Dometic & Norcold reliability and fire safety, can you live without it?
Norcold or Dometic Troubleshooting & Repair + Videos
OVERVIEW
Welcome to the RV Fridge Troubleshooting & Repair plus video page.
This page introduces the average RV'er to Norcold & Dometic
troubleshooting for everyone.
HOW DO I DO IT?
QUESTION 1 Do you have a Fridge Defend protecting your system?
NO: Please choose the fridge you want to work on using the Norcold Troubleshooting or the
Dometic Troubleshooting menus above. Once you are on the troubleshooting pages for the
type of fridge you own there will be a series of menus with further troubleshooting
information.
QUESTION 2 Do you want to use a video or just read up on some
troubleshooting basics?
Scroll down this page, or below is a collapsible table of contents to this page, open it up and select the video or subject you want
by tapping or clicking the '+':
This drawing is a classic Dometic cooling unit. Our family used a Dometic fridge for 35 years almost
trouble free. All systems require maintenance, and it is only by maintaining your RV that you can enjoy
years of pleasure without having to deal with troubles.
The Norcold & Dometic troubleshooting pages and videos in this series will break down your RV fridge in to its
components. Thus, if you are having an issue with the LP gas portion of your fridge, it is our hope that
the LP gas portion of these web-page's combines with videos will help you perform your RV fridge repair.
We invite you to share your RV fridge troubleshooting with us. Please take photos and write a little
about your problem and how you fixed it. We want this site to be helpful to all folks that are on the
road and need help then and there. Thanks in advance!
Introduction to RV Fridge Repair -- Looking Around
Plugged Dometic Evaporator
This photo shown is an example of performing annual maintenance by just looking around. This photo is of a
plugged Dometic evaporator. The evaporator collected lent or
cottonwood seeds over the years in its fins. Just
by shining a flashlight up the refrigeration compartment this issue may have been seen. By pulling the
roof vent one could have blown this problem away with compressed air. This fridge most likely failed due
to the overheating of the boiler, which the Fridge Defend by ARP would have prevented. Although the
Fridge Defend
could have prevented the boiler from overheating, the user would still have had to find the issues that
lead to the boiler overheating.
Norcold & Dometic Troubleshooting Basics
Most RV fridge fixes are just basic issues that common sense can solve. In my years of teaching
in the automotive industry I found that it is often the case that folks jump to the most complex problems
rather than looking into the basics. It is human nature to suspect problems exist in systems that they
really do not understand. For example, the photo above, one can assume that the performance of the fridge
suffered over the years. Because cooling units and their function can be hard to understand, the owner
may have decided to not look around for a problem. But, in this case, being adventurous may have save
this camper a lot of money, please; if you are having problems just look around for something that does
not look right. Often, this will solve the problem!
Just Look Around -- It Can Save Money!
Complete RV Fridge Repair Video Series
We give the viewing option for
either YouTube (green border) with commercials and annoying pop-ups,
or our webpage (blue border) showing the same video.
1 - RV Fridge Essentials
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video shows the components on an RV fridge. This is the index for the remainder of the Complete RV Fridge
Repair Series. This video shows the back side of the fridge including propane (LP Gas) components such as the
Gas Control Valve (SOV), Burner, and Boiler Assembly, along with other cooling unit components such as
Electric Heaters. Also, inside the fridge the thermistor and cooling fins are shown.
2 - Thermistor Temperature Regulation
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
The RV refrigerator has a device called a ‘thermistor’ that regulates the temperature within the RV fridge.
This video teaches how to troubleshoot and repair the thermistor RV refrigerator temperature controller.
VIDEO:
This video helps teach how the Dometic and Norcold RV refrigerators are driven by a boiler.
The video shows basic instrumentation need to checking the boiler and information about the electric and gas
heaters.
VIDEO:
This video teaches how to troubleshoot and repair RV refrigerator electric heaters and the controller
fuses for No AC type errors and trouble codes.
6 - Troubleshoot LP Gas Burner, Igniter, Jet, and Flue
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video teaches how to troubleshoot and repair the propane (LP Gas) burner and igniter system including
the gas jet and flue cleaning procedures.
VIDEO:
This video shows how to troubleshoot and repair the RV fridge burner gas valve including ohms and voltage checks.
8 - Troubleshooting Poor Cooling Performance
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This RV fridge has a problem that came from the factory, not enough thermal mastic.
This video shows how to troubleshoot and repair the fridge for this particular poor or not cooling issue.
9 - How to Remove Cooling Unit
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video shows how to remove the cooling unit from a Dometic or Norcold RV refrigerator.
10 - How to Properly Apply Cooling Unit Evaporator Thermal Mastic
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video shows the critical cooling unit replacement step of properly applying the evaporator thermal mastic.
11 - How to Properly Install Dometic or Norcold Cooling Unit
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video shows how to properly install a Dometic or Norcold cooling unit, including the critical step of sealing the
evaporator.
12 - RV Fridge Fan Facts
YouTube Player
Fridge Defend Player
VIDEO:
This video clears up some misconceptions about RV refrigerator ventilator and defrost fans.
Fans increase efficiency, but do not prevent the cooling unit boiler from overheating.
13 - Install Dometic & Norcold Fan Sensor
This video shows how to install the fan sensor for Dometic and Norcold RV refrigerators.