Refrigerator not working

[drysidenanny]

I've been having issues with my dometic refrigerator. First something was draining the battery. Over night. Nothing on except fridge. Assume a short somewhere and suspect the fridge. So refrig did not receive enough power to work properly. This morning battery had held a chg. Fridge was out. No power no lights. Fuses on front rv control panel ok. Next?

[ss owens]

The control board also has a fuse on it. You did not specify the refrigerator model, this isn't by chance a 3-way (LP. AC, DC) is it? If you were running a 3-way on 12Vdc with a single battery, that could run the battery down fairly quickly.

If it is a basic 2-way (LP, AC) then you may have a blown fuse on the board. You will need to check for 12Vdc coming into the control board. If there is 12Vdc coming in, there is a fuse on the board to check. 

I have basic knowledge at this point without a lot of experience so I cannot give a lot of specific troubleshooting information, but from what you described, if that on board fuse is blown, you should check the rest of the board for any signs of damage or overheating before simply replacing the fuse. 

 

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums. 

Like the previous poster, I am wondering what the make and model of your refrigerator is? Is it by chance one of the 12V compressor type refrigerators?

[Yarome]

In addition to the 2 or 3-way fridge question.... battery type, size/capacity, age? How do you determine the charge level? How long and how often do you charge? 

While were at it... should also probably ask if you are using an inverter and how it is configured. Ie., wired into the whole RV, dedicated outlet or directly plug-in via a socket on the inverter.

[drysidenanny]

Battery is brand new. No lights in fridge. It died yesterday sometime. Indicator light on panel shows battery is fully chgd which it didn't have when the fridge was "working" and didn't drain over night as it has been. Never higher than 2/3s Have a solar panel on the battery keeping it charged. Prior to fridge dying battery would run down over night with everything shut down except fridge. Fridge is 2 way. LP AC. Indicates to me that fridge is malfunctioning and draining the battery? No lights inside fridge or check light now. Also nothing when i run the generator. Battery is maintaining. Pulled cover off but have to look in daylight to find control panel etc.

[Yarome]

3 hours ago, drysidenanny said:

...fridge is malfunctioning and draining the battery? 

Not likely. On battery only there isn't anything going on in your fridge that would drain a new and appropriately sized battery overnight. All your powering is the control board and LP spark ignitor which consume "very" little.

If it doesn't turn on while running the generator either then it's most likely a 12v or fridge issue. Assuming that you've checked/replaced the 12v fuse in your power distribution panel... and used a meter to ensure you are actually getting 12v to your fridge... it's possible that it could be one of the control board fuses (lowers and upper on certain models), faulty control board or the thermal breaker located on the rear of your fridge...if installed. It's quite likely that you do, but I don't know the year or model of your fridge so can't say if you do, don't or might.

I would start by checking the lower control board to ensure it's getting 12v power input. From there... replace all fuses... even if they look to be fine. If the lights still don't come on then it's going to be a matter of accessing the rear to reset the thermal breaker. If that doesn't work then check the thermal breaker for continuity and possible replacement.

If you "still" don't get a heartbeat then I would move on to replacing the lower and upper control boards. I would order them both just to save time. Start with replacing the lower. If that works... return the upper for a refund. If it didn't... then I would replace the upper too.

There may be a few other items to check, but they would be model specific. The above are "common" fixes and should cure the greatest majority of fridge "no power" issues.  

[drysidenanny]

Battery is brand new. No lights in fridge. It died yesterday sometime. Indicator light on panel shows battery is fully chgd which it didn't have when the fridge was "working" and didn't drain over night as it has been. Never higher than 2/3s Have a solar panel on the battery keeping it charged. Prior to fridge dying battery would run down over night with everything shut down except fridge. Fridge is 2 way. LP AC. Indicates to me that fridge is malfunctioning and draining the battery? No lights inside fridge or check light now. Also nothing when i run the generator. Battery is maintaining. Pulled cover off but have to look in daylight to find control panel etc. dometic dm2652lbx

[Kirk W]

13 minutes ago, drysidenanny said:

dometic dm2652lbx

The service manual for the refrigerator that you have is available from Bryant RV Service internet site via this link.

4 hours ago, Yarome said:

All your powering is the control board and LP spark ignitor which consume "very" little.

I must agree with this comment. It is possible that you could be drawing more if your refrigerator's 120V-ac outlet is supplied by an inverter as that will draw a load that could drain your RV battery, particularly if you have only 1 battery. That would be very unusual and I have never seen one that was wired that way except by an owner who self-modified it. If operating on 120V, by way of an inverter the refrigerator will draw about 3a of 120V which then requires 30a+ of 12V-dc power, via the inverter. That could drain the battery overnight but would be extremely unusual. The refrigerator display should tell you if it is operating on LP or on 120v and if you are not connected to shore power it should be using LP.

My advice would be pretty much the same as that given by Yarome. I'm not sure how technical we should get in this since we have no knowledge of your background and when you begin to swap parts it can get very expensive quickly. I strongly suggest downloading a copy of the service manual before you go farther as it has guides on checking what parts you may need.