This is a temporary solution. Freeze some gel packs when it works and put them in the refrigerator section to keep it cold. It seems like in your first post you said, maybe, the freezer was working—if so, keep somed gel packs in there to freeze and keep switching them. Maybe I'll bring some along (and a log) if mine goes weird.
I have the bruises and a rubber mallet to prove that I have banged on the coils but it didn't do much for me. Temperatures of 40 degrees is fine with me in the fridge compartment - the freezer almost always works fine for me.
I do have one of those little battery powered fans inside but it doesn't help at all. In fact I will often see temperatures at the bottom of the fridge warmer than the top - go figure! And yes the seal appears to be closed all the way around.
My compartment is not perfectly sealed all the way around in the back but it is sealed around the sides. Out cabinets next to the fridge used to get real hot with it running until I sealed that up. Now it is cooler on the sides and in the pantry.
Gel packs and perhaps an ice chest will have to be kept in tow for this situation.
Back when I first started our parade of cooling units, I installed a muffin fan at the base of the fridge scoop, set to blow upward into the scoop. On hot days, I turn the fan on. It pulls the warm air out of the compartment, and out the vent like should happen naturally, but doesn't. This has resulted in a 5 degree or more drop in temp in the fridge. That, along with sealing up the base of the fridge vent scoop, and the joint between the interior walls and bulkheads, has resulted in a fridge that will consistently freeze almost anything put in it, with an ambient outdoor temp of anything less than 95. This after several cooling units, and a third new fridge.
An old timer told me once to tap the coils if ever the fridge acted up. Well parked there at Camping World, I decided to beat the livin &$%@ out of the coils with a quarter round log I had in the truck.
Immediately the temp started to drop. With the #2 setting, the temp settled in at 34-36, with an outside temp of 88.
[quote]
Hi Mike
How about a bit more detail on this beating technique. I have always found that "Dynamic Service" was a good approach but the secrete is to know just where to hit it.
What is happening? Is there a scale build up inside the coils that you are trying to brake loose?
How about a bit more detail on this beating technique. I have always found that "Dynamic Service" was a good approach but the secrete is to know just where to hit it.
What is happening? Is there a scale build up inside the coils that you are trying to brake loose?
Hi HowiE,
Yes, I believe I'm breaking something loose, kinda like Coronary Artistry Disease. I gota tell ya, I really beat the bejeezess out of the coils, for as far up as my arm and an 18" dense quarter round log will go.
I don't touch the flue wrap. I do give a little warning tap to the collection container.
Terry is right, I also installed a boxter fan below the roof vent to draw hot air out. But when that fridge wants to heat up, no amount of moving air matters!
So wise HowieE hopper, be patient and remember, Log on, log off....
PS, Please don't anyone dare post the classic: "It's only a temporary fix" post.
A NEW unit is also "Only a temporary fix" fix
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Last edited by ArtStream; 04-21-2009 at 03:18 PM.
Reason: Ambient 84.9, Box 32.9
If nothing else, at least you get to beat the h__l out of your non-working refer. I like the sound of that! Kind of like that scene from The Office, where the guy takes a bat to his fax machine.
As Devo said "When a problem comes along, you must whip it!
[quote=Buttercup;689321] Well, with our old fridge, once you stopped rolling and got all settled out it would work again. Now, the fridge compartment just keeps getting warmer and warmer.
So you actually have a new problem!!
I'm wondering if the harsh ride may have damaged the spiral baffle located behind the flue tube. Then again I recall you having to use mouse traps in your rig, maybe them thar varmits set up shop in there. got a inspection mirror?
Michael beat the bejuzzz out of my fridge coils here at Vine View Heights last fall, had I known he was going to first drink a can of whoopass I' may have had second thoughts. So for me it appears that beating was preventive maint cause things are still working.
Terry - I also installed a 5" muffin fan just below the flue exit under the supervision of Artstream. I see the same 5 degree drop. Have you sealed off the entire flue except where your fan is mounted?
Funny this thread has appeared as I'm doing a HOT weather check of my systems. 93 F outside, 98 F inside trailer 40.3 F in food area of fridge, freezer way cold.
Just an update - went on a 4 day trip. Elected to NOT run the fridge on the way down - 6+ hours. Kept food in a cooler on ice for the trip down. Started the fridge once we got there and had zero problems. The nfridge worked perfectly for the whole trip.
I mention this because I called the vendor where we bought our axles and mentioned to him our concern that the higher weight axles (3500 lb verses the stock 2800 lb that came with the trailer) were a contributing factor to our fridge problems. He said that he could see no way that this was an issue. I think I have successfully proved that the fridge works when static conditions exist. The last of the issues that could be a problem - those #3500 axles might be part of the problem.
As a note, that vendor told me that he could see no way the stiffer axles could be an issue. But, all I see leads to this fact..... The fridge works - even without burping or all the manual things I might need to do to just get it to work. Drove home from that trip with the fridge in service. After 6 hours of driving, same old thing - fridsge temperature at 50 degrees. Should have been better.
Also, I tried to get a new set of #2800 axles from this vendor - but he has none in stock. That means that I might be out of luck for International.
Does anybody know if the Henschen axles are THAT worth it? Or should I look at switching to something else - Dexter perhaps????
i don't think it's the axles. you seem to indicate similar issues with the old fridge. were the axles done before the fridge was replaced?
can you put an hour meter on the power lead to the igniter? that would tell you how long the igniter fires when you are traveling. i don't know if they make a 'minute meter'. :-)
since so many folks have talked about having their pilots blow out while traveling, i'd focus on that. even without a properly sealed compartment, wind and circulation can be a devil. if anything, working to seal/vent that area would sure be easier than swapping axles again.
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No, the old axles had been replaced before we ever took our first trip - they were done for!
I do have an update. Went on a trip and just left the fridge off until we got to our destination. We kept our food in a cooler with ice. Once we got to our destination I turned on the fridge running it on gas. by morning it was at temperature and we loaded it up. It worked fine the entire time we were parked. We left it on for the 6 hour return trip home and sure enough - the temperature went up 10 degrees by the time we got home.
I have not tried monitoring the igniter and that is an excellent idea. I will look at seing if there is a way to monitor that indirectly in some way. There is just one thing though - once the fridge stops working, like after being on the road, experience has shown me that it will not improve once we hit the road again, it just keeps getting worse and worse. Only thing that fixes it seems to be just shutting it down and letting it all thaw out and then restarting it up.
Since these units depend upon convection (hot air rising due to being less dense) to operate, it wouldn't be surprising if it were found that stray air currents induced by the motion of the trailer were back-winding the refrigerator and causing it to lose efficiency? You could jerry-rig a chimney fan for a trip and see if that mitigates the problem.
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'78 Excella 500,"The Silver Pullit". vacuum over hydraulic disc brakes, center bath, rear twin. '67 Travelall 1200 B 4X4 WBCCI 3737
So I am pulling this all apart to get it all fixed as best as I can before going to International.
The three pictures show what I believe is part of the problem. The three pictures are as follows: all pictures are looking aft with the fridge on the right hand side floorlevel.jpg shows that the trailer is leaning down towards the fridge. That is the best I can do in my driveway. freezerlevel.jpg shows the level of the icebox. That is the point that is supposed to be level with respect to the floor according to the installation guides and diagnostic manuals from Dometic that I was able to find. notice that the fridge is leaning towards the left side of the trailer. What this means at this point is that when the trailer is level, as in going down the road, the fridge leans even more to the left (curbeside). Basically, the fridge is REALLY not level. evaplevel.jpg is the picture taken from the evaporator in the freezer compartment itself. Here is where I believe the problem is greatest. With the fridge leaning towards the left the evaporator is leaning downward and therefore is not draining completely. In other words, if the fridge were properly level along with the trailer, the evaporator would drain downwards (towards the back). I suspect that due to improper drainage, fluid is collecting in the evaporator restricting flow. This reduction in flow is effecting the fridge compartment temperature because there is just not enough ammonium flow to cool it. Not to mention the imbalance of ammonium to hydrogen caused by ammonia being trapped in the evaporator could also reduce it's efficiency.
O.K. Sorry if the pictures are not in the correct order.
Yet you say the fridge recently worked....
Did you level the floor or the fridge?
Stick a big fat wad of gum over the drain and go for a drive, see what happens.
I think the cold air is being sucked out of the fridge, as much as I want the axles!!
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Disease. I gota tell ya, I really beat the bejeezess out of the coils, for as far up as my arm and an 18" dense quarter round log will go.
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