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Old 09-09-2008, 11:09 AM   #1
Ed Benson
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Dometic Refrigerators

Hey Keystone - please consider dumping the Dometic refigerator line from your RV product lines. This current "bandaid" heat shield fix being done with the Dometic recall involving refers made from 1999 thru 2006 is a joke.

Dometic is no longer extending the warrenty on units that fail after the recall fix is installed. That ended April of this year.

My 2004 Montana Mountaineer was retrofitted with the heat shield in 2007 - just before the factory 3 year warrenty expired. The boiler tube cracked - just as Dometic said it would - on a return trip home while the fridge was running on LPG. I heard the popping and crackling in the burner compartment and immediately killed the flame - yellow residue all over upon inspection. My authorized dealer called Dometic and they wouldn't budge on warrenty coverage.

So, here I am with a just barely 4 year old Mountaineer with a useless fridge. Since Dometic acknowledged a default in the cooling unit of these refigerators - any suspect unit that fails should be covered - especially those units just out of the warrenty period.

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Old 09-09-2008, 03:53 PM   #2
sailer
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Well said Ed Go after Dometic,,, sailer
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Old 09-10-2008, 08:02 AM   #3
OntMont
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I would agree, (and I have been through the failure and fix). The problem seems to be that the only other RV fridge mfr I know of is Norcold, and according to the most recent issue of the Good Sam "Highways" magazine, they have the exact same problem. Makes you wonder if they both use the same cooling unit from some third party mfr.
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Old 09-10-2008, 10:09 AM   #4
Ed Benson
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Thanks John,

I have owned three different smaller SOB's since 1972 - "fishing trailers" - all equipped with the Norcold refers. This spring I sold my 1981 21' unit - fridge still working fine on all cylinders - and purchased a 2004 24' unit - also with a Norcold. I am impressed with their product. The service centers up and down the I-15 corridor in the Snake River valley have all had much better experience with the Norcold units.

That said, in the interest of maximizing the $'s lost on this failure - I have contacted a large midwest HVAC wholesailer who operates on ebay and sells replacement cooling assemblys with 3 year warrenty for retrofit to the Dometic refer. These cooling assemblys are supposed to be more efficient and without the Dometic factory shortcomings in design. They provide installation instructions up front and if you're remotely handy with a screwdriver and wrench - said to be about a 3 hour job to replace the cooling unit. I double checked this with my closest authorized Dometic service center - and the service manager concurred - most of the work is in removing the box from the hole and then reinstalling afterword.

The cost is roughly 1/3 the replacement cost of the whole fridge - and where mine still is like new inside and out - I will probably go that way.

As I get on with this project - I'll post the results - probably won't be for a while though - fall fishing beckons and I do need to exercise my new little SOB!!

Ed
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:11 PM   #5
OntMont
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That is interesting. Ours was repaired, not replaced, by a local fridge repair shop. We could have done the change out ourselves, but I opted for the easy route and had an RV repair shop do it for me. It seems to me that I was charged for 3 hours labour.

I too thought Norcold would be better, until I started reading all the Norcold recall notices. Now I'm not so sure. Just hoping that my repaired Dometic hangs in better. It also appears that it was Keystone who brought the fire hazard problem with the Dometic fridge to Dometic's attention.
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Old 09-10-2008, 01:33 PM   #6
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Right Dometic "Fix" is really just a Liability avoidance by Mfr and actually may cause early failure as install causes some stress to the electric element installing the tin work.
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Old 09-10-2008, 04:52 PM   #7
Ed Benson
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Another couple hours have gone by and to Dometic's credit - I do keep getting calls back from increasingly higher up supervisors in the recall department.

The last call - really the LAST CALL - I'll be getting from Dometic on this one was just a bit ago. The most senior supervisor in the recall department called to express regret that the unswerving policy from the Dometic Corporate's is that no extended warranty treatment will be given anyone for a cooling assembly failure. This policy was indeed instituted in April, 2008. Previously to that - flexability had been given to the warranty department supervisors to authorize participation in coverage to out of warranty system failures on a case by case basis.

They have been instructed to inform complaining callers that unless you are still under warrenty - no coverage or considerations - period! Literally - a day over warranty period - no coverage.

I asked of her " is this truely the end of the line for any extended warranty participation from Dometic?" Her reply was again - from a call in standpoint - yes - end of line.

However, after further pleading / groveling / knashing of teeth, ect.; she did give me the name and address of the CEO for Dometic North America. I will drop him a line and see if it makes it past his secretary - I seriously doubt it will make any difference - but it will make me feel better to get the word to "velvet tower".

BTW - the guy's address is in Elkhart, IN.

Will keep you all informed of any further movement from Dometic - not planning on holding my breath on this one - I just wish there were more live bodys to vent to on this matter.

Ed

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Old 09-11-2008, 01:55 AM   #8
dsprik
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Thank you, Ed for your terrific followup and reporting on this situation. This has been a very enlightening thread for all of us here at MOC. Sounds like if we opt for the traditional gas/elect RV fridge, we are between the proverbial "rock and a hard place" with the Dometic/Norcold limitation.

We will have to take our chances with an inferior product. I know some have had these for years with no problems, but apparently the technology has yet not been perfected - although, with the pricing of these fridges, you would think that they should be of much more reliable quality.

Hopefully, either the manufacture of these units will improve radically, or a new technology will be developed. Does China make a brand of these things (I really like my Kipor gen after 2 years - very reliable)?

In the meantime, we will have to start considering what a few MOCers have already done - go with "residential" fridges. Those that do a meaningful percentage of boondocking will probably be forced to grit their teeth, stay with the gas option fridge and pray it holds together for a few years - especially at the price they pay for these.
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Old 09-11-2008, 03:56 AM   #9
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Poor Al, buying me a new fancy dancy Montana in 2003, and I whined and wailed at the loss of my $250.00 Lowes apartment frig in the ole 30 Foot Layton. I still miss that frig, the size, the storage, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the good ole days.
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Old 09-13-2008, 11:49 AM   #10
richfaa
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On the other side of the Dometic story..The one in the 06 3400 has been near constantly on since delivery.The only time it was shut down was the first winter we had the 3400 and did not go to Florida. We had what a looks like the same model in our previous camper and it also never shut off. We have not had a problem with the Dometic. Wish it was bigger tho////
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Old 09-13-2008, 01:53 PM   #11
ols1932
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Here is another case of one brand compared to another. Some have had good results with Norcold. Therefore, when their Dometic doesn't function properly, we remember our old Norcold untis that didn't fail.

In our case, we had two Norcolds that both failed inside two years. When we purchased our Montana in 2000 it had a Dometic which failed in 2004. It was outside the Dometic warranty but we had an extended warranty on the Montana which covered it. We replaced it with a new Dometic which has a six year warranty. So far, so good.

Orv
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Old 09-15-2008, 02:37 PM   #12
old turbo
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It must be that neither Norcold or Dometic has had an advaced enginering department to improve the products for a long time. If we look at our hot water heaters, its the same old thing not much change in size or operatinal features other than maybe the elimination of the pilot lite which I was sad to see go as I heated water with the pilot lite. It is the same with the cook top and ovens,same ole things. The products that change are objects that can be purchased outside of the mainstream rv market like electronics and microwaves.
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Old 09-15-2008, 05:29 PM   #13
Ed Benson
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Well folks, on the way home from the other side of the state this afternoon, I was pondering the choice of offerings in the ammonia absorbsion style rv refrigerator.

As with most all other hardware out there today - where are all the knockoff's to compete with Dometic and Norcold??

Surely, there is some sly individual or group, looking at yet another western idea or item that could be copied, and hopefully improved upon - and stumbling into the fact that there really isn't much competition in the RV ammonia absorbsion refrigeration world.

Investigation would reveal that these compact devises are nowhere near as complex as the average AC only household refer - and offered at many times the cost to boot!!

I must seek out and find these guys - if they are out there?!?!

Ed
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Old 09-16-2008, 03:22 AM   #14
OntMont
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I was sort of thinking along the same lines. I did a bit of Google searching and found this link. Not sure if any of these are any use, or any better than what we have, but at least they offer something to look into. http://www.gas-refrigerators.com/

Serval brand fridges, which are Swedish in origin, used to be quite common in our area where some people have private natural gas wells. This was back in the fifties. It seems that Serval morphed into Dometic for the N. American market. Serval was taken over by Electrolux (also Swedish and now the parent company of Frigidaire). Eventually Dometic was sold off to a European venture capital company, who in turn sold it to another venture capital company. I take this to mean that Dometic is now owned by people with no technical background in the field, and whose primary interest is in making money by buying and selling companies, not producing inovative products, The early Serval brand gas fridges date back to the thirties or before, and apparently some are still running.
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Old 09-17-2008, 02:28 AM   #15
bullroc3
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After reading these posts especially from Noneck on the failure after the recall fix, I don't know if I will get mine fixed under the recall. I have a scheduled appointment tomorrow. Is the recall fix just for use on LP gas?? If so, I rarely if ever use the fridge on LP. Maybe I should leave things alone. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!"
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Old 09-17-2008, 02:30 AM   #16
bullroc3
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Hey, where did my picture go????
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Old 09-17-2008, 04:20 AM   #17
HamRad
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Looks like Photo Bucket has done something with your picture. I'd contact them and see what they have to say.

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Old 09-17-2008, 05:07 AM   #18
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THANKS.
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Old 09-17-2008, 06:34 AM   #19
Ed Benson
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Thanks for the link John.

When I was young, we were homesteading in a remote rural area without power available. We had a 4 cylinder liquid cooled generator, which we would fire up every evening for a few hours.

Our main energy source was Propane and we had a large under floor convection furnace, propane fired clothes dryer and a large Servel LPG refrigerator. Even our Maytag washer origionally came equipped with a gasoline engine drive unit before we changed it to an electric motor.

I seemed like those old LPG appliances did run forever - and they did a dang good job of cooling to boot.

Ed
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Old 09-18-2008, 02:12 AM   #20
richfaa
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This is a Amish store in the heart of Ohio Amish country...

http://www.lehmans.com/
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