Refrigerator Fuse

[clev]

I have the 4-door Dometic, model 1350 with ice maker and door water. It’s almost 5 years old and has, and still is, working/cooling/freezing perfectly. But, on this trip, the 5 amp glass, buss type fuse has popped twice on the control board. It automatically switches to LP and continues to work perfectly, but will not return to electric until the fuse is replaced. Any ideas on the problem?

[clev]

Hmmm? No one has an idea.

[kb0zke]

How much of an electrician are you? Fuses blow for one of two reasons: high voltage or high current. You could put an ammeter (multimeter set to amps) across the fuse terminals (fuse not present) and see what the current draw is. If it is somewhere near to the five amps of the fuse, put in a fuse and check the voltage across the terminals.

I'm assuming that the fuse doesn't blow as soon as you install it, but rather waits until you have everything buttoned up and are doing something else.If it blows as soon as you install it you most likely have a short somewhere and the fuse is doing what it is supposed to do.

As electrical things age the internal resistance often increases, thus increasing the current draw. It might be that your refrigerator originally drew 4.75 amps, so a 5 amp fuse was sufficient. Now, five years later, it may be drawing pretty close to the five amps, or even a bit over. You might try putting in a slow blow fuse and see if that helps. Otherwise, you might be able to go to the next size up, but I'd go with a slow blow first.

[clev]

Thank you, kb. GTMA! LOL! I was thinking the same thing. I have traced down every wire in the back of this fridge and cannot find a problem. I put in another 5 amp, and it blew in a few days. I did buy 2 slo-blows, but decided to use a 7.5 first, (from my battery tender cables). It’s been in since just after I made this post and all is well. I’ll keep a watch on it, the connections, and the relays. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.