It had to happen, but in case you missed in in RV Business today -

"Class Action Suit Filed Against Dometic Corp.
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April 22, 2016 by RVBusiness
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In a press release issued today (April 22), Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a consumer-rights class-action law firm, announced that it had filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a group of RV owners against Dometic Corp., alleging that the company sold defective gas absorption refrigerators with cooling systems that can spontaneously ignite in RVs and boats, putting consumers at risk.

The lawsuit claims that the defective refrigerators have caused or contributed to at least 3,000 fires since 1997, resulting in more than $100 million in property damage and personal injury claims, all of which, according to the suit, Dometic tracked through multiple nonpublic, internal databases. Despite this knowledge, the suit maintains, Dometic “failed and refused to eliminate the defects and/or provide consumers with adequate warnings.”
In response, Dometic stated that it takes the accusations seriously but vehemently denies that the company would consciously have refrained from eliminating defects in the product. A Dometic spokesman indicated that the company had not yet been officially served with notice of the suit.
“Dometic conducts its operations in strongly regulated environment and it is a vital requirement that all products comply with applicable laws and regulations regarding safety,” according to the Dometic statement. “Dometic works proactively with product safety in an open and close cooperation with governmental authorities and strictly follows the applicable legislation and recommendations. Dometic will come back with more detailed information on this matter.”

The lawsuit contends that “every gas absorption refrigerator manufactured by Dometic since 1997 shares common technology, common cooling unit design and common defects, including the propensity of the refrigerator’s cooling unit boiler tube to corrode, crack and expel hydrogen gas at high pressure, which can spontaneously combust, or reach other ignition sources, causing a fire.”
The 80-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco seeks to force Dometic to repair or replace defective refrigerators and compensate consumers for the diminution of value of their RVs and boats as a result of these manufacturer defects.
The suit, in addressing two recalls issued by Dometic, further alleges, “defendants have used and manipulated the recall process to conceal the true dangers and safety risks inherent in their defective gas absorption refrigerators from both federal regulators and consumers.”

Steve

 

So are they reccomending to only use the electric side?

 

For the models on the recall list, Dometic said to shut it down completely.

Steve

 

Here is a link to the Dometic recall page: Official Dometic Recall - DometicUSA

 

There is all kinds of stuff about the recall on the Internet that is easy to find. I was kind of assuming everyone knew about it because it is such old news. The recall has to be installed by a tech, which I believe is simply Dometic's way to pick up broader liability coverage, not because the kit is normally hard to install ( though in a few cases the refrigerator has to be slid forward to get the kit into place).

The class action suit is the big news as one had to see it coming. Norcold also had similar issues, as you may recall.

The way most folks use their RVs living "on the cord" the shift away from absorption model refrigerators to household models is already pretty pronounced and, in my opinion is likely to increase.

Steve