Need Camper Fridge Troubleshooting help.

[Swampthing]

I have a Dometic RM361 electric/gas fridge. This is a new camper to me so I'm trying to figure this out. I haven't tried it on electric yet but am trying it on gas right now. It has a button that you push in and hold and then an ignitor button you push until you see a glow through a window. All right I did all that. The glow you see through the window fades away. I went out of the camper and lifted the compartment door for the fridge and started touching pipes and they are all either very warm to the touch or a little hot. Nothing cold yet. Is this normal? Does the glow normally fade away? Is there something I should take off and clean? How dependant is this on gas pressure from the tanks? I think they were each about half full. Is filling this up with freon just like car ac's use to be? Can I get freon anywhere anymore?

Thanks in advance,

Johnny

[Swampthing]

It's been running for a couple of hours now and there's no cold/cool in the fridge but the pipes are very warm and a little hot.

Should something back there be cold?

There's been enough time now for cooling to have begun inside right?

Needs freon?

[bobtownhunter]

I had one in acamper once and the back coils got warm also.I would say that is low on freon that is causing it not to get cold.I may be wrong it was just something for you to check.

[12 pointer]

It's been running for a couple of hours now and there's no cold/cool in the fridge but the pipes are very warm and a little hot.

Should something back there be cold?

There's been enough time now for cooling to have begun inside right?

Needs freon?

no. I dont think they work like that. If you feel the back of your fridge in the houst it will be hot in the back too. My camper is plugged up outside. I will feel of the back of my fridge in the morn and tell you what I find. I have never ran one on gas, only electric. mine will freeze a bottle of water in the fridge if it is turned up all the way. just takes those a while to cool down. what type of camper do you have?

[Swampthing]

Well I let it burn all night long and the fridge never cooled down. I guess it's a good sign that it did burn all night.

Can I still get freon at an auto parts store or is it something special now? Is refriderator freon different than car ac freon?

It's a Sunline. I bought it because I was tired of sleeping in tents down on our land!!! We're gearing up to frame a cabin down there this summer and last summer/fall we built the foundation. There something awful about working hard all day and then sleeping in a tent.

[12 pointer]

I can't answer you question about the freon but I can tell you that all of my line in the rear of the fridge are extrememly warm. try it on elec. and see what it does.

[BunnyBuster]

Well I let it burn all night long and the fridge never cooled down. I guess it's a good sign that it did burn all night.

Can I still get freon at an auto parts store or is it something special now? Is refriderator freon different than car ac freon?



Yes it would be different probably. The car Freon is R-32A and R-12. I doubt seriously that you fridge is the same.

Some refrigerators will not cool if there is nothing in them. We have one at our little league field like that. A refrigerator or air conditioners job is to remove heat from something. If a cooler is well insulated it has no heat in it to remove. Try putting a couple gallon jugs of water in it and see if they get cold.

There should also be heat coming from the condensing unit on the fridge if it is working properly (usually the back or underside). The warm coils in the back of a refrigerator is actually the heat that the unit is removing from inside the cooler.

[Manzanita]

I used the have the same model fridge in my popup. If the one you have is about the size of a dorm refrigerator, then that's the one.

The light is supposed to stay on. What you're seeing is the light from the gas flame. If the light goes out, the flame has gone out. If you didn't already know, you do have to hold that button in for about a minute after you light it.

I used to have an awful time getting that thing lit whenever the gas had been turned off at the tank for a while, usually right when we were heading out to go camping. It would sputter and fade out. After fussing with it for a few minutes, it would finally purge the air out of the lines and stay on.

We usually only ran it on gas while we were on the road. A couple of times we camped without hookups and we ran it on gas for several days at a time. I think it actually runs best when it's on gas... purt' near froze everything in it until we turned it down. Didn't seem to use that much, either. Never used 12v.

If you don't have a manual, I'll tell you a few quirky things about those models. They use an ammonia evaporative system for cooling. No freon. They really don't like it when they're not level. Also, if part of the cooling system freezes up (as a result of being unlevel, for example) it'll almost seem like it has quit working. To remedy that, turn the thermostat a little warmer for a while. Also, like someone previously mentioned, it does take 'em a while to cool down. I used to turn ours on a day or two before we were planning on using it.

[Swampthing]

I went to Tom Stinnett RV over the weekend to see what they had to offer. I talked to a RV mechanic who seemed to think I have a vapor block. He said it's common. What I'm suposed to do is take the unit out and turn it upside down for an hour or so. I plan on doing this later.

[mike243]

swampthing,the camper refrige is a amonia & water system that has no freon,please dont try to access because it will be real stinky :eek: ,hope that fixes it as nobody local works on them.my brother replaced 1 in his camper & ruptered it while removing it.good luck ,mike243

[RVtech24]

I have a Dometic RM361 electric/gas fridge. This is a new camper to me so I'm trying to figure this out. I haven't tried it on electric yet but am trying it on gas right now. It has a button that you push in and hold and then an ignitor button you push until you see a glow through a window. All right I did all that. The glow you see through the window fades away. I went out of the camper and lifted the compartment door for the fridge and started touching pipes and they are all either very warm to the touch or a little hot. Nothing cold yet. Is this normal? Does the glow normally fade away? Is there something I should take off and clean? How dependant is this on gas pressure from the tanks? I think they were each about half full. Is filling this up with freon just like car ac's use to be? Can I get freon anywhere anymore?

Thanks in advance,

Johnny

After about 8 hrs of operating on gas or electric refer should be cold inside.

If not, remove cover on the outside.

There are coils on the left and a round cylinder on the right, both of these will be about the same temperature during normal operation.

If one is hotter than the other or the round cylinder is extreamly hot.

The cooling system has a blockage, this occurs when the refer is on and the RV is not level.

If both sides are about the same temp and refer not cold on the inside, you might have a restriction in the air flow through the cooling fins, to check the air flow remove the top cover of the refer vent on top of the RV, only 4 screws to remove to do this, check inside vent for wasp nest bird nest ect. If there is nothing stopping the air flow.

It's time for a new refer.