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Old 08-03-2015, 06:15 AM   #1
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Dometic refrigerator

Can anyone tell me if this is common for the dometic refrig. in my XLR?
Usually prefer to hook up electric and turn on the refrigerator before leaving to camp or fill the refrigerator. I finally turned it on when we got to camp. We were on electric but it took 24 hours to cool the refrigerator down and 12 hours for freezer. Is that common? I turned on the gas an had it on auto, no real difference. I am worried this needs repaired or replaced. I noticed the check light came on for a few minutes but I recycled it and it went out.

Wolf, how did yours act before it went out?

John


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Old 08-03-2015, 06:25 AM   #2
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Did you fill the refrigerator with lots of stuff that was not yet cold?

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Old 08-03-2015, 06:26 AM   #3
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That is normal to take 24 hours to cool down. Try turning it on a day ahead of time.
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Old 08-03-2015, 06:43 AM   #4
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That is normal to take 24 hours to cool down. Try turning it on a day ahead of time.
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Old 08-03-2015, 06:49 AM   #5
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and how cold do they get? Its 94 here...the ice cream, etc is soft. Running on gas
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:05 AM   #6
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DennisTD, is it 94 degrees outside, or inside your motorhome? Did you adjust the slider on the fins inside the fridge to a colder setting?
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:07 AM   #7
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Mine does not have a temp adjustment slider. It was 94 outside but we we gone all day so probably that hot inside at least.
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:11 AM   #8
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My fridge has worked perfectly; it was my AC that failed.

When I load my warn fridge, I turn it on first then load precooled food and frozen things, including containers of ice in the freezer about a day ahead and only load a few items not cold. The fuller the better. I almost always use 120 vac before travel.

There us no perceptible warming of what I load.

I make sure gas is available and box is on auto and after unplugging it, it is happy on gas... no check light. I've seen the check light If it failed to light for whatever reason. I usually turn on a burner until I smell propane to purge most of the line of air.

I've used it in 100+ degrees in it keeps icecream well. Dometic got this right. And it works just as well on propane.
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:19 AM   #9
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I turn mine on the evening before a camping weekend. Turn it on Thursday evening when its cooler outside then by Friday morning your ready to load it up with food. It is an absorption type fridg. with no internal moving parts so it takes it longer to get the interior of the fridg cooled down. Optional exterior fans on the condenser and optional cooling fans on the interior will help a lot in performance of the cooling capability of your fridg. in summer heat. Some come with cooling fans on the exterior condenser but not on the interior. An interior cooling fin fan will help to maintain good temp throughout the interior of the fridg.
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:26 AM   #10
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My previous trailer had a Norcold and it cooled very quickly. I could turn it on when loading the frige and it would get cold in a couple hours. My new trailer has the dometic and I too was wondering if something was wrong. Also the temperature adjustment (thermistor) is extremely touchy.


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Old 08-03-2015, 07:49 AM   #11
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Thanks for all the replies. The temp sensor should be in the plastic clip and slid as far up ad possible, right?
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:56 AM   #12
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Sorry can't help there I have a 4 door fidge with its own temp setting button
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Old 08-03-2015, 07:58 AM   #13
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Thanks for all the replies. The temp sensor should be in the plastic clip and slid as far up ad possible, right?

Yes but I've found, on mine, if I moved it too much, too quickly it caused problems. I may have a loose electrical connection or bad wire.


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Old 08-03-2015, 07:58 AM   #14
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Between trips I connect our TT to 15A at home & therefore cannot run the A/C, just (2) MaxxAir fans setup in push/pull fashion... When the inside TT temps rise above 80 our Dometic fridge does not keep the temps below 40 although the freezer is fine. (Same results on propane or 110V) Therefore we leave stuff in the freezer but have to move stuff from the fridge...

To improve performance I replaced the thermistor with a $26 adjustable dial from these guys: Product Listings for Snip The Tip

I am also upgrading the control board to one that has an adjustable temp. control for $105 from these guys: http://www.dinosaurelectronics.com/MICRO_P-711.htm

I am also adding 12V exhaust fans at the top of the fridge vent & an internal fan to circulate air inside the fridge.

If performance is still marginal, I am going to unplug & remove it so that I can turn it upside down & let the internal fluids reset. (A trick I learned online...) This should get me through a couple more seasons.

When those options fail, the next step is to replace the entire cooling unit with one upgraded by the Amish (about $500) so at the end of it all I'll have about $700 invested. This beats replacing the unit myself for $1400 or paying the dealer to replace it for $1800...

We bought our TT used & I figured with the money saved I could replaced all appliances & still be money-ahead... IMO it does not pay to buy new until manufacturers provide better warranties. These RVs depreciate too fast...
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Old 08-03-2015, 08:04 AM   #15
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I do know if the drain line coming from the fridg doesn't have a loop in it creating a pee trap, it will let warm air into the fridg causing the interior temp to go up about 8 to 10 degrees. So something you might check and make sure there is a loop in the condensation drain line.
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Old 08-03-2015, 08:23 AM   #16
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Is your fridg in a slide, those are the ones with the most trouble keeping cold when the weather outside turns hot. An additional 12v computer fan under the condenser blowing up through the condenser really helps get rid of the heat generated by the unit. I had the same trouble till I installed a fan. On our recent trip we seen 95º outside, 75º inside the camper. Fridg freezer was -.05º, box was +35.5º. Very happy with the $10.00 fan.
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Old 08-03-2015, 10:00 AM   #17
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My new Dometic fridge (with blue light) in my 2016 Windjammer was too cold. I had to turn it down so it wouldn't freeze my milk. It took about two hours for it to get to too cold temps.

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Old 08-03-2015, 10:14 AM   #18
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My new Dometic fridge (with blue light) in my 2016 Windjammer was too cold. I had to turn it down so it wouldn't freeze my milk. It took about two hours for it to get to too cold temps.

Bruce
After seeing discussion on fridge temps, thought yesterday would be a good day to check. Have the same blue light special. After two hours or so running electric (auto) mode, outside temp 90+. Refrigerator on #2 setting, inside refrigerator was right @ 30F and freezer was well below zero. Looks like #1 won't freeze the lettuce!
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Old 08-03-2015, 10:29 AM   #19
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If performance is still marginal, I am going to unplug & remove it so that I can turn it upside down & let the internal fluids reset. (A trick I learned online...) This should get me through a couple more seasons.

.

I would research this further before I went to all the effort. It does not make sense to me. Even if there was some pooling of the refrigerant due to position of the trailer, it would be rectified easily during towing.
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Old 08-03-2015, 04:18 PM   #20
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Thanks for the great replies. I think I need to plan and keep giving it a try.
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