Non-Working Fridge - Need help w/checking ,,

[Yankeetraveler]

Lone time gone and many miles traveled across the U.S. has put me in Oregon with a non-working refrigerator which is a Dometic Americana from a 1999 Hi-Lo 31 foot trailer.

Symptoms: Will not cool or freeze on A/C or Propane.

What I have checked:

1) Have unplugged unit from A/C power and have checked
successfully for continuity through the system with an Ohm-meter.

2) The heating elements seem to be working as the "pot" they are in
is warm as it should be.

3) The trailer is "level".

4) I have "NO" fuses in my system but rather what appears to be a
"solid" block of some sort attached to the outside of the rear
panel where all the electrical wires are screwed to their individual
connection points.

The only other thing I know or can think of to check is the thermostat which seems to be rotating but is very hard to turn. Can anyone walk me through this procedure. I know absolutely zero about electrical diagrams, etc. I can forward pictures of whatever component someone would like to see so that they can become familiar with what refrigerator I have. I have the installation booklet for a Dometic RM 2554 which has electrical diagrams but "NO" troubleshooting section. It also appears from doing research on the internet that my front control panel does not match the RM 2554 model.

Thanks for any and all help ahead of time. If the thermostat is bad or I cannot determine if it is , , , I will buy an apartment size fridge and rip out the Dometic and save myself $1000 which I really don't have anyways. The repair parts have become very expensive plus the shipping charges.

Jeff Campbell (originally out of Buffalo, NY)

 

[marininn]

You can get the cooling units rebuilt (buy a rebuilt unit and send in your core) for $600 or so. These fridges are so much better than an electric only. It is worth it if you can afford.

Bad news is that maybe your cooling unit is bad. If it ever has been run while sitting off-level then you cooked some of the chemicals in the cooling unit. Too much cooking and it will stop working.
Cooking turns the chemical to concrete.
A fix is to remove fridge, turn it over and upsidedown and put it back in. This dislodges some of the concrete and it will work for a while longer, but will clog eventually.
If it is not too out of date then it can be rebuilt. The cooling unit is all the metal pipes u see on the back, this can be separated from the fridge box itself.
But, if the unit is hot at the heater part, then it should cool. There is no electronics at this point that matter. You could literally put a candle under the boiler part and it should cool.