Dometic CFX3 Recall info thread

[Dometic]

Hi Everyone,

As you may have heard through our dealers and forum members, we recently issued a recall notice for CFX3 coolers. We've attached a copy of the recall letter that you should receive if you've registered your CFX3 cooler.

The short version:
If you have your cooler plugged into AC and DC at the same time, the DC supply is switched off, and you have other DC appliances connected, a protection device in the cooler can fail and feed 28V into the DC circuit. This can then overload the other DC devices on the circuit. The resolution is to attach an additional warning sticker to your cooler. There is no need to return your cooler unless you want to due to the recall. We're happy to honor these requests.

The longer version:
If (1) you have a vehicle with both AC and DC circuits and (2) a CFX3 unit is connected to both onboard 120VAC and 12VDC circuits/sockets at the same time and (3) the 12VDC supply is switched off with additional 12VDC device in line with the CFX3 in the “ON" position, under these circumstances a protection device in the CFX3 unit can fail and allow the AC/DC power supply to back feed 28V through the CFX3 to some or all the other DC appliances (such as AC, water pump, lights, furnace, etc.) that are connected to the 12VDC system. DC appliances on the same DC circuit may therefore fail from a voltage overload.

Although no fire has been reported or observed and is extremely unlikely, the voltage overload may cause electrical damage and local charring damage to such appliances and immediate surrounding materials.

Potential use cases, although rare, which can lead to this failure can happen when the CFX3 is connected to BOTH AC AND DC power and:

1. While connected to AC power, something causes the master fuse on the DC circuit of the vehicle to trip, removing DC power from the DC circuit; or

2. While connected to AC power, the user chooses to turn off the vehicle’s 12VDC power system; or

3. While the vehicle’s 12VDC power system is turned off, the user turns on the vehicle’s generator or inverter.


We've attached a copy of the recall letter that has/will be going out to all registered owners. If you have questions about the recall give us a call or email at the following:

Dometic Recall Line at 888-9434905
or via email at recall@dometic.com

We'll also do our best to answer questions here as they come up.

We apologize for any inconvenience, uncertainty, and inability to purchase products while we ironed out the impact and means to resolve the issue identified.

Thanks for your continued support of Dometic!

DOMETIC
mobile living made easy
shop.dometic.com
Use promo code Expedition20 for $25 off your order of $75+

 

[u00mem9]

From your thread:
"The resolution is to attach an additional warning sticker to your cooler. There is no need to return your cooler unless you want to due to the recall. We're happy to honor these requests. "

Is that a Joke? A warning sticker? When will the fault be corrected? Will the returned cooler be replaced by one that has been corrected to achieve it's original design intent? Can you replace the cooler with the CFX original line that didn't have the same design error?

 

[jmnielsen]

So is this issue actually going to be corrected or is a sticker the "fix"?

Was considering one of these later this year, but not so sure about that anymore.

 

[kpecks]

We had one installed in our motorhome and it about burned the coach down. It is a dual power cooler meaning it’ll run in 120v and 12v via two separate plugs. Apparently there is a flaw in the power transfer switch and my cooler was sending nearly 48v back through the 12v plug and through my 12v system in the coach. I’m waiting on Dometic to send me a check for the damages that are now over $8k.

The unit I have is CFX3-75DZ (dual-zone).

 

[u00mem9]

From page 22 of the CFX manual:

6.1 Scope of functions
• Power supply with priority circuit for connecting to the AC mains
• Three-level battery protection to protect the vehicle battery
• Display with temperature gauge in °C and °F
• Temperature setting in steps of 1 °C (1 °F)
• Integrated WiFi and Bluetooth function hence controllable using an app
• Foldable carrying handles
• USB charger for portable devices such as mobile phones
• Removable wire basket
• CFX3 55IM only: Ice maker

Emphasis added by me. As the recall clearly states, there is protection designed into the system to allow dual power and that protection failure (design or a component quality problem) has caused the product to fail to meet it's intended usage. For once, I'm happy to see the government helping you manage this recall formally, since you don't seem to be able to make those decisions voluntarily.

I will pursue the option to get a refund for the fridge. Other products from your competitors as well as your previous generation of CFX products handled this usage without starting any fires. Are you going to force people to pay shipping the defective fridges back to you? That would be ridiculous, of course, but then so would trying to talk around a defect so you don't have to make refunds.

I am far more disturbed by the way Dometic is trying to force customers to accept a loss of function instead of fixing the problem than I am by the actual issue. I'm afraid Dometic is about to get a lesson on how quickly a reputation can be fumbled away. (likely by people who didn't have much to do with building it in the first place.)

This community is rather small. I would have recommended a Dometic product until now. I'm probably within earshot of a discussion about which fridge to buy on a weekly basis. I will now strongly suggest a company that stands behind their products, instead of Dometic.

 

[adaml]

Wow ...

I really hope Dometic comes back in this thread OR we get more word on what their plan of action is to help impacted customers. Offering to just ship a sticker to someone is almost a slap in the face. If that's how they deal with people, I'll certainly NOT be getting another Dometic anything in the future ...

 

[kpecks]

Here’s another pic that almost cost dometic a new coach...

 

[Jman85]

I waited to buy a CFX3 to see how people liked them in the real world. I'm glad I did. This is the feature that pushed me to Dometic, but a sticker isn't a fix. I know placing a simple diode inline with the 12 volt source would fix this issue, but Dometics sticker response is pushing me away from purchasing one. Hopefully they take this more seriously than this.

 

[adaml]

Still no response from @Dometic ...

The problem I see with this is that they're acting like slapping a sticker on your fridge that you paid several hundreds of dollars for somehow makes this right. Nevermind the fact that you paid for functionality that you're not getting ...

 

[u00mem9]

So, I will say this for Dometic, they seem to be rather well-practiced at handling the return and refund of their products. A brief call to the recall number listed in the pdf, and my CFX3 75DZ is now waiting on the front porch to be picked up by the UPS man tomorrow. I would encourage anyone that bought a unit involved in this recall to get it returned to Dometic and let them properly correct this issue on new production. I suspect this will be corrected long term, but I don't have a clear indication from them about their future plan. Production is in China, and I doubt they would have stopped production if the long term fix was just to add a sticker. I just didn't want to get stuck with one of the initial lemon units. I was lucky in that the other things on my 12v bus were tolerant of the high voltage back feed.

I will keep update here when I have the refund check in hand.

 

[Seth_sd]

So, I will say this for Dometic, they seem to be rather well-practiced at handling the return and refund of their products. A brief call to the recall number listed in the pdf, and my CFX3 75DZ is now waiting on the front porch to be picked up by the UPS man tomorrow. I would encourage anyone that bought a unit involved in this recall to get it returned to Dometic and let them properly correct this issue on new production. I suspect this will be corrected long term, but I don't have a clear indication from them about their future plan. Production is in China, and I doubt they would have stopped production if the long term fix was just to add a sticker. I just didn't want to get stuck with one of the initial lemon units. I was lucky in that the other things on my 12v bus were tolerant of the high voltage back feed.

I will keep update here when I have the refund check in hand.

Did you happen to ask how long one has to make a decision on whether to return it or not?

Did you buy yours directly from Dometic? Just wondering if that changes the process for those of us that bought it from a retailer.

 

[u00mem9]

My purchase was online via Camping World, but the cooler was drop shipped from Dometic. They only asked for the order confirmation email.

I don't know how long you have to decide. They briefly tried to discuss that warning label remedy, but when I pointed out the website and manual both indicated the original use of dual power has been compromised, they quickly arranged the return/ refund process.

 

[VladSF]

I just purchased my cfx3 35, got to check if my serial part of the affected models

 

[jeepers29]

This is a perfect example of how not to handle a recall. LOL

 

[Steve321]

Has anyone got thru the return process yet who doesn't have the box any more? I have nothing to pack it up for shipping it back.

What a cluster...mine has been malfunctioning recently and I haven't seen anything in the mail about it.