Refrigerator Question

[wdk450]

SDrago:
Can you get the refrig to cool on propane power?? This will help identify if you have a cooling unit problem or an electrical heater problem.

 

[jmgratz]

Dealer made all mods to my 14CF fridge in my 2011 3670.(insulation, baffle 2 additional fans) Dealer said it has been holding at 33-35 for 3 days in Louisiana heat. Picked it up yesterday and unit was off!!. Kinda *****@ me off. Got it home and can't get temp to drop. Documented 10 hrs. Started at 49 when I turned it on. Went up to 55 now is at 54. Only thing I can figure is possibly voltage difference. Unplugged fridge and checked plug for voltage and meter read 109.6v. Checked a few others around house and it read 1110-113. Also running 50A cord to 30/15A adapter. Could these things be affecting cooling capabilities? Been having RV since 4/22 and been in shop nearly half the time. I love the BH but my patience and nerves are running thin. Some advice PLEASE. Steve A. Dagro

The voltage should be fine at 109.6 v. Is your fridge in a slideout? Is the side of the slideout facing the sun? If yes to both of those questions then you may need to add a fan in the back of the fridge. Also the fan that is there may not be coming on when it should. If your fridge is not in the slide then hmmm let me think about that one. Make sure the door is completely closed. What is the freezer temp? Also a fan in the bottom inside of the fridge part helps.

 

[sdagro]

Yes it is in a slide-out. Not in the sun but under a large metal carport. When Dometic replaced the fridge last week they told the technician to remove the 2 fans from the one being replaced and add them along with a larger fuse behind the one being installed. Now I have 4 fans and the baffle. When I checked it this morning at 5:30am it was on 36 degrees which I can live with. Have an electrician coming over later today to increase wire size and power to my catering kitchen so I will let him drop me a bigger line along with a 50A service to avoid adapters all together. I'll post a follow-up when finished. Thanks to all. Steve A. Dagro

 

[jmgratz]

Yes it is in a slide-out. Not in the sun but under a large metal carport. When Dometic replaced the fridge last week they told the technician to remove the 2 fans from the one being replaced and add them along with a larger fuse behind the one being installed. Now I have 4 fans and the baffle. When I checked it this morning at 5:30am it was on 36 degrees which I can live with. Have an electrician coming over later today to increase wire size and power to my catering kitchen so I will let him drop me a bigger line along with a 50A service to avoid adapters all together. I'll post a follow-up when finished. Thanks to all. Steve A. Dagro

One other thought is if it works okay on Propane it could be the voltage one the line. Adding 50amp service may solve your problem. 109 volts is borderline being too low. Frigerators on slideouts are notorious for cooling problems as the heat had to go out the side vents versus the vent in the roof. That is why I asked.

 

[sdagro]

One other thought is if it works okay on Propane it could be the voltage one the line. Adding 50amp service may solve your problem. 109 volts is borderline being too low. Frigerators on slideouts are notorious for cooling problems as the heat had to go out the side vents versus the vent in the roof. That is why I asked.[/QUOT

34 at noon. Don't want to brag to quick though. Also don't want the DW to catch me being positive! This thing might actually be fixed and I can finally enjoy and realize that there is 36 more ft. of beauty even w/o fridge, but it sure will keep my adult beverage cold. Will wait til this evening, check it again and start putting everything back in it. Steve

 

[wesley1963]

We got the fridge problem taken care of. The new cooling unit is working like a charm. It's been around 95-97 deg outside and the fridge temps are hanging between 34-38 deg. The baffle is shown below, as well as a new drain hose I picked up at the hardware store for $1.50. The hose is 1/2" ID and is far superior to the hose (or whatever it is) installed on the fridge


View attachment 9471View attachment 9472View attachment 9473View attachment 9474View attachment 9475View attachment 9476View attachment 9477View attachment 9478

 

[jpajax]

Not high jack post but Ray you said that your thermistor was on the fifth fin form right. Mine is on the first fin on right. I wonder if this makes any deference?

 

[sdagro]

We got the fridge problem taken care of. The new cooling unit is working like a charm. It's been around 95-97 deg outside and the fridge temps are hanging between 34-38 deg. The baffle is shown below, as well as a new drain hose I picked up at the hardware store for $1.50. The hose is 1/2" ID and is far superior to the hose (or whatever it is) installed on the fridge


View attachment 9471View attachment 9472View attachment 9473View attachment 9474View attachment 9475View attachment 9476View attachment 9477View attachment 9478

Could not open any of the attachments above. Must be same problem other poster had on this same thread. Please try to send image of baffle again so I can compare it to the one my dealer put in. thanks, Steve A. Dagro

 

[wesley1963]

Could not open any of the attachments above. Must be same problem other poster had on this same thread. Please try to send image of baffle again so I can compare it to the one my dealer put in. thanks, Steve A. Dagro

Here are the baffle pictures again.

 

[kakampers]

Curious...is this situation, requiring modifications, only on the newer Dometics? The Dometic in our 08' Bighorn is set on 4 and has no trouble keeping the inside temp in the mid to upper thirties even in very hot weather. And yes, it is in the slideout. Ours doesn't have the temp gauge built in, but I've checked the temps regularly and there is no issue...and we don't even have a fan, like the newer ones!

Why are the new ones having so much trouble? Any ideas?..

 

[newbie]

Our has a digital temp gauge on the front so I definitely notice any temperature increase right away. I bet if you had a temperature readout in bright LED numbers right on the front, you wouldn't be as confident in your fridges temperature. Don't get me wrong here, I am not try to sound snippy, but without the constant reminder of the temp, it would be easy to think that since the temps were ok yesterday or even a few hours ago, they are ok now, when in fact, they could be much warmer than you believe. Just my 2 cents,

John

 

[kakampers]

What I can tell you, temp gauge or not, when there is ice droplets and frost on the bottom of the fins whenever I open it...I know my temperature is just fine! Since we live in it and open every single day, many times a day...I may not know the exact temperature, but I know it's close enough to 32 for me.

In fact, just about two weeks ago I opened the fridge and noticed that the frost on the fins was melting into the tray. I checked and noticed that the thermistor had apparently been bumped and moved down...moved it back to where it belongs, and fins are again nice and frosted, even as I type this....

 

[wesley1963]

Curious...is this situation, requiring modifications, only on the newer Dometics? The Dometic in our 08' Bighorn is set on 4 and has no trouble keeping the inside temp in the mid to upper thirties even in very hot weather. And yes, it is in the slideout. Ours doesn't have the temp gauge built in, but I've checked the temps regularly and there is no issue...and we don't even have a fan, like the newer ones!

Why are the new ones having so much trouble? Any ideas?..

That's a good question. We only turn ours off to defrost, and it's kept on 4 like yours. The temp was always a steady 34-38 even in the FL sun. One morning it was up to 46 and in a few days it was 57. It maintained 57 in the fridge and the ice gradually started to melt in the freezer. Not sure if Dometic's manufacturing has changed, but Dometic told me that sodium chromate can build up in the cooling unit and cause the unit to not work and that it is heat related. http://www.rvrefrigerator.net/Troubleshooting.htm
Dometic would not approve the installation of a new cooling unit until the baffle was installed, saying that a new one would only do the same thing. I asked if this was a new problem and he said that he is seeing it more often now and that the baffle seems to correct the problem. I guess only time will tell.

 

[kakampers]

Wesley1963...thanks for that information! We will definitely keep an eye on our unit...we do the same thing, it is on constantly unless it's being defrosted, which we do 2-3 times a year.

By the way, how long is Dometic's warranty?

 

[lwmcguir]

Our has a digital temp gauge on the front so I definitely notice any temperature increase right away. I bet if you had a temperature readout in bright LED numbers right on the front, you wouldn't be as confident in your fridges temperature. Don't get me wrong here, I am not try to sound snippy, but without the constant reminder of the temp, it would be easy to think that since the temps were ok yesterday or even a few hours ago, they are ok now, when in fact, they could be much warmer than you believe. Just my 2 cents,

John

We definitely notice things like getting in the fridge more or as the day warms. The temps change for sure. Glad we have the display with the larger fridge as it reminds us not to leave the doors open to long.

 

[wdk450]

For those of you (including us) that has a refrigerator that DOESN'T have a digital readout/alarm you can buy these at RV parts stores or online. They aren't too expensive, and the battery seems to last a long time. Here is a link to an Amazon page that features one brand and has many other brands linked at the bottom of the page: http://www.amazon.com/Camco-42113-Alarm-Dual-Temperature-Thermometer/dp/B0006IX7UG
We actually use a dial-type thermometer that hangs from the shelf grids (looks like an oven thermometer), without an alarm that might keep going off immediately after opening the door.
Going back to my medical electronics maintenece days, we had these readout/alarms on all of the small refrigs throughout the hospital, so I think they are pretty reliable. Then a regulatory group started demanding that ALL refrigerators have their temperatures logged twice a day, and this work seemed to fall to a high-paid, overworked RNs. The answer now being implemented is wireless thermometer alarms in all these refrigerators throughout the hospital buildings, they connect to the data network and are monitored at 1 central point.

 

[wesley1963]

Wesley1963...thanks for that information! We will definitely keep an eye on our unit...we do the same thing, it is on constantly unless it's being defrosted, which we do 2-3 times a year.

By the way, how long is Dometic's warranty?

Dometic's warranty is 3 years - 2 years parts and labor, and 1 more year parts only.

 

[hogan]

We will be taking delivery of a 2011 Big Horn with the 4-door Dometic. Would the baffle already be installed in new units? Can it be installed from the outside without removing the unit inside?

 

[emptynesters]

Was wondering what you found out about your fridge. We took our Big Horn out this weekend and had the same problem of our fridge heating up to over 50 degrees. We took everything out and put on ice in the cooler then let the fridge set overnight and woke up and it was 38 degrees. We put all the cold foods back in and had no trouble with it the rest of the weekend. All we can figure out is with the extreme heat (90 plus degree weather)and opening and closing the door before the camper was cooled down we were causing the problem on this trip but we have had other times that the fridge does not stay a consistant temperature so just curious to what you have found out about yours.

Emptynesters
Larry and Joanna
Plus our traveling yorkies Lizzie and Molly
2010 Bighorn 3055RL
2007 Dodge Diesel Bighorn Edition

 

[wdk450]

Hoganc:
karykatz is the Heartland Bighorn/Landmark product manager who often monitors this forum. Why don't you send him a private message introducing yourself with your question about your new Bighorn?

Welcome to the Heartland Family!!