You are right, no thermostatic control on 12 volts. The wiring of that
internal fridge switch is not really covered in any detail in the
Bentley camper diagrams but there should be a sticker on the top of the
fridge that shows what is what for the fridge wiring. You should be able
to test the 12 volt element for ohms and tell if it is open. Also if you
measure the 12 volt wire's voltage at the switch with the switch on 110
and then switch it to 12 volts you should see a drop unless there is a
problem beyond the switch.

I have seen several Westy fridges with cooked 12 volt wiring due to the
fact that they can get left running on the 12 volt setting for years
while the vehicle is driven daily, unknown to the owner that this is a
waste.

Mark

Troy wrote:

> My 182B Dometic has stopped working on 12 volt. I am suspecting a switch, and want to bypass it to test it. If I'm reading the wiring schematic correctly I need to jump the center red wire (rt. side of switch as you face it) to the top black wire. If I read things correctly, there is also no thermostatic control when hooked up to 12 volt. Lastly, there appears to be a separate heater wire. Looks like a gray wire goes back to the high temp wire (which has no color that I can see).  Other than a continuity test, is there anyway to check these heater wires?
>
> The fridge works fine on propane and 110. Power is getting to the fridge itself. There is no relay involved as it's hooked up directly to the battery, and the battery is at about 12.4 Volts. I can't think of anything else that would prevent the fridge from running on 12 volt, other than a fuse, which is fine. Also, I am assuming that the 8amp fuse controls the rear fridge fan and sink pump, is this correct? The 16amp is the main fridge fuse--correct?
>
> Troy
> 89 Westy
>