Water Pooling in Dometic DMC4101 Fridge—Causes and Fixes?

[rhardwick]

This fridge has water collecting on the bottom shelf. I looked in the owners book and nothing is mentioned about a drain hose. Outside the RV there is the standard fridge vent cover and it's blocked off from the inside. No access to the back of the fridge unless I remove it.
I called Dometic and was told this unit does not have a drain hose...........

Where does the water go when the freezer auto defrosts?
This is in a 2021 2529RG
Anyone else having this issue?
Thanks for any assistance.

 

[Morich]

With a search using the brand and model, I find lots of hits on different sites but I DO NOT find the good manual that I like for parts. I find one but it is lame!
A search may turn up a group of other forums with posts about that frig.
Standard issue may be something like check the door seal to assure there is not too much air getting in but that is more hope and prayer than help!
The owners manual seems to assume we are on the dumb side? It suggests not leaving the door open so long!

Sorry not seeing much help!

 

[tim myers]

More than likely this is condensation coming from poor sealing of the doors to the body of the fridge. My Nocold side by side is bad for this and the issue was exacerbated when I had the 12 V compressor back installed as it cools so much better. You can tell by looking for condensation around the perimeter of the doors. Mine is so bad there are times the bottom meat drawer has .5"of water in it. Replacement door seals are not available, and NorCold rather wants to sell me new doors at $1000+. I have tried adding material to thicken things up at the seals to help them seal better with marginal results. I have also seen posts suggesting to simply expand the seals by pulling on them, again with less than optimal results.

 

[Morich]

Good point above! A test that may help point to the problem is using a piece of paper to run in between the seal and the metal. if the paper slips in easily, air can do the same.
Maybe check to see if there is a lot of difference in some spots along the seal?
If you find a really loose spot, I have heard of folks making some improvement by adding thin strips cut from hobby type styrene plastic to super glue to make the seal stick out a bit more and press more firmly on the metal.

 

[MadMaxWinny]

Tim has the right explanation, but I'm a bit surprised that such a new fridge already has this issue. New seals would be the solution, but they are usually unavailable. I just clean both sealing surfaces on a regular basis and live with a bit of water.

 

[RayIN]

What is the brand/model of your fridge?

When my Norcold 1200LRIM fridge seals didn't pass the dollar bill test, the next time I removed contents for storage I thoroughly washed the seals and accordion folds. After everything was dry I gently warmed the seals with an old hair dryer. I then pulled the accordion seals apart and put cotton balls in the folds all the way around the door. This expanded the seals, and as they cooled, mostly returned to OEM specs.
So far that has made them pass the dollar bill test. When in storage the doors are always propped open to eliminate pressure on the seals.
That is all I have to offer, not knowing your made/model.

 

[rhardwick]

I have a Dometic DMC 4101, 12 volt fridge. I may have blocked the air vent placing water close to keep it cold. Seems odd it has a defrost feature but no where for the water to go??
Dometic does not offer this unit anymore...........