Freezer working, Fridge is NOT...??

Cleaned out the fridge today. shut if off, defrosted it, and cleaned it up, getting ready to hit the road in two weeks....The freezer is cranking just fine...but the fridge is still 78 degrees after many hours.

What should we look at? Thermistor bad? Which way is colder for the thermistor...up or down?

This is one of the older Dometic two door refrigerators...any thoughts....

If the freezer is working well, and the refrigerator is not, I'd start by check for air leaks. Make sure the door is closing properly and check the seals by closing the door on a dollar bill. When you pull the bill out, you should feel light drag.

thanks...seals seem to be fine....

Down is colder. My fridge usually takes overnite to get to operating temp.

Invizatu said:

Down is colder. My fridge usually takes overnite to get to operating temp.

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Are we talking about the white plastic peace attached to the fins on the back inside the fridg ?? If so, I thought the higher it is on the fins the colder the fridg gets ?? Please clarify, Thanks

Bobby... Yes on the thermistor, Someone had posted before that down was colder and I tried it on mine and indeed it did get colder.
My fridge is a Norcold, but I think they all function pretty much the same.

Invizatu said:

Bobby... Yes on the thermistor, Someone had posted before that down was colder and I tried it on mine and indeed it did get colder.
My fridge is a Norcold, but I think they all function pretty much the same.

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Well Holy Darn !! I've been doing it wrong for YEARS !!! What was I thinking/drinking !! Mine is a Dometic, can anyone with a Dometic confirm this before I lower mine down on the fins. Thanks Invizatu

KaKampers:
It is all the same closed recirculating refrigeration system. If the venting is good, and heat exchange airflow up goes past both the refrigerator and freezer evaporators, and there are no gasket leaks, you may have part of the cooling system clogged. If you are ready to bone up on how these works to understand them better, read this link:
http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm . Note: The Low Temperature evaporator is for the freezer, the High Temperature evaporator is for the refrigerator. Read the "Out of Level" section to get an idea about portions of the system plugging up. I hope this isn't the case as this calls for a new refrigerator or a new cooling unit.

wdk450 said:

KaKampers:
It is all the same closed recirculating refrigeration system. If the venting is good, and heat exchange airflow up goes past both the refrigerator and freezer evaporators, and there are no gasket leaks, you may have part of the cooling system clogged. If you are ready to bone up on how these works to understand them better, read this link:
http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm . Note: The Low Temperature evaporator is for the freezer, the High Temperature evaporator is for the refrigerator. Read the "Out of Level" section to get an idea about portions of the system plugging up. I hope this isn't the case as this calls for a new refrigerator or a new cooling unit.

Click to expand...

thanks for the info, but we've been stationary for six months...don't think it's a leveling issue. Worked fine until we turned it off to defrost and clean it...

Bobby A said:

Well Holy Darn !! I've been doing it wrong for YEARS !!! What was I thinking/drinking !! Mine is a Dometic, can anyone with a Dometic confirm this before I lower mine down on the fins. Thanks Invizatu

Click to expand...

I went back and read a couple of other older post about dometics having problems and they say to raise the thermistor up to get it colder, so.... I don't know what to tell you except... move it up and check it 24 hours later and see what happens.

Thanks, we've set it up close to the top and will check in the morning. Thankfully we have a refrigerator in our coach house. However, it's been running since early this afternoon, and the temp hasn't dropped at all...doesn't look good.

Looks like we might get to use the extended service policy we bought with the coach after all....LOL...

Thanks everybody for all your input...however, we must have been fulltiming TOOO Long...apparently it takes alot longer for the fridge to cool down than we remember. Got up this morning and it was at 34 degrees....it's 86 degrees outside, and it's holding steady at just under 40 degrees....I'm happy!!!

Glad it all worked out for ya Ken. I will make for a better Easter.

kakampers said:

Thanks everybody for all your input...however, we must have been fulltiming TOOO Long...apparently it takes alot longer for the fridge to cool down than we remember. Got up this morning and it was at 34 degrees....it's 86 degrees outside, and it's holding steady at just under 40 degrees....I'm happy!!!

Click to expand...

I noticed the last time I defrosted mine it seemed to take longer than normal to get cold, I was getting a little worried also, glad it all worked out for ya. Happy Easter,

I hope someone could help me. I realize this post should probably go somewhere else. My wife and I just became proud owners of a new 2011 Heartland Sundance XLT fifth wheel 245RL this week. I have a problem with the fridge...it is exactly the same as our previous camper (Flagstaff Micro lite) but this one will not work on the AC power mode. I push the Auto button in, the Auto light comes on and after about 20 seconds I can hear the clicking noise from the gas trying to ignite. I did turn the gas on and it works that way so I closed the gas to try the regular AC power. I have power to everything else (including the microwave). It does not seam to detect power so it switches to gas mode. I have called the dealer and he said check the GFI in the bathroom...it was not trip but I reset anyway. Still does not work. I check all fuses..pulled everyone and turned off breakers, but it still had the "auto light" illuminated...12 volt power only???
Any suggestions? We never had this problem in the last camper with the exact same fridge.

Thanks

Bill

Welcome to the forum Bill. Lots of good information to be found on this great forum.
Take the outside vent panel off behind the refer. It sounds like the refer may not be plugged to 120 back there.
Get back and let us know what you found.

Peace
Dave

Well, I did find the problem with help from another thread. The dealer should have done a complete check of the RV before they sent us away with it (we were not at all impressed with this dealer in West Fargo, ND for several reasons. Salesman and manager never thanked us or showed appreciation for the sale among many, many other issues). We were told it was all ready to go just add water to the tank. After I opened the outside access panel and removed the cover for the power connections and inspecting the wires and fuses all seemed correct and in working order. I finally noticed the actual three prong power cord was just shoved behind the insulation that was covering the 120 outlet. Now it's plugged in properly and should be working.
Note to Salesman and delivery personnel...Inspect the units and show you care for your customers. Needless to say, we will NOT be getting our next Heartland RV from that dealer.