Date:         Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:44:07 -0700
Reply-To:     mdrillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         mdrillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Dometic won't light troubleshooting
Comments: To: Thomas Jefferson Kitts <thomas@THOMASKITTS.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <1E17E6AE-E305-4F9E-8AE9-844AAF256B6E@THOMASKITTS.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

The 3 heat sources are completely independent. They realistically can't
all be bad. At this point I would break out the volt meter and look at
the voltage right at the heating element wiring. There should be a
wiring diagram sticker on the top of the fridge that you can use to
figure out which 2 wires are for the 110v heater and which 2 for the 12v
heater. Keep in mind that the fridge chassis is not grounded in common
with the DC electrical ground. When installed in the Westy it is
grounded to the vehicle by the copper propane line but once removed from
the vehicle there is no chassis ground. It does not need one to work so
test away. It does need one to light the flame led of the led panel so
if  you for some reason have that wiring hooked up while the fridge is
removed the flame indicator led won't work unless you add a ground wire
from the fridge to the led panel ground.

Mark

Thomas Jefferson Kitts wrote:
>
> On Jul 15, 2008, at 4:05 PM, mdrillock wrote:
>
>> To check 110v AC operation the most reliable way is with the power
>> cord from the fridge plugged into a 110v source directly, not using
>> the 110v power distribution of the Westy.
>
> Which is precisely what I have done. Plugged the Dometic into a
> household 110V receptacle. And confirmed the receptacle I plugged it
> into worked first.
>
> So, plugged in . . .
>
> A. nothing gets hot. Nothing boils. Nada.
>
> B. There's definitely sloshing sounds when I tilt the fridge back and
> forth.
>
> Does this suggest there's only an electrical problem with the boiler?
> Might be fixable? That would be cool.
>
> Remember, I couldn't get the fridge to work on propane either and I
> did all the basic system checks before pulling the unit, like blowing
> out the vent and drain stop. But all that might be unrelated to the
> 110v electrical problem.
>
> My life is troubleshooting.
>
> Thomas
>
>