I need HELP!!!: Dometic Fridge not working on battery

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Dometic Fridge not working on battery

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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14007
Printed Date: 25 May 2025 at 5:11pm
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Topic: Dometic Fridge not working on battery

Posted By: TimK182G
Subject: Dometic Fridge not working on battery
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2020 at 1:11pm

Hi everyone. I can't get my Dometic 3 way fridge to work on the battery. I just installed a brand new deep cycle RV battery, it has a full charge but I am still getting an error message beep when I switch it to battery mode. Anybody have any pointers?

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2018 R-Pod 182G
2014 GMC Sierra 1500

Replies:

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2020 at 4:41pm

The 120Vac and propane modes work ok? Try plugging into shore power, turning on the charger, and see if the error goes away then. That will bump up the voltage on the battery a bit.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2020 at 4:56pm

Maybe I missed something, how would it work on 120 if he never plugged into shore power?

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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Sep 2020 at 5:52pm

I don't know if TimK has every plugged into shore power or not, just suggesting he try that if he hasn't yet. If it does work directly on 120Vac, then I'm suggesting going back to 12V mode, but this time with shore power connected and the battery charger running. That will keep battery voltage as high as possible and might clear the error.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: TimK182G
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2020 at 12:10pm

Thanks for the pointers guys. The fridge works on 120vac shore power and off of propane. I tried off grids pointer of plugging into shore power but I am still getting an error message when I switch to battery mode. Battery is fully charged, I even checked with electric meter and it’s also showing full power inside (on the inside mounted electronic gauge) when I am disconnected from shore power. Is there a separate element for Running off propane and the 12 volt battery?

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2018 R-Pod 182G
2014 GMC Sierra 1500

Posted By: TimK182G
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2020 at 12:30pm

Think I may have found the issue. The 12 volt circuit for that particular fuse seems to be no good. I pulled the fuse and the corresponding light did not light up, it does on all of the other fuses when you pull them. I then pulled a different 15 amp fuse and tried it on that circuit, still nothing. All of the other fuses are fine on the board but it looks like you can only replace the whole board. I tried googling the part number but can't seem to find it. I'll keep searching the internet.

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2018 R-Pod 182G
2014 GMC Sierra 1500

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2020 at 6:38pm

If you swapped fuses and still nothing either its not the fuse or you have a short that's blowing the fuses.

Do you have a multimeter? If you don't I suggest you get one, it will help you greatly in this kind of troubleshooting. If you have one, see if there is +12V on both sides of the fuse. If there is then the fuse is good. You can also use the ohms function with the fuse out of the holder to see if its good or not.

If you don't have one try to get one that has a clamp on dc (as well as ac) current measurement function. That way you can see how much current your loads are taking and also how much charging current you have. For example this one which also does temp and capacitance:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D3SVCZY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07D3SVCZY&pd_rd_w=HFdIt&pf_rd_p=f0355a48-7e73-489a-9590-564e12837b93&pd_rd_wg=yG14A&pf_rd_r=32G16MKQY5EZJX8SMR10&pd_rd_r=fdb5143a-dce8-4ba0-91eb-6881958b9b91&smid=A1UAQ41KV8L37J&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUkhMSEI0T1JJVyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRJZD1BMDU2MjIzNTY5MkpaN0FYWkswTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDY1OTM5MTRZQUNYUkZPMzlXViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D3SVCZY/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07D3SVCZY&pd_rd_w=HFdIt&pf_rd_p=f0355a48-7e73-489a-9590-564e12837b93&pd_rd_wg=yG14A&pf_rd_r=32G16MKQY5EZJX8SMR10&pd_rd_r=fdb5143a-dce8-4ba0-91eb-6881958b9b91&smid=A1UAQ41KV8L37J&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUkhMSEI0T1JJVyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRJZD1BMDU2MjIzNTY5MkpaN0FYWkswTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDY1OTM5MTRZQUNYUkZPMzlXViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2020 at 8:57pm

Check out where the wires attach. I had one come out of the attachment and it was basically hanging loose. There was enough pressure to allow intermittent connection, but it was not right. Once I loosened the screw, reinserted the wire, and tightened it down, it started behaving again like it should. I don't remember which circuit that was, but I mention it so that you can take a look and see if something similar is happening.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: TimK182G
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 7:28am

I have a clamp multimeter, I'll do an ohms check and also check the dc amps the clamp. I do know it's not the fuse itself. I removed an exact 15 amp fuse from a circuit right above that is working and inserted it and it didn't work either. I then tried the fuse removed from the fridge circuit and it worked above on another 12V circuit. I'll check the connection on the back of the circuit as Stephen said. I took it apart yesterday and realized that you can't just change that one circuit board, it's attached and wired as one big piece of equipment. It looks like a pretty extensive job to swap out the whole thing. Everything else works off of 12 volt power, it's only the Fridge that doesn't. I don't want to screw around with it too much and screw everything else up so I may just live with it running off shore power or propane for now. I have a local RV shop down the street that is pretty reasonable, I may also have them poke around at it.

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2018 R-Pod 182G
2014 GMC Sierra 1500

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 9:09am

Unfortunately, I don't have remote vision to see what you are seeing. It may take the RV shop to help diagnose and fix this problem. Hopefully, it won't cost too much.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 9:33am

You might want to check the 12 volt leads (both + and -) in the back of the fridge making sure they are connected with good contact. This would be simple to do and with your milti meter check and find out if there is power to the fridge. This area is accessible through the lower black louvered cover on the outside of the trailer. Hope this helps.

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Jay

179/2019

Posted By: TimK182G
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 6:20pm

^^^

Thank you for the additional tip, I'll check this tomorrow. Thank you Stephen and offgrid, love the help from everyone on here!

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2018 R-Pod 182G
2014 GMC Sierra 1500

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