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Old 09-09-2019, 03:46 PM   #1
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Refridgerator stuggles in hot humid south.

Anybody else have struggles with the refrigerator in hot/humid environments? My Dometic fridge/freezer had a real hard time in the extreme heat and humidity in the Florida Keys last weekend. If the door was opened occasionally for something the fridge would never get below 40 until overnight. This is with the awning shade over the fridge that is housed in a slide out.



Common issue, or problem with unit?
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Old 09-09-2019, 03:59 PM   #2
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We have never had a problem with our Dometic refrigerator not getting cold enough in hot humid conditions. Does your temperature sensor look like this?
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Old 09-09-2019, 05:23 PM   #3
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Mine seems to do ok. I wouldn’t mind if it could get slightly cooler but it’s about the same as the one in our previous camper. The fans run on this one a lot. Speaking of fans there’s a number of eBay ads for add on fan kits like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-DOMETIC-N....c100930.m5375 appears to be a couple of computer fans and a thermostat of some sort - not sure if they perform as claimed.
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Old 09-09-2019, 06:36 PM   #4
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Check out this video starting at about 18 minutes and 15 seconds. This guy is a certified RV technician and has a number of very good RV repair/maintenance/trouble shooting videos. As part of this video he talks about having proper air flow for a refrigerator in a slide, that may be part of your cooling issue.

I've learned quite a bit about RV maintenance, repair and trouble shooting from watching his videos.
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Old 09-09-2019, 08:37 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbird65 View Post
We have never had a problem with our Dometic refrigerator not getting cold enough in hot humid conditions. Does your temperature sensor look like this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred 2106DS View Post
Check out this video starting at about 18 minutes and 15 seconds. This guy is a certified RV technician and has a number of very good RV repair/maintenance/trouble shooting videos. As part of this video he talks about having proper air flow for a refrigerator in a slide, that may be part of your cooling issue.

I've learned quite a bit about RV maintenance, repair and trouble shooting from watching his videos.



I'll have to look and see if the position of my sensor has changed, but it should be as high as it can go.


Very helpful video Fred, thanks!
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Old 09-10-2019, 08:39 AM   #6
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If you should need to repair your thermostat or want a variable thermostat several people I know have recommended this. https://www.snip-the-tip.com/cgi-bin...bCoj9MJdEz9DYM
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Old 09-10-2019, 10:27 AM   #7
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Fred, thanks very much for the excellent video. I watched all of it and learned some things. In my photo above I should not have called it a thermostat but rather a thermistor.
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Old 09-10-2019, 04:25 PM   #8
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Your both welcome. If you haven't done so already, check out the resources on his website. Lots of videos and manuals.
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Old 09-10-2019, 04:34 PM   #9
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Thanks again Fred.
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Old 09-10-2019, 08:18 PM   #10
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Fridges mounted in slides do not cool as well as slides with roof vents. the convection cooling of the rear coils is not as effective with the sidewall upper vent, vs a roof vent. I see this complaint frequently on various discussion forums. Fans on the backside of the unit may help.

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Old 09-15-2019, 04:33 PM   #11
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I also had problems this last summer keeping the fridge/freezer at temperature. We've replaced the thermostat, cooling unit and finally learned if we can shade the outside of the unit that houses the fridge, it will work better. But if the sun beats on the siding nearest the fridge, it will struggle. I will be adding a second 12 volt exhaust fan soon. It won't hurt. I have these sensors and thought they were way off. That is until I got home and put them in the house fridge. They were within 1 or 2 degrees of being right!
The preferred temperature is somewhere between 35 and 38 degrees F for the fridge and
The freezer temperature should be 0° F. Or as close as possible. I never got to 0, but single digits many times. My ice cube trays still would freeze water, so I was happy!!

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Old 09-15-2019, 10:16 PM   #12
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This vid has some tips as well. Watch at 3:18. This especially may help

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Old 09-16-2019, 04:39 AM   #13
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Was it running on gas or electric. Mine cools much better if I manually change the mode to gas. Try running it on gas. If it doesn't cool well on gas, you may need to clean the burner. Sometimes rust flakes fall from the unit down the burner tube onto the burner and reduce its ability to cool well. The burner is in the small metal "box" at the bottom of the unit on the right side. Tap on the burner box and burner tube, then blow out with compressed air. This should be done about once a year anyway as preventive maintenance.
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Old 09-26-2019, 10:23 AM   #14
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Could be time to get the Amish Fridge conversion or best yet is switching out to a marine/RV compressor fridge such as a Nova Kool which is built for heavy use and does not need to be level to work.
Plus either greatly reduces a possible RV fire.
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Old 09-26-2019, 05:05 PM   #15
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FWIW....


"40° F

Keep the refrigerator temperature at or below 40° F (4° C). The freezer temperature should be 0° F (-18° C). Check temperatures periodically." (from the FDA.GOV web page...)



I'd not get too excited if you are doing 40F in daytime but it drops at night.



Just a SWAG here.... It might work a little better if you set the thermostat slightly above the 'max cold' setting. If it's hot out and you are demanding it to keep a really cold temperature, the unit may be cutting off in self protection from over heating. You want it to 'cycle' on and off not try to run continuously.
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Old 09-27-2019, 12:47 AM   #16
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I seem to remember reading on this site or irv2 that contrary to how residential refrigerators work, cooling to the thermostat setting, Rv refrigerators (and roof air conditioners too) only cool to 30 - 40 degrees below ambient air temperature.

On our recent trip to the Lower-48 in July/August our Norcold worked fine until we reached Arizona and New Mexico where the outside air temp was well over 100. The fridge struggled to maintain 50 degrees and the freezer went up to the high 20s. A couple days later as we left the Southwest and headed to Indiana the ambient temp went down to the 80s and the refrigerator temps went back to normal.

That leads me to believe the theory in the my first paragraph may be accurate.
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