I "burped" my Dometic refrigerator

[dedroll]

My domestic fridge just stopped cooling, no signs of leakage. Everything testing good on the troubleshooting guides. The opinion of the local RV  guy was that I had a failed cooling unit. That left  me with two options: buy a new unit or replace the cooling unit. After talking to Jason at Oliver and him telling me that to remove the fridge from the trailer you need to remove the door, I thought I would try to replace the cooling unit myself. I found some places that would ship a unit for $500 to $1000 and I do the install. I watched many videos and researched the work. In this research I found several people talking about burping this kind of unit, it entails flipping the unit on its side, top and allowing the ammonia mixture to reposition and displace any air pockets. Since I had to remove the fridge from its housing I thought I would try it...and it worked!  We just took a 10 day trip and it worked fine. Some RV techs said it was a wive's tale. Glad I tried it. Hope this might help somebody. 

[SeaDawg]

I've read about that, and I've seen a couple youtubes, but as far as I  know, you're the first Oliver owner to give it a try. Wish we had a badge for that. 

So glad it worked for you!

Out of curiosity, how long did you leave it flipped on its head?

 

[dedroll]

Several hours on its side and on its head overnight mostly because I had no idea

[ScubaRx]

Sounds like you preformed a refrigerant equivalent of the Canalith Repositioning Procedure. 
 

I’m  impressed. That was a bold move and I’m really glad it worked for you. Do you have any idea what might have caused the original problem?

[topgun2]

8 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

Sounds like you preformed a refrigerant equivalent of the Canalith Repositioning Procedure. 

I didn't know these fridges have ears!😇

[dedroll]

I am thinking that I tripped the trailer nose up to facilitate dumping my gray tank, after a bit I leveled it and it sat for several months. I had seen in a repair video the the workers who were installing  the new cooling units made sure to tip them toward the "boiler" side before using. They said the ammonia could settle and not work properly.

[Alison]

On 9/19/2021 at 1:40 PM, dedroll said:

My domestic fridge just stopped cooling, no signs of leakage. Everything testing good on the troubleshooting guides. The opinion of the local RV  guy was that I had a failed cooling unit. That left  me with two options: buy a new unit or replace the cooling unit. After talking to Jason at Oliver and him telling me that to remove the fridge from the trailer you need to remove the door, I thought I would try to replace the cooling unit myself. I found some places that would ship a unit for $500 to $1000 and I do the install. I watched many videos and researched the work. In this research I found several people talking about burping this kind of unit, it entails flipping the unit on its side, top and allowing the ammonia mixture to reposition and displace any air pockets. Since I had to remove the fridge from its housing I thought I would try it...and it worked!  We just took a 10 day trip and it worked fine. Some RV techs said it was a wive's tale. Glad I tried it. Hope this might help somebody. 

I just developed this same problem in my Dometic (2018 Oliver, Hull 310). Replaced the thermistor, that didn't fix it. I'm going to try this burping technique next, otherwise I'm looking at purchasing a new fridge! Wish me luck!

[Patriot]

1 hour ago, Alison said:

I just developed this same problem in my Dometic (2018 Oliver, Hull 310). Replaced the thermistor, that didn't fix it. I'm going to try this burping technique next, otherwise I'm looking at purchasing a new fridge! Wish me luck!

@Alison 
 I sure hope it all works out and you don’t have to buy a new frig. Let us know if the burping technique works. 

[MAX Burner]

On 9/19/2021 at 1:40 PM, dedroll said:

Since I had to remove the fridge from its housing I thought I would try it...and it worked!  We just took a 10 day trip and it worked fine. Some RV techs said it was a wive's tale.

I heard of this back in the day.  This is a procedure used when a fridge is move from Pt. A to B on its side or back - when it arrives at the destination, its placed upside down over night before using it...  The ammonia repositions its volume when upside down.  Who knew?

[SNY SD UP]

Thank Gawd, this procedure was explained.  I envisioned struggling holding the fridge on my shoulder, whilst walking up-down the runway, patting it on its back.
 

B~Out

Edited July 31, 2024 by SNY SD UP

[Boudicca908]

On 9/19/2021 at 3:40 PM, dedroll said:

In this research I found several people talking about burping this kind of unit, it entails flipping the unit on its side, top and allowing the ammonia mixture to reposition and displace any air pockets

Great work on your research!  If there's an applicable discussion or explanation online, maybe you could attach a link in your thread, for future reference?