# Refrigerator Not Working



## ccauthor (Jul 30, 2004)

DW found everything in the refrigerator bad today. 
We usually run the refrigerator all the time so it has run for about 3 years now. I tested it on gas and I see the burner working and can feel it heating. When I test it on electric I can read 120V from one heater wire to the terminal strip, therefore I can read the 120 V through the heater coil.
Does anyone have any experience with the refrigerators?

Help!

Thanks
Calvin


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

I can't get past the THREE SOLID YEARS part -- holy cow -- I think you just wore it out...

But if you are getting gas and getting current... my next step would be to have the Freon checked...

around here -- if you drag the trailer in yourself -- to a Carrier dealer -- they will check and charge for undr $60...

(yes I know Carrier is A/C and that the fridge has no freon in it -- but the Carrier guys here also do fridges)


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## Steelhead (Nov 14, 2005)

I don't really think it has freon in it. Absorption coolers (ones that operate by heating elements ) have a solution of ammonia and other chemicals.
You would probably have to take it to someone who works on absorption type refers. After running for 3 years straight it may have developed a leak in the heat exchanger or something like that. The fact that the heating elements are working would lead me to belive this may be the case. Good luck

Dallas


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## fspieg (Jul 31, 2006)

3 years!!! That's only $533 per year. When you own a boat they call it a hole in the water through which you throw money. What do they call an RV?


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## renegade21rs (Oct 8, 2006)

fspieg said:


> When you own a boat they call it a hole in the water through which you throw money. What do they call an RV?


A hole in the woods through which you throw money!


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

When you run it on gas does it cool? If it works on gas and not on electric then you might have a burned out element. Even though you can measure 120 volts the amperage is the more important measurement. If the element is bad you will read little to no amps. If you have a leak with Ammonia you should see yellow powder at the leak site so a good visual inspection should tell you a lot. I hope it is something simple.


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## ccauthor (Jul 30, 2004)

Thanks for the input. It does not work on electric or gas. I did find some yelow powder under the heater unit. It don't look good!

Thanks again for the help.

Calvin


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## ccauthor (Jul 30, 2004)

Well, problem solved today!

After $540 and 9 hours working on replacing the cooling unit the refrigerator is now cooling again! If you notice on the websites they will tell you this is a 3 hr job....








The coils would not come out until I removed the insulation from around the entire evaporator coil section for the freezer and fridge.







The website said the coil would pull out once you cut the insulation from around the sides.







Not that simple!!
Even after removing all of the insulation from the coils I still needed to cut the thermal mastic from between the coils and the evaporator plates. Then pry the old coil out.









Long day&#8230;..


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## Steve McNeil (Aug 30, 2004)

Ghosty said:


> I can't get past the THREE SOLID YEARS part -- holy cow -- I think you just wore it out...
> 
> But if you are getting gas and getting current... my next step would be to have the Freon checked...
> 
> ...


Are you not suppose to leave your refrigerator running even during storage? Our sales guy told us to keep it plugged in while in storage, etc and it would last longer. Mine stays hooked up to power when we are not camping.

Thanks

Steve


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## ccauthor (Jul 30, 2004)

Hey Steve,

Others had told me to leave it running too, so I guess I will try not running it now! It was bad the lower section of the boiler tube had a crack in it.

The unit was 3 years and 1 month when it went out...









Calvin


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

I have been told that the unit must stay very level to keep it working correctly. Something about the way the unit works if its not level it doesn't work correctly and can over heat. i don't remember all of the details, but i am sure some one can chime in.


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## kjdj (Sep 14, 2004)

ccauthor said:


> Well, problem solved today!
> 
> After $540 and 9 hours working on replacing the cooling unit the refrigerator is now cooling again! If you notice on the websites they will tell you this is a 3 hr job....
> 
> ...


Darn! 
I wish you would have done a search for Refer posts. I just got my cooling unit replace under warranty. It was 3 years and 2 days out of warranty. Dometic covered the unit but not the shipping and installation. I choose to have the dealer change it out since the do it yourself price was about the same.
My final cost was $563.

What blows my mind is the cooling unit is "passive" that is no fans and no compressor. If a home refer can last 15 years why can't an RV refer? I think Dometic got a bad batch of cooling units back in 2004 which is why they had no problem fixing mine.


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

Glad you got it fixed







Might just have been a defective unit or was it one of the ones affected by the recall that the heating element was getting too hot which can cause the cooling unit to crack?

It's such a simple design and I've read about people runnning their fridges for years with no problems.

Mike


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