What did you do to your camper today?

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by Johnfort

BTW the Dinosaur board has a thermistor bias adjustment to tweak the temperature.

I am aware of that and have it adjusted towards more cool (This is my 2nd Dino Board). Fridge runs a little warm on 3 and tool cool on 4 (out of 5).

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by Johnfort

Use an extension cord to a separate shore power outlet to plug your fridge power cord into. If the problem goes away, then;

Check your RV AC connections. Outlet plugin, outlet wiring, circuit breaker wire connection to breaker, circuit breaker solidly seated, etc.

If the problem does not go away it's in the fridge circuits. I'd have to see the wiring diagram to proceed from there.

Hard to run an extension cord as that outlet runs to a shed and powers that with a small freezer inside. It also flakes out occasionally when running just on propane - the propane light will blink on and off which is strictly on the 12v circuits. As far as I know, the only thing AC is used for is to heat the two elements which ohm out to be in spec.

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by babock

36 to 40 is also not cold enough.

Seems to be working fine. Any colder and things in the fridge freeze. Fridge at 36-40 and freezer between -2 and 5. Keeps ice cream hard anyway.

[Johnfort]

Originally Posted by AudiDudi

Hard to run an extension cord as that outlet runs to a shed and powers that with a small freezer inside. It also flakes out occasionally when running just on propane - the propane light will blink on and off which is strictly on the 12v circuits. As far as I know, the only thing AC is used for is to heat the two elements which ohm out to be in spec.

Sounds like you have a 12v problem as that will affect both gas and electric. Didn't know you had a gas issue too.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Johnfort

BTW the Dinosaur board has a thermistor bias adjustment to tweak the temperature.

It still uses the thermistor. There is nothing else measuring temperature. It just allows you to offset the temp

I am actually in the process of designing my own board that you can adjust temp over Bluetooth.

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by babock

It still uses the thermistor. There is nothing else measuring temperature. It just allows you to offset the temp

I am actually in the process of designing my own board that you can adjust temp over Bluetooth.

Had this issue once. Turned out the DC connection was loose from when I added a cooling fan to the back. Cause issues on propane because of the ignition.

Hope it helps but if not at least you checked another thing off the list. Good luck.

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by dbledan

Had this issue once. Turned out the DC connection was loose from when I added a cooling fan to the back. Cause issues on propane because of the ignition.

Hope it helps but if not at least you checked another thing off the list. Good luck.

I have a DC fan inside that taps power off the light (Been there 6 yrs) . Doesn't seem to matter if it is on or off. I have run an AC fan on the outside over the coils but it is not connected and hasn't been for months.

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by AudiDudi

I have a DC fan inside that taps power off the light (Been there 6 yrs) . Doesn't seem to matter if it is on or off. I have run an AC fan on the outside over the coils but it is not connected and hasn't been for months.

Sounds like you eliminated it then. My issue was a bad DC crimp made by me.

[AbdRahim]

Cleared snow from windshield, hood, around and under MH.
Campfire anyone? June
today. Where do I put the wood?

[babock]

Originally Posted by AudiDudi

I am aware of that and have it adjusted towards more cool (This is my 2nd Dino Board). Fridge runs a little warm on 3 and tool cool on 4 (out of 5).

This is why I am going to design my own board and someday sell it. I want the exact temp I want it set to. It is also going to be able to control variable speed fans in the coil area based on ambient temp and another fan in the fridge area. The fans will only run when needed to conserve power. It will also be controlled via Bluetooth if desired. Going to get rid of that thermistor and use something way more accurate.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by babock

This is why I am going to design my own board and someday sell it. I want the exact temp I want it set to. It is also going to be able to control variable speed fans in the coil area based on ambient temp and another fan in the fridge area. The fans will only run when needed to conserve power. It will also be controlled via Bluetooth if desired. Going to get rid of that thermistor and use something way more accurate.

You might want to try this first:

https://www.snip-the-tip.com/cgi-bin/articca.cgi

I have not, so I can't speak to how well it works.

[RandK-M]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

You might want to try this first:

https://www.snip-the-tip.com/cgi-bin/articca.cgi

I have not, so I can't speak to how well it works.

I use one of those in mine and it's much better than the stock thermister that slides on the fins. It's very very sensitive though and what seems like barely moving the dial makes a temp change.



That said, I don't think it should be that difficult to make a two way fridge with an actual thermostat and temperature setting in degrees. At least my old camper fridge had a digital 1-9 setting which is better than sliding a bracket on a fin which seems ridiculously old fashion.



Ray

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by babock

This is why I am going to design my own board and someday sell it. I want the exact temp I want it set to. It is also going to be able to control variable speed fans in the coil area based on ambient temp and another fan in the fridge area. The fans will only run when needed to conserve power. It will also be controlled via Bluetooth if desired. Going to get rid of that thermistor and use something way more accurate.

Awesome!!

[babock]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

You might want to try this first:

https://www.snip-the-tip.com/cgi-bin/articca.cgi

I have not, so I can't speak to how well it works.

That's not what I want and I know about those. I want to know Exactly what the temp is I am setting to and have some hysteresis on both sides.

Originally Posted by RandK-M

That said, I don't think it should be that difficult to make a two way fridge with an actual thermostat and temperature setting in degrees.

My thoughts exactly.

[RandK-M]

Originally Posted by babock

My thoughts exactly.

I'll be in line to buy a board if it works!

[aeblank]

Heh. I set the thinger on the fridge fin once when I bought the camper. Haven't touched it since.......2+ years.

The Bluetooth board does sound cool though, I will admit. Give it a couple more t-couple inputs and monitor I side and outside temps. Hehe.

[Paulie1138]

Never could get my fin slide to work very well. Got my snip the tip from a forum member, and have not had to touch it in almost a year since installing it. Holds the temperature just fine. I think the added fan inside the fridge helped a lot with keeping the temperature constant. (I did have the fan inside before the ‘tip’ was installed)

Babok, keep us posted on the progress of your board! Would be nice to monitor while driving incase I don’t close the door correctly! Happened once, fortunately, nothing fell out, and it was somewhere less than 40 minutes as we had stopped, grabbed a coke, then stopped again for some reason, so nothing lost.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Paulie1138

Babok, keep us posted on the progress of your board! Would be nice to monitor while driving incase I don’t close the door correctly! Happened once, fortunately, nothing fell out, and it was somewhere less than 40 minutes as we had stopped, grabbed a coke, then stopped again for some reason, so nothing lost.

Do you have the fan inside only run when there is actual cooling occurring?

My first stage is going to be fan control, followed by temp control. Once I get those two things working, I will have to work on burner control which actually may be the hardest part. The Dometic board gives one try of lighting the burner and then gives up and illuminates the fault light. The Dinosaur board does 3 times before it gives up. I will duplicate the Dinosaur board in that regard and show that it did this via Bluetooth. Bluetooth function will be the last thing I do.

[Paulie1138]

Babock, my internal fan runs all the time. It is a ball bearing, low rpm, super low current fan, 50-60ma draw at 12v. (If memory is right...???) I think it might be rated at 9 cfm. Just enough circulate some air inside. The fans to the condenser coil run when it is active or called for via t’stat. Also low current ball bearing fans.

[babock]

Originally Posted by Paulie1138

Babock, my internal fan runs all the time. It is a ball bearing, low rpm, super low current fan, 50-60ma draw at 12v. (If memory is right...???) I think it might be rated at 9 cfm. Just enough circulate some air inside. The fans to the condenser coil run when it is active or called for via t’stat. Also low current ball bearing fans.

You have a link to your fan that only draws 60 mA?