Fridge Help

I have a Dometic fridge in my 24ft. Hilo number RM2452. I am in Texas at Paul's RV park brownsville. Here is my problem or may it isn't. The fridge works great on gas but since I'm hooked to electric here I wanted to use the AC selection not gas. I wasn't getting anything when my Master Power Switch was in the top (on) position. So I turned the Fridge to DC power and it is working. Is this the normal when you are attached to electric at the RV park that it should be in the DC position? The book says to select DC and put fridge on #4. Is this the standard number 4 or can you go higher for more cooling? Also should I leave the ventilator fan to the on position as it is running all the time? Is this normal?
This fourm is a great tool. Thanks to all.

Rob,

My first question is have you checked the Fridge AC circuit breaker? [it should be circuit breaker #5 on your AC Panel]. If it has not tripped, there is a ground fault reset on the outlet by the refrigerator. I don't know if that is tied into your refrigerator circuit but you might check it and reset it if it has tripped.

There is an electrical outlet behind the outside cover for the refrigerator. Remove the cover and ensure the refrigerator is plugged into it. If you have a voltmeter with you, you can check to see if AC is present. If you don't have one, take an extension cord and plug it into any outlet that you know is working and unplug the refrigerator from the outside electrical outlet and plug it into the extension cord. If the refrigerator does not work, I would suggest taking it to a repair shop. You may have a defective circuit board.

If plugging it into the extension cord allows you to run it on AC, and if you are familiar with checking AC circuits and circuit breakers and have a volt/ohmeter, you might remove the AC circuit breaker for the fridge and verify that it is not defective.

Hope this helps.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

My first question is, is there heat coming from the vent outside in back of the fridge? If so, the AC heat element is working. With the outside cover off feel the piping, it should be warm to hot. If you say that it is cooling on DC the cooling unit must be working. And as Jcurtis said, check for AC at the receptacle behind the fridge.

All breakers are in the on position. I guess I'm confused with the power settings on this camper. The manual says the master power switch is designed to control 12 volt power to the tralier. When the switch is in the top "on" position power to all lights & 12 volt appliances, there will be no power to the lift motor. When switch is in middle "off" position there will be no power to the lights & 12 volt appliances except 12 volt fridge. When switch is in lower "on" position there will be no power to lights & 12 volt appliances except fridge and lift motor. If this is the case I have to put it in the top position to have lights. It seems like it is designed to run on dc power. I might add that in the DC position on the fridge soda is real cold and working great. I will check the plug to see if there is 120 volts there.

Just checked power to plug outside on fridge and have 120 volts.

With the switch in the UP position, you SHOULD be able to run the fridge on AC power. It may pull more DC power than the converter is able to supply for recharging, if run on DC, so that is not desirable. DC operation is really designed for use during towing.

I've had problems at times getting my fridge to cycle to AC when it detects gas in the lines. I usually have to turn it off and on a few times, with the gas selector in "Auto".

- Jack

I would like to again put it on AC but have a lot of food in there and if it don't work it would take time to cool it back off with DC and I don't have a temp gage to watch it.
Let me ask this, it won't hurt anything for it to run off DC will it?

Understand Jack now what do you mean by gas selector in auto?

I believe your fridge has manual controls and not electronic, so you would not have automatic switching. If you had automatic the fridge would have a push button control panel. It would automatically search for AC, then to gas, and finally to DC.

You could switch to AC for a while with food inside, things stay cold for several hours. As I mentioned before, switch to AC then wait to see if the there is heat being produced, feel on the chimney area because that is where the heating element is located. If you are getting power to the AC outlet there is the possibility that AC element is burned out or the control switch is bad. Locate the wires for the element and unhook them and test with an ohm meter. There should be a reading if it is okay.

Switching to AC and will monitor first.
Thanks everbody.

rob9128 said:

All breakers are in the on position. I guess I'm confused with the power settings on this camper. The manual says the master power switch is designed to control 12 volt power to the tralier. When the switch is in the top "on" position power to all lights & 12 volt appliances, there will be no power to the lift motor. When switch is in middle "off" position there will be no power to the lights & 12 volt appliances except 12 volt fridge. When switch is in lower "on" position there will be no power to lights & 12 volt appliances except fridge and lift motor. If this is the case I have to put it in the top position to have lights. It seems like it is designed to run on dc power. I might add that in the DC position on the fridge soda is real cold and working great. I will check the plug to see if there is 120 volts there.

Click to expand...

When you are traveling you want to have the power switch in the middle position, that cuts off power to anything in the trailer that should not be on. The DC is always available to the fridge so you can have it on while on the road. You are not supposed to use the LP mode while on the road it could be dangerous, especially while sitting next to gas fumes while refueling.

If you haven't already you may want to watch the HiLo instructional video this in the reference library. Once you pull it up scroll down to NDgent's post, there you will find the videos listed by subject. The DVD came with all new trailers starting back in about 2005.

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/hilo-video-owners-manuals-youtube-1233/

Sorry, Rob - from your description at first, it sounded like mine with the electronic switching.

Isn't there some indicator that tells you it's running on AC and that things are working OK?

Still, the fridge is designed to be very efficient when running on gas too. I'd chose that over DC any day. We boondock camp mostly and so hardly ever use the AC capability. The gas consumption from the fridge is really very minimal.

- Jack

JackandJanet said:

Sorry, Rob - from your description at first, it sounded like mine with the electronic switching.

Isn't there some indicator that tells you it's running on AC and that things are working OK?

Still, the fridge is designed to be very efficient when running on gas too. I'd chose that over DC any day. We boondock camp mostly and so hardly ever use the AC capability. The gas consumption from the fridge is really very minimal.

- Jack

Click to expand...

LP mode is the most efficient, you can go a long, long time on a tank.

Out 1705T had a similar fridge. There was no indicator for AC or DC but there was for LP. There was a small meter that indicated that the pilot was lit.

Our HiLo is under wraps right now so I can't check this for sure, butI just happened to think, we have an automatic setting on our fridge and I have noticed that it doesn't switch over to AC automatically when we have been on the road running it on DC, and then stop for the night and plug into AC.

I never thought that much about it for I always just hit the AC and change it over manually. When we first set up, there is an indicator light showing it is on DC and there must be a sensor that is not recognizing that AC has been connected. If I remember correctly, the first choice is AC, 2nd is Gas, and third is DC. Does that sound right?

Jerry & Carol Curtis
2406 T

Thanks for the info on how much gas the fridge uses. I was wondering that right off. To all that got back with me thanks a lot. The video is a plus as well.
I did a cycle to AC power on fridge and checked it this morning everything is working fine. I think the fridge should have some kind of an indicator showing that there is power to it on AC. It would at least give people a heads up that it has power to it or not.
Anyway my first month at a RV Park and the trailer is doing fine now. Lots of activities and places to go. Looking forward to going to South Padre Island this week for beach and seafood as the temp is suppose to be over 80 the next two days.
As a note I pulled the trailer with a half ton chevy truck with a 4.8 motor. It did pretty well even run in overdrive most of the time. Ran from Alton Il. to Brownsville Tx. Staying at a place called Paul's RV park in Brownsville.
Thanks again all.

"As a note I pulled the trailer with a half ton chevy truck with a 4.8 motor. It did pretty well even run in overdrive most of the time. Ran from Alton Il. to Brownsville Tx. Staying at a place called Paul's RV park in Brownsville.
Thanks again all."

Hi Rob,
A bit off topic, but since it was brought up:
I'm not a master mechanic for Chevy trucks, but I've heard from several sources (professional mechanics and fellow trailer club members) that towing when in overdrive is not good for a transmission. My last two Chevy trucks (a 2002 1500 Silverado, and a 2007 1500 Suburban) both had/have a trailer mode button on the end of the shifter handle. Among other things, trailer mode disables the overdrive function. My mechanic friends tell me that outside of trailer mode the tranny will keep cycling in and out of overdrive and that that causes much wear.

I'm prepared to defer to anyone with greater experience and definitive knowledge in this area. Meanwhile, I'll stay out of overdrive when towing our Hi-Lo.

Jim

Towing in O.D.

Rob & JM,

I can't speak for the tow vehicle Rob is using, a Chevy 1/2 Ton, but, my last two trucks have been 3/4T Ford F250. The first one was a 1990 with the big v-8 gasoline, 5-speed manual, with the 5th gear being overdrive. Our first RV was a 1990 40' Hitchiker - Champagne edition, one big heavy sucker! We pulled it to Texas when I retired and traded it for a much lighter trailer before moving to Colorado. From 1991 to 2000, we made innumerable trips with 3 different 5th wheels and a Hi-Lo. I always pulled the trailers in OD. When I sold it, it had 380K miles on it and never a problem with the transmission or rear end. It had a trailer towing package but the cautionary warning of "do not haul heavy trailers in OD" was ever present. It was still going strong 6 years ago.

My present F250, 7.3 Liter Diesel is a 4 speed automatic with OD. It is ready to turn 195K miles I have always pulled all our RV's, including a 39' Toy Hauler, and always in OD and had no problems. I would load it up right now and confidently drive to either coast. I do take good care of it maintenance wise and have had the transmission fluid and filter replaced twice in the 12-year time frame. The mechanic on each occasion said there was no abundance of metal fibers and the acid test [?] was okay also.

My brother is an rv'er also, favoring Dodge trucks, and always pulled his rv's in OD. He just recently bought a chevy diesel and pulls his 35' 5th wheel and in OD. To my knowledge, he never had transmission problems even when the Dodge Trucks had a known weakness in the drive line.

Luck? Maybe. Knowing when to take it out of OD might be the reason I never experienced any problems. I know the operating manual recommends not using OD, but my experience has proven to be okay.

Now, watch my transmission go out on me next week. LOL.

Jerry & Carol Curtis
2406 T 2000 F250 7.3 L.Diesel 4x4

I simply let the transmission tell me what to do. If the Torque Converter is constantly unlocking and locking or if the transmission is having to shift in and out of overdrive a lot, I lock it out.

Likewise, I often pull the trailer up long, steep hills (12 miles, 7% grade) like we have here in Arizona with the transmission locked in 2nd gear, to keep it from shifting. And, when descending those long hills I'm always locked in 2nd, to save the brakes.

Essentially, I try to minimize transmission "activity" when towing.

- Jack

I always have towed in overdrive. The only time I would take it out of overdrive was when the tranny started to shift in and out. That did not happen very often. All my tow vehicles have been Fords. I just got a new F150 with the 5.0 V8 engine. The tranny has a tow/haul mode. I haven't towed with it yet but am anxious to try it.

Bob

I do drive the truck with the button in tow mode. It seems that it goes into overdrive when on flat surfaces or going down hill. I might be wrong here but it sure seems that way.
Thanks for the info.