Fridge Temps???

After showing someone in our campground our new Big Horn, they went and bought the same model. As soon as they got home they discovered the fridge didn't cool and went through some difficulty until they discover it was the thermister (not sure of spelling). When they replaced it everything went fine.

Now my fridge is causing some questions. Since we bought it the interior temp has been 36-37 degrees - well within safe ranges. Over the last few days it has slowly crept upwards until it is just managing 39-40, barely within safe ranges. We defrosted the fins, cleaned it up and restarted it yesterday (today its 39-40).

Questions: could this be due to increased exterior heat, our daytime temps have gone up to the mid 80s and its been extremely humid? IF so, will exhaust fans installed behind the fridge near the vents help?

If not daytime temps or weather related, and nothing else has changed, could this be a symptom of something beginning to malfunction? If so, what?

I may be a bit paranoid but want to nip things before they get out of hand and too many Dometic fridges have had mother boards or thermisters replaced.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I was told the thermister? on the fins can be adjusted to lower or raise the temps. Call the frig mgf for help.

tkdmike, We've been in Corpus all Winter and have defrosted about every 2 to 2-1/2 weeks. Humidity is a killer and the constant opening of the reefer door for a soda or beer doesn't help ours much. Our thermister is on the fifth fin from the right and about half way between top & bottom of the fin. It was put there by the dealer that replaced our cooling unit after a leak developed. (Recall Issue) One thing to check is the cooling fan on the back side of the cooling unit. It's located up high near the cooling coils. You might need a mirror to see it. If it's not running, you might have a problem there. Ours maintains about the same temps as yours. Mid to low 30's and after a couple weeks starts to get up to 40. Time to defrost. It's the nature of the beast I think.

tkdmike,

Since you have a 3600RL make sure the cooling fans operate properly. The refrig is in the kitchen slide with an upper and lower exterior vent. The fans are thermostat controlled when temps inside the refrig cabinet climb to about 90/95 deg. An inline fuse is located behind the lower exterior vent. The refrig will not maintain recommended temp, the thermostat is mounted on the upper cooling fins between the lower and upper exterior vent.

Forrest

Thanks for the responses. I am going to check the cooling fans as soon as it warms up a bit. Temps down in the 40s with rain right now and the fridge is back in the mid 30s. I played with the Thermister (however you spell it) and temps after defrost and adjustment are back to 36-37 unless the door is open too much.

But it looked like they were a bit warmer when the weather was warmer - which makes me suspicious of the exterior exhaust fans. So, I'll give those a check and see as the weather warms up a bit - also will check the fuse.

Thanks again.