2006 dometic fridge

[Ricardo Vela]

I have a 2006 Beaver Monteray 40'..  the dometic fridge has an error 13.  {disconnected or broken defrosting element in drain
tube/tray}. I removed the element it has a short. unfortunately it is no longer available.   what are my options? i like the fridge it works well.  its the side wall next to the lce maker that over freezes with ice.
thank you

[Keith Moffett Co-Admin]

Welcome to the club
A couple points.  I am not a fan of gas absorption fridges since electric residential have improved so much.  The over freezing ice you describe might be bad seals on the doors allowing moist air in.  Ours does that too and it’s residential.  Replacement seals may not be available but an option is to heat the seal with warm air.  Sometimes it helps. 
The defrost is the main issue but short of contacting a salvage yard I can’t help there. 
Best of luck

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Richardo
If you can give us the model of your fridge we might be able to help.

As for the icing as previously mentioned the ice is a result of moisture infultration into the cabinet this can be from poor door seals or doors that don't close properly or doors that are opened too often.
The ice will usually build up on the aluminum cooling fins as they are the coldest part of the fridge cabinet.
The fridge should maintain temperature between 35* and 40*
In a normally operating fridge this ice will start building up over the period of 6 to 8 weeks depending on relative humidity.
Our fridge would last about that long before requiring defrosting to remove the ice after installing the fan setup in link below I can go 5 or  6 months without defrosting as a side benefit the fridge cools faster and more evenly the fan just makes the fridge work better all over.

To help alleviate this ice build up and even out the cooling in the cabinet you can install a fin fan system this will run all the time moving the air around the interior of the cabinet which evens out the temperature throughout the cabinet and reduce the ice build up on the colder surface they make a big difference.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BPYXS8?tag=rvingknowhow08-20


Hope this helps
Eric

[Ricardo Vela]

The  Dometic fridge Model # NDA 1402 Ser.#547-00022
I found a bad defrost heater element. The number is 3851411011 which is no longer available.
need help finding replacement or a different solution.
thank you

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Richardo
Here is a link to that part number it might be worth a try


https://rvpartsexpress.com/product/dometic-3851411011-heating-element-water-drain/

You may won't to look at this as well

https://myrvworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Dometic-NDx1402-Defrosting-Fan-Kit.pdf


Eric

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Richardo
Here is a forum thread on irvv2 which might be of interest as they deal with the code and offer up a heating element for a replacement

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/dometic-nda1402-fridge-err13-589880.html

Knowing that dometic at one time offered a defrost upgrade kit would tell me that even with the drain heater working the freezer cabinet would still ice up
I'd be tempted to retrofit a fan similar to the setup in the kit to help


Eric

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Richardo

Here is another possible source


https://www.nicestoreplus.com/product/dometic-3851411011-heating-element-kit/

https://www.houpup.com/

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Richaro
I was rereading your initial post and you stated a code 13 which I believe to be an open circuit on the drain heater.
Where as you stated that the heating element was shorted just questioning if the heating element is open or shorted it should be in the neibour hood of 12 ohms.

It's my understanding that the mylar heating element also has a thermal fuse built into the strip to eliminate the chance of the element starting a fire unfortunately by all accounts the thermal fuse is not serviceable reqiring the heating element to be replaced as a unit.