Frost in my fridge

[jump]

Hey folks ... I'm in Houston in the AS for going on 3 months now and the fins inside my fridge are frosting like its a 50's model fridge.

Who has experienced this and what do I do about it?

Thanks for the replies.

[badkat]

We have a Dometic frig (propane and electric) that is new replacement. Have to defrost about every 4-5 weeks and fins get frost drips also. I also asked the same question a couple of months ago. Was told that is what to expect.

[Panama Red]

Mine is ancient. Not sure if it's the original, but it looks like it could have come from 1974... It does the same thing. Not much you can do with this type of refrigerator. Household fridges today have an automatic defrost cycle that prevents this from happening. We don't have it on our camper fridges. Not sure if they provide that on an upscale model or not. Keep your door seals clean, and the door closed as much as possible, and that's about all you can do...

-Red, battling the ice like the rest...

[slowmover]

The greater the relative humidity the more it is a problem. Also, door gaskets get old and this can worsen things.

[sandlapper]

Some models have a heat strip type thing made inside the frame that can be switched on to help prevent frost build up. Look for a small rocker switch up over the freezer area.

John

[PaulnGina]

I want to try one of these in our Avion:

Smart RV Products Fridge-Fix Product #7

More info about their product:
Fridge-Fix

A comment from their site: "
With the Fridge-Fix installed, you will never have to defrost your refrigerator again.​​...ever."

Big claim to make....... maybe it works.

[rmkrum]

Looks like a good idea...


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[jump]

So i just unload it and let it thaw?

Is there a circulation fan that fits dometic & might help prevent this?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by PaulnGina

I want to try one of these in our Avion:

Smart RV Products Fridge-Fix Product #7

More info about their product:
Fridge-Fix

A comment from their site: "
With the Fridge-Fix installed, you will never have to defrost your refrigerator again.​​...ever."

Big claim to make....... maybe it works.

Now that looks slick!

-Red, let it go, let it go...

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by jump

So i just unload it and let it thaw?

Is there a circulation fan that fits dometic & might help prevent this?

Put the frozen items in an ice chest in hottest weather with dry ice in bottom. Meat and other reefer valuables on top of that. Canned outside if no more room.

Prop doors open. Have towels ready. Use hair dryer to speed process. Obviously a good time to clean it all and sanitize.

Inspect gasket on both doors. Look for age problems. Needs a little spring to it. No cuts. Etc. There are tests such as using a dollar bill to check seal. Gasket grips on bill or no grip. This is the big area of concern past cracks to the interior.

If door seal is good then fan can at help some. I like the one above but I wouldn't expect it to keep frost accumulation from happening.

A good floor model dehumidifier is what I use to lower the load on the A/C unit and the reefer in the TT interior.

The add on reefer fan should help with keeping interior temps more stable once in a drier climate or with dehumidifier. I shoot for 40%.

[Panama Red]

Man, somebody has given this a lot more thought than I have.

-Red, duly impressed...

[PaulnGina]

Originally Posted by jump

So i just unload it and let it thaw?

Is there a circulation fan that fits dometic & might help prevent this?

Do you know the model number of your fridge?

Here is their fit chart:

http://www.smartrvproducts.com/fit-chart.html

[A W Warn]

I use a hair dryer to defrost the fins in the fridge, being extremely careful to keep the hair dryer out of the water drips. Less than an hour to get it done. For me it's usually about 6 weeks to 8 weeks till the fins get covered with enough frost to stop the air flow between them.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Panama Red

Man, somebody has given this a lot more thought than I have.

-Red, duly impressed...

Thanks.

A big three-way reefer is expensive. And more than any other appliance it is at the heart of being able to live well independent of re-supply. And I've done this back to childhood.

Besides, I'm sure there are older threads addressing this and more. A search should always be done.

[california57]

Vaccume bag all your goods to, reduces moisture

[SeeMore]

Wow, what an over-engineered solution for moving air inside the reefer. Too bad it doesn't actually deal with frost buildup. There are simple, much less costly ways to ensure a more rapid recovery from opening the door and adding items. Slowmover is on target.

Dometic Norcold Refrigerator Fan for RV 12 Volt | eBay

[Nomad518]

your Dometic Fridge is new enough it should have a built in frost reduction setting/control. Check your owners manual. Sandlapper described the control you should be looking for in a previous response. It is a small rocker switch at the top of the inside edge of the refrigerator or freezer door opening. Mine has one and it does work although I think it only works when you are plugged in to shore power. I don't use it often as we have low humidity here in CA and I'm normally not out for more than a week at a time.

[Cannonball]

You can also double check the actual fridge temp. We were out for 12 days over Christmas, and I just turned on the fridge and set the temp selector at the middle position (it has five positions, total). Didn't think much more about it. When I finally checked the fridge temp, it was close to 30 degrees. Seems that I could have probably been running it on the lowest setting and been fine. That would have probably helped with the frost build up as well.

[Panama Red]

Out of nine settings, I run mine between 2 and 3... Anything above three will ice the milk.

-Red, drinking some cold beverages...

[Sodbust]

We found with our 72 Overlander that just a few minutes with a vacuum cleaner hose blowing air works about as fast as anything.. The air seems warmer than room temps,,, so must pick up some heat getting compressed and blown..

Anyway,, works better for us than the DW hair dryer. Sodbust