Dometic RM 2652 not cooling

[Kcole]

The unit is not cooling. On AC the element is hot but not cooling. On gas the pilot lights but flame will not come on. What's up, I need help, going on trip soon.

[Kirk W]

The RV refrigerator has only a very small propane flame and no pilot. What you are seeing is the flame for heating. Is there any odor of ammonia either inside the refrigerator or in the rear access panel? What about any hint of a yellow powder or mud in the rear of the cooling unit? Either of these would be an indication that the refrigerant has leaked out of the cooling unit. To give anything more would require some additional information.

 

If you see the flame that tells me that the 12V-dc power is available and the fuse is not blown. Have you checked the display for any sort of error codes? Are there any panel lights showing? Is there any cooling at all in either the freezer or the chill box? Does the interior light come on when you open the door?

 

You can find a copy of the service manual for this refrigerator on the website of Bryant RV.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Kirk

[Kcole]

I did find yellow powder in the rear access panel. Can the cooling unit be repaired or is it toast?

[Rif]

It's toast. Replacement cooling units can be purchased for much less than a whole new refrigerator from several sources. Unless you want to tackle the job yourself, you will need to work with an RV repair source.

 

The least expensive option is to replace the gas/electric RV refrigerator with a standard household type unit. These can be purchased for much less than a new RV refrigerator or a new cooling unit. Whether or not one makes sense for you depends on how you use your RV. If you are always hooked up to electricity and never travel more than a few hours at time you may need no additional equipment. If not you may need to add an inverter to power the refrigerator during those times you are not hooked up, and you will need to provide sufficient battery capacity to supply the inverter. Of course you will also need to consider how to recharge those batteries.

 

Many of us are now using household refrigerators. In many cases the refrigerator, inverter and batteries are still cheaper than a new RV refrigerator.

[Bill Joyce]

The residential fridge also has to fit the hole reasonably well. That might make it more difficult and more expensive. Each case is unique.

 

Replacement cooling units come in three versions: 1) new from Dometic; 2) refurbished Dometic; 3) Amish made replacement. We know people who love their Amish cooling units and others will not buy anything except a new Dometic one.

[Kirk W]

. Can the cooling unit be repaired or is it toast?

Cooling units can be replaced but there is no proof yet that yours is the problem. There are also several circuit boards in the refrigerator which could cause the problem, but since the heat sources are operating but it isn't cooling would lead us to believe that it is the cooling unit. Have you done any trouble shooting as yet? Is it cooing at all? Do you have any fault codes?

 

I don't know that I would agree that most of us are using household refrigerators, but there certainly is a growing trend in that direction. With the improvement in inverter & battery technology it will likely continue to move that way, but I really think that you should do some trouble shooting before we conclude that you need a new refrigerator.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Kirk

[Kcole]

I could buy a complete reconditioned one for less than $500. Have you heard of these and are they OK.

[Rif]

Can you give us a link to a reconditioned one? I wonder if what they really mean is "used"? I'm not aware of any way to "recondition" the cooling unit.

[Kirk W]

I could buy a complete reconditioned one for less than $500. Have you heard of these and are they OK.

Most of them are good but check to see what sort of warranty the company gives you. Will you be installing it yourself? If not you also need to get an estimate of that cost before you make your choice.

[Kcole]

I correct myself , that was for a rebuilt cooling unit

[Kcole]

I might do the install but how difficult is it.

[Kirk W]

It will require that you remove the refrigerator from the RV. Once that is done it will then involve removing the entire cooling unit, which is the largest part of the refrigerator, including the boiler, condenser, evaporator, all coils and associated plumbing. It will mean removal of the propane burner & electric heater, as well as a number of other connections. An experienced RV tech can usually do the job in a couple of hours. Of course, once completed you will then need to put it back into the RV and connect 12V, power and propane again.

[Bill Joyce]

The tech that replaced our cooling unit did it in the RV and it was a 12 cuft unit. He did pull it out, but it was inside on cardboard he put on the floor.

Edited October 27, 2014 by Bill Joyce

[Rif]

I've done it once and it was not a fun job. Our unit was 14 cu ft. After disconnecting everything from the back (gas line, 12V, 120V & water line for the ice maker) I removed the doors, removed the ice maker and several fins and plates, then pulled it out and laid it down on its face. Then there were dozens of screws, connectors, sheet metal plates, etc to remove before the cooling unit pulled straight up from the refrigerator enclosure. Reverse the procedure to re-install, but of course there's a good chance that not all the screw holes will line up easily. I'm sure I've forgotten a few things.

 

Like I said, not a fun job, especially when the "new Amish cooling unit" didn't work properly and I had to do it all over again a second time before giving up and replacing it with a household refrigerator.

[camperdude]

I now have the same issue with my fridge. We had a bad storm and it was plugged in 120v and had a few power surges. Power finnaly went out and stayed out for 3 days. Now the fridge does not work at all on AC or LP ... The heating element seems to get hot on the back of the fridge .... but will not cool at all.

[Kirk W]

I now have the same issue with my fridge. We had a bad storm and it was plugged in 120v and had a few power surges. Power finnaly went out and stayed out for 3 days. Now the fridge does not work at all on AC or LP ... The heating element seems to get hot on the back of the fridge .... but will not cool at all.

First of all, welcome to the Escapees forums. We will do our best to help you here. If you do not get many replies, you may want to post this again as a new topic, since this thread is now 10+ months old and so it may not draw much interest.

 

While the power problems might be the issue, with refrigerators there are other possible problems. When you were without shore power for three days, did the refrigerator continue to cool using propane for power? And have you tried shifting to propane to see if it will cool then? The control circuitry of an RV refrigerator is powered by 12V-dc from the battery & converter system but the heat must be supplied either propane or 120V shore power. Since you indicate that the heater area is getting hot, that would seem to indicate that the 120V fuse on the main circuit board is not open(blown) but if I were you I would use a meter to verify that the heater is receiving 120V, and if you don't have a meter, just for fun look at the main circuit board and check the two fuses located there. In most cases there will be a 3a fuse for the 12V-dc and a 5a fuse for the 120V-ac to the heater. I would remove both 120V and 12V power before fooling with those fuses and they may be open even if they look to be good. An ohm meter is the only certain way to determine if they are good or bad. If there are any indications on the refrigerator's control panel, that would show that there is 12V available and that the fuse for 12V is good. There is no easy way to be sure of the 120V (5a) fuse.

 

Let us know a bit more about this and we may be able to help you. If you also share the make and model of the refrigerator, there are service manuals available for most of them via the internet.

[camperdude]

Hey thanks for the acceptance to the forum ..

 

It did not work on propane that i know of .. we keep the camper up north where we go every weekend. The power went out on Sunday till Wednesday ... we got back up there on friday to a warm fridge. Once up there I tried to power up again with 120 & LP and neither will work. I check the main breaker and it was okay .. The fridge light works and also the top control panel works.

 

When I head back up this weekend I will look at the 2 fuses that you mentioned. Before this storm that fridge worked perfectly! Maybe one of the fuses are bad .. would this make it not cool at all?

 

Thanks for the response.

 

Dometic RM2652

Edited August 17, 2015 by camperdude

[Kirk W]

The 3a fuse for the 12V side would prevent any operation, but the 5A, 120V fuse would prevent it cooling on electricity but not prevent propane.

[camperdude]

Thanks for the quick response ... I'll check out the fuses when I get back up there this weekend.

 

Where are these fuses located on the Dometic RM2652? Is the anywhere I can download a manual for this fridge?

 

Thanks again for your help!

[Kirk W]

You can get the service manual in .pdf format from Bryant RV, service documents website.

[camperdude]

okay .. thanks.

 

Just another quick question ... If the fuses are good could it be a bad circuit board?

[Kirk W]

 

It did not work on propane that i know of ..

Do you keep propane available to the refrigerator, as in the valve open, tank full, and the refrigerator controls set to auto? If not you should try supplying it with propane first to see if it will work. You will need to try at least a half dozen times to make sure that any air has vented from the lines. This is an important test as it will go a long way to narrow the possible causes If you know that it has propane available and then observe to see if there is a spark that attempts to light that propane, it helps as the two heat sources use the very same control systems.

 

If the fuses are good could it be a bad circuit board?

Yes, that is possible but it is only one of a lot of different things that it could be. Circuit boards are not inexpensive and if you buy one and install it you will not be allowed to return it for a refund. I know of no company that will accept a circuit board for return if the package has been opened. The reason is that they have no way to know that the circuit board was not subjected to something that will cause it harm. If you look at the service manual in the most common problems section, for your symptoms they list 6 possible problems. You should do some trouble shooting to narrow things down.

 

If you have no panel lights, then they suggest it could be either of two circuit boards. If you can get it to operate on propane the possibilities change markedly. If you don't have propane available, the 120V heating element should be checked as it can cause it not to cool, with power available and the fuse good. The element in yours should read 44 ohms through it with power removed. Low DC voltage can also cause the unit to fail to cool. The voltage to the circuit board should be between 10V & 14V, even though the panel lights will continue to light up until the DC voltage falls to about 4V. For either circuit board, most RV repair facilities will test them for you as it is very difficult to do with an ordinary meter. There mat be a small charge for testing. If not the manual does have a procedure for testing with an ordinary volt/ohm meter.

[camperdude]

Well I checked the fusues on the circuit board and they were both good. I tried to start up the fridge again and no cooling at all. The heat exchanger was hot with the 120 or the LP going.

 

It seems like it may be an expensive problem ....

[Kirk W]

It seems like it may be an expensive problem ....

It very likely will be and you should be very careful about what RV shop you take it do as many RV techs are weak on refrigeration and air conditioning. You will probably need a new cooling unit and if the refrigerator is 10 or so years old it may make better sense to replace it.

[heebeha]

Hey Kirk you seem to be an expert on these RV dometic refrigerators so I am hoping you can help me too.

 

I have the same unit RM2652 and took some electronic measurements. I am not an expert on the electronic test meters but think I did it right.

 

I set the OHM meter to 20k and got these readings:

 

Heating Element:
39.5 (I know you said 44ohms was right but is 39.,5 ok)

 

Thermistor:
4.79 at around 75 degrees

11.25 when put into ice cold water

 

At 20k ohm on meter does this seem right for the thermistor ohm reading?

 

I am getting 12.9 volts (same as my brand new deep cycle battery) to the circuit board.

Both fuses are good, I checked with the OHM meter, both are working.

 

I am having the same issues as the initial poster. LP works, tank gets hot, leveling tank/chamber gets hot, I hear gurgling from that leveling tank. its not consistent though, sounds like its trying to boil.

My brother said a good RV place can recondition an RVs cooling unit, blow it out and refill it with the proper elements/chemicals. Is this true? I don't know why is would not be so, I have a bolt that looks like a refill area on the leveling chamber. What is that for if not refilling or checking, etc?