RM 2852 Refridgerator won't cool, Freezer Fine

[JohnDar]

At the plant tour, I noticed refers in crates that had the fan in the middle (see photo). Mine (DM2862) is mounted at the top so it's just at the level of the upper vent panel.
View attachment 14867

 

[Kelly50]

Yes that looks just like mine. I hadn't seen it until I got up above the vent and looked down.

Thanks

 

[kakampers]

At the plant tour, I noticed refers in crates that had the fan in the middle (see photo). Mine (DM2862) is mounted at the top so it's just at the level of the upper vent panel.
View attachment 14867

John...we have the same fridge as you...have you had a problem with yours? Have you needed the baffle? And finally, does your fan operate, if so, do you know about what temp triggers it?

 

[JohnDar]

John...we have the same fridge as you...have you had a problem with yours? Have you needed the baffle? And finally, does your fan operate, if so, do you know about what temp triggers it?

I have not had a problem with our fridge, other than recently when the girls stuffed it full of groceries. The temp went up to 50, but after a while returned back to it's normal 40. I did bump the thermistor up a tad when I saw that. I have not actually seen the fan operating, or heard it. I do get the fridge checked annually by the dealer, though. I also have not installed a baffle.

Consider, however, my rig is not being exposed to the extreme conditions of the sunny South, but is running continuously from early May until late September on electric.

 

[ShakyCharb]

I have a Bighorne with the same problem you folks are having and really appreciate what you have posted. I have already had the thermo couple replaced once but I suspect the new one is bad too. I'd also like to know at what temperature the couple should close so I can figure out a way to test it. I did by-pass it the first time it failed but didn't suspect a second failure until reading this thread. Again thnakt ya'll.

 

[Kelly50]

Yes that was me Roy. Enjoy Colorado

 

[kakampers]

I have not had a problem with our fridge, other than recently when the girls stuffed it full of groceries. The temp went up to 50, but after a while returned back to it's normal 40. I did bump the thermistor up a tad when I saw that. I have not actually seen the fan operating, or heard it. I do get the fridge checked annually by the dealer, though. I also have not installed a baffle.

Consider, however, my rig is not being exposed to the extreme conditions of the sunny South, but is running continuously from early May until late September on electric.

thanks! that's pretty much the same experience we've had. Ours hangs around 38, unless we open it alot, but in warm foods, etc. It was having some trouble keeping up when it was over 100 outside, but quickly came back down over night.

We fulltime, so ours has run continuously since July of '07...we thought we were having an issue when the temps rose during the high heat, tried the baffle and realized, on our unit, it made the temps actually go up. We quickly removed it and the temps settled back down into the normal range.

Guess we've just started paying more attention lately, and became concerned when the fins started to defrost...but now I think this is just it's normal operation, especially when things get really hot outside.

 

[JohnDar]

I did pick up one of those little battery fans that Mac the FireGuy was selling. It does seem to help with distributing the colder air from the bottom of the fridge. Still running on the same two D-cell batteries since the rally.

One thing I have noticed is that the joke of a drain hose from the refer is losing it. I have to be real careful when I remove the lower grille not to break it...again. It's as brittle as glass. Replacing it looks to be a chore of pulling the refer from its mount to get at it. Not looking forward to that.

 

[wesley1963]

I did pick up one of those little battery fans that Mac the FireGuy was selling. It does seem to help with distributing the colder air from the bottom of the fridge. Still running on the same two D-cell batteries since the rally.

One thing I have noticed is that the joke of a drain hose from the refer is losing it. I have to be real careful when I remove the lower grille not to break it...again. It's as brittle as glass. Replacing it looks to be a chore of pulling the refer from its mount to get at it. Not looking forward to that.

The hose replacement is a must if you need to have the unit taken out for whatever reason. I wrapped our drain hose with emergency tape immediately after getting the unit. It may have helped a little, but it still fell apart. The rplacement hose is 1/2" ID by 5' long. I ended up cutting about 6" off after installation.

 

[kakampers]

I did pick up one of those little battery fans that Mac the FireGuy was selling. It does seem to help with distributing the colder air from the bottom of the fridge. Still running on the same two D-cell batteries since the rally.

One thing I have noticed is that the joke of a drain hose from the refer is losing it. I have to be real careful when I remove the lower grille not to break it...again. It's as brittle as glass. Replacing it looks to be a chore of pulling the refer from its mount to get at it. Not looking forward to that.

Ken replaced our hose without removing the fridge...he was able to access it from the top vent. He used a white rubber hose and then a fitting to reduce it to a small, clear rubber drain tube that sticks out the bottom vent...should last ALOT longer than the original piece of "you know what"...

 

[dalspot]

After reading a similar thread on RV.net, I picked up a 12-volt twin blade fan on Ebay that will attach to the fins in the fridge and hooks to the light power source. Cost about $18 delivered. Do a seach for "DOMETIC NORCOLD REFRIGERATOR FAN FOR RV 12 VOLT"

We are heading out this weekend and I'll report back on what difference it makes.

Karen

 

[JohnDar]

Ken replaced our hose without removing the fridge...he was able to access it from the top vent. He used a white rubber hose and then a fitting to reduce it to a small, clear rubber drain tube that sticks out the bottom vent...should last ALOT longer than the original piece of "you know what"...

Thanks for that info, Kathy. I'll stick my nose in the top opening next week and check it out. Can't spend a couple of weeks at the CG without doing SOMETHING to the rig (it does need a bath, though). Got tools, gotta mod. Ken wouldn't recall what size hoses and fittings he used, would he?

 

[Kelly50]

Update
Checked on my refridgerator yesterday and is maintaining 38 - 40 degrees depending how often we open it. The fix was getting the fan running and making the air baffle at the top vent. The last thing I did was to replace the thermal limit switch to make the fan go off and on. Everything seems to work fine now.

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

I think 38-40 is borderline cooling isn't it?

 

[boatto5er]

I think 38-40 is borderline cooling isn't it?

Pretty accurate Kenny. Here's info from the USDA Website:
"Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F). Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F or below."

 

[wdk450]

Update
Checked on my refridgerator yesterday and is maintaining 38 - 40 degrees depending how often we open it. The fix was getting the fan running and making the air baffle at the top vent. The last thing I did was to replace the thermal limit switch to make the fan go off and on. Everything seems to work fine now.

Kelly:
Make sure that the outside vents airflow has no bypass paths by the low temperature evaporator. Your cooling unit should have 3 sets of fins on the piping - the one at the top is the condenser, the next one down is the low temperature evaporator (freezer cooling) and the bottom one should be the high temperature evaporator (refrigerator). Vent air could be channeled next to the freezer fins but be partially bypassing the refrigerator fins. Baffles or just insulation material can narrow the air gap between the cooling unit and the outer wall so that airflow MUST pass through these heat exchange fins. The venting section of this website calls for 0 to 1/4 inch clearance.
Here is a link to the RVMobile website cooling unit "How it Works" diagram. You might want to pay attention to the "Evapaorators" paragraph.
http://www.rvmobile.com/tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm

 

[Kelly50]

Thanks Bill I'll check that. It seems to be doing very well it actually gets down to near 30 in the evening when we quit fanning the door. Mine is set up like the example (Bad Venting 2)of the top vent actually being too low. The air was actually getting out before it got to the condensor fins. Once I placed the top baffle the air flow goes through the condensor fins and out the vent.

 

[KENNY COCHRAN]

pretty accurate kenny. Here's info from the usda website:
"always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °f). Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °f or below and the freezer at 0 °f or below."

ok thanks for the exact numbers. I thought it was getting close to the upper limits. Mine is hitting 39 and i'm not happy, but it is better than 50+

 

[JohnDar]

So long as the beer is drinkably cold, who cares? I can dial 911 and get hauled to a hospital to have my stomach pumped. Or take a copy of "War and Peace" into the throne room to deal with the spoiled food.

Just kidding. Having a thermometer in the fridge is a must, along with checking it frequently. The small battery operated, fans placed on the bottom shelf, do help circulate the cold air. It would be an excellent upgrade/modification (Dometic, are you hearing this?) to have a digital readout OUTSIDE the refer for the temps in the freezer and fridge.

 

[kakampers]

We bought an appliance thermometer at Walmart...hangs right on the wire rack. It shows a "safe zone" for the fridge of between 34 and 40 degrees. Ours is staying in that range, closer usually to the 38-40 mark...but it's cool where we are in Maine...will see how it does as we get into hotter temps.