The Dometic RM2350R fridge in our 2004 AVAN Erin caravan has become unreliable
on both electric & gas operation . It works fine when stationary at home on
gas and 240 volt AC but after traveling on 12 volt DC , looses temperature and then does
not get cold on gas or 240 v AC even though the usual heat discharge can be
felt outside van at the top vent's flue. I have checked all items in the Trouble Shooting
section 4 of our operators manual to no avail . Back of fridge is clean
and well maintained .
Sometimes if the situation allows the fridge to be shut off for a day or
two when caravaning , it may start to work again but not always .
Does anyone know what might cause this problem which only occurs when on the road ?
Many thanks .....JC .
dragonfly1 said
02:33 PM May 9, 2018
It may need pulling out and turning upside down to free up the liquid inside it especially seeing it has a few years on it now
Drayonfly1
villatranquilla said
03:06 PM May 9, 2018
our 2008 model died so it sounds like you need a new fridge
Desert Dweller said
07:30 PM May 9, 2018
From new, we've had trouble with ours over the past 6 years, on gas & 240v, never on 12v.
We've spent the equivalent of buying a new unit getting it fixed/serviced by various caravan refrigeration establishments on numerous occasions.
At the moment it's working exceptionally well but we're waiting with baited breath for the next time it sh*ts itself.
Some lucky people have never had a problem, amazing!
landy said
09:38 PM May 9, 2018
As Dragonfly said I have had success from time to time by turning them upside down. Landy
villatranquilla said
09:40 AM May 10, 2018
landy wrote:
As Dragonfly said I have had success from time to time by turning them upside down. Landy
the problem with this is that its not a permanent fix- we did this to ours when travelling up the west coast and we never knew when it would stop working - was also heavy and a pain to pull out and tip upside down. Replace it now before you are forced to pay an exorbitant price in some out of the way place. In Broome we were quoted $1800 for repairs or $3500 for a new fridge and would have had to wait over a week for delivery of parts or a new fridge. Eventually replaced it in Townsville with a 240v inverter fridge and even with an extra battery and inverter (we already had solar on the roof) only cost $1200 all up
-- Edited by villatranquilla on Thursday 10th of May 2018 09:44:12 AM
robol said
10:51 AM May 10, 2018
My 175 litre Waeco 12/24 volt compressor fridge runs 24/7 and never been a problem. When it eventually stops I will invest in a 240 volt inverter fridge.
You do need to put some time and money into solar and battery power. The solar also helps to keep some sun off the roof.
Cheers Rob.
Colin Penrose said
10:56 AM May 10, 2018
Hi mate. I have an Avan Ray 2002. Same problem after driving hooked up to Hilux it got too warm and behaved erratic when turned over to gas. I ran a 6 B&S cable through a cut off switch and a fuse from battery to an Anderson plug on the rear of Hilux. I then used 6 B&S cable to rewire from fridge to Anderson plug onto front of A frame. I have done half a dozen trips since the modification and everything is working fine. I am totally set up for freedom camping so I dont want any fridge problems. Hope this helps. Col P
oldtrack123 said
03:29 PM May 11, 2018
oleboyracer wrote:
Hi all .
The Dometic RM2350R fridge in our 2004 AVAN Erin caravan has become unreliable
on both electric & gas operation . It works fine when stationary at home on
gas and 240 volt AC but after traveling on 12 volt DC , looses temperature and then does
not get cold on gas or 240 v AC even though the usual heat discharge can be
felt outside van at the top vent's flue. I have checked all items in the Trouble Shooting
section 4 of our operators manual to no avail . Back of fridge is clean
and well maintained .
Sometimes if the situation allows the fridge to be shut off for a day or
two when caravaning , it may start to work again but not always .
Does anyone know what might cause this problem which only occurs when on the road ?
Many thanks .....JC .
Hi JC
It sounds like the refrigerant system is overheating ,the fact that it sometimes works after cooling down tends to confirm that.
Not Good for long term life
& suggest you let the system cool well down before trying to use it
But that is not the real answer, you would still be causing damage to the system
Don't know how it is installed in Avans , but some suggestions.
:[a]Is the fridge reasonably level side to side of fridge while towing ??? And very close to level when van is set up?
Too much out of level will cause circulation failure ,overheating of the system ,little or no cooling AND possible permanent damage to the system.
is the rear of the fridge well vented while towing?
If not, damage as , above can occur!
As others have said, If some damage has occurred,you should try taking it out & doing the upside down & shake it all about trick , leaving it upside down for say 24hrs then give it another go
Does not always work , especially if serious damage has been done ,but well worth the effort & can be quite successful long term, depending on how much crystals have formed in the system
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 11th of May 2018 03:36:04 PM
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 11th of May 2018 03:42:01 PM
laurieoz said
07:06 PM May 11, 2018
Hi What do you mean by "especially if serious damage has been done" What type of damage? (not just that the fridge is not working correctly) Laurie
-- Edited by laurieoz on Friday 11th of May 2018 07:09:27 PM
oldtrack123 said
08:17 PM May 11, 2018
laurieoz wrote:
Hi What do you mean by "especially if serious damage has been done" What type of damage? (not just that the fridge is not working correctly) Laurie
-- Edited by laurieoz on Friday 11th of May 2018 07:09:27 PM
If hard Crystals have formed in the system
They often block the smaller tubing & are then virtually impossible to shift / get rid off
Refurbished or new cooling unit required
The worse things you can do to any absorption fridge is to run it out of level or overheat the system!!
swamp said
07:44 AM May 13, 2018
HI
Checked electric voltages and current draw at burner elements 240v and 12v ??
Checked gas pressure at burner???
Operate level
flu and jet serviced
Rear of fridge correct dimension/ clearance to wall ?? RE correct installation ???
Are the vents top and bottom as required by fridge maker for rear fridge coolling ???
Warren-Pat_01 said
11:12 AM May 14, 2018
John,
We had one of those fridges in our Jayco Eagle & had troubles in Cairns once.
I took it out & in the process of removing it from the van, had to tip it over. It cost me $88 to have it tested here in Townsville only to find there was nothing wrong.
I did contact Dometic & found the Jayco installation didn't really leave adequate ventilation above the unit but in a small van, what do you do?
I made a shade cloth shade on the fridge side, added two computer fans behind the fridge (one at the top (sucking) & one at the bottom (blowing)) & had no further troubles.
We never drove with the fridge on - instead we cooled it down the day before we left & placed three frozen water bottles in the fridge (a big 90L Esky). We could drive from Townsville to Rockhampton (700kms) in a day without it defrosting.
Hope that helps.
Aus-Kiwi said
06:33 AM May 15, 2018
Rear ventilation, even adding a fan to push or pull air up through cavity . We carried a 50 litre compressor portable fridge freezer . Since fitting compressor type main fridge . Never had a problem . But we like the safety, security of a spare fridge . Itâs used as our table .
oleboyracer said
01:52 PM May 31, 2018
Hello all .
Sincere thanks to everyone who responded to this post .
The fridge has caused much trouble on our last 2 trips of approx. 7,000 km distance each , up until then it had worked fine . If I go to all the bother of removing it from caravan & tipping it upside down etc. it may still be unreliable on our next journey .
From all the advice received, it seems a new fridge is the best way to go to be confident of having reliable refridgeration on our next trip . Will seriously consider the slightly larger 95 litre Dometic RM2356 which fits in the same cut out and has the better tropical temperature rating .
Hi all .
The Dometic RM2350R fridge in our 2004 AVAN Erin caravan has become unreliable
on both electric & gas operation . It works fine when stationary at home on
gas and 240 volt AC but after traveling on 12 volt DC , looses temperature and then does
not get cold on gas or 240 v AC even though the usual heat discharge can be
felt outside van at the top vent's flue. I have checked all items in the Trouble Shooting
section 4 of our operators manual to no avail . Back of fridge is clean
and well maintained .
Sometimes if the situation allows the fridge to be shut off for a day or
two when caravaning , it may start to work again but not always .
Does anyone know what might cause this problem which only occurs when on the road ?
Many thanks .....JC .
It may need pulling out and turning upside down to free up the liquid inside it especially seeing it has a few years on it now
Drayonfly1
From new, we've had trouble with ours over the past 6 years, on gas & 240v, never on 12v.
We've spent the equivalent of buying a new unit getting it fixed/serviced by various caravan refrigeration establishments on numerous occasions.
At the moment it's working exceptionally well but we're waiting with baited breath for the next time it sh*ts itself.
Some lucky people have never had a problem, amazing!
Landy
the problem with this is that its not a permanent fix- we did this to ours when travelling up the west coast and we never knew when it would stop working - was also heavy and a pain to pull out and tip upside down. Replace it now before you are forced to pay an exorbitant price in some out of the way place. In Broome we were quoted $1800 for repairs or $3500 for a new fridge and would have had to wait over a week for delivery of parts or a new fridge. Eventually replaced it in Townsville with a 240v inverter fridge and even with an extra battery and inverter (we already had solar on the roof) only cost $1200 all up
-- Edited by villatranquilla on Thursday 10th of May 2018 09:44:12 AM
You do need to put some time and money into solar and battery power. The solar also helps to keep some sun off the roof.
Cheers Rob.
Hi mate. I have an Avan Ray 2002. Same problem after driving hooked up to Hilux it got too warm and behaved erratic when turned over to gas. I ran a 6 B&S cable through a cut off switch and a fuse from battery to an Anderson plug on the rear of Hilux. I then used 6 B&S cable to rewire from fridge to Anderson plug onto front of A frame. I have done half a dozen trips since the modification and everything is working fine. I am totally set up for freedom camping so I dont want any fridge problems. Hope this helps. Col P
Hi JC
It sounds like the refrigerant system is overheating ,the fact that it sometimes works after cooling down tends to confirm that.
Not Good for long term life
& suggest you let the system cool well down before trying to use it
But that is not the real answer, you would still be causing damage to the system
Don't know how it is installed in Avans , but some suggestions.
:[a]Is the fridge reasonably level side to side of fridge while towing ??? And very close to level when van is set up?
Too much out of level will cause circulation failure ,overheating of the system ,little or no cooling AND possible permanent damage to the system.
is the rear of the fridge well vented while towing?
If not, damage as , above can occur!
As others have said, If some damage has occurred,you should try taking it out & doing the upside down & shake it all about trick , leaving it upside down for say 24hrs then give it another go
Does not always work , especially if serious damage has been done ,but well worth the effort & can be quite successful long term, depending on how much crystals have formed in the system
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 11th of May 2018 03:36:04 PM
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 11th of May 2018 03:42:01 PM
Hi
What do you mean by "especially if serious damage has been done"
What type of damage? (not just that the fridge is not working correctly)
Laurie
-- Edited by laurieoz on Friday 11th of May 2018 07:09:27 PM
If hard Crystals have formed in the system
They often block the smaller tubing & are then virtually impossible to shift / get rid off
Refurbished or new cooling unit required
The worse things you can do to any absorption fridge is to run it out of level or overheat the system!!
Checked electric voltages and current draw at burner elements 240v and 12v ??
Checked gas pressure at burner???
Operate level
flu and jet serviced
Rear of fridge correct dimension/ clearance to wall ?? RE correct installation ???
Are the vents top and bottom as required by fridge maker for rear fridge coolling ???
We had one of those fridges in our Jayco Eagle & had troubles in Cairns once.
I took it out & in the process of removing it from the van, had to tip it over. It cost me $88 to have it tested here in Townsville only to find there was nothing wrong.
I did contact Dometic & found the Jayco installation didn't really leave adequate ventilation above the unit but in a small van, what do you do?
I made a shade cloth shade on the fridge side, added two computer fans behind the fridge (one at the top (sucking) & one at the bottom (blowing)) & had no further troubles.
We never drove with the fridge on - instead we cooled it down the day before we left & placed three frozen water bottles in the fridge (a big 90L Esky). We could drive from Townsville to Rockhampton (700kms) in a day without it defrosting.
Hope that helps.
Sincere thanks to everyone who responded to this post .
The fridge has caused much trouble on our last 2 trips of approx. 7,000 km distance each , up until then it had worked fine . If I go to all the bother of removing it from caravan & tipping it upside down etc. it may still be unreliable on our next journey .
From all the advice received, it seems a new fridge is the best way to go to be confident of having reliable refridgeration on our next trip . Will seriously consider the slightly larger 95 litre Dometic RM2356 which fits in the same cut out and has the better tropical temperature rating .
Many thanks .....JC .