Hit Hard

Kirk, I just reread the posts and your info on shielding, etc. is interesting.  Since the problem WAS intermittent and I can’t think of anything that could be related to it, I’m hoping the problem is now resolved (of course I’m not holding my breath!). 

The really strange thing about this is that we have a friend who purchased the exact same camper and the same time we purchased ours and they are not having the problem.

I do miss the time when you could look at something and see points burned up, etc. to fix a problem, as opposed to looking at a circuit board and scratching your head.  I guess the benefits of modern electronics just have to come with some down sides.

Fortunately, we rarely need to run the refrigerator on gas.  We do use it to cool it down quickly, but then we usually operate on electricity.  Used to leave gas on while traveling but then read what a hazard that could be if there were an accident so stopped doing that – can well imagine that insurance wouldn’t pay if the worst happened and the gas was found to have been left on!

Thank you for your help, and thank you for your service to our country as well.

Hit Hard

17 hours ago, Hit Hard said:

John T, thanks again for your input.  Before I did the bench test, I killed all power to the camper including the onboard batteries and let it sit a while, did the first test, and it still failed.  Then I hooked the refrigerator directly to an auxiliary battery as you recommended and that solved the problem.  Since then, it has worked fine hooked either to the camper batteries or to the shore power. 

In answer to your question, the camper is stored in a metal building about 50 feet from the shop and the problem happened even when nothing was on in the shop.

I will clean the ground wires at the refrigerator as a preventive, and if it fails again I will go through all of your recommended steps.  I do agree with you that it's best to stay with the basics, so analyzing error codes and checking connections would be first (and I will read up on RF interference as per the search you suggested).

Best of luck and thanks for your knowledge!

Hit Hard

17 hours ago, Hit Hard said:

 

John T,

I really appreciate the interest and the input from all of you guys!  I am definitely going to make notes about the dinosaur electronics site AND I'll be printing out the info on the error codes as well.  These sources are much more detailed than any of the info I've been able to find.  In the meantime, I tested the RF interference issue per Kirk's instructions and it has now cycled off and back on with NO PROBLEM!    SO, I assume I don't need to replace the control board, but how do I clean up the RF interference???  We do put a lot of miles on the camper, but when it is home, it stays in a building powered from my workshop that has numerous welders, machine shop equipment, etc.  Could any of that be the culprit?  The problem has only manifested in the last few months but we've owned the camper for about 1.5 years.  I've read that solar panels might cause RF problems and the camper does have one on it, so...?  BTW, we're leaving out a week from tomorrow for a couple of weeks as I'll be teaching blacksmithing in Nebraska (retirement hobby!).  Thanks again for all your help.

Good catch, oldjohnt!  I had just realized myself that I'd put down the # for the control box.  The correct Dometic refrigerator model # is DMR702.

The Dometic refrigerator SP-219 in our 2019 Lance travel trailer 2465 works perfectly on electric but on gas it will start, then when it reaches temperature, it cycles off and the #3 and #7 lights start flashing, and it will not cycle back on.  I can turn it off, let it warm, turn it back on, and it does the same thing (and will not cycle back on).  I'm level, thermostat position is correct, flu is clean, batteries are in excellent condition, and all connections have been checked.  The problem persists whether on shore power or battery power.  The problem began intermittently a few months ago but in the past few weeks it has become the norm.  Any suggestions?