Dometic Waeco CA-35 Questions & Answers

We have had 2 of these fridges 1st finally replaced after 6months 2nd had the exact same problem,could not get gas to light Dometic would not cover the 2nd fridge under warranty. Will never buy a Dometic fridge again

This is exactly the problem we had with both of these useless fridges

Found the problem, a mud wasp had plugged the inlet. Removed the inlet elbow (2 screws) cleaned it out, refitted it and all works fine.

If it drains the battery very quick it is working. Those elements pull around 160 watts give or take which is around 12 to 13 amps from a 12 volt battery. That is pretty high constant draw from a single average camping battery of around 100 Ah (assuming that is what your using) so it will kill the battery in around 6 to 8 hours at best. Run it on gas when you can as it will run the best on gas as the gas flame will boil the ammonia solution in the boiler way better than the 12 volt or even the 240 volt elements.

You need to take the back cover off and then you can access. Hole is on bottom of tower on lhs. If you try to use the igniter in dark you can see a spark and that is the place.

Thanks for your reply. We can see a spark now, but its a fairly large one for the area, and happens so quickly, we haven't been able to determine exactly where it's coming from.

If it stopped working on 240 but works on gas then more likely the 240 volt element may have burned out, or on its way out and not heating the boiler enough to boil the ammonia solution enough to make it work.

I drilled a hole in the back panel and I light it with a match. The clicker doesn’t work well

Thanks for this Shane. So is the pilot light at the top, by the round hole, or at the bottom?

What was the answer. Im assuming the bottom. Ive tried lighting with a flame, still won’t go. Did the pilot light ignite manually fir you???

Yes. The bottom. I think actually that the pilot light did work. It's just that the unit is so quiet when it operates that it's hard to tell. Until it's cold anyway. They are bloody good fridges. We just did 2 weeks camping with ours on lpg gas and it was fantastic.

You do have to hold the ignition switch down for 10 seconds for the flame to heat up the element to keep it alight, I neglected to do this and couldn't work out why it kept going out.

How did you go mate.?

Just done this myself Got pilot light going but don't think it is cooling. But only been running for an hour.

turn it off, let it cool down and turn it upside down to remix the fluids again, do this a few times. Once you have done that try relighting it again and see if it starts cooling. If they don't get used in a while the fluids separate and wont work.

Thanks

Hi Arusha, What your experiencing appears to be a very common and frustrating problem with these fridges to the point i ditched gas and went the full 12 volt system, much more reliable, the problem you have is more than likely an air pocket in the gas supply pipe work within your fridge itself or a faulty thermostat, with the fridge disconnected from all operating sources tip it completely upside down for at least 30min to move any air pockets (you will hear the liquid gas moving) then turn it upright and reconnect the gas supply, turn on and run, if this fails then i would have the thermostat checked out, these fridges must also be on dead level ground to operate efficiently or at all so use a spirit level. Cheers Garry

Thanx Garry! Yay! That has worked ;) I live off grid & understand even a small fridge draws heaps of battery power so gas is preferable as my solar system is only 100w panels & 120ah deep cycle battery with a meagre 3hrs of direct sun in winter. :/ cheers

The only way you can tell if it’s working is if the little exhaust outlet gets a little warm after some time. This system is completely silent. Give it time. If it heats up, but doesn’t cool down inside then look at other questions about that problem whereby you need to turn the thing upside down for a while.

If it doesn’t get warm, then you have an electrical problem.

Gidday Graham, My experience with the Waeco CA-35 3 way coolers i found them to be very temperamental and unreliable when you need them most, i would first try tipping the fridge upside down for at least 30 minutes (unplugged), if there is still refrigerant in the pipes you will hear the air bubbles moving, tip it back upright and plug into mains power on full thermostat, it will take an hour or two to chill if its working, hold your hand over the vent to feel for any heat, if this fails check for insect webs in and around the pilot light area, again if this fails it could only really be a faulty thermostat, i hope this helps your enquiry. Cheers Garry.

Thank you Shane and Garry. I was very surprised to get a response at all. Thanks for taking the time. I had read about the turning it upside down for a while, in this forum, so I've yet to try that. Interestingly, Shane, the top vent area did feel a little warm, but as there was no cooling taking place, I thought I might be imagining it, and thanks also for the info that it is a very silent unit. Maybe I was expecting too much from it too soon. I will go into the garage and upend it now for an hour or so and then power it up before I go to bed. Hopefully it will be cold in the morning. Thanks fellers for your help. I will report back to let you know how I got on. P.S. In the event that it IS a thermostat or gas problem, where would the best place be to take it to get fixed. I live in Brisbane. Cheers Graham

Hi Guys. I did the upside down thing, and went out. it ended up being that way till next day. I set it back the right way, plugged it in and waited for an hour or so,but it didn't get cold. I checked my temperature setting and it was on "minimum"...In my mind, I thought "minimum" meant minimum temperature, but obviously it doesn't mean that on a waco. Once I turned it to maximum, away she went. gets nice and cold, so I have left it running. it wont hurt it. Thanks for all the advice and help. Cheers Graham