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spydie View Drop Down
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Posts: 159 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Dead Dometic RM8501
    Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 2:55pm
They told me that when they had it on the bench they took the jet out and cleaned it in alcohol.
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 2:52pm
In the mean time, it is not hard to clean the gas jet.  If the pressure is OK in the trailer, a clogged gas jet would produce your exact symptoms (assuming it cools OK on AC power).  If their bench test pressure is higher, it could overcome a clogged gas jet and produce adequate cooling.  It doesn't seem linear.... below a certain flame size, you get zero cooling even though there is a nice blue flame.  That was my issue earlier in this thread.  

Look at me.... two weeks ago I didn't know much of anything about how these things work.  Its amazing what a little head scratching and research can teach you ;)  Especially with an engineering background.  

Paul
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spydie View Drop Down
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Posts: 159 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 1:03pm
That's a good question Paul.  I ask them
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 12:32pm
Originally posted by spydie

I got my pod back after two weeks with the dealer and they couldn't fix it.  Dometic said they could only test it if it was OUT of the pod, on a test bench.  So they did that and it worked fine inside.  Put it back in the Pod and it still wouldn't cool properly on LP.  I took it home and called Dometic and said I wanted a new refer.  They said it has a 2-year warranty and that the only the dealer could request a warranty replacement, so I took it back to the dealer and they are now trying to get a replacement.
Do you know if they compared the gas pressure on their bench to what it is at the refer in your trailer?  That would affect the size of the flame and could explain the lack of cooling in the RV.  

Paul
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spydie View Drop Down
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Posts: 159 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 8:01am
I got my pod back after two weeks with the dealer and they couldn't fix it.  Dometic said they could only test it if it was OUT of the pod, on a test bench.  So they did that and it worked fine inside.  Put it back in the Pod and it still wouldn't cool properly on LP.  I took it home and called Dometic and said I wanted a new refer.  They said it has a 2-year warranty and that the only the dealer could request a warranty replacement, so I took it back to the dealer and they are now trying to get a replacement.
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 6:06am
Originally posted by mjlrpod

Well, 3 degrees is equal to 3 3/4 inches from side to side of the pod. So the door side can be 3 3/4 inches higher or lower than the hook up side. Incase you wern't sure. 
Oh, I am VERY sure.  I fly model helicopters and I have a digital pitch gauge so I measured the pod when it was attached to the TV on the driveway ;)  As it sat, it was around 2.2 degrees off level.  Since that is the most off level I have ever exposed it to with the refer running, hopefully I didn't do any damage at all. And obviously I didn't kill it.... the problem was a partially plugged burner.    

In my research, I found a company that makes an aftermarket boiler high temperature shutdown unit.  Costs about $180 and might be well worth it.  Shame on Dometic for not including that feature in the first place even as an option).  Yes, I'm still mad.  

Paul
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sal View Drop Down
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Posts: 5 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Aug 2017 at 1:21am
I never really use mine. My wife would like some drawers. I just may take out my refrigerator,151, and build something there. For sure if it breaks.
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spydie View Drop Down
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Posts: 159 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Aug 2017 at 1:13pm
Originally posted by pgoelz

Is there an online source for that service manual?  It is definitely NOT what I have.... mine claims to be an RM8xxx service manual, but I didn't see anything about a new cooling unit design.  And yes, ours is round, not square.  

Ya know, this just makes me even more angry!  After all the trauma last week while camping with our dead refrigerator and on the phone with Dometic, they still told me the max tilt before PERMANENT damage was 3 degrees!  And I told them what model and year my fridge was!  Their position was that if I had operated our three year old RM8501L more than 3 degrees off level, I had destroyed the cooling unit and they would do nothing for me.  They also swore up and down this information was in the manual.  When I pointed out that in fact it WAS NOT, they backed down from that claim but still said it was my fault for operating off level.  It was a very carefully worded statement that I was told was "what they were supposed to tell" people like me.  I could not even get a word in edgewise.  

Of course, as it turned out (earlier in this thread) I measured our driveway and had NOT operated more than 3 degrees off level and it turned out the problem was NOT the cooling unit.  But the massive mis-information and lack of information coming out of Dometic boggles my mind.  

Sorry... even though we had a happy ending when we got home and could carefully troubleshoot on shore power, I am still reeling from the experience after spending our camping time preparing for a >$1000 expenditure to fix the refer.  Dometic should be ASHAMED of themselves for putting us though that.  

Paul

Paul, I posted this yesterday.  It's the service manual Dometic and my RV service company and I use:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/32i0fssts7yrw61/dometic-service-manual%20copy.pdf?dl=0
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Aug 2017 at 1:09pm
Well, 3 degrees is equal to 3 3/4 inches from side to side of the pod. So the door side can be 3 3/4 inches higher or lower than the hook up side. Incase you wern't sure. 
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Posts: 70 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Aug 2017 at 12:57pm
Is there an online source for that service manual?  It is definitely NOT what I have.... mine claims to be an RM8xxx service manual, but I didn't see anything about a new cooling unit design.  And yes, ours is round, not square.  

Ya know, this just makes me even more angry!  After all the trauma last week while camping with our dead refrigerator and on the phone with Dometic, they still told me the max tilt before PERMANENT damage was 3 degrees!  And I told them what model and year my fridge was!  Their position was that if I had operated our three year old RM8501L more than 3 degrees off level, I had destroyed the cooling unit and they would do nothing for me.  They also swore up and down this information was in the manual.  When I pointed out that in fact it WAS NOT, they backed down from that claim but still said it was my fault for operating off level.  It was a very carefully worded statement that I was told was "what they were supposed to tell" people like me.  I could not even get a word in edgewise.  

Of course, as it turned out (earlier in this thread) I measured our driveway and had NOT operated more than 3 degrees off level and it turned out the problem was NOT the cooling unit.  But the massive mis-information and lack of information coming out of Dometic boggles my mind.  

Sorry... even though we had a happy ending when we got home and could carefully troubleshoot on shore power, I am still reeling from the experience after spending our camping time preparing for a >$1000 expenditure to fix the refer.  Dometic should be ASHAMED of themselves for putting us though that.  

Paul
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