Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-30-2015, 03:04 AM   #1
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default Help w/ two Problems Please !

I have a new to me 94 Dodge Class B leisure travel wide body.

Problem 1) Onan 2800 microlite starts fine but 1min 45 sec later sputters and quits. Will not restart and orange light won't light on start switch like it does on first start. Checked fuel bowl after incident and it has fuel in there. I just changed the oil and fuel filter BTW. I thought it was fuel but now thinking it is electrical. Something heats up and quits after 1min 45 sec. If I let it cool for 10 min it fires right up but same thing. Could it be low oil sensor? Where is it??

Problem 2) Demetic 2310 12volt/120 volt and propane refrigerator rear coils get hot on the back of the unit with propane and shore power but not on 12 volt. The small freezer section gets cool but never frozen after running for two days. Bottom of frig doesn't get cold at all.

Help Please guys and thanks in advance!
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2015, 06:45 AM   #2
Platinum Member
 
Bruceper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Manitoba
Posts: 677
Default

https://www.cumminsonan.com/www/pdf/...s/981-0506.pdf Your Onan manual. It's pretty extensive which is nice.

I can't find the exact issue you are describing, but from reading other sites it sounds like a heat issue. Specifically other sites mentioned that the heat sensor is not receiving it's required message so it's shutting itself down to prevent damage. Perhaps the manual can tell you how to troubleshoot that.

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/operating/rm2310.pdf Dometic 2310 Manual. I know nothing about 2 or 3 way fridges other than mine is broke and I will probably replace it with a 120v unit.
Bruceper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-30-2015, 05:59 PM   #3
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

Thanks Bruce! I'm thinking of going to a house current frig too. Not as complicated and cools really fast in minutes. I'm thinking solar panel, charge controller and inverter to run the wall plugs which run the frig. How were you thinking of hooking it up?
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2015, 11:57 PM   #4
Platinum Member
 
skagitstan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: East of world famous Sedro Woolley, west of Concrete
Posts: 210
Default

Might want to think about a 12V compressor fridge (or 12/120) to avoid the inverter inefficiencies running a 120 only unit.

Stan
__________________
Turning a 2015 Ford Transit into a camper. Her name is Annie.
You can watch it all happen here:
https://anniebuild.blogspot.com/
Now, with trip reports!!!!
skagitstan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2015, 12:13 AM   #5
Platinum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 11,917
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by skagitstan View Post
Might want to think about a 12V compressor fridge (or 12/120) to avoid the inverter inefficiencies running a 120 only unit.

Stan
X2 - especially if you get one of the highly efficient Danfoss compressor models. The 110v home frigs tend to be very inefficient by comparison, and the inverter makes it even worse.
booster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2015, 07:24 PM   #6
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by skagitstan View Post
Might want to think about a 12V compressor fridge (or 12/120) to avoid the inverter inefficiencies running a 120 only unit.

Stan
I haven't heard of the inefficiencies of the 120 volt units. Would u mind explaining that for me? Thanks
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2015, 07:48 PM   #7
Platinum Member
 
skagitstan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: East of world famous Sedro Woolley, west of Concrete
Posts: 210
Default

You will need a battery along with your solar panel(s) and controller. The battery is what really stores the energy to power your fridge. You can't just depend on the controller's output. It is there to optimize extracting the solar for charging the battery.

The main inefficiency is the inverter you propose. Typically, they run in the mid to upper 80% range to convert your battery's 12VDC to 120VAC. That means maybe 15% of battery energy being used to run the fridge is really just being converted into waste heat.

With solar system use, you really need to minimize wasted energy. You can't get sunlight any time you wish, and it would be a bad thing for the battery to go flat at night just because you wasted energy when you didn't need to. Won't do your food too much good.

A 12V fridge runs the compressor directly from 12V, so you avoid the wasted energy. Also, as booster says, you can get very efficient 12V fridges.

Stan
__________________
Turning a 2015 Ford Transit into a camper. Her name is Annie.
You can watch it all happen here:
https://anniebuild.blogspot.com/
Now, with trip reports!!!!
skagitstan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2015, 08:08 PM   #8
Platinum Member
 
Bruceper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Manitoba
Posts: 677
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maui View Post
Thanks Bruce! I'm thinking of going to a house current frig too. Not as complicated and cools really fast in minutes. I'm thinking solar panel, charge controller and inverter to run the wall plugs which run the frig. How were you thinking of hooking it up?
To be honest it was simply going to be a take out and replace idea. There is a plugin available in the microwave compartment above the fridge compartment where I would likely plug it in.

However, finding something that would fit properly is a challenge. Most of the compact refrigerators are narrower than the stock Dometic unit. They are also taller or shorter as well. I haven't given enough thought or research into how it would be stabilized and how the gaps would be filled to still look good.

Another issue is keeping it closed during driving. I don't really want to put holes in the unit so some other mechanism needs to be devised while still looking decent.

For me, and for now, I only go to parks where I have power, so I'm not concerned about 12volt use.

It's also a cost issue. A compact fridge is $100-200. Not really expensive at all.

One of the inefficiencies people are talking about is losses during the conversion from 12 volts to 120 volts. There will always be loss be stepping up or down a voltage or current which means more drain on the batteries. While the loss may seem insignificant, it adds up when you consider that battery energy is finite.

Another inefficiency would be power consumption to cooling. However an Energy Star fridge is better at not wasting power than an unrated fridge. This power is wasted and converted to heat, which is an issue in a small class B. An exhaust fan may need to be utilized to get rid of the excess heat.
Bruceper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 02:08 AM   #9
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

Bruce And Stan thanks for the info. Never even thought of that before. So what you are saying, it's better to find a 12volt fridge and run a solar panel to a charge controller straight to the house battery by passing a inverter because the inverter is robbing power.
The only thing is....right now I have no power to any of my power wall sockets unless I use shore power or generator (is that how yours is too?) With a inverter all my wall plugs would now work just using the house battery, being charged by the solar panel. So I can plug in a cheap dorm type refrigerator that's 110volt and be done with the 3way that I have now that's not cooling. I only camp out one night at a time so i'm not looking for long term boondocking.
I'm also missing the frig latch. What seems to be missing in this picture?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_7154.jpg (214.6 KB, 8 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_7232.jpg (136.3 KB, 4 views)
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 02:10 AM   #10
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

Dog gone it..sorry about the pictures. Can these be rotated n "go advanced" tab?
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 02:17 AM   #11
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

As you know I just bought this RV. Seems nothing works! Playing with hotwater heater today. Turn on propane, Fiip interior switch on with red light, run outside I hear and see the burn light and roar! Then 5 seconds later it shuts off......it auto relights in a few seconds and i'm happy again but 5 seconds later it shuts off again!! Getting frustrated here guys! Frig gets hot on coils but inside is not cold, Generator starts but shuts off 1min 45 sec later.....now water heater only stays on 5 seconds....Help!!!! LOL
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 12:59 PM   #12
Platinum Member
 
eric1514's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ID AZ
Posts: 867
Default

Make sure you have water in the water heater tank. It may be shutting off to protect it self from overheating.

Eric
__________________
2006 Dynamax Isata 250 Touring Sedan

"Il Travato Rosso"
2015 Travato 59g
eric1514 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 05:35 PM   #13
Bronze Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 40
Default

Thanks Eric I'll look into that. Ummmm how would I confirm that? I found the tank but no sight glass etc. Disconnect the pipe and see if water comes out of hot side?
Maui is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2015, 05:55 PM   #14
Platinum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 251
Default

Is it the standard RV water heater? Undo the drain plug on the outside and the water should gush out. Put "rv water heater drain" into Google and you'll see several pictures show up. It's also possible you have it in bypass mode, with no water in it.
__________________
2015 RT CS with E-Trek
obgraham is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT. The time now is 11:12 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.