Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-07-2003, 06:23 PM   #1
1 Rivet Member
 
1983 31' Excella
Bemidji , Minnesota
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 8
Send a message via Yahoo to nightowlhooter1
dometic fridge problem

Domestic fridge problem.
Does anyone know what could be wrong with a fridge when the upper freezer compartment works but the lower fridge compartment does not cool? I had it on electric not LPgas at the time.
I am open to any suggestions.
Thank you.
Linda
nightowlhooter1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-07-2003, 08:32 PM   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
overlander64's Avatar
 
1964 26' Overlander
1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre
Anna , Illinois
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 5,705
Images: 194
Send a message via Yahoo to overlander64
Dometic Fridge Problem

Greetings Linda!

Welcome to the Forums!

You may not have a problem. How long was the refrigerator in operation when you noted the temperature? Especially if you have a Vintage coach with a vintage Dometic refrigerator it will take several hous for the refrigerator to cool noticeably - - the freezer will be the first to actually feel cold. For instance, in my '78 Argosy Minuet it takes about two to four hours for the freezer to begin to feel cold while it might take 12 to 36 hours for the refrigerator to reach its normal operating temperature. In my Overlander which has a two year old Dometic 3-Way refrigerator, these times are much faster - - almost 50% faster.

Another issue that can cause erratic cooling is whether the refrigerator is level - - in other words has the coach been leveled. Again, the older the coach/refrigerator the more critical the leveling becomes. My Argosy is far more sensitive to the degree to which the coach has been leveled than is the Overlander with its newer refrigerator.

Good luck with your coach!

Kevin
__________________
Kevin D. Allen
WBCCI (Lifetime Member)/VAC #7864
AIR #827
1964 Overlander International
1978 Argosy Minuet 6.0 Metre
overlander64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2003, 06:16 AM   #3
3 Rivet Member
 
jim8860's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 137
Send a message via AIM to jim8860
Quote:
The upper freezer compartment works but the lower fridge compartment does not cool
Make sure that the fridge is level.I have also found that if you "stuff " the fidge part with a lots of you favorite food it tends to make the fidge not to work to well . Also If the freezer part get loaded with ice that seems like it makes the fidge part not to cold. Have you cleaned exhaust stack?. What I do some times is to pack a bunch of "blue ices" on door.One last thing how old is it I have seen the older the fidge the more they don't like to be off level.Good luck
jim8860 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2003, 01:43 PM   #4
3 Rivet Member
 
GoldFever's Avatar
 
2007 23' International CCD
Hemet , California
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 106
Images: 2
Make sure the door to the fridge is closed tightly all around...we discovered that a pitcher on the door shelf held the bottom portion of the door open even though the top was latched tightly.
Also, make sure the dial is set toward maximum enough to allow the fridge to make the lower part cool enough. We use a fridge thermometer to check how cool it is in there.
Also, if you have teens (we have two) who use the fridge lots to get food/drinks all day, opening and closing the door a bunch can really raise the temp especially on hot days.
Hope this helps
__________________
Gary & Susan Norgan
2007 International 23ft Ocean Breeze
Hemet, CA
"The key to flexibility is indecision"
GoldFever is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2003, 01:45 PM   #5
Moderator
 
Stefrobrts's Avatar

 
1968 17' Caravel
Battle Ground , Washington
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,253
Images: 50
Blog Entries: 1
I had the same problem this weekend. After being leveled and lit for 24 hrs our fridge was barely down to 50, which was quite a bit colder than the 90 it was outside, but not as cold as I would like for the food I had in it. When I lit it at home the day before we left and let it run all night empty it got colder than it needed to.

Do these little LP fridges tend to struggle in the heat or should it have cooled off better than that? I guess we'll take an ice cooler to our next camp out just to be safe. I'm starting to see why some people travel with their fridge lit if it takes more than a day for it to cool down to temp with food in it.
__________________
Stephanie




Stefrobrts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2003, 01:58 PM   #6
3 Rivet Member
 
montanaandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
Dometic Fridge Problems

Add me to the list of those having problems with their Dometic (RM100) fridge. I just had the fridge serviced this week (cleaned, checked to make certain that it is operational). The service guy said that it was pretty dirty but that things looked good. Fired it up using LP yesterday - freezer got to 20' very quickly but the lower ffridge portion did not reach the non-spoilage range (30ish') until the sun went down. Out of fairness, it was close to 100' yesterday so I can't complain about the time it took to cool down. Now here is the kicker - today I am attempting to cool the fridge down using elec. which I understood to be quicker. The freezer compartment is down to around 30' (this after about 5-6 hours) but the lower fridge portion has not cooled at all (at 70'). Why would this happen and what might be causing it? The fridge is basically level. Would this point to a thermocoupler problem? Any assistance apppreciated on . Montanaandy
montanaandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2003, 03:18 PM   #7
a.k.a. Ambassador Tim
 
Safari Tim's Avatar
 
1960 28' Ambassador
Northern , California
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,921
Images: 35
Quote:
Originally posted by Stefrobrts
Do these little LP fridges tend to struggle in the heat or should it have cooled off better than that?
My experince with our new RM2510, that it does in fact depend on the outside temp.

When it was hot on our last trip 100+ outside, we had to have the fridge on the max setting. We were using gas because I thought it was not working on AC. But it was just because the outside temp was so high. Also, I think the inside of the trailer temp affects the fridge temp too.

When we camped in the mountains last year I found a mid setting ok since the daily high was in the 80's. However, that same setting turned the orange juice into slushies and froze the lettuce at night when the outside temp dropped to the 40's.

Just my experience. I'd say if you can shade the outside of your trailer where the fridge is the better you be.
__________________
-Tim
1960 International Ambassador 28'
2001 Silverado 2500HD CC 6.0L 4.10
Check out my book: Restoring a Dream
Check out my Airstream book for kids!: Airstream Adventures
theVAP - Airstream Podcast
Safari Tim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2003, 05:16 PM   #8
Contributing Member
 
Pahaska's Avatar
 
2018 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Austin (Hays County) , Texas
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,164
Images: 4
Re: Dometic Fridge Problems

Quote:
[i] Now here is the kicker - today I am attempting to cool the fridge down using elec. which I understood to be quicker. The freezer compartment is down to around 30' (this after about 5-6 hours) but the lower fridge portion has not cooled at all (at 70'). Why would this happen and what might be causing it? The fridge is basically level. Would this point to a thermocoupler problem? Any assistance apppreciated on . Montanaandy [/B]
Electric is not quicker. The BTU input of the electric element is a little less than the BTU of the LPG burner. Gas, given a clean burner, should cool it down more quickly.
__________________
John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
Pahaska is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2003, 08:08 AM   #9
1 Rivet Member
 
beachmpk's Avatar
 
1971 25' Tradewind
West Hartford , Connecticut
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10
Images: 8
Smile

We had a similar problem with our fridge. It was always level but as we are camping in the summer it was frequently above 90 degrees. We were told to leave the outside door off of the refrigerator compartment and to adjust the main trailer door so that it was not in its fully opened position. These both improved performance but it was not adequate on those really hot days.

Next approach.....and these worked like magic!!!! We installed a dc powered fan to cool the coils. There was an AC powered fan set up to blow on the coils (is this standard equipment???? I don't know. It did not look like it.) that we detached and replaced with the most powerful CPU cooling fan that Radio Shack sells. (When buying look at how much air it moves and make sure that it runs off of 12V if you wiring to battery) We wired it directly to the battery with wire also purchased from Radio Shack. Total solution cost - less that $30.....and we thought we were going to have to buy a new fridge!
beachmpk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2003, 09:03 AM   #10
3 Rivet Member
 
montanaandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
Dometic Fridge Problems

Update - the Dometic finally cooled down after being left on overnight (it was -`10' in the freezer and 10' in the fridge). So I now know that the fridge is operational (at least when the weather is cooperating

beachmpk - I will look into the CPU fan; sounds like a great idea since the fridge will continue to struggle in higher temperatures.

Misc - I notice that when I close the freezer portion I hear a "woosh" sound (similar to what I hear when I close our deep freezer in the home) which to me indicates that the cooling process is in motion. I do not hear this sound when I close the lower fridge portion. Is this normal or does this point to a weak seal on the fridge?

Montanaandy
montanaandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2003, 09:47 AM   #11
uwe
418
 
uwe's Avatar
 
2007 25' Safari FB SE
1958 22' Flying Cloud
1974 29' Ambassador
Yucca Valley , California
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: 1963 26' Overlander
Posts: 4,804
Images: 41
Send a message via Skype™ to uwe
Patience, patience..

It took me a while to get used to the performance ( or lack thereof) of the older Dometic refrigerator in our Tradewind.
Please remember that this does not work as efficiently as your home refrigerator.
Here is what we have done to optimize the refrigerator function:
Do not leave the door open for a long time.
Make sure the vents are completely clean of leaves etc. Especially the roof vent, if so equipped.
Make sure the burner tube is clean, and that the electric heating element is in good working order.
Give the refrigerator time to cool down. Ours takes 6-8 hours to be inthe safety range and stay there.
Use a circulation fan inside the fridge.
Add circulation fan(s) to the venting system to increase air circulation around the cooling fins and tubes. Any increase of airflow helps to remove heat from the fridge. That's what it's doing, not creating cold, but removing heat until it's cold.
__________________
Uwe
www.area63productions.com
uwe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2003, 02:23 PM   #12
Just a member
 
thenewkid64's Avatar
 
1978 28' Argosy 28
Lutz , Florida
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,549
Images: 21
Send a message via AIM to thenewkid64 Send a message via Yahoo to thenewkid64
Montanaandy,

The woosh noise you hear is the rapid cooling of the warm air that was trapped in the freezer shrinking and sucking the door closed. This is a good thing because it means your door seals are good.

Unless you get the refer portion down to 30 degrees or so you will not hear the woosh because the temp differental is not wide enough.
__________________
Brett G
WBCCI #5501 AIR # 49
-------------------------
1978 Argosy 28 foot Motorhome

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato


thenewkid64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2003, 07:05 PM   #13
Aluminut
 
Silvertwinkie's Avatar
 
2004 25' Safari
. , Illinois
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,477
Dad took his SOB to a repair shop to get the cooling unit serviced. There have been no promises that they can fix it, but they did say they have saved many by refurbing the cooling units.

I'll keep you posted on the repair as it unfolds. It is rumored to cost about $250-$300 to fix if they can fix it.

Eric
Silvertwinkie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 06:48 AM   #14
2 Rivet Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 41
Refr. Cooling

I did as one other reader did. Install an aux. cooling fan behind the box to move air over the coils. The only thing different I did was use a 110V fan I bought at an appliance parts store for $15. I fabricated a bracket and secured it to the inner wall behind the box. I plugged it into the elec. box that was already located behind the refrig. I also use a battery operated fan inside the door and it improved refrig ops alot. Every little bit helps. I used a 4" fan as the area behind the box is very tight. I used self tapping screws with a 1/4" air ratchet to secure bracket to wall.
davespann is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 08:38 AM   #15
3 Rivet Member
 
montanaandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
Dometic Fridge

I am intrested in installing a fan behind the fridge to better move/vent the air but I guess that I am a bit paranoid about doing anything to the fridge (i.e. moving it) since I finally have it level and working. If I attempt to pull the fridge out, do I run a great risk of messing things up (taking it off level). I frequently tinker with other things in the trailer (lights, plumbing, converter, etc.) and don't worry about that. Thanks,

Montanaandy
montanaandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 09:08 AM   #16
1 Rivet Member
 
beachmpk's Avatar
 
1971 25' Tradewind
West Hartford , Connecticut
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10
Images: 8
We did not pull the fridge out. All work was easily done on the back of the fridge throught the access door.
beachmpk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 11:24 AM   #17
3 Rivet Member
 
montanaandy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 121
Dometic Fridge Problems

Beachmpk:

Thanks for the input. I will give it a try next weekend (trying to get ready to head to the mountains this weekend).

Montanaandy
montanaandy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 11:45 AM   #18
Contributing Member
 
Pahaska's Avatar
 
2018 Interstate Grand Tour Ext
Austin (Hays County) , Texas
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,164
Images: 4
Fans

If you have any access to a place that scraps old computers, excellect 12v fans can bought for $5 or less. I bought some small fans for $1 each with heat sinks a while back. Computer fans are chosen to be very quiet and reliable.
__________________
John W. Irwin
2018 Interstate GT, "Sabre-Dog V"
WBCCI #9632
Pahaska is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 11:48 AM   #19
4 Rivet Member
 
Jabba's Avatar
 
1955 30' Liner Commodore Vanderbilt
Wayne County , Michigan
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 421
Images: 17
Exterior fan placement

When you installed exterior fans to cool the coils, did you mount at the air intake opening? Or above the burner element? Our intake is in the floor, not the wall. I've noticed the flue becomes hot to touch in the cabinet, so I am going to try putting a fan in to help coolit off too (vent appears to be clear). Our unit currently doesn't have enough oomph to cool on gas alone, wondering if the fan may help that. Sounds like a great weekend test.
__________________
Jason & Veronica J.
S.E. Michigan
1955 Commodore Vanderbilt 30'
"Hawley"
TAC Member MI-6
2008 Chevy Silverado Ext. Z71 w3.73
Jabba is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2003, 11:57 AM   #20
Just a member
 
thenewkid64's Avatar
 
1978 28' Argosy 28
Lutz , Florida
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,549
Images: 21
Send a message via AIM to thenewkid64 Send a message via Yahoo to thenewkid64
Jason,

Any additional movement up the flue is going to be benifical. I have a 1 year old unit and installed a 12 volt high volume CPU fan just above the access door to the refer. It points straight up the middle of the flue. When we camp where the sun beats on the side of the MH that houses the refer I run it to help with cooling. When I run the fan I can lower the thermostat.

The flue may be hot, that is normal. The Liquid needs to be brought to it's boling point in order to work. The airflow that needs to be augmented is over the fins that are near the top of the refer. This is where the heat is dissapated from the cooling unit. If you add a 12 volt fan in the floor opening pointing up, just be sure it is not blowing up the flue of the refer, just the flue of the trailer.
__________________
Brett G
WBCCI #5501 AIR # 49
-------------------------
1978 Argosy 28 foot Motorhome

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato


thenewkid64 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
removing Dometic Refrigerator smily Refrigerators 16 08-18-2010 03:36 AM
Engine Revving Problem winner Mechanics Corner - Engines, Transmission & More... 19 02-08-2010 10:05 PM
Propane fridge installation yaakman Refrigerators 5 09-12-2002 06:34 PM
dometic 3way refer. will Refrigerators 3 08-23-2002 04:52 PM
Electrical problem resolved davidz71 Electrical - Systems, Generators, Batteries & Solar 5 08-12-2002 08:21 PM


Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Airstream, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Airstream is a registered trademark of Airstream Inc. All rights reserved. Airstream trademark used under license to Social Knowledge LLC.



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:37 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.