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Old 04-26-2009, 06:58 PM   #1
encantotom
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Default dometic 2820 service manual fridge

hi, do any of you have a service manual for the dometic 2820 2 way fridge? i can find lots of others but not this one.

my check light kept coming on and during our trip home and it would work for a while after resetting, then do it again and again.

thanks

tom
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Old 04-26-2009, 08:20 PM   #2
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Tom,

I don't know about the service manual, but the Dometic was the reason I sold my '87 Newell 40' w/tag. That sucker gave me more trouble than the law allows! The pilot light would go out for no reason, the refrigerator was slow to recover after the door had been opened, and when the ambient temps were above 90 degrees - forget cooling the inside of the refrigerator below 55 degrees. Even overnight it would not get down below 55 degrees.

Do you have any of those problems? I have often wondered if I just had a bad Dometic.

P.S. Thanks again to Darlene for helping me with my day/night shades. I could have never accomplished it without her assistance.
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Old 04-26-2009, 11:32 PM   #3
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the fridge has worked pretty good till this trip. sitting still it keeps it at 37 degrees. however, any gas fridge works from ambient temp. 40-50 degrees down from ambient is the best a gas fridge can work. so, if it is 110 degrees outside, it will only get down to the 60's inside.

darlene hates it, but i dont have any way to put a total electric one in for space and or for batterys since i only have 2 8d's for the coach side.

yea, darlene is pretty handy to have around. between us we can fix or make just about anything.

so, i will figure out what is wrong and fix it.

later

tom
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Old 04-27-2009, 09:06 PM   #4
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so, the flame was bright and clean, no rust or corrosion on the burner or the flu...

the thermocouple measured out fine, so it has to be the control board. the dinosaur electronics micro p-711 is the upgraded replacment board so i ordered one today. the check light and gas not firing up is a common failure, so i will put in the new board and try it. i put the dinosaur boards in all three of my propane furnaces and it fixed them right up.

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Old 04-28-2009, 02:50 PM   #5
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This is my second Dometic gas fridge. The prior one is/was in my Tioga Class C. What Tom says is true about the ambient temp, etc., however, we found 4 things that helped knock a few degrees off the temp, even in hotter weather. 1st - we bought one of those battery powered fans that sits on the bottom shelf of the fridge. It moves air from the bottom to the top of the fridge. Takes a "D" cell a battery to run, and each battery lasts a long time (only put the battery in when travelling). 2nd - I added a 12 volt fan to the chimney in back of the fridge to move air up the shaft faster. 3rd - I added 2 solar powered fans near the top of the chimney to help vent the air out faster (solar panels mounted directly on top of the chimney, and fans about 6 inches down inside the shaft). These first three shaved about 5-7 degrees of the inside temperature. 4th - on really hot days Elaine puts a frozen 1 gallon jug of water in the fridge during the day. This knocks another 2-3 degrees. At night the frozen jug goes back in the freezer to freeze for another hot day. Anyway, short of replacing the fridge you can gain 5-10 degrees of cooling depending on temp and humidity.

My current dometic already has a 120 volt fan mounted in the chimney just behind the fridge. I have to manually plug it in to run it, and did so most days while in Austin as the temps got into the 90's. It also came with a vinyl shade that attaches directly over the fridge venting on the side of the motorhome and keeps direct sunlight off the vent.....surprisingly makes a big difference. I'll post pictures later of the sun shade, and my current fan setup. These are all inexpensive things you can do to improve the performance of your gas fridge.

There, of course, is a 5th thing you can do, which is fool proof.....only travel where it is 70 degrees all the time.....LOL!!!
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Old 04-28-2009, 03:30 PM   #6
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So I am trying to understand more about the operation of my Dometic Fridge. Do you have the Propane working while Traveling?
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Old 04-28-2009, 03:34 PM   #7
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Hi Steve...yes I pretty much use the gas option all the time, even while travelling. If I'm going to be in one place for more than a few days I'll switch over to the electric option, however, the propane option really doesn't use much propane. We filled up the propane tank in Kingman, AZ (added around 28 gallons) and came home with half a tank after 19 consecutive days on propane, and that included a few hours of generator operation.
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Old 04-28-2009, 03:40 PM   #8
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Clarke,
I wasn't concerned about the use of Propane more the safety of using the Flame while traveling?
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Old 04-28-2009, 03:59 PM   #9
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If you talk to 50 people you will find about half on each side of the issue. There is always the concern while fueling up. Some turn theirs off, and others leave it on all the time. I leave mine on all the time. My fridge is located about 10+ feet from my filler tube for my fuel tank, and on the complete opposite side of the coach. I think the risk is near zero. However, if there is a concern it's easy to turn off the fridge prior to refueling, and then turn it on again once away from the pumps. I have never had a flame blow out while travelling. Once and a while right after I unhook and start the coach the flame will go out, but that is rare. I always have Elaine check the temp about 30 minutes are starting up to be sure it is still working. Happened once on this trip.
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Old 04-28-2009, 08:39 PM   #10
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Shutting down the propane when fueling is a good idea. My generator diesel tank is in the same compartment as the propane tank so it is easy to remember to shut off the propane at the tank before fueling. It is a bigger deal with gasoline than diesel due to the high volatility of gasoline. While not recommended, I have seen construction workers throw lit matches into a barrel of diesel. Try that will gasoline and you will make front page news.
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Old 05-01-2009, 05:54 AM   #11
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i got the dinosaur Micro P-711 board for my fridge today. i will put it in tomorrow and see what it does...it should fix my check light and gas not working all the time problem.

i will take some pictures as i take out the old one and put in the new one.

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Old 05-01-2009, 08:48 PM   #12
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hi all,

i put the new board in today. doesnt take very long....like 20 minutes.

it is in the back of the fridge through the access door on the outside of the coach. the board is behind the black cover on the left hand side.

just kinda keep track of what wires go where.

the new board has two extra grounds, one has a wire on it and is in the picture as a green wire on the middle of the right hand side of the board. the other i had to make a wire with connectors on to come off the board and go to ground. i used the fridge ground for both of them.

this board has a blue potentiameter on the upper left hand side that allows you to fine tune the fridge beyond what the 1 to 5 adjustment does on the front of the fridge. in the straight up position it is the same as before. farther to the right makes it colder and left warmer. i am trying it first straight up and then will crank it down to see how much difference it makes. colder is better with these things. i am also running it on gas first because that is where my check light problems was.

i will let you know as i get more data.

later

tom
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Old 05-01-2009, 09:32 PM   #13
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Thanks Tom. So far so good on my Norcold RV refrigerator but I am certain that at some point it will need replacement or a new board. I have used Dinosaur board in water heaters in the past with great success.
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Old 05-04-2009, 09:44 PM   #14
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ok, i have been running the fridge in the driveway since last weekend.

works about the same on propane or electric. i used the potentiameter on the dinosaur board to make the fridge as cold as possible. from midpoint to most cold made about a 4 degree difference in fridge temps downward.

right now it is 92 degrees outside and 102 degrees inside the coach. the fridge on 110v is staying about 38-39 degrees inside.

first thing in the morning it is about 35 degrees inside.

so if the inside of the coach wasnt as hot it would be even cooler. i am very happy with my board replacment. operating on gas it has not gone out and had the check lite on like it was doing every few hours before.

later

tom
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:42 PM   #15
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Great update and great news Tom. Glad the board solved the problem.
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Old 05-05-2009, 02:25 PM   #16
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Tom, thank you, as always for your detailed description and analysis, and pictures! Sounds like you are beating the typical differential between outside temp, and fridge temp!
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Old 05-05-2009, 06:52 PM   #17
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Hey Tom:

That looks just like a board I'm missing out of the back of my fridge????? Just kidding, I was wondering what you were doing between 9:30 and midnight. lol

David
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