Frig not getting down to temp

[Stevej3658]

Bergy is this a common problem ? The probe or thermistor goes bad ?? My frig is still struggling to get below 68-69 degrees. Working on day 2 I believe since my original post.

[bergy]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

Bergy is this a common problem ? The probe or thermistor goes bad ?? My frig is still struggling to get below 68-69 degrees. Working on day 2 I believe since my original post.

I don’t really know how common it is. Thermistors are relatively east to test, you just need a ohm meter. In this case, the hard part would be knowing the thermistor spec. I’d guess it should be in a service manual for the refrigerator.

In the 3D printing community, thermistors within 10% of spec are considered good. I would hope Dometic would test them better than that.

In my case, I just couldn’t get my fridge to get lower than about 40.

The thermistor is the part that the control board uses to sense the temp, so if it’s not right, it could be your problem. You might check it’s connection to the control board (with no power going to the fridge). If there is any corrosion or the connection is loose, that could be the problem, but I’ve never heard of that happening.

[tomkatb]

Check door seals by putting a blinking light in the fridge at night.

Our 4 door fridge has a huge complicated seal device that was not properly closing.

Usually, they work better on propane.

Fridges mounted in slide outs need the circulation fans in the rear area.

[Stevej3658]

Thank you papajean update: day 3 moved the thermistor toward the center fin and I seem to be getting better results. We’ll see how it looks when I return home from work supposed to be like 98 again today

[wnew813]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

So my new to me 04 Sunseeker frig is not getting cold enough. I have had the rv plugged into house power for over 12 hours now and the frig temp is still only about 68 degrees �� propane tank is off and the control on the outside of frig is set to auto. Other than that I do not see any controls inside frig to adjust cooling. It is a Dometic rm2652 model. Thoughts please

Yes most items in RV are pos. The refrigerator gets its cold from the freezer, if the freezer isn't dropping to single digits, the refrigerator will never go below 40. Move your thermostat inside your refrigerator further away from the metal fins or on the edge of one of them. We had the same problem and moved it away from the coldest fin.

[MI_Skibum]

Didn't notice if anyone mentioned that the fridge needs to be level. My norcold requires within 3 degrees otherwise if won't cool and can damage itself. Mine is a 2021 and needs to be even flatter than their does.

[sbradford61]

My frig is working as designed and it doesn’t get really cold until after a couple of days on the road. Putting cold water bottles in it helps accelerate the process. Good luck.

[RBfromRJA]

Originally Posted by MI_Skibum

Didn't notice if anyone mentioned that the fridge needs to be level. My norcold requires within 3 degrees otherwise if won't cool and can damage itself. Mine is a 2021 and needs to be even flatter than their does.

Absolutely, check your level! We recently spent one night in a dry camp, and the trailer was 'close' to level.
In the morning the freezer goods had all melted, and the refrigerator box was only cool, not cold. I was worried that we might have run out of propane, but by noon after traveling a couple of hours everything was as it was supposed to be, with the exception that all the stuff in the freezer had refrozen into solid blocks of ice.

[MevetS]

With our RV, cooling the fridge down takes at least a 1 1/2 days. That's with it set at the 5 out of 5, cooling level. We usually have ours in the garage, so out of direct sunlight. Then of course, ambient temp makes a huge difference, even if in garage. We've had the fridge run for 3 days, when over 90 outside, before it came down to about 40 deg.

You might also try one of the small RV fridge fans to even out the temps in the unit. We added one and chasing a constant temp became much less of a full time job.
The one we bought was a Beech Lane RV Fridge Fan. But currently all that's available on Amazon is this : https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-A10-...s%2C94&sr=8-16

[MevetS]

p.s. Similar to adding cold water bottles.

Precool all the products you will be placing in the fridge, to reduce the heat load.

[Sergiop]

I put a few frozen water bottles in the fridge and one in the freezer to get the temp down quicker. Then rotate the bottles between the freezer and fridge as they melt. You could use those blue ice blocks instead of frozen water bottles.

[Stearn]

This will sound odd, but a few years back I had a similar situation with our Norcold . Someone told me that as they age rust can form inside the chamber and can settle and partially plug up. I was told to TAP the tubing with a hammer. I did and it worked ! Our rig had been in storage around six months . I guess things settled ?? I was also told to TAP not hammer the chamber and tubing around it .

[Red Roadrunner]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

So my new to me 04 Sunseeker frig is not getting cold enough. I have had the rv plugged into house power for over 12 hours now and the frig temp is still only about 68 degrees �� propane tank is off and the control on the outside of frig is set to auto. Other than that I do not see any controls inside frig to adjust cooling. It is a Dometic rm2652 model. Thoughts please

Is it in a slide out? If it is that may be the issue. When it was installed they may not have included a baffle. My bh installed one and 2 computer fans. There are several YouTube videos that show how to do this. Our fridge gets plenty cold now.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Red Roadrunner

Is it in a slide out? If it is that may be the issue. When it was installed they may not have included a baffle. My bh installed one and 2 computer fans. There are several YouTube videos that show how to do this. Our fridge gets plenty cold now.

Even if not in a slide out convection in the vent stack/chimney can be inadequate for good cooling.

Even in a proper installation the space is small and filled with obstructions.

I installed a set of dual Titan Fans at the roof vent that force more air flow based on temps at evaporator and condenser coils.

Last week my freezer temp ran 0-5F and refer at 35 F.

The secret to making an absorption type refrigerator work is to increase air circulation over the coils that are supposed to remove heat. Normal convection often isn't enough, especially during warm weather.

Part of the problem is the cap on the vent stack. It's designed to keep water out and the holes heat is supposed to flow through are necessarily small. Forced air flow really helps.

[Chuck_S]

Absorption refrigerators are propane devices with a secondary 120vAC heater for convenience that usually provides enough heat for normal operation. In hot weather they should be run on LP.

A simple battery powered fan in the refrigerator compartment will help a lot. A fan in the outside stack will help too and popups with no stack really benefit from a fan.

-- Chuck

[Stevej3658]

Yeah I bought a battery power fan for inside the box, I’d like to put a fan in the vent stack but not sure how to go about that. The fan inside the box helped but of course as the temp rises outside so does the temp inside �� don’t seem to be having much of a problem in the freezer though. Anyone like to share some more details on installing a fan in the vent I’m listening ��

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Stevej3658

Yeah I bought a battery power fan for inside the box, I’d like to put a fan in the vent stack but not sure how to go about that. The fan inside the box helped but of course as the temp rises outside so does the temp inside �� don’t seem to be having much of a problem in the freezer though. Anyone like to share some more details on installing a fan in the vent I’m listening ��

Just Google "installing an RV refrigerator vent fan" and you will find youtube videos and posts on what and how to install.

Everything from DIY computer fan setups to fan units with temp sensors and controllers.

My personal choice was the Titan Fan setup and it's working great.

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Just Google "installing an RV refrigerator vent fan" and you will find youtube videos and posts on what and how to install.

Everything from DIY computer fan setups to fan units with temp sensors and controllers.

My personal choice was the Titan Fan setup and it's working great.

X2, I put mine in the vent door

[Stevej3658]

I like the idea of installing in the vent door so I don’t have to make any modification to the vent up top �� are those simple computer fans ???

[RRSCOTT]

The tower where the LP burner sits below. The 110 ac heating elements are in there too. I had to blow air up though mine, dirt, bugs, or something. It was plugged and not letting the heat rise. Used an air compressor and blew it out. A whole bunch of stuff came out the top. Then it worked great after that.