Dometic CFX3 Recall info thread

@Dometic Is this recall the same for other Dometic products? For example, my PLB40. Can I have it plugged into solar (DC) and the 120 plug in my truck bed (AC) at the same time?

 

No. The recall only applies to the CFX3 models

DOMETIC
mobile living made easy
shop.dometic.com
Use promo code TacomaW20 for $25 off your order of $75+

 

Dometic, as you’ve probably realized by now from the many forums you’re corresponding on, you’ve goofed up your response to this problem. And you have stained your reputation among your customer base. This will translate to a loss of business for this product line in the very least. You really need to do the right thing, the hard work. Determine the design or component problem, do a thorough worst case analysis, fix the problem in future products, and offer to recall any units for rework and modification. If you do this you will take a profit hit in the short term, but look like heroes and gain more customers.
It’s your choice.

 

Or you could just not try and run dual power supplies at the same time ?

 

Lol so much this. It really is a non-issue.

 

I disagree, I would not be happy with that solution. But I’ll leave it at that.

 

and some people won’t. But they’ve taken that feature off the website they’ve been transparent in identifying the issue worked with those affected (or attempted to say hey we screwed up if you’re affected and burnt your device up we will replace it) and offered a viable solution of announcing hey if you do this this could happen.

I don’t see any difference in manufactures putting a warning label of don’t this or be cautious of this. but then again you’ll have that guy that opens a hot radiator valve not paying attention or that rando that hooks jumper cables up to his nipples while connected to a battery (this one time at band camp). I think it’s a very likeable feature but in reality effects maybe 10% or less of owners.

the irony with the guy I initially responded to was that he came in here aware of the dometic cfx3 series, then tries to order one. Misses the Labor Day sale then comes back to bash dometic.

 

I think the difference is that nearly every other fridge on the market has this feature. It’s a key way that’s it’s used for many people. Even with them recommending not to do it, it’s still likely someone will since all other fridges can do that (including the previous model), so as part of the recall they should have supplied a lockout to prevent this. It would suck to forget one time and fry your ECM or some thing stupid.

So I wouldn’t loop this in as the same as opening a hot radiator. Opening a hot radiator is not a key usage situation for operating your truck. And all the other cars don’t let you open a hot radiator without getting burned so there is no false sense of security at play.

 

As much as I like it, I'm not 100% sure everyone here appreciates your logic

 

I’m not sure my message was clear since it had about 30 typos.

 

I was talking with @jowybyo offline and we were wondering if a solution as simple as a diode in the 12v power cord would be adequate to prevent the backflow of 120v into the truck's electrical system. That would be a much more feasible solution for @Dometic to roll out to the masses.

 

True, it’s a non-issue for the user who never gets into that situation. The problem is that the simultaneous applied dual power was previously an advertised feature, and it’s been this way in the industry, with AC having priority. It’s not rocket science to design the circuitry and to test for all user cases to make sure it works in all scenarios of hookups, turn on / turn off, plug-in / plug-out. This is the kind of internal testing they should do before releasing a product, and also a certification board like UL would do.

I suspect this is a case of the dreaded single-point failure where an operational sequence or one part failure takes out the whole system. Or propagates the failure further downstream. They’re sometimes hard to predict. But when you discover it you change your design to make sure it can’t happen again. Not just say “don’t do this”.

 

I used to regularly have my fridge connected to AC and DC. I would plug it into the garage with an extension cord a day before a trip while I'm getting the truck loaded, and it would be plugged into the truck as well. When I'd go to leave, I would unplug AC and be on my merry way. Now the only thing that's changed is that I have one extra step of plugging the fridge into DC after I disconnect the AC. I was impacted by the recall, but I still stand by my opinion that it's a nonissue. It isn't reasonable in my opinion to have Dometic pay thousands upon thousands of dollars to fix this when in the grand scheme of things, it's so utterly minor.

 

You’re being very generous to Dometic. And it makes sense from their economic standpoint. But what if that guy in the report was sleeping in his motor home when the Dometic failure happened and he died from smoke or fire?

 

Just in case you didn’t see this post. This may be the case that triggered the “recall”.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/warning-dometic-cfx3-cooler-units.1219723/

 

What if you forget one time, either to unplug from your truck first or to reconnect when you leave?

 

Yea. Seems like an issue.

 

Because I have to go through the act of unplugging the AC, it seems like it would be hard to forget the DC since you’re right there messing with the plugs.

 

You’re a better man than me Randall. I forget to move my pecker out of the way before zippering my pants.

 

It happens to the best of us, but hopefully only once. It only takes one zippered pecker to be more careful moving forward.