Refrigerator Problem

[GORDON HUMMEL]

On my trip west, I started to notice that while traveling the frig check light would come on & was not cooling. When I was plugged in at night it was OK. The third morning I woke up to no cooling at all. I Have now had a chance to check things out & the gas light's fine & keeps going, but no cooling. In the past I had a fridge that started to fail & I could smell ammonia so I assumed the cooling unit leaked, was 18 years old so replaced the frig.
This unit is a Dometic RM2852, auto temp control & is 6 years old & I have not smelled any ammonia.
Any ideas on the problem!

Gordon

[fulltiming]

If it does cool on gas with a good flame or on electric, you likely have either a bad temperature sensor, a bad board (neither of which is likely if the flame continues to burn or the element is continuing to heat) or a plugged ammonia coil.

[prairieschooner]

I think what Michael is saying is to try the Refer on Gas...then try the Refer on Electric. If one or the other works then this will help to isolate the problem.
If one or the other works then the problem would be with that portion of the system. I believe that the Electric is with a Heater Element and then the Gas is with the Burner.
My Airstream had a problem and I was able to get the Refer rebuilt by a local company. On our Airstream the Ammonia had leaked out and the Refer wouldn't work on either system.

[fulltiming]

Thanks Steve. I had one very poorly worded response. A more detailed process would be:

See if refer cools on either gas or electric. If so the cooling unit is likely good. If it doesn't cool on either then there are a couple of options. One is a faulty control board/thermostat. If the gas or electric element are actually running for extended periods without the refer cooling, the control board and thermostat are likely not the problem and the cooling unit is the likely suspect. The electric element is the best test since if it gets hot and stays hot you can virtually eliminate everything but the cooling unit where a gas flame could be present and still not providing much heat if the ventilation is not good.

Certainly the smell of ammonia is typically associated with the loss of ammonia. Also check for a yellowish green powder on the back side of the refer. That would also indicate a hole in the cooling unit.

A loud gurgling sound may also be present when the cooling unit has a leak although when most of the ammonia has escaped that will stop. A plugged coil can stop the circulation of the ammonia and result in loss of cooling.

[GORDON HUMMEL]

thanks to all. I did notice a yellowish green powder just under the gas burner, so I suspect that I had a loss of ammonia. I was wondering what it was & now, thanks to Michael, I know.

Gordon