Atwood Helium Refrigerator - 2015 189FDS

[michellep]

Thank you for the compliment. However, I believe my patience on this POS trailer is drawing to a close. I'm leaving the State Park tomorrow early, so climbed up the ladder to see if leaves needed to be brushed off. Here is what greeted me. This gasket had already had an issue that was supposedly addressed and corrected by the dealer.



Maybe it's getting time to take my losses and run....

[Eagle]

If my dealer of any product performed that type of work, I'd never return there and would also contact the manufacturer about their lack of professional service.

[Skripo]

If you had some of the other brands I owned, you would think this one a paragon of quality.

I fully understand your frustration, especially with your dealer being so far away and the fridge issue that took Attwood forever to fix. The gasket issue was rather unfortunate, but if it ends there, you are in good shape.

I also had issues, my inner door frame was bent beyond recognition when I PDI'd mine. That being said my dealer and Crusier RV have been fantastic in addressing any issues I had.

I am resigned to the fact that I need to reset my quality expectations, theses trailers are not built to the same standards as BMW, Apple or the other quality products we are so used to in this day and age.

Queue the BMW and Apple bashing.....


About your Attwood fridge:

If you still have an issue with the fridge, my dealer told me that he bent the ignitor bracket to bring it closer to the gas flow. It now lights in one click.
I bet that has been the problem all along. They also contacted Attwood who decided I needed a new control board which is on the way. The fridge works perfectly but I went for it anyway.

[Skripo]

Is the function of that gasket to wipe water off when you pull in the slide?

Many if not most trailer owners also install a slide awning to help protect the slide from debris and water. I will be installing mine soon.

I think this is the new one that is supposed to eliminate pooling:

http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/ca...&categoryid=30

[michellep]

Just now getting internet.

Atwood "fix" installed last Tuesday by dealer. I went camping that same day. Unplugged from electric yesterday morning. Fridge failed to ignite on gas and went into check mode. So much for the "fix". I'm not going to worry about it until I get home in another week.

I have a friend who says, "Some assembly required." when referring to our Fun Finders. Trouble is, he can fix most anything!!!

And yet another sigh escapes my mouth...

[Skripo]

Would you be willing to entertain a DIY fix? If so I will post pictures tonight on how my dealer improved my issue.

[michellep]

Sure, I'd try a DIY fix, as long as it's not too much above my pay grade and wouldn't void any warranty...let 'er rip...

[shadow]

Been my experience most probs with these thing are basic, like igniter adjustment. All else fails , chicken foot, little chicken blood, paint front of fridge and chant! Force the dealer to do a complete reinspection with a log ( not one u beat him with.,that's later). Turn issues to ags office, BBB, at the very least you can make things tough for a while

[Skripo]

I got most of the pictures but I need 2 more. I should be able to post tomorrow morning.

Sorry about the delay.

[Skripo]

This mod was done by my dealer and explained to me. Please excuse me if I am using the wrong terms.

Plug in your trailer with an extension cord so you can manually plug and unplug the trailer from the curb side. Run your fridge on A/C for at least 3 hours.

When ready, locate your outside fridge access panel. Take a quarter or a large blade flat screwdriver and turn the 2 clips 90 degrees to make the slots vertical.



Now put your fingers in the top slot and pull towards you to unclip the panel. The fridge drain hose may be squeezed into a panel vent. I just let mine hang but you can also easily pull it out for easier access.

Remove the heat shield in the bottom right corner by removing the four screws highlighted in the pic.



Look for the a little metal circle at the bottom right of the chimney and move it so you can see inside:



Look inside carefully and you will see what looks like a copper wire. That is the ignitor. It works by sending a high voltage through a wire close to the propane rail. The electricity grounds to the rail and the resulting spark ignites the gas.

The working theory is that initial gas delivery may be weak after sitting for an extended period of time due to gas dissipation and air or other contaminants rising to the top of the tube and diluting the gas. The idea is to move the ignitor to the part of the LP rail that is diffusing the most gas.

Before doing anything, it is critical we do a baseline test to see if we are accomplishing anything.

While looking in the hole, unplug the fridge from the extension and count the number of clicks required to ignite. In your case it may not ignite, the point is to count the clicks. As soon as it stops clicking, plug the fridge back in to shut off the gas.

Make sure everything has cooled enough and using whatever is handy, bend the tip of the wire so that it looks like mine. The idea is to get the tip to be on top of the gas rail so it is closer to the gas flow. Not too close, but close enough. If you are too far apart the spark will not jump, too close and it will be small, reducing the ignition potential. You essentially want a nice big fat spark.



All though extremely unlikely, we may as well check that the propane nozzle is not misaligned.

The gap (highlighted by the green box) between the gas nozzle and your chimney should be around 1/4".



If you need to move the nozzle closer to the chimney, loosen the 2 screws shown in the next pic to advance it. Be sure to tighten after the correct gap is set.



Also check that the nozzle lines up perfectly with the hole. If it is at an angle you can bend the bracket slightly to line them up.

Leave everything as is and unplug the trailer while looking in the hole. If everything is good, it should ignite in 1 or 2 clicks. Don't forget to close the little door before putting the heat shield back on.

You may also want to take this opportunity to attach some screening material to the access panel vent holes to keeps insects out.

Let me know how it works out!

[LEWR]

I just got back from a 7,400 mile trip pulling a 2014 210 UDS.
I travel with the refer full and on LP. When leaving, I would usually unplug shore power and then manually change from auto elect to gas. I at first I turned turned the master batt switch off, then plug-in the power cable to the car. The refer did not auto start on LP. I arived with a warm refer. I tried several combonations. This seemed to work: unplug shore power, let the refer automatically change to LP, them plug the power cable to the car, them turn off the RV master battery switch. It seems the refer has to have continous 12 volt power at all times with no break.

[Skripo]

Refer must have 12V at all times to operate it's control board, even if using propane.

That's not the OPs issue.

[profdant139]

Skripo, I am on the road and just clicked on this thread because it involves Michelle -- I am a big fan of hers -- and I saw your pix and your write-up of the fridge fix. I don't know if that will solve her problem -- I hope so -- but I just wanted to say that this was a brilliant post on your part -- very clear, very thorough, well annotated. I will bookmark it in case I ever have fridge issues -- thanks!!!

[Skripo]

Thank you for the kind words. Ithink motivates me to do more.

[michellep]

x2 what Dan said (about your post, not about me!) I, too, have bookmarked it.

However, I THINK Atwood has corrected the problem and they weren't just blowing smoke!! The fridge has not failed the last 3 times I disconnected from power! YAYYAYYAY. If this turns out to be true over the long term, I have to say that Atwood has stepped up to the plate for their end users!

I think, after this last trip of the season starting Monday, I will put myself back in the "FUN FINDER FAN" column...you all (and others) have convinced me that the rest of the stuff wrong with this 2015 trailer is just SOP for our hobby! As my friend, George, says - "some assembly required".

Now, on to plan the big trip of 2015 - the Pacific Northwest...

[michellep]

If you recall, the last 3 times (maybe 4) that I unplugged the problematic Atwood fridge, it lit on gas without issue. I was overjoyed and figured the problem was solved...

Today, after having been on shore power for 2 days, I unplugged the trailer - just for grins. IT DID NOT LIGHT. Went into Check Mode and did not light the first time I turned it off and back on. It lit on the second try.

I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "I'm sick to death of this issue. I don't care that it doesn't work right. I just don't want to deal with it again."

But I did send an email to my dealer. He forward it to his contact at Atwood and Atwood's reply is that they will reimburse my dealer for a new DOMETIC fridge to be installed.

Go figure - 3 fridges in a 5-month old trailer...

[Eagle]

Not good PR for Atwood as far as quality .... but at least they aren't ignoring the situation.

[LJAZ]

Wow, they must really be having some problems with these if they are springing for cost of a replacement from another manufacturer.

[michellep]

Have any of you had any issues (ongoing or 1-time only) with a Dometic fridge, the RM3762 New Generations in particular?

I am struggling with going through having the window yanked out to replace the fridge AGAIN and perhaps starting all over with a new set of fridge problems...

The problem with the Atwood - IF I'm at a campground where I'm plugged in to the post, AND the power goes out AND I'm not around to notice, that is when the problem would occur.

Otherwise, when power is lost (either intentionally or not), I am now aware of the problem and can go inside and check the light.

HELP me decide what I should do. I am kinda leaning toward leaving it as it.

[shadow]

I have the dometic in my fds189, never had any failure. The enly thing is make sure they install 1-2 cooling fans for the coils. I have 2 on mine, 100cfm, combined I think they use about half amp