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Old 08-02-2021, 04:12 PM   #1
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Everchill freezing problem in a NEW Forest River RV - Beware Everchill

We purchased a new Forest River RV late last year. The intent was to live in it while building a house. For many reasons, didn't use it at all until April 2021(I think we took possession in either September or October 2020) including because it sat at a dealership for repairs for 1/4 of the warranty period. 3 months(February, March and April 2021) to replace a water pump and try to get the tank meters to work. They still don't work. Water pump works but hammers like crazy.

About 3 weeks after turning the Everchill refridgerator on, the fridge went hot while we were gone for a weekend and we lost everything in the fridge. Freezer was still freezing. Internet research told me to remove the back panel of the freezer and sure enough, I had a giant ice ball on the coils. Thawed it all out and the fridge worked again. Approx 4 weeks later, same thing happened. We left for a weekend and came back to a hot refridgerator and lost a 2nd fridge full of food. Same routine of thawing the freezer coils and starting over. On June 1, 2021, I notified both the dealer and Everchill(which is owned by Way Interglobal). I was told to check multiple things like the seal(perfect), the passage from freezer to fridge where cold air goes(clear), was told I was overloading the fridge with too much stuff(not true - see pic). After some back and forth with the manufacturer, they have now ghosted me. I made it clear that there is a problem with the Everchill refridgerator freezing up and getting hot and never heard back.

I have been trying to get something, anything done for 3 months. I have to proactively thaw the freezer now every 8 to 10 days or risk losing everything in the fridge again. I am tired of it. The dealer has tried putting in a warranty claim and I even agreed to installing it(because I cannot leave it at a repair place for 3 months when we are living in it). The manufacturer is asking for pictures of coils through access panels....etc. I don't know what they are looking for. I had already sent them pictures of the frozen coils and answered all their questions. It appears the manufacturer wants me to diagnose the problem due to all the questions which I have answered. They are snail slow to respond which is why we are 3 months into this with apparently no progress.

The design is unbelievably poor. No cooling in the fridge, it cools by cold air being routed from the freezer. I bought a new RV to minimize problems and for the warranty. I guess the warranty is no good if the manufacturer refuses to honor it. I would think long and hard before putting anything made by Way Interglobal/Everchill in your RV. Look them up, they make a bunch of cheap RV appliances and this experience shows me they don't intend to honor a warranty on brand new appliances. It appears I have no recourse other than to take it in the rear. Brand new appliance with 0 warranty. Everchill refridgerator freezes up and doesn't cool....makes it easier to find in a Google search.

Added 3 pictures. 1 shows the new fridge. 1 shows the typical contents of the fridge(no kids, just my wife and I) and the third is what I deal with every 8-10 days).

What is the purpose of this thread? Hopefully to warn others to avoid Everchill, Greystone, Drive, Haven or Elite brands, all the same company. It appears I am out of luck.
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Old 08-02-2021, 04:16 PM   #2
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Lovely update. Now I am told I have to remove the fridge to take a picture of the back of it. Sound fair on a brand new appliance? Here is what I have learned, no reason to purchase new. Neither the manufacturer or the dealer will do anything to help and of course, a vendor like Everchill won't either in this case.
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Old 08-02-2021, 05:02 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Jagsare1 View Post
Lovely update. Now I am told I have to remove the fridge to take a picture of the back of it. Sound fair on a brand new appliance? Here is what I have learned, no reason to purchase new. Neither the manufacturer or the dealer will do anything to help and of course, a vendor like Everchill won't either in this case.
Unfortunately, RV parts manufacturers require a lot of documentation for warranty purposes. This is a small part why dealers take so long when it comes to warranty work.

With you taking on the dealer's portion, yanking the fridge out is going to be just something that you have to do.
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Old 08-02-2021, 05:35 PM   #4
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Lovely update. Now I am told I have to remove the fridge to take a picture of the back of it. Sound fair on a brand new appliance? Here is what I have learned, no reason to purchase new. Neither the manufacturer or the dealer will do anything to help and of course, a vendor like Everchill won't either in this case.
Sorry you have had so much trouble with your Everchill Refrig and a apparently a lack of support from your dealer and Everchill. My feeling is there is an air leak somewhere allowing humid air into the freezer area that is freezing on the cold coils.

I also have the same Everchill that has been running (24/7) ever since I purchased my Vibe in April/May 2020 and it has had zero problems. After seeing a post about someone else who had a similar problem as you, warm box and cold freezer and the coils frozen, I pulled my rear freezer panel off and I had NO frost on my freezer coils.

While you are using your camper fulltime, the longest trip I have taken has been about 6 weeks, where we would be opening our refrig doors more often then when we are home and the refrig just runs 24/7 with very minimal door openings.

I would check the freezer seal along the bottom edge of the Freezer door. One person had a 'cold air' leak there. see this thread.

You cold use an infrared thermometer (example infrared Thermometer) to spot check the temps along the seals, looking for 'cold spots' that would indicate an air leak.

PS (added after original post)- I run my Everchill on #3 when traveling, it maintains 36-38 box temp and -2 degrees in the freezer. It looks like yours is set at 5, that is pretty cold.
-Russ
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Old 08-02-2021, 05:43 PM   #5
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Lovely update. Now I am told I have to remove the fridge to take a picture of the back of it. Sound fair on a brand new appliance? Here is what I have learned, no reason to purchase new. Neither the manufacturer or the dealer will do anything to help and of course, a vendor like Everchill won't either in this case.
Can you take vent panels off outer wall and snap a pic through there?
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Old 08-02-2021, 06:29 PM   #6
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Can you take vent panels off outer wall and snap a pic through there?
There are not vents to the outside on compressor style Refrigerators. Vents to outside are only used/needed for absorption type refrigs. So he would have to remove his refrig from its installed area to see the back of it.

It would seem to me that the refrig is working (compressor) as it is cold enough to freeze up the primary cooling coil that is mounted in the back of the freezer as seen in the OP's photo. It is that icing up of the cooling coil that blocks the cool air flow to the refrig Box by probably stopping the fan that is suppose to blow the cool air into the refrig box to cool it. So I see this as a problem caused by the coil icing up, which would seem to indicate an air leak.
-Russ
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Old 08-02-2021, 06:46 PM   #7
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I would check the freezer seal along the bottom edge of the Freezer door. One person had a 'cold air' leak there. see this thread.

You cold use an infrared thermometer (example infrared Thermometer) to spot check the temps along the seals, looking for 'cold spots' that would indicate an air leak.

-Russ
Some great information, I take delivery of my van in 2 or 3 weeks and it has this fridge. I will check for "cold air leaks", as soon as I can. I already have an infra red thermometer.
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Old 08-02-2021, 06:59 PM   #8
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Can you take vent panels off outer wall and snap a pic through there?
This is what they are asking for. There is no outer wall vent behind the fridge.
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:01 PM   #9
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Piggybacking on another comment above, have you tried setting it to 3 instead of 5? I’ve never had to set mine higher than 3 and it gets awfully cold inside. Maybe setting it to 5 just runs it so hard it freezes up the coils?
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:01 PM   #10
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Sorry you have had so much trouble with your Everchill Refrig and a apparently a lack of support from your dealer and Everchill. My feeling is there is an air leak somewhere allowing humid air into the freezer area that is freezing on the cold coils.

I also have the same Everchill that has been running (24/7) ever since I purchased my Vibe in April/May 2020 and it has had zero problems. After seeing a post about someone else who had a similar problem as you, warm box and cold freezer and the coils frozen, I pulled my rear freezer panel off and I had NO frost on my freezer coils.

While you are using your camper fulltime, the longest trip I have taken has been about 6 weeks, where we would be opening our refrig doors more often then when we are home and the refrig just runs 24/7 with very minimal door openings.

I would check the freezer seal along the bottom edge of the Freezer door. One person had a 'cold air' leak there. see this thread.

You cold use an infrared thermometer (example infrared Thermometer) to spot check the temps along the seals, looking for 'cold spots' that would indicate an air leak.

PS (added after original post)- I run my Everchill on #3 when traveling, it maintains 36-38 box temp and -2 degrees in the freezer. It looks like yours is set at 5, that is pretty cold.
-Russ

When they first mentioned to check the seal, I used an infrared heat gun to check. No leaks.
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:01 PM   #11
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Piggybacking on another comment above, have you tried setting it to 3 instead of 5? I’ve never had to set mine higher than 3 and it gets awfully cold inside. Maybe setting it to 5 just runs it so hard it freezes up the coils?
It is actually never set to 5. Always set to 4. I find if we set it to 3, the fridge doesn't seem to get cold enough.
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:06 PM   #12
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It’s on 5 in your photo which is why I remarked on it.

There is a diverter dial in the freezer that allows more or less cold air from the freezer box into the fridge (cold-colder). Where is that dial positioned?
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:10 PM   #13
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Personally, I believe it has something to do with the fact that we are in Florida and it is Africa hot. The fridge is mounted in cabinetry where the inside of the cabinetry is not cooled. It gets pretty warm in the space hidden behind the cabinetry.

I decided to get the infrared heat gun and check the seal again, all the way around. No air leaks. Consistent temp all the way around.

I am willing to pay to have someone take a look but every RV repair person says these are throw away units and they will replace but won't try to figure out what is wrong. The dealer that had the RV for 3 months said it would be 3 months for them to get to it and he said about the only thing they might consider fixing is obvious wiring issues, which I don't have. He said they don't really diagnose, they replace. I shouldn't have to jump through these hoops to get something to work that never worked correctly from day 1.
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Old 08-02-2021, 07:11 PM   #14
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It’s on 5 in your photo which is why I remarked on it.

There is a diverter dial in the freezer that allows more or less cold air from the freezer box into the fridge (cold-colder). Where is that dial positioned?

I know it was. That picture was after thawing the freezer, again, and then turning everything back on. I was in the middle of adjusting it when I took the pic. That isn't where I left it.
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Old 08-02-2021, 08:00 PM   #15
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Personally, I believe it has something to do with the fact that we are in Florida and it is Africa hot.
Actually I live in Florida (northeast), so my Vibe sits outside in the FL heat connected to a 50 amp pedestal with a 50 to 30 adaptor and my Everchill is always running. When home, not traveling, I set the refrig on #2 so it works
the refrig and the Vibe's AC is set at 78 just to keep the moisture under control inside the camper and I have never had a problem with the Everchill maintaining correct temps in the box and freezer and it has never froze up.

Note: You may know this, but the Infrared Thermometers only read when the trigger is released and pressed. If you just keep the trigger pressed as you move it along the seal it just holds the initial trigger pressed temp.

As Mtndrew1 mentioned above, the Dial in the Freezer controls the cool air flow to the refrig box, thus controlling the refrig box temp. Mine is always set pointing to the C in the word Colder, so point at like 1:00 o'clock.

As I said in my first post above, when I am traveling and actually using my refrig, it is set on #3 and that will maintain 36-38 in the refrig and -2 in the freezer. The box and freezer temps will raise occasionally in a 24-48 hour period to 40 and 10 degrees when the refrig seems to go through what I suspect a defrost cycle (wall defrost). I have a wireless digital Thermometer in the refrig box and in the freezer that displays the temps all the time on the outside magnetic mounted display and it also tracks the High and Low temps.

Where in Florida are you located?
-Russ
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Old 08-02-2021, 08:09 PM   #16
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Actually I live in Florida (northeast), so my Vibe sits outside in the FL heat connected to a 50 amp pedestal with a 50 to 30 adaptor and my Everchill is always running. When home, not traveling, I set the refrig on #2 so it works
the refrig and the Vibe's AC is set at 78 just to keep the moisture under control inside the camper and I have never had a problem with the Everchill maintaining correct temps in the box and freezer and it has never froze up.

Note: You may know this, but the Infrared Thermometers only read when the trigger is released and pressed. If you just keep the trigger pressed as you move it along the seal it just holds the initial trigger pressed temp.

As Mtndrew1 mentioned above, the Dial in the Freezer controls the cool air flow to the refrig box, thus controlling the refrig box temp. Mine is always set pointing to the C in the word Colder, so point at like 1:00 o'clock.

As I said in my first post above, when I am traveling and actually using my refrig, it is set on #3 and that will maintain 36-38 in the refrig and -2 in the freezer. The box and freezer temps will raise occasionally in a 24-48 hour period to 40 and 10 degrees when the refrig seems to go through what I suspect a defrost cycle (wall defrost). I have a wireless digital Thermometer in the refrig box and in the freezer that displays the temps all the time on the outside magnetic mounted display and it also tracks the High and Low temps.

Where in Florida are you located?
-Russ

We are close. I moved to Baker County. My infrared gun has a "scan" feature that lets me move it around and reads the temp changes. I have looking for a wireless thermometer for both boxes. Haven't found one yet.
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Old 08-02-2021, 08:23 PM   #17
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Mine scans as well while holding trigger in.
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Old 08-02-2021, 08:44 PM   #18
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If you are scanning with the temp gun shortly after closing the door you won’t see cold air coming out, when you close the door the air inside cools and contracts so any leak would be pulling air into the fridge.

IMO testing with a strip of paper is a more reliable test. Cut a strip of paper about an inch wide. Hold it in the door, close the door and try to pull the paper out. If it pulls easily you have no seal. Open the door, move the paper a couple of inches and repeat. It will only take a few minutes to work your way all the way around the door and you will know for sure if it is sealing properly or not.
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Old 08-02-2021, 09:39 PM   #19
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.......... I have looking for a wireless thermometer for both boxes. Haven't found one yet.
Here is the refrig digital thermometer I have been using since 2014. I also purchased one for my home refrigerator since it saves the High and Low temps. This way when we travel I can see if my home may have lose power and allowed the refrig temps to go too high.
-Russ
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Old 08-02-2021, 09:44 PM   #20
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.......... Maybe setting it to 5 just runs it so hard it freezes up the coils?
You make a good point here. Since my Freeze runs at -2 F when the refrig is set to 3, my normal use setting.
-Russ
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