Fridge interior wire knicked, no longer cool

noralee · 07-15-2017, 01:00 PM

Hi sunlineclub,
Yesterday while removing the freezer drip container in my dometic RM 360 it looks like I knicked the wire that is below the fins and today the fridge was no longer cool. I could be wrong and it's another problem but it was hard to get the drip container out and there was ice, I had to tug at it. The wire goes from one end of the fins to left of center and is uncovered/exposed.

I looked online already and couldn't find pics or proper part names. So if anyone knows the name of that interior wire that would be great. I'd like to repair the knick if possible or replace it otherwise. Is repair possible?

I'll post pics shortly as well.

Thanks in advance. Noralee

noralee · 07-15-2017, 03:32 PM

CORRECTION: it is a dometic rm2310. Had that wrong. I'm attaching some pictures. You'll see the knick turned into a break when I put the drip pan back in.

**JohnB** · 07-15-2017, 07:08 PM

Hi Noralee.

I myself have not worked on one of these older units. But I did some digging for you.

I "think" this is the part you are after. I am not 100% positive.

If I have this right, that is a capillary tube that feeds back to combination regulating valve. It controls the gas and the electric element. In the link I found they call this the thermostat. You may have kinked the tube and now the capillary does not work right. Maybe one of your other fridge folks can chime in. I know the newer electric controls fridges.

I found that pic from the PPL Motorhomes website as they have an exploded diagram that shows the parts. Then you can click it if they sell the part and see it sometimes and the price.
You are being redirected...

You go into the "Online Parts Catalog" Click it to enter the parts catalog. Then in the top box, search by category, use the pull down for "Refrigerators" Then "search"

It will bring up all the fridges they offer parts for. Scroll down to Dometic Refrigerator.

Scroll down to RM2310. There are 6 models in that group. 2 way and 3 way. Pick the one you have.

Burner and controls will show the thermostat, If you click diagram, it will shows a blow up of the parts. If you click the number on the diagram it jumps to the parts. Some parts have pics.

I also tried the Dometic site. I entered RM2310 and got the RM 2410 under the RM2310 part number. It might be a different model but it shows the theromstat tube back to the regulating valve.

http://www.dometicmanuals.com/PROD/M...f?Opendatabase

I did an open web hit on "Dometic RM2310 refrigerator thermostat" and got this. https://www.makariosrv.com/dometic-r...utm_medium=ppc

I have never bought from MakariosRv so I have no idea how they are. I have bought from PPL before and had good experiences with them. You can call and talk to PPL, they have people to help with the order and others who are more technical.

It appears you buy the entire thermostat which come with a pre-charged capillary tube.

Hope this helps

John

noralee · 07-15-2017, 07:25 PM

Thanks so much, John B. I also looked at those dometic manuals but couldn't make sense of the diagrams.

I'm still not convinced the wire is the thermostat and wondering if there is a way to simply replace or solder the wire. Inside the fridge, where the wire 'ends' it appears to simply screw onto the side of one of the fins. I could just be in denial because it seems like quite a project getting into the backside of the fridge and I also initially thought it must be the thermostat. Hoping someone familiar with these units will chime in, otherwise my next post will be about how to replace the thermostat!

**JohnB** · 07-15-2017, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noralee

I'm still not convinced the wire is the thermostat and wondering if there is a way to simply replace or solder the wire. Inside the fridge, where the wire 'ends' it appears to simply screw onto the side of one of the fins.!

Not being able to see one in person and having not been through this myself before, I'm thinking this is not a wire, but a capillary tube of sorts. There is a liquid inside that expands/contracts with temperature and the other end inside the control valve responds to this change. I may be out to lunch on this.... but it sure looks like it.

I found what I believe is Dometic part number 2007199009 from here

Doing a hit on that part number, I get many more places selling it and more pics of it.

An ebay one. Look at the tube connection to the side of the valve. That does not look like a wire connection.
Dometic 2007199009 RV Refrigerator Combo Thermostat

And the same seller on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-20071.../dp/B00T3760S2

Another Ebay one
Dometic 2007199009 RV Refrigerator Combo Thermostat

Another RV parts place I never heard of one.
Dometic 2007199009 RV Refrigerator Combo Thermostat

And I think the main home page of the Any RV Part place. There are 3 views on this one.
Dometic 2007199009 RV Refrigerator Combo Thermostat . Any RV Parts

I'm not seeing that the tube is a replaceable part that can be bought but maybe.

Have you tried to straighten out the kink?

There are ways shown in the service manual to test the thermostat. But you need a manometer to do it. Page 13 This may be beyond what you can do.
http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/rm2510_52.pdf

In case the issue of cooling has nothing to do with the kinked tube, does the gas mode work? can you see or hear the gas burner running? This thermostat controls both the gas and the electric element. You cannot hear the electric element much other then the sound of expanding metal near the boiler tube area but you might hear the gas burner light and running.

If there is no gas burner running, then it for sure will not cool when on gas mode.

Have you been running it on electric?

Hope this helps

John

noralee · 07-16-2017, 10:53 AM

JohnB, I have only been running it on electric.

There is no kink in the wire. It is now broken.

From the part we're looking at it would appear that the capillary tube, as you say, is mostly located in the back end if the fridge with only about 10inch in the interior of the fridge. I wish I could see a pic of how it goes from the interior into the back, and how it is situated. How in the heck do you get into that part of the fridge? Even opening the external door to the fridge backside does not give me any clues.

Also, it is clear that the 'capillary tube' does not simply screw into a fin but is attached between 2 fins somehow. I wonder if the fins are part of what will also need replacing. Anyone with this type of fridge familiar with this issue/replacement/repair?

**JohnB** · 07-16-2017, 03:10 PM

Does your fridge have the control knobs on the bottom or the top? They make them both ways.

Any chance of a few pics of the front of the fridge and then the back of the unit with the outside cover off?

From the bottom mounted controls RM2310's, it appears they use long control rods from the front bottom knobs which extend across the bottom of the fridge to the controls that are mounted in the back of the unit. The thermostat would be mounted in the back of this setup I do believe. If you can find the thermostat that can help on how to thread the sender unit in.

On top mounted controls, I found one that had all the control out front on the top of the fridge by the door of the fridge. That would be different setup.

Hope this helps

John

noralee · 07-17-2017, 06:31 PM

The controls are on the bottom. Here are some pics.

**JohnB** · 07-17-2017, 09:01 PM

From your pic and what I have pieced together from on line manuals, your pic shows the thermostat and the sensor line running up to the fridge compartment.

If you go to this Dometic site, enter RM2310 and open the first PDF file, page 3, item 7 is the thermostat and is on the back of the unit. Thermostat shaft item 60 runs from the temperature knob in the front to the thermostat in the back.

http://www.dometicmanuals.com/PROD/M...f?Opendatabase

See your pic below with arrows on it. The yellow arrow I added is where the thermostat is behind that sheet metal cover, item 43 in the diagram.

The red arrows are pointing to the thermostat tube that goes up and inside the fridge cabinet.

I hate to say this, but it looks like you might have to pull the fridge out of the cabinet hole to get your hand in behind the cooling coil and to get the sensor tube out of and into the fridge compartment without damaging the sensor tube. Again, I have never been through this on this model, just looking at it from here. If this is too much for you and our your helper, a repair person may need to be called.

Hope this helps

John

PS, your cooling coil looks to be in great shape if that is the original. Very little rust on it. Amazing.

noralee · 07-23-2017, 01:15 PM

Thanks so much JohnB for your image. I'm going to order the part. I think me with a helper can get it done. Hoping we can avoid pulling out the fridge. Is there a reason you can see that the capillary in rear has to go behind the cooling coil then over to the right? The insert point for it to go interior is on the right of the coil almost above the box itself.

Perhaps I'll post again for any instructions for this replacement. Depending on where I order I'm not sure instructions will be included. Thanks again for your insights! BTW this fridge I bought about 5 years ago and it was 5 years old.

**JohnB** · 07-23-2017, 01:47 PM

I'm not 100% sure it is a must have need to have the temp sensor tube be behind the cooling coil. Odds are high when building the unit, they put the tube in first then the coil on.

I will say this, try and not let the tube be touching the cooling coil if you can. Both vibration abrasion on the sensor tube and the heat from the cooling coil directly on it might create an issue so I would air on the side of caution. If you insert the sensor tube through the cooling coil, figure out a way that it does not touch the coil if possible. While it may not be an issue, again by isolating it eliminates the possibility.

If it looks like you are going to kink the new sensor tube trying to install it like original, then I would not risk that and figure out a way to isolate the tube from the cooling coil.

Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

John

noralee · 07-26-2017, 11:22 AM

I like PPL but found the best price from pdxrvwholesale.com at 62$ + shipping.

**JohnB** · 07-26-2017, 01:16 PM

I have not heard of them. Thanks for the web address. Let us know how their service comes out. They offer a lot of products, just some of their ways of doing business they post on their site are different. Not bad, just different.

Reading their site under the terms and the contact us pages, they state they will email you a repair manual to confirm you are ordering the right part. In this case, that would be a good idea to double check the part number against the serial number. I had to piece together a trail from multiple places to get that part number I posted.

Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

Thanks

John

noralee · 07-26-2017, 08:59 PM

The image of the part looked correct but I'll keep an eye out for that message. So far just confirming my order. Thanks for the heads up.

ggrvguy · 07-28-2017, 09:21 AM

That is the cap tube for the thermostat. If it's broken you'll need to replace the complete thermostat.
Gary G

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ggrvguy · 07-28-2017, 09:26 AM

You can tape a thin wire to the inside cap tube so when you pull it out, you'll be able to fish the new one back in. Depending on how much room there is on the back side in the service door, you'll probably have to slide the fridge out a few inches to reach up in by the coils. The new one can attach about 3or4 fins away from the entry hole.
Gary G

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noralee · 08-04-2017, 10:57 AM

Well I wouldn't order from PDX. They are dead to me after charging my card even though the item was out of stock which they didn't let me know for over 48hrs. And after interest was charged on my credit card as well.

I've reordered and it should arrive today and we'll install Monday. Can anyone shed some light on how to remove the box part and install the new one? It looks like from the box (where the capillary stems from) there are all sorts of other wires that are also attached. So we couldn't see how to pull the box part out. See the rear pic where John B drew arrows to and from the box on page 1. I'm attaching some close ups here as well. Perhaps it will be clear once the new piece has arrived.

ggrvguy · 08-06-2017, 07:05 PM

You will need to pull the complete gas control system off the back. Not as bad as it sounds. Disconnect the incoming lp line, there is a metal cam lock over the burner. A few screws hold the assembly to the cabinet. Fishing the capillary tube thru to the inside is trickier. Tape a wire or string to the old one before you pull it thru to help fish the new one in place. You may have to pull the fridge out a little to reach up behind it. Maybe someone has made a YouTube video or instructions online. I've replaced a bunch of these and I've probably oversimplified it, but it's not hard. It goes without saying, be careful you don't break the new cap tube, you can't repair them.
Gary G

noralee · 09-13-2017, 12:10 AM

We replaced the thermostat. It took quite a bit of time and effort to remove the old one but we had success, mostly. It turns out though that either the temperature knob came loose or we never re-attached it like we thought. But I am not able to adjust the temperature. It is stuck on high and is virtually just a large ice box, freezing everything. We have to go back in and re-connect the knob so I can turn the temperature warmer, a difficult task since there is no access or reach to the spot behind the thermostat

We're still working out this kink but thank you so much for tips, advice and ideas, especially to JohnB for his tireless attention to all my questions.

ggrvguy · 09-13-2017, 12:05 PM

If I remember correctly the t'stat knob has a long rod attached to it that goes to the back of the fridge where the t'stat is. On the end of that rod is a white plastic piece with a D shaped hole thats supposed to engage the D shaped rod on the t'stat itself. Sometimes you can get them to mesh by turning the knob inside around and back and forth. Otherwise you'll have to pull the whole assembly off the back and line those 2 pieces up.
Gary G