I need help.

[Kels]

I just purchased an 02 Dodge Great West van. It's a project vehicle. I got dodge owners manual for automotive but NOTHING for rv systems. Currently on my trial trip. Can't figure out how to run fridge. There are several dials and buttons and I think I tried them all.so far, nothing

[GallenH]

Please supply maker and model of fridge. Might have to open outside lower vent compartment door to see. If you can't find, take pic and upload. Use paperclip icon on the menu you see above and it will open a "manage attachments" window.

[Kels]

Domestic RM2353. I found instructions inside fridge and followed them but still nothing

[GallenH]

Sorry to hear that. I looked at the manual/instructions for your unit. I have an older RM2310 but it seems very similar. Piezo ignition/no circuit board. Pretty simple (or is it?). So: Can you identify the boiler and the flue/chimney? The boiler has a removable wind guard which exposes the burner tube. When lit you will see a flame there (hopefully blue). But first: Do you get any cooling on 120v or 12v? The lower flue area will get warm on either of those. Touch it carefully/quickly because it can get pretty hot. You can also feel the back of your freezer. If you ARE getting cooling on 120v/12v you know it's the LP burner. So on my unit, the way that I usually light the burner with the piezo button is to hold the other button supplying gas down for about 20 sec before even trying the piezo. You might look into the sight window and see what happens. On mine I can usually see an orange flash when it first ignites. Even then it might not hold and I continue holding the gas button and try again. If you listen carefully you will hear the faint sound of the burner "burning." Oh, I first light the stove and when it lights turn the stove off. Reason being that there is usually air in the LP lines. It often takes 5-20 sec before the air is purged and a stove burner will light. Same thing with the fridge LP line which is why it often takes repeated attempts to get the fridge to light. Let me know how it goes.

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by Kels

Can't figure out how to run fridge. There are several dials and buttons and I think I tried them all.so far, nothing

It would be helpful if you could specify how you are trying to run it -- electric or gas? If electric, is your van plugged in to shore power or are you trying to run it off the battery? Also, these older dometic fridges run completely silently and don't have any indicators to tell you that they are working, and they take a long time (a couple of hours at more) to cool down.

[Kels]

I tried both ways but would prefer electric. I was plugged into Shore power at a campground. I never got even slightly cool all night. I had gas burners removed. My suspicion is the unit is just old and no longer functional. Is there a reason why a regular 3 cu ft unit wouldn't work? Soooo much cheaper

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by Kels

I tried both ways but would prefer electric. I was plugged into Shore power at a campground. I never got even slightly cool all night. I had gas burners removed. My suspicion is the unit is just old and no longer functional. Is there a reason why a regular 3 cu ft unit wouldn't work? Soooo much cheaper

It's possible that it just doesn't work but my 25 year old dometic is still working fine. If you want to figure it out, then there is a whole troubleshooting procedure that you can go through. You certainly have several options to replace it if you want/need to, but none necessarily cheap or easy -- it all depends on how you want to use the fridge and what power/fuel sources you will have available

If you can access the back of the fridge (typically through an access panel on the side of the van), then the easiest way to start troubleshooting is on shore power: plug it in, turn the selector knob to AC/Electric/120v and the thermostat knob to MAX; after an hour or so check if the coils in the back are hot (google "dometic RM2353 cooling unit" to see what they look like -- probably only the bottom part will be visible -- and be careful, they can get pretty hot). If the coils are not heating up then then you would start troubleshoot, by, for example, checking the terminals to see if the unit is getting power, the heater element to see if it is heating up, and temperature differences in various places on the cooling unit to make sure the fluid in it is circulating.

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by Kels

I tried both ways but would prefer electric. I was plugged into Shore power at a campground. I never got even slightly cool all night. I had gas burners removed. My suspicion is the unit is just old and no longer functional. Is there a reason why a regular 3 cu ft unit wouldn't work? Soooo much cheaper

As suggested by RT-NY, check to make sure electric power is getting to the unit. Does yours have a light on the control panel? If so, does it light when you turn unit on. If not, check the outlet in the back of the fridge and make sure there's power there. If not, check fuse panel or breaker for fridge circuit. The arguments that I've heard against getting a small, 12v home fridge is that they are not designed to be continually jostled around in a moving vehicle. Can't confirm this is true, though. Others would know better.

[GallenH]

Another thought. Some on the list use a small portable chest freezer that can run off of 120v or 12v. It seems that if you use a traditional home fridge you'd have to have some way (inverter?) to keep it operating when you are driving 4-6 hours to a destination. Also perhaps an issue if you're sitting at a trailhead for several hours.

[TX-Trek]

One if the first things I did when we got the van was to go through the fridge and water heater wiring - found several corroded connections. I cleaned and redid anything in sight. This was by removing the exterior access panels.
This may be a reasonable start point for you on the fridge.
I've made my way through mechanical/electrical stuff as well as maintenance to get a known baseline, very useful when buying a used vehicle.
Per Gallen's comment, on longer trips we have a larger ice-chest style fridge that plugs into either 12v or 120v power. Sits between the front seats. Really handy for drinks, veggies, etc and as a back-up in case the Dometic fails. Works great.