 minute repair. 15 minutes later, I am called back to the service counter. looking at my watch, I'm thinking that was fast. As it turns out, when they ran the serial number against the database they had been provided with, it was not part of the recall. We I mentioned that it was effected by the expanded recall, they looked at me like I was from another planet. No one there even knew that the recall was expanded over two months ago. They quickly got on the phone with Dometic and got things cleared up. According to the rep from Dometic, they were "going to get around" to letting the dealers / service people know about this recall by mail either next week or the week after, then the consumers a short while after that. From what I was able to gather from Dometic's rep is that the only place where info is available about the recall is their website. Well, long story short, the same repair kit that was required with the first recall is the same on for the expanded recall and Dometic allowed the service department to go ahead with the repair even though the recall campaign is not "officially" underway. Nearly two hours later, I can report that I have actually seen and been into a Outback Loft and, well, I still don't think it's for us. Although the telescopic rear bumper / bike rack / storage space that Keystone is adding to one of their 5th wheel lines looks like a bargain for only an extra $265. I wonder if that will come to the Outback line?







And oh yea, I no longer have to worry about the frig catching on fire!!


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## Camper Man (Jan 12, 2006)

Reines RV, one of the largest dealerships in Northern Virginia, had not heard about the expanded recall before I called on June 15 to make an appointment to retrofit the unit in my 2006 Outback. However, once they confirmed with Dometic, they were ultra-fast and very professional about it. I had an appointment four days later and they did the job in less than an hour.


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## n2striper (Jul 21, 2007)

Just checked mine and mine IS on the recall list.


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## wtscl (May 22, 2007)

When I checked the web site, my fridge was on the list. I made an appointment with a local repair guy. When I showed up to have him do the work, he noticed that mine already a partial fix. It already had the heat sensor, but did not have the fused wire or heat shield. He went ahead and put the rest of the required items on and said he would deal with Dometic if it was not the right thing to do. I haven't heard anything from him, and it was a month ago.

He and I sat and chatted while he worked, and it still only took him about 20 minutes.


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## kjdj (Sep 14, 2004)

Warning to some folks incase your hit with a huge labor bill.

After a re read of the posts It is obvious there are 2 recalls. 
The first deals with the whole leaking cooling system replacement. (8 hrs. Labor not included)
The second deals with a sensor, fuse, and heat shield. (30 min. Labor included)

Mine was the first recall. The $800 labor wasn't included.

km


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## BlueWedge (Sep 11, 2005)

We had pretty much the same expierence as others have. Ours had the thermoresistor so the shield and fuse was all that was needed.

One thing our mobile repair person mentioned was that some dealers not on the dometic list will actually do the recall. So it may be worth your time calling a closer Non Outback dealer to perform the recall. It was well worth the money having someone come to us rather than taking it in.

Another thing I don't remember reading online is that the warranty is apparently extended after the SBH (Secondary Burner Housing) is installed. We also got a fancy new SBH manual.


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## szelek (Sep 6, 2007)

I would like to say - THANK YOU to all of you that bring information like this recall up. I just checked my fridge and its on the list. We have two big trips planned (one that would require running entirely on propane) and I never have been notified by dealer or Dometic. Will now have time to get it repaired before the trip - I hope. Thank you!


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

lvnoutbkn said:


> I would like to say - THANK YOU to all of you that bring information like this recall up. I just checked my fridge and its on the list. We have two big trips planned (one that would require running entirely on propane) and I never have been notified by dealer or Dometic. Will now have time to get it repaired before the trip - I hope. Thank you!


Same here. I learned about the recall from this website and had the repairs done in June, about 2 weeks after this topic was started.

I just got the recall notice from Dometic a week or so ago. Their letter talked about how dangerous this situation could be and told me to not use the fridge until after repairs were made. Must not be too dangerous, since it took them several months to get the letter to me. I wonder how much liability they could incur if someone dies due to too-late notification of the problem?

You'd think that in this day of early and often litigation, they would have sped up the notification process.

But again, thanks to this website, I have nothing to worry about!

Mike


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