Dometic Fridge turns off and beeps after 12-24 hours in use

[Paularado]

2020 Imagine 21ft Bunkhouse

Our Dometic Fridge will turn off and start beeping after it's been in use for say 12 - 24 hours. We thought that it was due to the recalled regulator, building up pressure in the line and shutting off, but we replaced the regulator last summer and it didn't fix the problem.

We got it going the other day to see if the propane is stopped when this happens due to safety switch was turning on. So, we let the fridge run overnight and came out to it beeping in the morning. At that point we were able to light the stove so the propane was still on. If we disconnect the propane and then reconnect, the fridge seems to work again for another 12-24 hours. It also seems like it struggles to start sometimes when we arrive at our campsite, but maybe they all do that. I always light the stove to get the propane moving and that seems to help. Any thoughts?

Thank you!
Paula

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Is it perhaps the electric fault beeping?

 

[Paularado]

Is it perhaps the electric fault beeping?

Well, maybe so. For whatever reason we have always equated it with a propane problem, but perhaps it just gets confused. The fridge doesn't have error codes that I can see, just a light that reads "check"

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Are you connected to shore power or running off battery/ies?

 

[Paularado]

This is when we are running off batteries. The fridge is fine when it is plugged in. Good question. Thanks!

 

[robmcqueen]

If you take it out of Auto mode and set it to gas only what happens ?

 

[Paularado]

robmcqueen that is a good question. I will have to try it. It will take 24 hours to find out, but we will try. Meanwhile, thanks to those with questions already and anyone with ideas.

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

This is when we are running off batteries. The fridge is fine when it is plugged in. Good question. Thanks!

Need to check your battery voltage after the fridge is on for a day

 

[Paularado]

Need to check your battery voltage after the fridge is on for a day

Sure, we can do that. What are we looking for? This has happened through 3 sets of batteries by the way. The batteries in there now are brand new. I apologize for maybe not fully understanding your advice, so would you let me know what you mean? Thank you!

 

[Hoopy Frood]

My thought is that if you've gone through 3 sets of batteries in 3-4 years, you've got problems. Either you're depleting the batteries too deeply, or you're not charging them enough. You may be trying to run the refrigerator with not enough battery power for the length of time you're using it. That depletes the batteries and you get a low voltage beep. Just a thought.

Another thought: how do you charge the batteries? Solar, generator?

 

[Conner58]

I had a similar problem.
It was a loose wire on the control board.
Try wiggling the wire on your control board and see if it stops and starts.

 

[robmcqueen]

robmcqueen that is a good question. I will have to try it. It will take 24 hours to find out, but we will try. Meanwhile, thanks to those with questions already and anyone with ideas.

If it faults out when on gas only check the battery voltage. Really sound like a battery problem.

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Sure, we can do that. What are we looking for? This has happened through 3 sets of batteries by the way. The batteries in there now are brand new. I apologize for maybe not fully understanding your advice, so would you let me know what you mean? Thank you!

Running the fridge on batteries while you boondock (no shore power) will slowly run down the batteries. Along with other things you use within the RV, the batteries may be getting too low for the motherboard to function properly. Once that happens it may be issuing the 'beep' to indicate error.
The reason I'm thinking this is it doesn't happen when connected to shore power..with shore power the batteries are kept fully charged. Your fridge motherboard runs on 12vdc ALL the time whether hooked to shore power or not. But when you are not on shore power the difference is the battery 12vdc will slowly go down...after a number of hours.
I don't know if I explained my logic very well....hope so...

 

[Paularado]

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful replies. We were thinking propane, but now we'll start looking into the batteries as well and check the control panel.

One note of interest. Someone above mentioned toggling the switch from "Auto" to "gas" For whatever reason, that does not work; it starts beeping almost immediately. Perhaps this is a piece of the puzzle as well.

 

[jk5443]

You can still have enough gas pressure to light the stove, but not keep the valve open to the fridge if the tank is getting low. Also there is a diode that can go bad, check the schematic, it's on a red wire off the control panel if I recall right.

 

[babooola]

Ours always beeps after switching from shore power. My husband takes off the outside panel and uses a magnet on something to stop it. He's working so I can't ask where he puts it but I'll bet you can Google it.