Dometic refrigerator not cold

[popeyedoyle1]

Hello Airstreamers,
My 1979 28' Ambassador's freezer works great...refrigerator does not seem to get as cold as it should. Do you have any recommendations that I can do myself before taking it tob a professional?

[CanoeStream]

Hello Pop -- and welcome to the Forums!

RV refrigerators are very slow to cool down. If you're experimenting with a unit new to you I would suggest letting it run at least overnight before deciding on the fridge portion. An older one might truly take 1-2 days. An inexpensive fridge thermometer from the hardware store is a good idea anyway. You seem to be suggesting the freezer is responding quickly. Give it some time and see what happens.

I don't have a ready answer if this is a recent development to a fridge you've worked with before. Then consider this message bumped back to the top. But let us know ASAP whether paragraph 1 or 2 of my reply is the path to pursue... Thanks!

[lewster]

Popeye,

Go to the back and check the temp (with your hand, carefully) on the heating (generator) section and the absorber coils ( the section in the lower middle that has the tubes running diagonally). They should both feel about the same temp. If not, like one is noticeably different than the other, you might have a blockage in the cooling unit.

Also, have you cleaned the flue recently. A rusty or semi-clogged chimney area and the spiral baffle that is suspended inside should be cleaned AT LEAST yearly to facilitate the heat transfer to the refrigerant.

[Janssvt]

Try defrosting the freezer. If it gets a thick layer of frost on the back it will do something that causes the frig not to get cold. Had that problem with ours and that's what the manual said to do and it worked.

[Buttercup]

popeyedoyle1,

This has been talked about before and there is much good information on the topic. Our fridge has the same problem. For these forums you will find that every topic has been discussed before in some form or another. The search feature should become your best friend for stuff like this. Sometimes it takes a while but if it is out there, with a little perserverance, you will find it.

Here are 2 links that you should check out. The post is part of a topic on fridges behaving badly and a PDF file of troubleshooting and diagnosding fridge problems.

Hope this information helps and welcome to the forums!!

http://www.airforums.com/forum...90-post13.html

http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/Mandiag.pdf

Originally Posted by popeyedoyle1

Hello Airstreamers,
My 1979 28' Ambassador's freezer works great...refrigerator does not seem to get as cold as it should. Do you have any recommendations that I can do myself before taking it tob a professional?

[joel]

I had a 73 31 and had the same problem. It was due to old hard gaskets. A light coat of vaseline seald up the air gaps and it cooled down fine. A greasey fix and you have to be carefull about your clothes when getting things out of it. We used ours for two years and only had to put a very light coat of vaseline on it. Good luck