Dometic Refrigerator Problem

[Hal Stockton]

Spent a week at Sun n Fun. Refrigerator worked fine driving down from NC. Worked great first 3 days (Freezer 0 degrees or lower, Fridge close to 32.) Outside temp got up to 90 degrees and freezer went to 22 degrees, and Fridge to 55 or more. (All dry camping, gas mostly, and gen a few hours a day.) After two days using an ice chest for fridge stuff, it went back down. (Local temp went back to high 70's, low 80's). Worked OK driving home. Working till I got home, but hard to be confident - or troubleshoot. Any ideas?

[SpringerPop]

Two things come into my mind:

Frequency of opening the doors has a huge influence on box temps. The cold is slow to be made, and quick to be lost.

Is there a fan that augments airflow up the unit's "chimney"? When things get warm, convective airflow alone isn't sufficient to cool the coils on the back-side of the fridge. Adding a small DC fan or two really does help keep the box temps cooler.

Just two thoughts.....

Pop

[email]

Originally Posted by SpringerPop

Two things come into my mind:

Frequency of opening the doors has a huge influence on box temps. The cold is slow to be made, and quick to be lost.

Is there a fan that augments airflow up the unit's "chimney"? When things get warm, convective airflow alone isn't sufficient to cool the coils on the back-side of the fridge. Adding a small DC fan or two really does help keep the box temps cooler.

Just two thoughts.....

Pop

Pop is dead right on this.

Expanding the convo on the fridge coils, baffle installation can also be an issue. Airflow starts at the lower access panel, travels up past the coils in the refer compartment, and exits either thru an upper side vent, or a roof vent. This is where adding a fan that pushes air past the coils improves refer cooling issues. Sometimes the baffles are incorrectly installed, or poorly installed and come loose, limiting airflow over the coils. If the baffles are not directing airflow across the coils, fans will not correct the problem.

I've pulled fridges out with this same issue and found that the ceiling insulation fell directly on the coils.

Outside temperatures can be a factor, but not as much as direct sunlight. I.E. if you are in a shaded site, and the outside temp is 80 degrees, then the compartment is about 80 degrees. If you are in a site with no shade, and the sun is beating on the fridge compartment, the temp in the compartment can easily be over 120 degrees.

Long story short, before adding fans, make sure baffles are unobstructed and directing airflow correctly over the fridge coils. Try to park your unit where the fridge compartment is not in direct sunlight.

[GL1800Rider]

Depending on the model you have, there is an automatic frost reduction that recycles. First at 60 hours after being on then again every 48 hours. This cycling lasts about 2 hours and during this time the temperatures will rise. This is why the manual suggests initially turning on the fridge around 4 pm so it will start the cycle at 4 AM

[Tgagel]

I need some help please. My rv is a 2017 Forester. The frig works great on electric. Ice machine makes ice and both compartments are cold as they should be. When I turn on the lp feature only the freezer compartment is cold. The fresh food compartment does not cool at all. I can see the gas burner ignite and run which I guess is why the freezer gets cold. Cant figure out what is up with the fresh section?

[M&K Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Hal Stockton

Spent a week at Sun n Fun. Refrigerator worked fine driving down from NC. Worked great first 3 days (Freezer 0 degrees or lower, Fridge close to 32.) Outside temp got up to 90 degrees and freezer went to 22 degrees, and Fridge to 55 or more. (All dry camping, gas mostly, and gen a few hours a day.) After two days using an ice chest for fridge stuff, it went back down. (Local temp went back to high 70's, low 80's). Worked OK driving home. Working till I got home, but hard to be confident - or troubleshoot. Any ideas?

Any chance you have the RM 2652 or DM2652 6 cu. ft. model? If so welcome to the club. I have been trying to get answers and fix this same problem for 9 months now. At the very least you will need to add cooling fans, but the good news is there is lots of info on this forum about doing that. TURBS and Herk7769 have both posted useful info on the subject. The actual assistance I have received from Dometic is nil. As I just returned from a trip where I learned that what I have done so far is apparently not enough so I am actively searching more info and if I receive anything useful I will post.

[5picker]

At 90º ambient temps (especially if the sun shines on the fridge side or in a slide out) you will need the help of fans in the outside section to help move air over the condenser and a fan of some sort inside the fridge itself to help circulate the cool air.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Tgagel

I need some help please. My rv is a 2017 Forester. The frig works great on electric. Ice machine makes ice and both compartments are cold as they should be. When I turn on the lp feature only the freezer compartment is cold. The fresh food compartment does not cool at all. I can see the gas burner ignite and run which I guess is why the freezer gets cold. Cant figure out what is up with the fresh section?

Tgagel... You should start a post of your own describing your issues.
You will get much better feedback on your problem than you will by adding to a thread started by someone else.

It will also help those in the future searching for a particular problem such as yours.

[Fordcamper]

We have the same problem with our fridge and it does not seem to matter shade or not. It takes longer in the sun to cool and keep cold. It is sometimes hard to be able to get a site with shade so we try to put ice containers in the bottom to help cool it. The freezer is always cold first. We are wondering if the fridge is defective or if it is just that way. Service people tell us that is normal...but somehow do not think that is normal! Also where do you buy these cooling fans and where do you put them? Thanks