ever chill refrigerator wd-282fwdc stopped cooling

[Emtlp]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

See comments interspersed.

Hi Bama Rambler,
From freezer to fridge, not froze up (took a pic).
Tested fan connecter before connecting fan and was getting 12.7 volts (although the fan is 2 v??).
Back of fridge at power input is 13.1
The only thing I have not tried is grounding control panel to frame (and throwing it in the parking space of my lot...)

[ADW325]

Hi did you find success - similar problem fan and light work, tried thermostat and reset by power cycling and fuse. Called forest river and they said only solution is to get a tech out - it has been cold so not sure if there is a drain. Will check for defrosting

[rustyg231]

I had to take it out and bring it to the dealership. They are checking it out and putting in a warranty claim.

[ADW325]

thanks good luck - will probably be doing the same

[Emtlp]

I contacted the manufacturer of EverChill, they sent me a circuit control panel, I replaced it, fan now works! BUT the screws to hold the back panel in are NOT phillips, it is similar, but a phillips won't work. I used a very small straight bit and got the 6 screws out.....phillips head went back in




UOTE=Emtlp;2508599]I have the same issue on the everchill wd-282fwdc 2019. Freezer works fine, fridge section does not. I replaced the fan in the freezer because it was not running. The freezer was not froze up either. New fan still does not work. I tested the plug and it has voltage going to it, both old and new fan. Compressor kicks in and runs.
Any other ideas that could help because I certainly do not want to purchase another one unless absolutely necessary. (The outdoor kitchen everchill works just fine).
Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]

[Bama Rambler]

Those screws are probably some sort of security bit. Can you post a picture of them?

[Emtlp]

Bama Rambler,
Let's see if it uploads.

[mikeyk101]

Interesting. I never saw those type of screws before. Looks like they are called tri wing screws. I did just find this: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06XHLM4...ing=UTF8&psc=1

[Bama Rambler]

Yep, They're tri-wing. They're a type of security screw, but it's easy to find drivers and bits for them. I would do the same thing you did in changing them out for Philips screws.

[TejasCmpr]

All, I am late to the party, but I have been fighting this problem for over 3 weeks. I finally contacted Forest River, got in touch with the Palomino Solaire group, and FINALLY got someone to speak to me. I got a name for a contact with EverChill. Once I spoke to the person at EverChill, they gave me another name and number in the online parts department. I spoke with Kyra Johnson @ 574-306-4097, and order a new fan motor from her. It was shipped straight on out. We are leaving for a trip, so I bit the bullet and paid a little extra for expedited shipping. It is very simple to install. My only suggestion is to also use something like Permatex 22058 Dielectric Tune-Up Grease on your contacts before you plug it in.
Several people said on several forums that they could not find where to purchase a fan motor for this unit. I hope this might help someone else to not go through the hassle that I did. All the best, and best of luck.

[Spgorv]

Originally Posted by rustyg231

We have a new 2021 Puma for just over 3 weeks now. Last night we discovered everything in the freezer was thawed out and not Cooling. Model No. WD-282FWDC.
Does anyone know why it would just stop working? We are plugged in at home on a 50 amp plug. We have electricity in the camper. The fan and light come on in the refrigerator. I reset the power button hoping that would work but the compressor still won’t work. Breaker is fine.

I’m in the same situation, how has your project went. Did they take care of you?

[Bhymans]

Hi all, I found this thread helpful and wanted to post my experience with my solutions for others.

It all started with some water dripping into the fridge compartment. Upon removing the top and rear panels in the fridge and the back panel inside the freezer I found that the coils in the freezer were iced over, and the small drain hole on the bottom was blocked by ice. There is a little thermal conducting rod that is supposed to keep the drain from freezing, but that didn’t do it’s job for one reason or another. This caused melted water from the defrost cycle to overflow down the duct and into the fridge.

I decided to defrost the freezer. To expedite, I pointed a small space heater towards the iced up coils (Don’t do this!). This melted the ice, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention and it also melted/deformed the fan blades. Oops.

After unsuccessfully searching on Amazon, I was able to order a replacement fan blade and motor directly from Way Interglobal (the manufacture of everchill) for about $40. I used the form on their website to communicate via email with them:
https://www.wayinterglobal.com/pages/contact-us

Install was easy. About 10-15 minutes worth of work with a screwdriver. I did have to cut and replace one zip tie that was holding the fan motor cable in place.

Before installing the new fan I experienced the “freezer cold, but fridge warm” issue. I discovered this was caused by the coils icing over and blocking the ducting. Note that there are three ducts between the fridge and freezer. One that sucks warm air up out of the fridge via a duct towards the fan, and two that dump cold air down into the fridge (one duct on left and one on right). The cold air ducts that were blocked were not immediately visible in the freezer, the openings are facing the rear of the fridge and are right up against the coils. These were the duct openings that were blocked by ice.

After another, more careful, manual defrost, hopefully I have the problem solved. We were down south in the Florida heat/humidity so I *think* that is what caused the original ice up, but time will tell.

Hope this helps someone!

[kayakist]

Thank you for taking the time to post this. Very helpful. Happy travels.

Originally Posted by Bhymans

Hi all, I found this thread helpful and wanted to post my experience with my solutions for others.

It all started with some water dripping into the fridge compartment. Upon removing the top and rear panels in the fridge and the back panel inside the freezer I found that the coils in the freezer were iced over, and the small drain hole on the bottom was blocked by ice. There is a little thermal conducting rod that is supposed to keep the drain from freezing, but that didn’t do it’s job for one reason or another. This caused melted water from the defrost cycle to overflow down the duct and into the fridge.

I decided to defrost the freezer. To expedite, I pointed a small space heater towards the iced up coils (Don’t do this!). This melted the ice, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention and it also melted/deformed the fan blades. Oops.

After unsuccessfully searching on Amazon, I was able to order a replacement fan blade and motor directly from Way Interglobal (the manufacture of everchill) for about $40. I used the form on their website to communicate via email with them:
https://www.wayinterglobal.com/pages/contact-us

Install was easy. About 10-15 minutes worth of work with a screwdriver. I did have to cut and replace one zip tie that was holding the fan motor cable in place.

Before installing the new fan I experienced the “freezer cold, but fridge warm” issue. I discovered this was caused by the coils icing over and blocking the ducting. Note that there are three ducts between the fridge and freezer. One that sucks warm air up out of the fridge via a duct towards the fan, and two that dump cold air down into the fridge (one duct on left and one on right). The cold air ducts that were blocked were not immediately visible in the freezer, the openings are facing the rear of the fridge and are right up against the coils. These were the duct openings that were blocked by ice.

After another, more careful, manual defrost, hopefully I have the problem solved. We were down south in the Florida heat/humidity so I *think* that is what caused the original ice up, but time will tell.

Hope this helps someone!

[Laman985]

Does anyone have a part number for the control/circuit board? I’ve been messing with mine and when I opened the box on the back I found a part labeled “DEF Key1” and “Short Key2” if I press either it powers on my compressor and fan and the fridge begins to cool and work leading me to believe I need a new circuit board. Otherwise it’s a crap shoot if the compressor will come on. I’m still under warranty but my dealer has a over 2 month waiting period

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Laman985

Does anyone have a part number for the control/circuit board? I’ve been messing with mine and when I opened the box on the back I found a part labeled “DEF Key1” and “Short Key2” if I press either it powers on my compressor and fan and the fridge begins to cool and work leading me to believe I need a new circuit board. Otherwise it’s a crap shoot if the compressor will come on. I’m still under warranty but my dealer has a over 2 month waiting period

You do you know that you can use an independent RV shop or mobile RV technician to do warranty work? You just have to get pre-approval from FR and be willing to be reimbursed.

[Laman985]

Yes but unfortunately either the independent ones tell me they don’t mess with Everchill stuff or they have a 2-3 month wait as well

[robbogd]

I wanted to post this as I’ve just been experiencing this and found what the problem was. I’m willing to bet a lot of others have this too. There is a very simple fix. At the back of the freezer, there is a dial that says cold and colder. I noticed when I took the back panel of the freezer off that when that dial was set to colder it meant that the vent taking cold air to the fridge was almost completely closed. I set it back to cold and viola…. The fridge is working again.

[RGrimm]

Originally Posted by robbogd

I wanted to post this as I’ve just been experiencing this and found what the problem was. I’m willing to bet a lot of others have this too. There is a very simple fix. At the back of the freezer, there is a dial that says cold and colder. I noticed when I took the back panel of the freezer off that when that dial was set to colder it meant that the vent taking cold air to the fridge was almost completely closed. I set it back to cold and viola…. The fridge is working again.

I just went out to see where mine was set and it was set on Colder. My refrig has never had a problem keeping food cool, in fact, I have had soda on the upper shelf in the back actually start to freeze. I normally have my refrig set on #3 for normal use (when traveling). My freezer is usually at from 0 to -5 and the refrig box at 36 to 38.

Next time I have the freezer box's back off to check the fan, I'll have to look at the cold/colder knob setup.

My Vibe's Everchill is a little over 1 year old now and I have never shut it off since I brought it home last year. When I'm not traveling and the refrig and Freezer are basically empty I set the temp to #1 so the refrig can continue to run, exercising the compressor and fans, but not as hard. I have been very pleased with our Everchill.

Thanks for your post on how the Freezer cold/colder knob setting can affect the refrig temp.
-Russ

[pirask]

My Salem Cruise Lite 171rbxl came with the Everchill WD-282FWDC. Since I bought it (used), the freezer would cool somewhat but the fridge was always warm. As with several here, I noticed that the freezer fan never turned on. Contacting Way Interglobal was very challenging, and the support was an adventure, but it is now working great.

First, I replaced the fan in the freezer. Pretty simple process of removing two screws, pulling out the back panel, removing two screws from the upper left to reach the connector, removing two screws from the fan bracket, swapping the fan, and reversing all of those steps. Unfortunately, the new fan would not turn either. Back to Way Interglobal.

Next, replace the controller board. This was definitely more work. First, remove the fridge (with some help) and slide it out onto a support, remove the back panel with a Y3 bit (those weird security screws), remove the black box from the lower left containing the board, disconnect the board (breaking a plastic retainer clip by mistake), swap out the board, and put everything back together. And, voila! The fan now turns and everything cools properly.

Swapping out the controller board was not easy, but getting support was the hard part. I filled out the online form and called and left messages multiple times, but it took about a week to get a response. Once someone called me back, they were quite friendly and wanted to help. The key, I think, was that all subsequent communication was by e-mail directly to the person helping me. It seems that they’re just overwhelmed, and cannot keep up with support calls. But, I could not find the parts anywhere else but through their support.

Anyway, I’m happy that my fridge is working, and I hope this helps others facing the same issue.

[ehomme]

Had the same symptoms here, freezer worked but no refrigerator cooling. Had the back cover taken off and the coil area was a block of ice. We are waiting for it all to thaw out now. Hope the fan motor has not burned out. Anyone in a warm, humid environment for any length of time having the same issue should check out this as the first step IMHO. Thanks for the tip.