Troubleshooting A Dometic RV Refrigerator That's Not Working On Propane

Certified Mobile RV Technician, Darren Koepp, troubleshoots a Dometic RV refrigerator that is not working on propane. In this instance, the electrode wire was damaged and shorting out and therefore the burner was unable to ignite.

[sumnerwebber]

Man you saved the day! Just bought this year old camper and the fridge wouldn't run on gas, watched the video and went to work trouble shooting, the gas valve was vertical not horizontal! Turned the valve, works like a charm! You da man! Love YouTube!

[Luuri]

Thank you Darren, I was able to fix my fridge I had some technicians coming to check it out? They made me to get a new mother board, I had to change it myself, still didn’t worked and told me I had to change my fridge and the problem was very simple the valve was off I figured out just by watching your video, I can’t believe how simple the problem was and how people try to scam us new campers, thanks for the video once again and wish you lots of blessings

[alecruzcruz]

*Works great **Fastly.Cool** compact and Easy to install*

[dpeterson]

Following your video just got my ‘95 Scottsdale by Cobra to ignite. I’ve been messing with it for weeks. Now hopefully it gets cold. Thanks you for putting this video out. That many years ago and it’s still helpful!!

[edprice]

My fridge stopped working, I watched your video which gave me an understanding of the fridge, when I took the shield off the igniter, there were chunks of carbon blocking where the flame goes up. Cleaned those out and it works fine! Thanks for the help.

[masterblaster]

Hey Bro-fessor Koepp, you're a gentleman and a scholar! You put out the very best of educational videos of any kind on the planet. Hands stinking down! You belong on national TV brother! Your work and productions are very much appreciated.

[reggiejewett]

What a great tip on that reset button, i went 3 days trying everything including ordeing a new board. All i had to do is press that reset switch on the burner. Thank You Thank You

[markbartlett]

I helped a friend with her dometic frig. After several minutes of head scratching the problem was staring me in my face. There was a mut daubers nest in the burner tube. It was so well formed that it looked like it belonged there. After I removed the plug, the burner lit and functioned well. Thanks for all the great information.

[irinaarcher]

Darren is amazing person, who has helped me via remote assistance from the USA! I am UK based and I have contacted him after my fridge stopped cooling. Unfortunately cooling unit is not reparable and getting part to the UK is very expensive. I would recommend Darren to anyone who has any issues with RVs, he is full of knowledge and knows 100% what he is doing! 5 *

[stacysilvey]

I am so grateful I found this video. I was trying to figure out how to bleed the line when I found your video. And this was the exact problem we had. In fact the ignitor wire was already charred. We were just one trip away from disaster! My husband is changing it out today.

[donsperlin]

I found it helpful to have an overview/summary of the sequence of what happens to start the flame: 1. a control unit, 2. activates ignition module, 3. generates spark & 4. opens gas valve, and flame then lights to 5. satisfy the flame being lit via ionization probe at the burner so the spark stops. Getting this from John B.: Ideal Boiler Function + . . . In addition to the VERY good videos at MYRVWORKS about how to check the various components made a big difference to me. ALSO: I suspect some of the online manuals may be a bit out of date because my Dometic 8501 on a 2018 R-Pod 179 has a Polyswitch showing Typ: P870 rather than the P860 and the display on front of the refrig is different. Gas burner lighting processes are very similar whether water tank heating, furnace, or refrigerator. Darren is my favorite RV expert!!!

[garylewis]

Very informative. Thanks so much for posting this. I've got the same issue with a Dometic RM3804 and am here just doing a little research before I dig into it. I hope my issue is as simple as this one turned out to be. This is my first foray into RV fridge repair so I've got a learning curve to overcome, but I've been down that road before with RV furnaces, water heaters and solar/battery systems with good success, so am looking forward to learning about these fridges. I'm so thankful for Youtube and videos like yours. Thanks again.

[gitayost]

Thank you for this video. I was able to make a simple diagnosis for my dometic fridge by watching this. Your information is clear and concise!

[rickpatrinellis]

Hello Darren & thanks for the informative video. I hope you will do another in the future that would go start to finish on diagnosing issues on propane side of the refrigerator. This video was excellent but you found the problem so quickly there was no need to go further! Excellent video though and you are a wonderful instructor.

[henrymorgan]

It is always best to watch a professional. Thanks, I learned something today!

[amatubervideo]

I just had to tell you your video was more helpful than the forum post I put on RV net trying to get similar information.  you analysis the system and come up with a logical solution. As an engineer I can relate to that. Which I followed along with and was able to repair my unit successfully.  RV net people kept telling me to hard wire heating element.   if I am not getting power to the jumpers supplying the heating element, that's my first issue …. if I am getting power and its still not cooling well then yes we need to check the element,    Long story short replaced the main board upper board and thermistor and its working like new. turns out I think the upper board was all that was bad but I did it all.    SO THANK YOU for your video!

[jeffreyhill]

My high limit thermostat button was popped out. Reset it and solved my problem! I am most grateful to you. Thank you for helping me solve my problem!

[tuomasholo]

I don’t own an RV and I’m not sure how I got here but it was an interesting video with a good resolution in the end. 👍

[laurijorgenson]

Minnesotan with a new (old) RV here. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. Love your humor and your style!

[UkeJesus]

Thank you. The video was very helpful. My fridge stopped working at 5:30 am. Checked propane and it was fine. Put new hoses on and now to follow your video to see what the heck is wrong with mine.