Solution for Refrigerator not cooling

bmorrell

Member
I have a 2006 Landmark, refrigerator in the slide, that I never could get the refrigerator cold. The coolest I could get it is mid 50's. I was able to get the service manual and find out why. It turns out they were installed wrong. This may have been fixed on later models and I don't get on here very often, so I thought would throw this out as an alternative solution.

There is an open cavity above the refrigerator and the vent to the back of the slide out. Hot air rises off the back of the refrigerator and sits in that cavity. It is supposed to have a deflector to push it out the vent to keep that heat from sitting there. I cut some insulation the size of the cavity and installed it, foil side down. The foil come right to the edge of the vent and back into the cavity. You will want to fill that entire cavity. This acts as both a insulator and the foil is a deflector to push that heat right out the vent.

There is one other thing to do as well. I had to replace the drain hose off the back of the refrigerator that drain the condensation. The original junk that was on there rotted and fell off. The drain also serves with a one way valve to let water out and not let outside hot air in. If your drain hose has fallen off order a new from Dometic. My refrigerator sits on 42 degrees on setting 3 now. Where I was getting 55 on setting 5.

Just my thoughts Bruce Morrell
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Bruce:
There have been a lot of postings on this issue of slide-mounted refrigeration, and the fix is pretty much what you did. Insulate the dead air spaces aroudn the refrigerator, top and sides, with fiberglass batt. Divert the airflow (think of the space back of the refrigerator as a chimney, where there has to be a draft of air upwards taking heat from the cooling unit evaporator/heat exchanger pipes upward and out of the upper vent by convection flow). Many of us fabricated baffles of sheet metal to direct this flow. Ensure that the rising draft air goes closely by the back of the refrigerator and does not bypass the cooling unit by flowing up near the outer wall instead. My baffle helped prevent this, or you could put insulation on the outer wall between the wall and the cooling unit.
Here is a good reference on refrigerator venting (see the bottom illustrations on side venting): http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/vent.htm

Here is a poor pencil drawing of my vent/insulation setup.

RV Refrigerator Baffle system 001.jpg
 

StephenKatSea

Active Member
Bruce:
There have been a lot of postings on this issue of slide-mounted refrigeration, and the fix is pretty much what you did. Insulate the dead air spaces aroudn the refrigerator, top and sides, with fiberglass batt. Divert the airflow (think of the space back of the refrigerator as a chimney, where there has to be a draft of air upwards taking heat from the cooling unit evaporator/heat exchanger pipes upward and out of the upper vent by convection flow). Many of us fabricated baffles of sheet metal to direct this flow. Ensure that the rising draft air goes closely by the back of the refrigerator and does not bypass the cooling unit by flowing up near the outer wall instead. My baffle helped prevent this, or you could put insulation on the outer wall between the wall and the cooling unit.
Here is a good reference on refrigerator venting (see the bottom illustrations on side venting): http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/vent.htm

Here is a poor pencil drawing of my vent/insulation setup.

View attachment 18417
Summer like temps of 90-107 have already arrived here in the Ca/Az desert where our BH3670 is located. Followed Bill's excellent advise on the sheet metal baffles to properly route the air. Our fridge is now staying at 35-40 degrees, and it is located on the "sunny side" of our BH. I had previously filled the hot air pockets with insulation and placed small battery operated mini fans within the fridge. All due to the very good advise received on this forum. Thanks to all.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
WHY ISN'T THIS A WARRANTY PROBMLEM, and they should fix this.

Hi dmanson, welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. You'll find a lot of good information here.

I agree with you - if your refrigerator doesn't keep food cool, it's a warranty problem and on the RM1350, Dometic warrants the refrigerator. There have been lots of posts about Dometic providing warranty service in similar situations.

The original post was about a 2006 coach, where for whatever reason, the owner got the service manual, figured out what was wrong and fixed it himself. Maybe in reading this thread, you're wondering why we're discussing making repairs ourselves.

Sometimes information is shared here in the context of helping people who are out of warranty. Sometimes it's about simple inexpensive adjustments vs a 300 mile round trip and leaving your coach at the dealer for a month. Sometimes it's about the quality of dealer service and whether it's better to do it yourself. Sometimes it's about providing the detailed information to guide the service tech to check things he might otherwise miss.

And yes, often there's advice about how best to get something fixed under warranty.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
Why isn't this a warranty problem, and they should fix this.

I would rather fix things my self than drag the unit to a dealer that has it for two to three weeks and you get it home and find out it isnt any better. You will find great fixes on this forum like this fridge mod and TimK's A/C tent in the vent that was figured out by owners long before the dealer got any idea. Seems they want to replace the whole fridge when it isnt the problem. A few bucks and few minutes and you can have your own fixed and fixed right. Granted if there really is something wrong with the fridge the dealer may be your only outlet.
 

dmanson

Member
Thanks for the info on my frig, I am new to forums and now know how helpful all you guys are. Thanks again Doug
 
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