Dometic Refrigerator Recall Aftermath

[dcowie]

I have a 2005 Montana and my refrigerator was part of the recall.
I had the kit installed last May 2008.
Yesterday, I could smell ammonia and my refrigerator quit working on either gas or electric.

I called a Provo, UT mobile rv repair service and without looking at it says the cooling unit needs to be replaced and suggested a new refrigerator because of the cost differential.

It seems to me that the the failure is exactly what the kit was to fix. I am going to insist upon an inspection before I agree to a replacement. I should know what exactly failed.

Today, Monday, I had my conversation with a Dometic representative.
My first conversation was with a customer service rep who could only address the recall. Told her I was very unhappy and wanted to talk to someone at a higher level. Received a call back, but not from anyone in management. She acknowledged that for a year Dometic was replacing failed units, but stopped. Stated further that part of the kit was supposed to shut the unit down if it was overheating so the pipe would not crack. Obviously mine did not work. Bottom line is management doesn't think units are failing in sufficient numbers and is therefore not an issue. Bottom line is "tough - your problem", not her actual words.

I would love to know how may rvers have experienced failure regardless of whether they had warranty or insurance coverage and how many paid out of pocket. There should be a class action suit.

Any opinions as to whether I should have experienced the failure this soon, assuming the dealer really did install the kit?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Trailer Trash 2]

I agree with you they shoud replace the unit, they were supose to have the big fix, Dometic is using low grade material from China or Mexico. you can see it in many other products they have accuired and merged into there stock. it a low grade product.

[tspoon]

check out this web site
http://www.rvcoolingunit.net/servlet/StoreFront

[HamRad]

Dcowie,

When we had our 'kit' installed on our 2002 the kit was just to keep the fridge from catching fire. It was only a month or so after they installed the kit that the fridge failed. Ammonia was all over the place.

I was lucky because Dometic replaced my boiler unit at their cost. Shortly there after they stopped doing that. For once my timing was good.

I agree they should replace but doubt you'll get anywhere with them now that they've changed policy.

But good luck and keep us informed.

HamRad

[RonT]

My understanding of the recall agrees with HamRad. It was done only to protect Dometic's butt from a liability suit in case you were using the ref. on gas at the time of the failure and there was a resultant fire. They did nothing to protect a fatigue failure of the ammonia tube. I got my Cardinal done a year ago this spring and has not failed yet. Now it only has to make it until I get to the dealer when my 2010 3400RL comes in.

[dcowie]

Thanks for the replies. After more research on the web I now understand the Dometic kit was just a band-aide, not a fix.
There should have been a class action suit for a real permanent fix. I wonder how many rvers have suffered the expense of the failure of the cooling unit.
It doesn't seem to make sense to just replace the cooling unit for $1000 to $1200, versus a new unit. I am not mechanical enough to do the work myself. On the other hand it goes against my standards to give more business to a company that does not stand behind their product. I will have to give this issue more thought as to whether the rvcool replacement unit makes more sense. Thanks again to all of you for your comments.

[HamRad]

Dcowie,

You might consider an apartment type fridge. Several folks have indicated they are or may try one of these when their current fridge quits. If you only or mostly do electrical hookups then you should have no problem. If you do a lot of boondocking then you might have a problem keeping cold. But at a much better price you might still be better off than going with a regular RV type.

All the big box hardware type stores have fridges that might fit. Check them out. It could save you a lot of $$$$$....

Good luck.

HamRad

[OntMont]

If you look around on the internet, you may find someone who can repair your unit. Ours failed before the "mod" (I would not call it a fix). We had our unit repaired for a good bit less than a new one, and it has worked well since (touch wood).

[Art-n-Marge]

Do the apartment size fridge/freezers provide a propane gas option? I suppose this would be the only major drawback. An advantage is that some of them are frost-free versus the RV type that requires defrosting if you are long-term or full-timing.

Is this correct?

[HamRad]

Art,
The apartment type do not provide a propane option. They are 100% 120 volt electrical. No 12 volt and no gas options. So you'd either have to run your generator while on the road if you wanted to provide power to the fridge or simply not run it.

Most runs we've found are not a problem for a fridge if the door is kept closed and the fridge is relatively full of food stuff. The goods will still be cold when you arrive at your destination and connect to electrical.

Perhaps one or more of the folks who have switched to such a setup could come on and comment.

Good luck whatever you end up doing.

HamRad

[SlickWillie]

I looked at a SOB that comes with a residential type fridge. It was set up to operate on an inverter (600 watt) with a rack of four batteries. Only draw back I see on installing one is the inability to latch the door while traveling. I helped one of the folks here in our park install a fridge, and it fit perfectly. He mitered some new trim, and installed, and it looked like a factory job.

I can assure you, if I replace the fridge, it won't be with a Dometic. Not after the "fix" they have for a defective unit.

[HamRad]

Will,
If you replace with an RV model then you will probably replace with a Dometic. They are about the only company that makes them. Even Norcal is owned by Dometic! So one way or the other you end up with the same thing.

You could always install an external latch on an apartment type fridge.

Good luck.

HamRad

[smc]

Our fridge quit this spring, and we had to pay to get a new one. We had received the recall notice, just hadn't had a chance to get it done, so it is our responsibilty.

[bigbob7777]

I put in the following model in ours last week. LG Model #LRBP1031W. $599.00. No big deal. I painted it black to match the appliances. It has a bottom freezer (what the wife wanted). The cool thing about the freezer is it has 3 drawers instead of one big compartment.

I've unplugged it and it stayed cold several hours (without food to help). We only drive 4-5 hours a day; so it should be fine. Only pulls .9 amps after initial cooldown.

bob

[bigmurf]

quote:Originally posted by bigbob7777

I put in the following model in ours last week. LG Model #LRBP1031W. $599.00. No big deal. I painted it black to match the appliances. It has a bottom freezer (what the wife wanted). The cool thing about the freezer is it has 3 drawers instead of one big compartment.

I've unplugged it and it stayed cold several hours (without food to help). We only drive 4-5 hours a day; so it should be fine. Only pulls .9 amps after initial cooldown.

bob

Does that unit have auto defrost?

[bigbob7777]

Yes, it does. I've tested the temps; and it seems to work great. So far, we love it.

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by smc

Our fridge quit this spring, and we had to pay to get a new one. We had received the recall notice, just hadn't had a chance to get it done, so it is our responsibilty.

If I understand Dometic correctly, even if you had gotten the recall "mod" done, your fridge would still have failed (just not burned a rig down) AND Dometic still would not have kicked in a dime to replace it. That's my understanding anyway...

This "recall" cost them some money, but the purpose (my opinion) was to hopefully deflect any further costs/lawsuit and was their attempt to avoid replacing the entire, possibly flawed, cooling units.

Kind of a "Well... we really don't want to foot the bill for replacing a problem cooling unit on all our fridges, but we WILL throw a few bucks to put in a barrier wall/cutoff switch that will help prevent a devastating, total loss of RV type fire when our unit does fail prematurely. Think that will fly past the Government boys as an honest attempt to address this situation???" JMHO as I read between the lines...

[SlickWillie]

quote:Originally posted by HamRad

Will,
If you replace with an RV model then you will probably replace with a Dometic. They are about the only company that makes them. Even Norcal is owned by Dometic! So one way or the other you end up with the same thing.

You could always install an external latch on an apartment type fridge.

Good luck.

HamRad

I noticed someone else made that statement the other day. Actually, Norcold is owned by Thetford Corp. here in the good old USA. Not saying they make the fridges here, but it is a US company. Headquartered in Michigan IIRC.

[Art-n-Marge]

Regarding the Norcold/Dometic story. I have heard from RV service managers in addition to other members and I have even passed this on myself that they were one and the same.

As stated in several places recently, Norcold IS owned by Thetford, and Thetford's main office in Michigan is part of an RV group from a larger holding company called the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp who can be reached in New York. Norcold was acquired in 1997 (but I don't know from whom).

Dometic is a different separate large international conglomerate featuring RV, and many other commercial products including refrigerators.

One for the memory banks.

Dometic had a recall on many of their units but all the recall did is announce they had a failure possibility and that when the failure occurred the result could be catastrophic if the propane igniter was involved. The fix for the recall DID NOT ANY potential failure, but it encompassed putting a shield above the propane area to prevent the catastrophy, not fix the original design tendency.

Way to make us feel better, eh? I think Mission tires and Dometic attended the same design/manufacturing classes.

[dsprik]

Like I mentioned, Art, my feeling is that they were trying to cheaply head off any govt forced recalls by coming up with this recall, which really is a misnomer, as there really is no "recall" - simply a mod to HOPEFULLY reduce the catastrophic damage when their admittedly faulty cooling system does fail - which seemed to be happening at a high enough rate to get someone's attention in Dometic's corporate offices

Why else would any corporation spend money on ANY modification if they weren't worried about something serious???