No power to the frig.

Section for discussion of Chinook interior and appliance issues, repair or installation.
hudson
Posts: 2
Joined: August 7th, 2016, 3:13 pm
Location: West Michigan

No power to the frig.

Post by hudson »

Good evening...I am the new first time owner of a 2000 Concourse. Things are going will, 'but' I have no
power to the frig. Generator runs great and everything else seems to work, but no cool, Could it be
the circuit board? Thank you...
Manitou
Site Admin
Posts: 779
Joined: January 12th, 2014, 7:18 pm

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by Manitou »

Assuming you've pushed the "on/off" button on the front top, I suppose the next thing could be a circuit board. Though, I don't think that's the traditional failure the Dino board fixes. That board does have 2 grounds though because there's such an issue with proper grounding. Perhaps yours is t grounding at all and therefor no power at all. Others on here will probably have more to comment. Welcome to the forum btw.
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Blue~Go
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Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:01 am
Location: 1999 Concourse

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by Blue~Go »

Welcome, Hudson! Glad to have you and your Chinook here.

I'm no fridge expert, but a few questions to maybe get things narrowed down a bit.

1) Does it run at all on LP mode (you should be able to hear the flame light if you listen)?

2) Does it cool when running on LP?

3) Does it run on 110 electric mode when you are plugged in to shorepower? (An electric element will take the place of the flame.)

4) Does it cool when running on 110 shore power?

5) Generator should typically be the same as shorepower, but same questions for that?

6) I would ask about DC 12 volts but that's a HUGE draw so if that's not working but other modes are there would be more questions about house batteries and such. Let's see about the above questions first, I'm thinking. I believe the refrigerator DOES require a small amount of 12-volt power to run in any case (some sort of basic requirement), so do you have some amount of 12-volt house battery power? (This is different than the huge amperage it requires to run specifically on DC power.)

7) Never hurts to check grounds. Have you cleaned up the chassis ground for the refrigerator? It will be a screw/connector attached to the frame (go under the Chinook) back behind the generator. Here is a diagram: (There are three more on the other side for other DC functions - they can get dirty/corroded and then not make a good connection.)

(Click on to enlarge)
chassis grounds.png
1999 Concourse
hudson
Posts: 2
Joined: August 7th, 2016, 3:13 pm
Location: West Michigan

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by hudson »

Thanks guys, but no luck. Shorepower...no lights or action. LP..no lights or action.
Time to call the shop. It's the only big thing I have had to deal with....so far.
Hope to be up and running for a fall trip.
Thanks again.. :?
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SMan
Senior Member
Posts: 633
Joined: February 17th, 2015, 1:57 pm
Location: 7 Lakes, WA

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by SMan »

Welcome! Have you checked the fuses on the circuit board or at the house panel? My Dometic board had 3 fuses. Good luck.
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Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
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kdarling
Senior Member
Posts: 726
Joined: October 20th, 2015, 6:57 am
Location: Northern NJ

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by kdarling »

Blue~Go wrote:6) I would ask about DC 12 volts but that's a HUGE draw so if that's not working but other modes are there would be more questions about house batteries and such. Let's see about the above questions first, I'm thinking. I believe the refrigerator DOES require a small amount of 12-volt power to run in any case (some sort of basic requirement), so do you have some amount of 12-volt house battery power? (This is different than the huge amperage it requires to run specifically on DC power.)
For reference, my Norcold manual says:
  • Gas operation requires 500 mA for automatic ignition.
    DC operation takes 14.5 amps at 12v.
    Humidity heater mode adds 240 mA to both modes.
1994 Concourse dinette, Ford 7.5L (460 V8)
deb
Posts: 55
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 6:54 pm

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by deb »

Hi. It's me, Deb.

I just got my Chinook Concourse back from mechanic. Yeah!

Plugged into shore power and Dometic fridg does not work. Boo!

Charged.

Flipped breakers...nothing.

I looked thru threads but am unsure what to do/not do first.

Thank you.
deb
2003 Chinook concourse
Montana
deb
Posts: 55
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 6:54 pm

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by deb »

I turned propane on.

Stove works, water heater works.

Fridg.....nada.

No lights....I seem to be able to hear pilot(?) Could be from stove....I don't know.
deb
2003 Chinook concourse
Montana
deb
Posts: 55
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 6:54 pm

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by deb »

I took the fridg panel off....no evidence of pilot.

Replaced one funky looking 20 fuse....nada.

Lol...just in case made an appt with rv service center...one month out.

Serenity now...SERENITY NOW!

;)

deb
deb
2003 Chinook concourse
Montana
Rokrover
Posts: 201
Joined: December 31st, 2016, 5:57 am

Re: No power to the frig.

Post by Rokrover »

No lights up top mean no 12V power required to control the fridge, irrespective of mode. An obvious first check is the coach battery switch in the driver’s side overhead is on (green light) and not in store position. Next likely culprit is a bad connection due to corrosion, as others have mentioned. After that, another known problem is failure of the original board and the Dinosaur Electronics Micro P-711 aftermarket board fixes that.

The worst-case scenario for no cooling is loss of refrigerant. There was a Dometic fridge recall campaign for model numbers RM2652, RM2662, RM3662, RM2852, RM2862, RM3862 and NDR1062 with serial numbers 713XXXXX thru 319XXXXX. These had a potential to develop a crack in the refrigerant boiler that then leaked ammonia. One tell-tale sign was a yellow stain around the boiler from added dichromate corrosion inhibitor.

Hopefully it's simply an electrical control problem.
Ted C. / SW Arizona
"The Blue Chook" 2002 Concourse Owner: 2013-2019
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