I have a Dometic 2 way refer. It is in a 06 Trail Bay 31BH. It is an Americana series refer. The problem I am having is that the refer lights on gas but the ignitor never stops throwing a spark. Do you have any ideas. Hey while I'm here.... I am also having an intermittent brake short with overload condition...... sometimes it works perfect sometimes it acts up. There is no pattern it just acts up when it wants to. All the plugs, wires, and terminations have been checked. The brake controller is a Prodigy and is new. I have it in an 04 F-150 Lariat. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

Remove, clean and coat all of the 12v connections with dielectric grease. Clean out the burner area with compressed air to get rid of flaking rust from the heat stove area. Poor 12v connections along with a restricted flame will cause the problem you describe. Also, have you had the gas pressure checked to make sure you are getting 11" water column?

When you say all the plugs, wires and terminations have been checked I am asuming that means at the trailer brakes as well? Spray some WD-40 into your 7 wire connector on your TV and also the connector at the trailer. Insert and remove the connector a few times to work the contacts at both ends. I have the same problem and it is usually caused by corroded connector terminals and the WD-40 always does the trick. I also have a Prodigy and get the OC display.

John

 

jtmerrit... This is a brand new unit. I have checked everything you described and it all looks like it just came from the factory. I was told that it is probably a bad circuit board that isn't telling the ignitor that the refer is lit. It is at the Dometic authorized repair center now, which happens to be Holiday Camper.
As for the plug issue for the brakes, I have sprayed with WD40 and coated everything with dielectric grease, still the same. They are going to check that out also. My best guess is that the wires are touching inside the plug and causing this condition to exist. Towing in a straight line there is no problem. I have ohmed out all the grounds and have elimimated that posibility. If it were a ground then the lights would act screwey also. They are perfect. I have checked the brake pin at the rear of the truck, it reads good also. I have checked all the wiring under the trailer for bare spots and poor connections. They are all like brand new. There are 8 splice connections at the wheels. I checked all of them and they are tight. The only thing I havent been able to check is the plug that goes into the truck. The ground wire and the brake wire are sitting side by side at the bottom of the plug. I am thinking that during a turn, the cord is flexing enough to create a short. This is the only logical explanation. It is a molded plug and I can turn the wire a bit in the mold. I just hope it's that simple. It is under warranty so I'm not stressing about it. They will have to call the dealer in which I purchased it from and get authorization to repair it because they are not a trail vision dealer. They said not to worry about it, they have to do it all the time.

 

My Dometic (2006 Cardinal 5th wheel) did the same thing last month while I was camping in Utah at 8,500 ft. Then it never did it again. I checked the igniter, the thermo-coupler, gas solenoid valve, burner and flue. All were good and clean. I just chalked it up to the elevation, although the burner was lit and functioning correctly.

I think the t-coupler wasn't getting the signal to the processor board that the burner is on. My house batteries were still well charged. It's also possible the relay switch to the igniter just stuck on.

My last Dometic gave me problems, too. It kept going out and not re-igniting almost since day one. I finally waited too long to complain, but I did fix it myself with their new upgraded electronics to the tune of $135.00.

 

It is fixed. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the spark control module. All functions as it should now. I just can't believe that a brand new unit has faulty electronic components. Thanks for all the input!

 

Don't be too suprised - we do Pre-Delivery Inspections on every single unit, and I will smooth fall over backwards on the day nothing needs correcting on an RV direct from the factory. (That's why they have US)

It figures it was the controller board, the only other thing it could be is the ignitor wire.

File this away somewhere in your mind:

The igniter wire also serves as the Thermocouple that reads back to the board as to whether there is a flame (high temperature source) at the other end. So it's a dual purpose wire. If it was bad, the same thing would happen. I would advise keeping that connection very clean...

 

My dealer did a PDI also. The problem was that it lit fine on gas. It just wouldn't stop sparking. They also missed the T-stat wired backwards ( the fan on the AC ran constantly), the neutral wire on the converter was not terminated correctly (screw tightened down on insulation instead of copper), A neutral to ground short in the GFI circuit(no way of finding this unless plugged into a GFI shore power outlet), intermittent short in brake wire( faulty plug going to TV) Water pump valve shut off( the access under the rear bunk was screwed down) I was not very happy with my dealers PDI and I voiced my concern to him. He appologized profusely and wanted me to bring the unit back to him. He is located 2 hrs one way from me. I work almost 6 days/week and it is not possible to bring it back. I told him I would fix it and for him to send me a gift certificate to camping world for my time. The TT is fixed and I am still waiting for my gift certificate! The funny thing about most of these problems is that they did not show up until I had it plugged into shore power for 24 hrs! Good thing I was pretty familiar with electrical or I would have been screwed!