Dometic Refrigerator Fixed!! NOT!!

[michael7177]

November 28, 2023
Fridge stopped working. The igniter doesn’t light. I can head the Dinosaur Board making a faint wheezing sound. So it sounds like it’s doing it’s job. I bought 2 bags of ice from Ralphs at 11pm. because they didn’t have dry ice. Regular ice doesn’t keep things below freezing. So the frozen berries become mush quickly in hours.

December 6, 2023
I hear a faint whining sound that repeats for about a minute then it stops from the Dinosaur Board or the Reigniter just to the right of the Dinosaur Board. It sounds like a faint electronic alarm. There is also a faint repeating click within the alarm sound. I did a ignition test in sunlight and at night. I didn’t see any spark. I did a test on the Dinosaur Board using a Multimeter. It was the same reading -33 Mv that appeared on July 6, 2023. This is a good reading.

January 12, 2024
11:30am
My friend Omar helped me fix the refrigerator. He has a degree in engineering. I followed the Periodic Maintenance steps on page 12 of the Dometic Manual.

I soaked the orfice in acetone. I cleaned the burner tube with acetone and q-tip and canned air. I should have had a stiff pipe cleaner type brush. There was a visible cloud of dust that came out with the first blast of air. There was black soot on the Q-Tips after cleaning the burner tube.

Omar explained the spark electrode. It’s like a spark plug. The spark jumps from the exposed electrode to the burner tube. The gap to the burner tube needs to be just right. He got shocked by touching the Spark Electrode so he was confident it was working. I made sure the Re-Igniter box was working (vertical box to the right of the Dinosaur Board) by disconnecting and reconnecting all the wires to the Spark Electrode.

Omar read the wiring diagram and explained it to me, a little. I will ask him to go over it again, and how to read them. The legend list shows in plain english what the components are. They each have a letter in a circle annotating them. Look for the matched letters along with a graphic symbol of the component in the diagram. The wire colors are listed and numbered in a circle in a separate legend.

Omar adjusted the throttle valve, the Spark Electrode and with lighter lit the gas. Maybe the cleaning I did along with Omar's understanding and persistence fixed it. I think the main thing was I needed to re-open the main gas valve completely.

Basically I performed the basic service which is supposed to be done every six months which I never did. It would go on for 2 years or more then stop working reliably.

Tools needed: One phillips head screw driver for 2 screws. 1 for the Burner housing cover. 1 holding the burner tube in place. 3/8” or #10 wrench to remove Burner Orfice, aka Burner Jet. Acetone or some other solvent that burns off. Long handled Q-Tip or stiff wide pipe cleaner type brush would be best. I had regular Q-Tips. Canned air. Paper Towels.

9:30pm
NO IT’S NOT.
It's not staying lit. There was a long delay in the Dinosaur Board triggering the Spark Electrode which I think is indicated by the whining sound. Then when that sound occurred the spark is not happening. So I lit it with hand held lighter.

[noluck]

so is it the board that is bad?

[michael7177]

My next step is to call Dinosaur Electronics and explain what I’ve found. I think it’s either the Dinosaur Board or the ReIgniter module which is mounted just to the right of the Dinosaur Board.

I’ll let you know how this goes.

For now I’m lighting the propane manually with a lighter. I turn on the refridgerator at the Eyebrow Controls. Then I rush outside and put a lighter at the Burner Tube. This lasts for about 12 hours with the Fridge set to maximum cold (#5) on the Eyebrow Controls.

Of course beforehand I get ready by removing the one screw that holds the Burner Protection Cover. I remove the Burner Cover and use a lighter while Dinosaur Board sends propane to the Burner Tube for 30 seconds before it shuts the propane off due to no spark.

[michael7177]

Talked with Chris at Dinosaur Electronic and explained what I’ve found. He said it’s likely the ReIgnitor Module. So I’ll be investigating how to replace the Re-ignitor Module and the Spark Electrode that is wired into it.

[noluck]

i gather the modules are still available?

[noluck]

any update?