2017 Wolf Pup 16bhs temperamental fridge

[Karzai]

We recently purchased a new 2017 Wolf Pup 16bhs with a dometic 2 way fridge. It will work great on electric and then just stop cooling, so much so that my food ends up spoiling. The propane barely cools at all. I suspect it is a lack of airflow over the coils and poor baffling. Is anyone else having these issues?

[Karzai]

Originally Posted by Karzai

We recently purchased a new 2017 Wolf Pup 16bhs with a dometic 2 way fridge. It will work great on electric and then just stop cooling, so much so that my food ends up spoiling. The propane barely cools at all. I suspect it is a lack of airflow over the coils and poor baffling. Is anyone else having these issues?

Correction. It is a Norcold.

[email]

Originally Posted by Karzai

We recently purchased a new 2017 Wolf Pup 16bhs with a dometic 2 way fridge. It will work great on electric and then just stop cooling, so much so that my food ends up spoiling. The propane barely cools at all. I suspect it is a lack of airflow over the coils and poor baffling. Is anyone else having these issues?

Venting/Airflow over the fridge coils is a known INSTALLATION issue. I capitalized that for a reason. Also, in a perfect world, propane actually cools a fridge down faster than electric, which also tells me it's a venting problem since propane generates more heat than when the fridge is on electric.

[Dodaman]

Originally Posted by Karzai

We recently purchased a new 2017 Wolf Pup 16bhs with a dometic 2 way fridge. It will work great on electric and then just stop cooling, so much so that my food ends up spoiling. The propane barely cools at all. I suspect it is a lack of airflow over the coils and poor baffling. Is anyone else having these issues?

Similar to ours. Notorious for air flow issues. A simple mod is to add 12v fans to the back side, access from outside. The idea being it draws more air in over the coils and back out. You can even add one on the fins on the inside. This will help move the air around better to keep certain areas from icing up while others aren't as cold. If you search for fridge fan mods or variations thereof, you will find plenty of advice, instructions and pics. It makes a world of difference.

I added two 4" ball bearing fans on the outside. Also installed a switch, so I can run them constant or via a thermostat. Even on hot sunny days, I can keep the temp in the perfect range on the thermometer. And this is using either propane or electric. I prefer the latter when I have electric. Even though it doesn't use A lot of propane, why burn it up when my fee includes the electric.

You can find packages for cheap on eBay. (Fan, thermostat, all the hardware). Good luck,

[Karzai]

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I will look into adding some exhaust fans. Do you guys have issues with it even when the ambient temperature is 60-70 degrees even? That's what throws me off. I expect to have issues in 90+ degrees. Not when it's cool outside.

[pgandw]

I wrote a thread about getting the Dometic 4223 fridge in my A-frame to cool consistently - I'm liking my A-frame fridge

I realized we had a problem when wife found the plywood between the fridge compartment and the sink was hot. First thing to do is get a wireless outdoor thermometer ($10 at Walmart) and put the sensor inside the fridge so you actually know what's going on.

Step 2 was to fix the compartment where the coils and burner are. You want the hot air exhausting out the top vent, and cool air coming in near the bottom. If you don't have very warm to hot air exhausting out the vent, the fridge is never going to cool. I used Reflectix to line the compartment and prevent trapping of hot air inside the compartment. The Reflectix helped, but did not solve my issues with inconsistent cooling.

Step 3 was to install a computer case fan to blow hot air out the exhaust vent. The fan, combined with the Reflectix ducting, have made the fridge a super performer. The details are in the thread I linked to.

Your fridge may also have control board and thermostat issues to chase that my continuous run A-frame fridge doesn't have. If your fridge is working some of the time, but not all of the time, it points to an installation/ventilation problem. If your fridge never works, than it easily be a control board or thermostat issue.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[SidecarFlip]

It's about getting the heat out and airflow but more about getting the airflow across the evaporator which is the finned thing at the top of the tubing in the back. You might consider a baffle between the lower access panel and the upper section as well as one or more muffin fans to move the air across the evaporator. The better the air flow, the better the fridge cools.

Back in the day, the upper vent was on the roof so it was a chimney effect with natural draft. Not today so the draft must be manually made with fans.

[Karzai]

Outstanding. Thanks for the tips guys. I can see now that the heat is bypassing the sad excuse for a baffle that was factory. I will be fixing that and then seeing how that does. I am interested in how you added fans to a thermostat. I'd hate to have to switch them on and off.

[pgandw]

You can buy computer case fans with built-in thermostats. You also might look to see if the fridge control board has fan control built in that you would wire a fan to.

In my case, the A-frame fridge is continuous run (no thermostatic control) so it just made sense to switch the fan manually. It only draws 70ma, so consumption is minuscule in the scheme of battery usage.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Karzai]

As a side note, and keeping in mind this is my first RV. Should I consider throwing this under warranty? I'm a handy guy, but hate to buy a brand new TT and then be forced to make modifications that the factory failed to do. Or is that just too large of a hassle?

[Dodaman]

Install the fan and create a better baffle, and you will see great results. I only have one pic of the single fan I installed. I have since added another fan, the thermostat, switch and tweaked the baffle to help air flow. I guess I never took a pic of the final install. Good luck.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Karzai

As a side note, and keeping in mind this is my first RV. Should I consider throwing this under warranty? I'm a handy guy, but hate to buy a brand new TT and then be forced to make modifications that the factory failed to do. Or is that just too large of a hassle?

Forest River is only going to fix faulty workmanship or failed parts. Unless you can convince them otherwise, fixing faulty design (especially including installation design) is usually not handled under warranty. But the answer really depends on what you want Forest River to do about the situation.

On my A-frame, Forest River used Dometic vents, spaced at the minimum required distances specified by Dometic. So who do I blame - Dometic or Forest River? Forest River did fail to extend the plywood all the way to the camper wall near the top of the fridge.

It cost a whole $10 for the computer case fan, less than $3 for a lighted automotive switch, about $15 for a roll of Reflectix, and a couple of bucks for resistors to dim the LED in the switch. Wire, HVAC sealing tape, tie wraps, and a connector to match the fan I already had on hand. And I know I did a much better job than any dealer would have on a warranty claim.

my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Karzai]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Forest River is only going to fix faulty workmanship or failed parts. Unless you can convince them otherwise, fixing faulty design (especially including installation design) is usually not handled under warranty. But the answer really depends on what you want Forest River to do about the situation.

On my A-frame, Forest River used Dometic vents, spaced at the minimum required distances specified by Dometic. So who do I blame - Dometic or Forest River? Forest River did fail to extend the plywood all the way to the camper wall near the top of the fridge.

It cost a whole $10 for the computer case fan, less than $3 for a lighted automotive switch, about $15 for a roll of Reflectix, and a couple of bucks for resistors to dim the LED in the switch. Wire, HVAC sealing tape, tie wraps, and a connector to match the fan I already had on hand. And I know I did a much better job than any dealer would have on a warranty claim.

my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

Point well taken.