Dometic 3-way fridge maintenance

[daverave]

We're just back from a four week trip to Montana and back which included some very dusty roads and playa driving. Naturally this created a ton of dust, some of which finds its way into the exterior portions of the Dometic 3-way fridge. Not the first time either so I'd love to get into the burner assembly and give it a thorough cleaning after 5+ years of use.

However when I start disassembling the lower portion of the flue where the burner resides it appears that I can't drop the cigar-shaped burner assembly down far enough to clear the tabs from the flue above. I blew it out with some compressed gas and got some ashy residue to fall out but would still like to access the rest of the burner to clean it up. It hits the floor of the cabinet before it clears the tabs.

Maybe I'm overlooking some magic in the disassembly process but it appears that the way it is put together precludes me from easily getting to the burner. Any suggestions? See attachments in order of disassembly.

Thanks to all you gurus out there!

 

[Outnabout]

What year is that fridge? Mine is a 2015 and looks different.

 

[daverave]

What year is that fridge? Mine is a 2015 and looks different.

It’s on a Hawk we purchased new in January 2016.

 

[daverave]

it's the Dometic RM-2193

 

[PJorgen]

Yup. I've got a 2014 Hawk and it looks just like that. You've got to just muscle it out. I found that bending the flap on the burner bracket outward just a bit helps.

Seems like a poor design.

 

[daverave]

Yup. I've got a 2014 Hawk and it looks just like that. You've got to just muscle it out. I found that bending the flap on the burner bracket outward just a bit helps.

Seems like a poor design.

Yeah I was trying to avoid too much muscling but it seems there’s little alternative. Thanks.

 

[Outnabout]

Mine is the RM-2354 and the burner looks completely different. Today I tried to blow compressed air through the flue and the burner. My frig operates very inconsistently. We just returned from a trip that included quite a bit of dust driving as well. I am going to leave mine running on propane for a few days in the driveway and hope after the cleaning I get some better operation.

 

[daverave]

Mine is the RM-2354 and the burner looks completely different. Today I tried to blow compressed air through the flue and the burner. My frig operates very inconsistently. We just returned from a trip that included quite a bit of dust driving as well. I am going to leave mine running on propane for a few days in the driveway and hope after the cleaning I get some better operation.

Yep the inconsistency of the 3-way Dometic is my biggest pet peeve with my Hawk. It sometimes takes all night to go from 55 to 35 degrees unless overnight temps are in the low 40s.

 

[kmcintyre]

I've attached the manual in a PDF if which shows the flue being removed, etc.

Kevin

 

[Bwht4x4]

I'd suggest removing it, take to landfill, install 2-way compressor refrig, install 160 watts of solar on roof, then enjoy and smile.

 

[daverave]

I've attached the manual in a PDF if which shows the flue being removed, etc.

Kevin

Yeah I've got that doc, Kevin, the problem is at D.3 where the screw is removed but the burner can not be dropped far enough to get it off, per the photos above. I'm not really interested in removing the refrigerator completely to clean the baffle at this point (above my pay grade.) Bwht's suggestion above is tempting since I've NEVER been very happy with the Dometic 3-way.

 

[kmcintyre]

Yeah I've got that doc, Kevin, the problem is at D.3 where the screw is removed but the burner can not be dropped far enough to get it off, per the photos above. I'm not really interested in removing the refrigerator completely to clean the baffle at this point (above my pay grade.) Bwht's suggestion above is tempting since I've NEVER been very happy with the Dometic 3-way.

Ok. If you take it out and are going to take it to the dump, I'll take it! I can't remember how I got mine off but I don't remember it being that bad after 15 years.

 

[pablo]

Were you ever able to drop the burner? I'm working on the same problem now and have a call out to FWC for advice. I really don't want to use brute force since the boiler tube is involved and a leak would be disastrous. I also need to clean the chimney so I'm thinking removing the fridge is going to be necessary because the top of the chimney is difficult to reach as well. I did manage to detach the propane tube to the burner and then hoped to slide the burner base out along those tracks, but it seems to be rusted in there.

Update: I went ahead and bent the flue flared flange thingy and got the burner out. I won't want to repeat this in the future however due to metal fatigue.