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Old 08-12-2011, 01:43 AM   #1
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Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

Hi everybody-
I'm new here, and new to sportsmobiles, as i just bought my first one about 2 months ago-a '92 E150 RB with the goucho layout. It's kind of a beater, but I love it!
My question is this-my refrigerator, old as it is, will run off of shore power or propane, but will not run off the 12v marine battery. I had Peter at sportsmobile confirm this. I've started pulling apart the cabinet around the refrigerator to access the back, but don't know what to look for. I'll make sure all the wires are intact and connected, but is there anything beyond this I should be looking for? Has anyone else ever run into this? I'd like to get it working, as I can't really afford a new $700 fridge right now.
Thanks,
Ken Holt

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Old 08-12-2011, 07:51 AM   #2
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

Mine is not a dometic but:



There are 3 wires coming from the back- positive 12v, ground for 12v and a domestic 120v plug. There is also an obvious auto fuse on top of the unit, not that I'm certain that's for the 12v only (don't know the 120v would work if it's blown).

If there is power in the 12v wires then you only need to look to the fridge components. If not, you need to look for a fuse at the other end most likely.

(from viewtopic.php?p=2838#2838)

Edit: the white "cord" at the middle of the fridge is the drain tube...
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Old 08-12-2011, 09:25 AM   #3
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

atrainphoto - Sure seems like a weird problem. In the Dometic propane fridges I've had, the 120v and 12v sources both heated the same plate. If one works, they both should. Me thinks there's a fuse in the back or a broken wire in the 12v circuit.
Here's a link to a Dometic trouble shooting manual you might take a look at.

http://webspace.webring.com/people/jv/v ... Manual.pdf

I think it'll be an easy fix, and good luck with it.
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Old 08-12-2011, 10:12 AM   #4
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

I may be new here, but this is definitely my new favorite website. Thanks to both of you for the info. I'll let you know what I find. I'd work on it this weekend, but I'm dying to take a trip down the coast and enjoy my new ride
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Old 08-14-2011, 03:43 PM   #5
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

On a Dometic 3-way fridge there should be a seperate fuse for the 12 volt heating element.This would be located on the main control board on the newer style fridges.Also check the heating element itself as these do go bad and it is seperate from the 120 volt element.Good Luck!
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Old 08-23-2011, 07:53 PM   #6
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

Grrr.
Ok, well, first off, let me thank everyone for their ideas. I appreciate the input and feedback, as I am a total newbie to pretty much everything enclosed in a sportsmobile.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I took a day off from work and drove over to Fresno (3 hours from Monterey) to have them do a "once over" and check out all the systems on my new (used) smb. After the once over, Peter reported to me that the battery was working well, but that the refrigerator was not working off the 12 volt system. He charged me $80 for the visit, and offered to install a new refrigerator for $1000. Assuming him, and sportsmobile, to be experts, I then proceeded to try and figure out what might be wrong with the refrigerator. I pulled apart the cabinets around it, got it out, and searched high and low for another fuse. Couldn't find one. I tested the fuse going to it. Fine. Finally, a friend who was helping me, put a volt meter on the battery, and suggested that maybe the battery was bad. So I took the battery down to Autozone to have them test it, and, lo and behold, the battery was bad! Not having a Sears in town to replace the original, I went to Napa and got their biggest dual purpose marine battery. Viola! The fridge is now working.
So now I feel kind of burned by sportsmobile.
Next question-the dual purpose has a 180 rc rating. It was only $100. Can I get away with using this for a while, or do I really need to go get the (much) more expensive deep cycle marine battery?
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Old 08-24-2011, 11:03 AM   #7
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

As far as battery requirements go, I'll answer your question with another question: what are your power demands? With a 3-way fridge, you should be running it off of propane when parked so you probably only have some lights and maybe a little water pump usage? As long as you don't have any big draw items you'll probably be fine.

SMB may have checked the 12V charging system to your house battery, not necessarily the health of the battery itself. Were you trying to fire up the fridge on 12V with the van running or parked? There is a chance that SMB checked the house battery voltage without a load on it and may have carried a little bit of surface charge to make them think it was ok. Not defending them at all, just looking to see if there may be a more reasonable explanation.
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Old 08-24-2011, 11:59 PM   #8
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

On our van we are installing an iginition relay on the 12v feed to the 3-way refrigerator. That way when we stop the engine, the 12v frig will not be able to drain the house battery. The frig heating element draws like 12~15 amps!! That could drain the battery in one stop at the mall.
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Old 08-25-2011, 10:06 AM   #9
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

Rockbender-my power needs are pretty light. Pretty much just lights, water pump, and the stereo and cd changer, and the cd changer will eventually go away with an upgraded stereo. And, yes, I was trying to run the fridge while the van was parked, not running. I will definitely not being doing this in the future, as I can see how it sucks on the battery. Being new, I was just confused as to why it wasn't working. And it is entirely possible, if not likely, that I misunderstood or didn't really understand what they told me when I took it in.

Dhally-is that hard to do? It sounds like the kind of thing that could save my behind when I'm out camping.
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Old 08-25-2011, 10:22 AM   #10
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Re: Dometic RM2192 not running off battery

Quote:
Originally Posted by atrainphoto
Dhally-is that hard to do? It sounds like the kind of thing that could save my behind when I'm out camping.
Since your frig is already hooked up, the best way might be to mount a 12v relay behind the frig. This can probably be done through the outside access door. The hard part will be to run a wire from the relay to the van's fuse panel to get a source of key-on power to operate the relay. Maybe run it under the floor?
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