Dometic Refrigerator Fire In Our Motorhome --- Pretty Scary!!!

[max49]

  My Dometic fridge was not on the recall list for 3 years. Then a month or so ago , I got a notice of the recall.

I went to get the recall done and told them that Dometic must have changed their mind and decided to all my serial #s to the list and told me "Do Not Use the Fridge til the recall is done".  The service place just laughed and told me they are recalling all of them but they don't want them all coming in at one time.

    I really don't see how the recall does much of any thing. They put a heat shield on it that only protects the outside louvered cover of the fridge, thus keeping the heat towards the inside , I guess. They also ran a vent hose outside thru the louvered cover.

  Your insurance certainly cover fire damage, but it would be interesting to see if they will cover the faulty refrigerator, since that is what started the fire.

 

[Mark R.]

If you stand back and look t the big picture, you done good. If you did not take the action you took, when you took it, you would have lost your rig and all your personal items on board . If it happened at 2 AM who knows what would have happened. In my opinion based on the recent history of recalls for fire issues, Dometic should make good, from Dometics point of view , if they replace the refrigerator, they are admitting it was their fault and that leaves the door open for insurance carriers to go after Dometic. For you this was no more then a pot hole in your road of life, be happy!

 

[scottydl]

If it happened at 2 AM who knows what would have happened.

This is a good reminder for everyone to re-familiarize themselves with their RV's emergency exits, and think about a few worst-case scenarios and how you would get everyone out in an emergency.  Think about being groggy from sleep, and the rig being pitch black from nighttime or smoke.  Make sure you could still reach everything with a beating heart and get to the closest safe exit.

 

[Betty Brewer]

This is a good reminder for everyone to re-familiarize themselves with their RV's emergency exits, and think about a few worst-case scenarios and how you would get everyone out in an emergency. 

I giggle when I  read this. This past rally in Quartzsite, several of us were standing around wondering just how we would exit our rigs from the bedroom.  Daisy accompanied me into my bedroom as we searched for the "emergency exit " window.  I had one leg hanging out the window to figure just how the exit would go.  Yes it is a good idea to have a fire drill for all occupants.  Monthly fire drills were required in school so we should all be doing the same here. It also provides entertainment for your neighbors who may be watching the drill.  And it  could be good exercise as one contorts to do the exit.

Betty

 

[Tom]

I had one leg hanging out the window to figure just how the exit would go.

If someone has a photo, we could turn this into an illustrated article for the library - how to vacate your RV through the emergency exit  ;D

 

[Mark R.]

Tom I did not know you had comedy or funniest video section in the library.

 

[Marsha/CA]

Betty,

Didn't we girls decide that we needed a rope ladder to get out of the bedroom fire escape window without landing on our heads or killing ourselves?  Since that hysterical discussion, I've decided in case of fire, to throw all the bed covers out the window and land on them....   But first I have to throw the 70# poodle dog out the same window, who will probably grab an end of the bedding and go running off into the wild blue yonder with my landing pad.

Marsha~

 

[Tom]

Tom I did not know you had comedy or funniest video section in the library.

We don't Mark - yet, but hopefully we soon will  ;D

 

[ArdraF]

Thanks to whomever mentioned the Norcold recall.  We checked ours and are not on that list.  But, still a good thing to check.

ArdraF

 

[rsalhus]

Things are looking a little better today.  Eric from [email protected] replied to my e-mail and the pictures of the damage I sent in.  He said that the fire wasn't caused directly by the refrigerator.  He said "This is what you would see if a wire (one that was running through the cabinet) grounded to the cooling unit.  This ground would create a hole in the cooling unit which will release coolant and could ignite. The dealer will want to look in the cabinet for the grounded wire."

This might be good news for us because if an arcing wire caused the fire, then the refrigerator is part of the damage and should be covered by insurance.  At least that's how it was explained to me.  So now we can look at what is available for refrigerators that fit the refrigerator opening in our motorhome.  Levi at RV Renovators claims that we might be able to get a Norcold that has more than 12 cubic feet of storage in the space that our 10 cubic foot Dometic used.  That would be good.  So he is looking at that.  I don't think there is much difference between a Dometic and a Norcold, is there?

In the meantime, the electrician who is repairing all the burnt wires in back of the refrigerator had to leave work to bring his daughter to the hospital because she has bronchitis.  His wife couldn't take her because this is her first day at a new job and we all know how that is............. 

The electrician earlier explained to me how he is going to put at least 4 junction boxes in the back of this opening for the 110 volt wires.  The 12 volt wires repaired won't require any junction boxes.  And the TracVision wires will all have to be completely replaced from the dish to the TV area.  That won't get done until last.

So they are now saying that we may be out of here in just a couple more days.  But that's a pretty optimistic prediction from what I see.

 

[Mark R.]

Rolf tell them to double their efforts and get the job done, so you can get back to retirement! ;D

 

[Ron]

Hopefully that will elliminate the insurance company's position why they should pay. Thanks for the update.

 

[Chet18013]

Last week there was a 2002 Monaco Executive for sale on eBay. It had the same fire damage as yours.

Chet18013

 

[rsalhus]

Rolf tell them to double their efforts and get the job done, so you can get back to retirement!

No, it doesn't do any good to complain to the workers doing the work, they're doing the best they can.  The people at RV Renovators have been real nice and accommodating where they can.  Being without any electricity and propane for a couple of days is tough, but luckily it hasn't gotten very cold at night here the past few days so we've gotten along without any heat.  They ran an extension cord into our coach last night so we were able to watch TV and a lady in a coach next to us borrowed us a lamp so we had light. 

It turns out the refrigerator opening in our coach is a little too small for the Norcold model that was being looked at.  So we are going to put in the same model Dometic  (NDR 1292) as we had before.  It looks like they can get that fridge on Tuesday of next week.

Progressive now says they will cover either the cost of the wiring repair or the refrigerator, whichever is the most expensive.  But I guess that implies that we'll be responsible for the electrical wiring repairs.  I hope that entails just the 110V wiring.  The TracVision rewiring should be covered by Progressive.  We'll get the details on what Progressive will cover on Monday.

There is a fiberglass piece fabricated by Rexhall that fits directly into the hole in the roof under the roof vent that came through the fire in good enough shape that it can be reused.  I don't know what they would do if they couldn't use this piece, I doubt they could order it from Rexhall (which filed for bankruptcy yesterday).  The roof vent itself is a standard item and is available most everywhere.

I don't know if anyone is following this thread anymore but I'd like to keep it updated until the new refrigerator is installed.  I'm going to take a picture of the fire extinguisher I used to put the fire out and post it here to let everyone know what kind it was, as it sure did its job. 

 

[Ron]

If Progressive doesn't cover the whole thing, except for a deductable if applicable, I think you should be contacting the insurance commission in the state where the policy is written.  Having read about your unfortunate event the last thing you need is for your insurance company to refuse to pay for what they should.  Waiting to see the outcome since we will be reviewing insurance options again but from what you have been posting about their actions Progressive just might very well not even be considered this year.

 

[Tom]

Rolf,

A number of us are following your reports.

 

[ArdraF]

Rolf,

As of this message, you've had 860 reads of your thread.  So, yes, some of us definitely are following along to see how it all turns out!

ArdraF

 

[rsalhus]

Ron, Tom , Ardra, and all,

Thanks for the feedback, glad to see that there's some interest in this story.

You know, there's lots of RV stories like mine to be told here at RV Renovators in Mesa.  One guy came in here yesterday with what looks to be a '95 Prevost with some kind of battery problem.  Turns out he has 8 Lifeline AGMs in his coach, and not the little ones either.  I think they said that they found one of his batteries was bad and ruined all of the remaining ones.  Going to cost him over $3,000 to replace them all.  Does that sound right?

And the lady that borrowed us a lamp, she is in to have a leaking front door replaced in her one year old Monaco.  They got the new door in and installed it and it still didn't fit.  So they had to bend the frame somehow to get it to work.  She was supposed to be out of here today but with the long delays, she won't be able to leave until Tuesday when they finish painting the door. 

Then there's the couple also from Minnesota that have a Thor Presidio? motorhome with a leaking fresh water tank that has filled up their basement with water.  They just bought a home in Casa Grande, a four bedroom home with complete pads for two motorhomes alongside the home, for under $25K!!!  Their real estate agent has sold over 1,000 homes  in the past month, homes that they described as being worth over $125K at one time.  Sounds too good to be true.

And the RVs keep coming in here, one after another.  Since most of us are staying in our rigs here at night waiting for repairs, they give each of us a key to the gate so we can come and go at night when the gate is shut and locked.  We're jokingly threatening to close the gate and lock it during the day until our repairs are done. 

 

[John Canfield]

Turns out he has 8 Lifeline AGMs in his coach, and not the little ones either.  I think they said that they found one of his batteries was bad and ruined all of the remaining ones.  Going to cost him over $3,000 to replace them all.  Does that sound right?

Yeah - could be.  We have over $600 in three group 31 Lifeline AGMs.  If he had several 8Ds (~100 pounds each), I could easily see $3K.  Batteries in parallel are generally a terrible idea for that very reason.

Isn't it fun hanging out in a parking lot with other captives?  Been there, done that several times  :

Hope you get squared away quickly.

 

[rsalhus]

Isn't it fun hanging out in a parking lot with other captives? 

Yeah, and not just captives, but captive RVers waiting for a repair or replacement.  The Prevost guy apparently replaced only 4 of his Lifeline AGMs awhile back when he had a similar problem. (That's apparently a NO-NO, when you replace batteries more than say, a year old, you should replace them all.)  And they couldn't find 8 new Lifelines for him anywhere around here, and because he was in a hurry to get to Florida, they installed new Deka batteries.  I talked to the battery tech here and he said that he was really impressed with the Deka batteries. I didn't see them, he was gone when I got back this afternoon.  I guess his Prevost was one of those all-electric coaches.