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Dometic fridge/ freezer not working

13K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  celticspirit 
#1 ·
We are in Morocco and today our Dometic fridge freezer stopped working on EHU, gas and 12 volt. Any ideas would be great. We have checked all the fuses and they seem ok. It is only 3 years old
 
#2 ·
Does the fridge control panel show any lights when you say switch to 12v operation.

If not, suggest you remove the fridge fuse at the 12v distribution box, check continuity with a multimeter and replace. Give it a little wiggle in the holder when you replace the fuse.

We had a similar problem which was cured by removing the fuse for about a minute and replacing. A bit like giving the computer a reboot !!!!
 
#3 ·
I'm not a fridge expert but, until one comes along, I'm guessing that the fridge looks dead, no lights or display at all. The one thing that would be common between all three power sources would be the control board (PCB) and the 12v supply as the fridge needs 12v to run its brain irrespective of whether the main supply is gas, 240v or 12v.

Hopefully it won't be a PCB fault so initially I would concentrate on checking the 12v supply. If you have a multimeter or a helpful neighbour with a multimeter, I would check at the back of the fridge to see if you've got 12v present. There will be two terminals possibly marked as 12v. One will be a permanent supply (this is the one you are interested in) and the other will only be live when the engine is running. If you've got no permanent 12v then you will need to trace the circuit back to try and find where it has gone.

If the 12v supply is present then that would point towards a control board fault which may be harder to diagnose. I'd be tempted to remove the 12v supply, count to 10 then reconnect it in the hope that it may reset the board.

Phil

Edit: I was typing at the same time as Harry, hence the duplicated message :)
 
#4 ·
Hi,

My Dometic fridge is awaiting repair (two and half years old). If it is completely dead then it may be, like mine, the PCB. There is a known problem with the fridge to which Dometic have brought out a remedy. Condensation around the control panel, behind the door, gets into the PCB. They have now introduced a 'condensation pack' to prevent the problem. Sadly for me it was too late and I'm awaiting repair - £528.00. Which includes the fix.

Hope your problem is easier to repair.

Jed
 
#7 ·
If all the lights come on and the fridge is not cooling then suspect the cooling unit. If it has sprung a leak and lost refrigerant (sniff for ammonia) then its a new cooling unit. About £850 fitted!

Dometic reckon if one of their fridges last more than three years then its done well!
 
#8 ·
jedi said:
Hi,
My Dometic fridge is awaiting repair (two and half years old). If it is completely dead then it may be, like mine, the PCB. There is a known problem with the fridge to which Dometic have brought out a remedy. Condensation around the control panel, behind the door, gets into the PCB. They have now introduced a 'condensation pack' to prevent the problem. Sadly for me it was too late and I'm awaiting repair - £528.00. Which includes the fix.
Hope your problem is easier to repair.
Jed
An easier & far cheaper fix is to get half metre of flexible plastic piping that will slip over the existing condensation pipe & dangle the open end out through the floor gas drop out vent/mesh under the van - then any condensation will drip out harmlessly rather than contaminate the pcb.
 
#9 ·
vicdicdoc said:
jedi said:
Hi,
My Dometic fridge is awaiting repair (two and half years old). If it is completely dead then it may be, like mine, the PCB. There is a known problem with the fridge to which Dometic have brought out a remedy. Condensation around the control panel, behind the door, gets into the PCB. They have now introduced a 'condensation pack' to prevent the problem. Sadly for me it was too late and I'm awaiting repair - £528.00. Which includes the fix.
Hope your problem is easier to repair.
Jed
An easier & far cheaper fix is to get half metre of flexible plastic piping that will slip over the existing condensation pipe & dangle the open end out through the floor gas drop out vent/mesh under the van - then any condensation will drip out harmlessly rather than contaminate the pcb.
This condensation forms over and around the control unit behind the door at the top. There is nowhere for it to drain other than into the pcb :( There was no 'easy fix' for my problem.

Cost wise, I shopped around and luckily my warranty covers it.

Jed
 
#11 ·
We had checked the fuses,all were ok,the problem was the print board at the rear of the fridge. A relay had failed.a Moroccan guy has taken the print board away to replace the relay.Hopefully it will.all be working by Tuesday. In the meantime the campsite has put all our frozen food in their freezer and some motor home friends have lent us their plug in cool box for the duration of our trip if the repair is not successful. HAPPY Days!!!!!
 
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