Odd fridge problem Model RM 4223

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by mzak

I also have this very similar problem with my fridge. When on electric it used to cool about 40 degrees lower than ambient temps and still does. When on LP I could get almost 50 degrees cooler than ambient temps unless it was near 95 degrees. Now I get about 35-40 cooler at times but there are times when the ambient temp is 74 and it will only cool to around 50 degrees. If I have 120AC I will then switch and it will get down into the thirties in an hour or two. Recently I started the fridge on gas the night before and in the morning it was 33 degrees. Three hours later when I reached the campground it was 44 and rising and the ambient temp was only 73 degrees. I had a site with electric so I switched to AC and fridge dropped to 36 degrees shortly after. I switched back to gas a couple hours before I left and temps in fridge began to rise again so I had to use 12v. on the way home which kept fridge at 41-42 degrees on the way home with ambient temps of 78-85 degrees.As with the gentlemen who I quoted above (Pooneil) I have tried everything. Cleaned the burner, orifice, flue, even replaced the regulator with a new one but still can't get it to cool like it used to. The flame has a yellow tip when high or low but otherwise blue and no way to adjust that and I believe it was there before when it worked well. The flue also was not very dirty and the baffle inside looked like new.The flame is about two inches when on high and the coils get just as warm on gas as they do on electric. I have a fan to cool the upper coil that is attached to the plastic vented covers but this only gets about 1 or two degrees cooler. I never really used it much in the past because it cooled well without it and I don't have the refectix baffle mod for the same reason. It worked well without it before so it should now. Some say this fridge does not have a thermistor but mine appears to have one or something that acts like one because it is attached to the evaporator in the fridge and the leads go to both the gas and electric controls. I know when I start the gas and set the control on 2-3 the flame is big but when fridge gets down to about 35-40 degrees the flame drops down to a small flame without even touching the setting on the gas control so something is turning down the flame and I assume it's the device on the evaporator. The manual that came with the fridge (RM4223) does not show anything on the evaporator in the photo nor does it list this device in the parts list but it is there on mine. I thought this might be the problem but it goes to both the electric and gas controls so if it works well on electric than it must be working properly. I googled thermistors for sale and some of the ones that showed up look just like what I have. Bottom line is I still do not know why it is not cooling as well as it had and why sometimes it cools very little when on gas. It is inconsistent. Pooneil are you still out there and if you are have you been able to solve this problem?? Has anyone else had this problem and been able to correct it?? I thought about putting in refectix around the coils but as I said it worked well before without that mod. Any ideas other than what I have already done?

this thread is over 4 years old since the last post that you quoted and Pooneil hasn't posted here in almost 2 years.
you might do better by sending them a PM.

[pgandw]

There is another thread that I posted with my experiences in getting the 4223 fridge to work https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f221/im-liking-my-a-frame-fridge-104964.html
Thanks to the contributions of others, i finally got there - consistent fridge performance in all weather in all 3 modes.

For your fridge to work well, the heat source has to work and transfer heat to the refrigerant. And the heat must be removed from the refrigerant at the cooling coils. I found on my Coleman pop-up with a similar fridge, that when the fridge is working, heat is pouring out of the top vent. I just couldn't get that to happen consistently on my A122 with the Dometic 4223. A lot I still blame on those Dometic vent grills - they are great for stopping rain, but they pretty much stop any natural convective airflow, too.

Rockwood/Flagstaff's installation doesn't help matters - the space isn't baffled correctly to force the heat out the upper vent. The heat gets trapped in the upper part of the compartment, and the fridge can't cool because there is no air going across the cooling coils unless conditions are just right.

After spending time baffling and restricting the space above the vent and otherwise fixing the install, I finally did what others had gone to - the computer case van pushing air out the top vent.

With that little 120mm, 400+CFM 12V computer case fan (.07 amps), my performance issues were solved. I could feel the heat pouring out the top vent. When the fan was stopped, performance was just as inconsistent and unpredictable as before. With the fan, I started having issues from freezing contents in cool mountain weather. - even on lowest propane or AC settings. Fan would have to be turned off.

When towing, the wireless thermometer proved to me that the propane flame was being blown out within 2 hours at highway speeds. I ended up towing with fridge on 12V - had to switch the fridge on and off to stop from freezing contents on 70 degree days.

With my High Wall A-frame, I'm still having occasional poor fridge performance. I'm about to install 2 computer case fans and remove the Flagstaff fan - which is noisy when it comes on.

just my experiences
Fred W
now 2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
prev 2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[mzak]

Thanks Pagandw. I did read your post on this a few days ago while searching this forum. I may try the baffle mod and I already have a computer fan on the upper coil which also causes the heat to pour out and cool upper coil but still does not cool the fridge as it had in the past when I didn't even have a fan. My issue is that it worked fine before without any mods so why not now. I also would freeze food in cooler weather and would turn it down to 1 or shut it off for a while. If I cannot find the problem soon the reflectix mod will be my next option or just plan on buying ice when it acts up and using a cooler!