Problems with Dometic fridge

[LittleCat]

Hi - We are relatively new to RVing. We just had our unit out for its third camping trip. The Dometic fridge took about 12 hours to cool to an acceptable temperature, despite being reasonably leveled once in our campsite and having it on the coolest setting. The campsite was only a 2-hour drive from where we store our RV, and we had turned the fridge on before departing. It switched over from gas to electric as soon as we were hooked up, but it still took forever to really cool down.

We did receive some helpful advice by phone from Dometic. They had my husband shift a lever of some sort inside the fridge compartment. (Sorry, I don't know exactly what it was.) But I'm wondering - since we haven't camped much yet - if this is typical, and what the best way is to cool the fridge quickly and keep it at an optimum temperature (we kept having to adjust it all weekend). We plan to take a long RV trip next year, and consistent food storage temp will be more of an issue. Thanks!

[ChipBruce]

A couple of thoughts to try:
1. I usually start my fridge cooling down the night before I leave. Then it is ready to go when I am.

2. If that is not possible place some frozen water bottles into the fridge to help cool it down some. This kick starts it a little. Your RV fridge isn't like your fridge at home, it's an evaporation unit.

3. Don't pack the fridge too tightly, the air has to be able to move around it work effectively.



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[boondocking]

12 hours to cool sufficiently is fairly normal.

I do the same as ChipBruce, fire up the fridge the day before leaving.

[dcheatwood]

Agree with all above and turn ours on a few days before the trip.

[Skyliner]

I can't fire up the fridge the day before because I live on a hill. What I do instead, is freeze my milk, my lemonaid, and other drinks. I also put frozen food in the fridge that I know I need thawed out and used the first/second day. This really helps cool down the fridge pretty quick.

I found that my fridge runs cooler on propane versus electric. I'm not sure why that is.

[dwhit]

"reasonably leveled"...maybe it's not good enough? Front to back makes a way huge difference. I work the levelers to 0.0 degrees bubble. Fridge works wonderfully with five fans.

[LittleCat]

Thank you. Those are great suggestions. We store our RV at a dealership, so starting up the fridge a day before isn't really practical. But we will plan to freeze some things ahead of time to get it cooling more quickly. Just glad to know it's not a particular problem with our fridge.

I do think the leveling made it more of an issue on our most recent trip. We couldn't get it 100% level front to back. It wasn't bothersome to us, but the bubble was a little off.

[bob dirt]

Here where I live, it's summertime. I takes a while for the fridge to cool down. Being a little bit off level won't hurt anything. The main thing is, that it needs time to absorb all the heat out the compartment. The best thing to do is put a large bag of ice in the freezer to help it out. Frozen water bottles work too but my wife says they are not good to drink out of after they are frozen because of the plastic. That's probably another subject. If it's hot where you live, I'd go down a day or two before and fire the fridge up like others have said. Just say'n

[Dbt803]

I am not able to cool my fridge before trips and I do the same as stated above and I also leave ice packs in the freezer they freeze as the freezer gets cold. I leave my food in a cooler that I bring from home and unpack after we arrive at the campground. The fridge fans also help. I use the battery ones. I turn to the coldest setting and leave it.
Have fun and safe travels.
Debbie

[DouglasReid]

HI,
The Dometic refrigerator you have is much different in its operation than the refrigerator you have at home. It operates on an absorption principal and is not capable of a fast recovery time as many posts before mine have indicated.

The very best way to use it is to put already chilled items into the refrigerator after it too has been run at least overnight to cool it off. If you put cool items in a warm fridge it will simply make them warmer until it catches up to their temperature then it will slowly cool them again. For some items this could be dangerous (chicken for instance).

I recommend against keeping your drinks in there as well because the constant opening and closing of the refrigerator will never let it stay closed to cool off and everything will get warm. Keep a traditional ice chest just outside yoru door full of ice and whatever cool drinks you desire.

Welcome to the world of RVing. I know all this sounds like a pain but you will very quickly learn and it will become second nature.

[rockfordroo]

You don't say what model fridge or TT you have. TT's with the fridge in the slide have more problems cooling because the hot air from the back of the unit has to go out the side of the slide instead of up out of the roof of the RV. Many folks have installed small computer fans in the back of their fridges to assist with cooling. See here, for example:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...o-i-31639.html

My fridge isn't in my slide, but it's not cooling as well as I'd like, so I'm planning to do the same. Fans are on order.

[papakilo]

Originally Posted by LittleCat

Hi - We are relatively new to RVing. We just had our unit out for its third camping trip. The Dometic fridge took about 12 hours to cool to an acceptable temperature, despite being reasonably leveled once in our campsite and having it on the coolest setting. The campsite was only a 2-hour drive from where we store our RV, and we had turned the fridge on before departing. It switched over from gas to electric as soon as we were hooked up, but it still took forever to really cool down.

We did receive some helpful advice by phone from Dometic. They had my husband shift a lever of some sort inside the fridge compartment. (Sorry, I don't know exactly what it was.) But I'm wondering - since we haven't camped much yet - if this is typical, and what the best way is to cool the fridge quickly and keep it at an optimum temperature (we kept having to adjust it all weekend). We plan to take a long RV trip next year, and consistent food storage temp will be more of an issue. Thanks!

I found that when I put a small battery driven fan at the bottom of the fridge it cools down much faster that without the fan. I bought it at Camping World.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Agree with all above and turn ours on a few days before the trip.

Ours lives in the back yard. Wife requires me to hook it up 24 hours before we go so it's cold when she loads AND she loads most everything pre chilled

The Domestic guy probably had him move a little metal slide on a cooling fin on the right side that acts like a thermostat adjustment.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Tom48

The Domestic guy probably had him move a little metal slide on a cooling fin on the right side that acts like a thermostat adjustment.

LittleCat: FYI - The little slide contains a thermistor. You slide it up for colder and down for warmer. And beware: they tend to slide down on their on while you're on the road bouncing around. If you have this problem, a small binder clip can help.

[susanb06239]

We live in New England and are seasonal campers. Our domestic fridge runs April thru October. It maintains fair temp spring and fall but July and August it's a stretch to freeze bread. Sounds like you got some great advice here though.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by LittleCat

Hi - We are relatively new to RVing. We just had our unit out for its third camping trip. The Dometic fridge took about 12 hours to cool to an acceptable temperature, despite being reasonably leveled once in our campsite and having it on the coolest setting. The campsite was only a 2-hour drive from where we store our RV, and we had turned the fridge on before departing. It switched over from gas to electric as soon as we were hooked up, but it still took forever to really cool down.

We did receive some helpful advice by phone from Dometic. They had my husband shift a lever of some sort inside the fridge compartment. (Sorry, I don't know exactly what it was.) But I'm wondering - since we haven't camped much yet - if this is typical, and what the best way is to cool the fridge quickly and keep it at an optimum temperature (we kept having to adjust it all weekend). We plan to take a long RV trip next year, and consistent food storage temp will be more of an issue. Thanks!

Your unit has a 8cf,side wall mount,top EX,refer! These Normally are the easy to cool with a" Little Help"! Inside Frig fan install/ start frig on Batt/Propane at the Storage lot the night before use/ you have a Very Large RV so make sure the Vents are Open to Expel the Heat/you will need MaxAir vent covers to be safe from Rain/need to add/have at least 2 Batteries to run the refer and vents overnight/ or install a Generator! RV refers or Home type take POWER there is no easy way around "NO POWER"! Youroo!!

[Tkotis5]

Does anybody get a lot of ice build up in freezer when running for a long time? That's what is happening to mine now.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Tkotis5

Does anybody get a lot of ice build up in freezer when running for a long time? That's what is happening to mine now.

The ice is the result of moisture in the air inside the refrigerator condensing on the cooling fins and in the freezer compartment and then freezing. The more you open your doors, the more air is admitted and the quicker the ice builds.

If the ice builds while it is parked and running for an extended time you have an air leak in the seals on the doors.

Turning it off and thawing is the only solution to the ice build up. The ice on the fins will melt and fall into a tray that is supposed to be drained to the outside through the exterior refrigerator access panel. The ice that melts in the freezer will have to be removed with a sponge or towel as there is no drain for the freezer compartment.

[ddurham]

Well i might have found the stupid problem that makes freezer work but the fridge is warm problem. Open the rear access panel and look on top of the fridge if the cheezy insulationhas fell over the coils not allowing fridge to cool the coils this will stop the fridge from coolin, I placed a fan at the access panel for few hours and our fridge was so cold almost froze half gallon of milk, and it never worked from day one, i assume the insulation was from factory, quick fix in 5 min, if you cant see your roof vent then you have the same problem

[dcheatwood]

Good catch!