2014 Salem TT Dometic RM 2652 BF 45-50 degrees

[yourguide]

We have been camping for 2 days now and admittedly we did not know we would need to pre-cool the fridge on our new TT... But after avoiding opening the door as much as possible... The internal temp has only ever gotten to 45 degrees.
Right now it sitting around 50! I think this is cause for concern.
This has all been in electric mode.
I see a slider on the last metal fin with a triangle pointing up for colder.... I had it stretched all the way up and the little white tube fell out of the clip. So clipped it back in and stretched it as high up as It could go. Then waited for a few hours.
Temps all seem about the same.... Around 50.
I purchased a small fan that runs on batteries from an rv store and have had it in there since last night.... Still 50...

The outside fridge (a dorm type) has been on its lowest setting for the same time period, and it too is at 45-50 degrees.
I've been reading in these forums where some fridges are freezing peoples food... So am I correct in thinking there's something amiss with both my fridges?

Thanks.

[yourguide]

Got the TT home and it's been plugged into a real 30amp plug with a new 30amp breaker for over two days now. Fridge is 45degrees.
I have the little plastic slider all the way up.
It was hanging loose when I got it new... Is it supposed to hang on the outside of the fin farthest to the right or the inside?
Could someone take a picture of theirs if it's like this?
Thanks.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

Here we go:

Outdoor kitchen fridge. (Dial setting)



Inside fridge running on electric. Thermistor won't go any higher, just slips down the slider if you move it up.

Something's wrong methinks.

Freezer is good... I moved thermometer into it and will check it all in the morning again.





Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

It sounds like this for a few minutes, then goes silent again.
Does that cycle over and over.

http://youtu.be/_s7V8wrvGXE



Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[cadman99]

If freezer works okay then frig is also okay. 45° in the frig is not that bad. The thing you are moving is the thermister which senses the "cold" and turns the frig off and on. Generally it does not have a huge effect on cooling. Of course all this depends on the outside temps - if it is hot outside the frig works harder. You might try it on propane and see if it makes a difference.

[Terier]

Originally Posted by cadman99

If freezer works okay then frig is also okay. 45° in the frig is not that bad. The thing you are moving is the thermister which senses the "cold" and turns the frig off and on. Generally it does not have a huge effect on cooling. Of course all this depends on the outside temps - if it is hot outside the frig works harder. You might try it on propane and see if it makes a difference.

He mentioned something about sour milk but that might had been another thread. The frig is 45 on the top shelf closest to the freezer while the lower part of the frig is even warmer.

I would check the temp again but keep everyone out of the frig for a few hours in the meantime. Do you have the frig on "auto"?

[yourguide]

Yup, it's on auto. I called a dealer today. He said the fridge should be 40 degrees higher than the freezer. So I need to put a thermometer in both to see if there's a problem or not.
Yes that was me with the spoiled milk. Last camping trip we never got it below 50 degrees. It was very hot outside and we had all sorts of power problems also... So perhaps it was just the situation... I'm not sure.
I've got family that own campers and they all have adjustable knobs or sliders and have had their food freeze before in the fridge. On older campers of course... I'm not saying I want frozen food, but it would be nice to see it get that cold.
I've read lots of threads where people modify their fridges by adding fans and improving air flow. I've even seen a guide on removing the thermistor and replacing it with a gauge you can turn.
I just feel it would be a shame to have to modify a brand new fridge...but perhaps that what's expected for some parts of the country? Missouri summers are mighty humid and hot.

It's been another full day on its own with nobody on board in my yard. I'll go check it now and post the results. I've also got another thermometer just in case.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[B and B]

My fridge on the hottest days 32 degrees C have seen us able to freeze things. That is with the noisy fan. I replaced with 2 silent fans and more airflow. In my slide mounted fridge there is a piece of panelling that acts like a chimney and forces all the hot air out the top of the upper vent. One thing I did see on a fellow camper last summer was the installation of screens for bugs, this killed his cooling capacity as airflow was reduced. He removed the screens and the fridge worked just fine.

[yourguide]

Well the freezer is 20 degrees... I think it's supposed to be 0
The example today given to me by my closest dealer was "0 in the freezer is 40 in the fridge... And that's good."

So I'll contact the dealer on Monday and see if they will take a look....
The fridge now has 2 thermometers in it... I'll check them in the morning.
Just in case ones bad.

My fridge has that "chimney" panel on the back which I was thinking may not help the cooling... But I figured its there for a reason.

I think my fridge needs to be "turned up" but I don't see a way to do that.

I guess I'll let the dealer tell me. Only I didn't buy it from him he was quick to remind me today :/

When I opened the door to check the temps the fan kicked on after about 10-15 seconds..... It then kicked off again after a short time. Perhaps 3-5 mins. I just keep thinking if it would just run longer it would be fine.

I'll see what the dealer says. Thanks for all the pointers and advice.




Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[donanddona]

Let us know what or if there is a problem/fix.

[yourguide]

Update:
The freezer with the 2nd thermometer showed 0 degrees.
The fridge showed 50... I tapped the thermometer in the fridge and it bounced down to 40!
:/ apparently it got stuck or something.... So I out the one from the freezer into the fridge and the fridge one that was stuck into the freezer again.... That's the one that read 20 last time.....
I also checked the outside fridge and it was 42!
So I guess my fridges are probably ok.... I'm guessing the milk spoiling must have been a combination of timing.... The fridge had never been turned on (pre-cooled) and we stuck all our groceries in there, a lot of vegetables that aren't really cold from the store like Tomatoes and asparagus, mushrooms... Etc.
Then we put several bottles of water in there... Which was hot from our house riding in the back of my truck for the 1 hour drive to the campground.
In retrospect it was the perfect storm from a cooling perspective.

We are going camping next week and I'm going to give it another shot.... I'm thinking this time I'll keep those bottles of water in both fridges several days before we leave.... Which might help them stay cooler on the trip there.

I'll also check those thermometers again later today.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

Update.
My TT is in the shop.
I'll let you know what they find out.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[John4th]

I liked my Norcold fridge from my last trailer much better than the current Dometic. Mine performs rather slow as well.

We never open the door unless we got to. I start cooling it 24 hours before leave. I also pull out all trays.

When we get ready to load it, we have the trays preloaded, and everything else lined up on the table in the trailer. We load it in about 20 seconds.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

Wow! What efficiency!
My wife is thinking a residential fridge in our next TT might be the answer.
With twin 5yr old boys my only other option would be to padlock it shut.



Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Terier]

Originally Posted by yourguide

Update.
My TT is in the shop.
I'll let you know what they find out.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

Thanks. Would like to know what the problem is.

Originally Posted by JohnIII

I liked my Norcold fridge from my last trailer much better than the current Dometic. Mine performs rather slow as well.

We never open the door unless we got to. I start cooling it 24 hours before leave. I also pull out all trays.

When we get ready to load it, we have the trays preloaded, and everything else lined up on the table in the trailer. We load it in about 20 seconds.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

I must had gotten the one of the few good ones. My Dometic gets cold fast. Last trip it only took less than 2.5 hours to get cold. During hotter temps it still only takes about 4 hours.

[John4th]

Mine has the slide adjustor on one of the fins with that small wire coming out. Just like the OP's.

We've never had anything go bad. Including our 9-day trip to Disney.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

I have educated myself on all things refrigerator after the service center keeping my TT For 3 weeks and not even LOOKING at it.

I brought it back home a couple days ago and have been diagnosing the fridge myself.

I have it nailed down to the control board or electronics somehow. I bypassed the controls and just hooked up the heating element directly and it's already down to 44 degrees within just about 4 hours. It sat at 50-55 the whole day when I didn't bypass the controls.

So Monday I will call another service center... I'm not taking it back to those other guys. The extra miles will hopefully provide me extra service


Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

Update:
Spoke with a couple RV techs from a couple different places.
Decided to unplug the thermistor and let it run wide open overnight.
Temps were 5 in freezer, 35 in fridge.
Plugged thermistor back in and it's been holding between 35 and 44 for the past two days. Nobody in there using it.
Going camping today and this weekend, so we'll see how it does.
It seems to me the thermistor is causing it to not run as long as it should.... But if the thermistor checks out then it has to be the cooling unit is not working fast enough to recover when the temps drop.
I'll find out this weekend.



Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[John4th]

How do you unplug the thermistor?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[yourguide]

Ok we are camping now and yesterday after actually putting food in the fridge it got up to 45 degrees when I decided to unplug the thermistor and let it run wide open again. My plan was to let it cool down again that way, then plug the thermistor back in and see if it maintains it.

Well last night my wife noticed that the salami was "warm" to the touch... then upon further inspection that the cheese slices were melted!

So I had her start her phone recording video and then shut it in the fridge.... to see if the light was going out when the door is shut.

NOPE.... the light was flashing off for a second when the door was closing and then staying on when the door was fully closed.

The switch seems to be working ok when I press it in manually... so I just removed the bulb last night and then shut the door.

Today when I plug the thermistor back in I will take a picture so everyone can see where its at... its really easy to do once you have the cover removed from the control panel.

So alas.... multiple issues perhaps.... I know I checked the light when I had it at home empty... and it was shutting off... Im not sure why its not anymore... but without the bulb won't kill us this weekend.