# Dometic Fridge door problem



## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

Hi There, I have a new van fitted with a two door Dometic RMD8505 fridge. The doors are opened with a latch operated by a button in the top edge of the door ( bottom edge for upper door) The upper freezer door button can no longer be moved and therefore the door cannot be opened. As it is a new van the dealer will be contacted, but I am asking if anyone else has heard of the fault.

Regards John


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

It rings a bell, I think there was a similar/same fridge not long ago where the buttons froze due to water getting into the mech.

If this is the case it could be a none fixer, it's a freezer, hence moisture, lots of it and usually cold, perhaps a food safe grease could be put into the mech if it could be got into.

I hope I'm mistaken.


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## premiermotorhomes (Feb 13, 2008)

Good morning

Dometic have a number of appointed mobile engineers who can undertake warranty repairs for you. You can locate your nearest engineer here: http://dometicapproved.co.uk/service.aspx.

Regards,
Chris


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## Toddles (Sep 10, 2007)

Hi John,

I have had the very same problem with the freezer door, same model as yours. My van is only 8 months old.

Finally, the Dometic Engineer came to my house and fixed the problem straightaway. He lives at Wroxham, so not too far from you. His details are :

Mike Meachen, www.mandgleisure.co.uk
Mobile. 07777 633252
Landline. 0844 504 2460

He is very knowledgable and would recommend him to you.

This was only fixed two weeks ago so it has not been thoroughly tested yet, but I feel confident that the problem has been solved.

This work was carried out under warranty, foc.

Hope this is helpful to you.

Regards,
Tony


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

What caused it and how did he fix it?


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## Webby1 (Mar 11, 2012)

*Dometic switches*

Whilst I agree that in the warranty period you should get any items repaired............I think it's important to understand how these things work.

I have no doubt that many of the switches and catches in motorhomes are "made to fail" (bring on the 3D printers that will do away with these crazy prices for a piece of plastic)

I replaced ours with a cut down plastic strip and a larger screw
Yours may not be the same but you get the idea


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## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

*many thanks*

Hi There, many thanks to you all, just returned from a WE away.

The frozen catch reason is believable, as I have noticed water around the freezer door catch buttons. I rung my suppliers on Friday and promised to ring back tomorrow for suggestions, or how they are going to deal with it. 
A local Dometic fixer will be next step. I don't want to switch fridge off until I know how to get into the freezer compartment.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Good thinking :wink:


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## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

*Update*

Hi There, 
My Dealer consulted Dometic, who suggested trying the "frame heater" fitted to some of these fridges to defrost the door, tried this, no luck. I've now arranged for Mike at M&G ( local dometic technician) to come and investigate in a couple of weeks. He said in the last case he had, he fitted a thin neoprene gasket to the catch, presumably to stop water getting in somewhere.

John


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Should be sorted under warranty, seems to be a previously reported fault.

Silicone foodsafe grease would keep water out of the mech, he'll probably have some in his van, he'll at least say if it's a good idea or not.


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## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

Hi there, an update on this thread.

As Dometic engineer was coming today, I turned off the fridge yesterday morning to defrost. By tea time freezer door catch was working again. Left both doors open to air.

Engineer came this morning. The upgrade pack he was to fit to cure the problem was already done, it consists of a section of insulating neoprene that is fitted into a slot in the outside surface of the door, behind the decor trim. I'm guessing it allows access to the rear of the catch, as it is in that approximate position, but I assume it is there to prevent moisture getting in there and freezing (apparently not very sucessfully) The clue to it not being fitted, is that an area of condensation appears on the outside of the door in the latch location. His only suggestion to avoiding it happening again, is not to leave the door latched for long periods, not truly very helpfull, but I guess we've always had fridges that needed latching before travelling.

Regards John

Another question I raised with him, is the noisy gas operation on my fridge, compared with a friend's 12month old Bessacarr with the same model fridge. He said that there is now a different design of burner fitted, that is more tolerant to the use of Auto-gas. This is slightly noisier in operation.

I'll be going to the NEC show in October, so will raise it with Dometic there if I can find a techie on the stand.


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

We had this same problem with a brand new RM 8505. Called Dometic who promised a call back. Didn't happen, of course. Over weekend, had a go myself and discovered the cause and what to do to fix it permanently.
Made a rather bad video/slideshow of it all and posted on Youtube for others who will doubtless have the same problem. 



Emailed Dometic on the Monday to ask if the warranty would be affected as a result of the modification as shown in the Youtube video.
They confirmed that it would not affect the warranty.
Any body needs further info, please PM me.
Patrick


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## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

Excellent instructions, Patrick, well done.


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## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

Hi Patrick, many thanks for the info. You were of course working on the fridge door not the freezer one, that I had the trouble with. The freezer one must have a extra link as the button is on the bottom of the door, so the push of the button is translated into a pull of the latch from below, or pushes the other side of the pivot. Also the linkage is much shorter. I guess another reason to treat the latch as a travel only device.

John


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

j50jwr said:


> You were of course working on the fridge door not the freezer one, that I had the trouble with. The freezer one must have a extra link as the button is on the bottom of the door, so the push of the button is translated into a pull of the latch from below, or pushes the other side of the pivot. Also the linkage is much shorter. I guess another reason to treat the latch as a travel only device.
> John


Quite right, John but it may be that the rod hits the latch on the other side of the pivot point thus providing the lift as required?!
Patrick


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

Same problem - the freezer door catch freezes up after a day or two. The door can still be opened, just.......


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## Techno100 (May 8, 2010)

Video not working? blank screen


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

Techno100 said:


> Video not working? blank screen


Don't know why that should be though I have had that sort of thing on a Samsung tablet running a specific YouTube app!!
Try searching for "Dometic fridge door stuck" which should bring it up to the top of the list. Each slide is set at 5 secs because I was too tired/idle to vary them... So give it at least that long to start,
Patrick


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## Techno100 (May 8, 2010)

BTW while stationary you can disable the locking mechanism so the door just holds on the seal like your fridge at home. You must of course re engage it before travelling. Instructions in user manual.

Pictures speak louder


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

Techno100 said:


> BTW while stationary you can disable the locking mechanism so the door just holds on the seal like your fridge at home. You must of course re engage it before travelling. Instructions in user manual.
> 
> Pictures speak louder


But if it freezes up will it drop back down again ?

Martin


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## Techno100 (May 8, 2010)

If it doesn't then at least you'll have the door unlocked to defrost it


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## j50jwr (May 9, 2006)

Hi There, 
So all Dometic have done is to hide the door travel latch away, so we can't check it's been done without trying to open the door!!

John


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