thomas Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Hi, folks. During our recent holiday in France where we experienced very high outside temperatures, our fridge freezer struggled to cope. I would have thought that this was probably quite normal, and ended up by turning the stat to Max i.e. ( min temp). We were mainly using mains hook-up, sometmes gas, and the auto setting selected these as normal. However, when we returned to the UK, and cooler temperatures (naturally) ,on trying to turn the temperature control to our usual setting, there was "no feeling" to the control. It has the stop at either end ( High/low) but can't be doing anything as the freezer is stuck on max cooling, both on mains and gas. I have looked on the web and found that to replace the temperature control, means replacing the whole electronic control panel. Having had a quick look at this, it appears that it is reasonably straightforward, as there are a series of "plug ins" on the rear. Is there anyone out there who has had experience of this. I would feel more confident in parting with £150 ( the price of the part) if I knew that there was someone who had been in a similar situation. I suppose that this is payback for having had a brilliant, hot and sunny two month holiday in France, and returning to the frozen North (Cumbria) with the best sun tan that we have ever known. Look forward to any advice from all you knowledgable contributors. Regards, Thomas. *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 ....before you assume it is the electronics that have failed, try removing the control knob by pulling it outwards. The plastic knobs on this series of Dometic fridges are very "soft", and have been known to split at the end of the shaft (particularly if turned hard against the end-stop). The net effect of this is that they don't engage properly with the flat on the shaft of the electronic control, and thus turning the knob has no effect. More common on the energy selector knob, (as I have experienced) where there is normally resistance at each position, but still worth a check as it is easy to do so. Given you imply that you are still experiencing it stopping at either end of the adjustment, I suspect I may be leading you up the garden path, but there may be some other detent as well, so worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Thanks Robinhood for your speedy response. Yes, I have checked the cam on the temperature control knob. Had the same problem as you only last year, on the energy selector knob. Oh for the days when you could just fit a new stat, without having to replace the whole panel. That's progress???!!! Thanks again, Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I had same problem see http://www.tribby.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2387&p=12633&hilit=fridge+control+knob#p12633 it was that easy to repair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 On these fridges there is a short plastic spindle which links the temperature control knob to the rheostat on the circuit board. It is part number 487C on this page... Link. These spindles are very prone to the small end breaking off in the rheostat and are simple to get at but a pain in the posterior to get the broken bit out of the rheostat. The end stops are actually in the knob and so as already posted give a false impression of correct operation. Pull off both control knobs and you will find retaining screws behind. Remove these and pull off the top grey panel. The spindle should then be free to be removed and if the spindle has sheared you will see the small end remaining in the rheostat behind. I still have a broken one as a souvenir!!! Keith. PS You may have to disable Adblock or refresh the page to get it to load correctly. PPS Just read Ham's link above and this is exactly the same diagnosis and repair :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Good Morning. Thanks to the advice given above. Sounds reassuring. I will give it a go, and fingers x'd it might be the difference between the price of a new panel and the price of a new spindle. Thanks again, very helpful. I will get back with the result, shortly. Regards, Thomas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Hi to all who have contributed. Success !! following your advice, managed to get into the panel (what a struggle), the wiring loom was so tight couldn't get to the 3 screws holding the front panel on. In order to get some slack on the loom I ended up cutting the left hand strip connector into 3, loosening it from the top casing of the fridge. Some might say it is stategy to make it almost impossible to "service" these parts yourself, by making it into a big job. The only other way to acccess these screws, would mean loosening the whole fridge/freezer. How on earth are you supposed to get at the fuse ??? Any way, I digress, once into the unit, yes the plastic shaft was indeed broken. It was grey, not yellow, but it is over 11 years old. A replacement has been ordered, and hopefully we'll be back in business again shortly. Many thanks to all for taking the trouble to come to my aid. Kind regards to you all, Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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