How many folks are having fridge issues

[daveandsandyclink]

No sympathy for me. I just want a solution to this issue and for each silent owner who has the same poor performance. I tried bagged ice once while desperately trying to prevent spoilage. There was little room for anything else while trying that idea. When water hit the floor, my navigator was very unhappy to say the least. I was also thinking of removing my freezer door to help the refrigerator during the summer.

[hotfishtacos]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

No sympathy for me. I just want a solution to this issue and for each silent owner who has the same poor performance. I tried bagged ice once while desperately trying to prevent spoilage. There was little room for anything else while trying that idea. When water hit the floor, my navigator was very unhappy to say the least. I was also thinking of removing my freezer door to help the refrigerator during the summer.

Mine runs cooler with the freezer door removed. I tried it that way on two trips and put my frozen stuff in the ice chest. That arrangement worked well...but I purchase ice cream the day it will be consumed... You will definitely see an improvement and your new fan will help as well with that arrangement.

[Stargeezer]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

I have suspected all along that there was no hope for my 5cf model. Many of you have heard me complain while searching for a solution. Mine belongs in an igloo and not in an Escape bound for Texas. For me, 35c is a normal summer day. I have experienced many nights of getting up and checking the fridge temp. We have lost food to spoilage during outings. I have gotten no where with Dometic on the issue. My warranty has expired now and when it totally quits, I'll gut it and convert it to an ice box with a block ice compartment and drain. A dorm fridge would likely fit but then you have lost the flexibility of dry camping or staying in primitive campsites. I placed my order with Fridge Fix yesterday. We will see if that might help. I will likely have no more than an expensive light now. Until the RV nation revolts, everyone will suffer with poor refrigerator performance.

Dave... were you running the fridge on LP or Grid?... or does it matter?

Thanks,
Larry

[alanmalk]

Found on Amazon - "Dometic 120V 325W Refrigerator Heating Element".

From this, I infer that any energy source, be it 12v, propane or 120v, will have to supply around 325 watts to the "boiler" component of our Dometics on a continuous basis. So, 325 * 24 is 7800 watts per day. Compare to this number found on Solar Panels from Wholesale Solar "16 cu. ft. 1200 watt-hours /day".

If you do the rest of the math, it makes you want to cry. Of course, to state the obvious, it's far easier to get lots of heat out of propane than it is to get wattage to run a 16 cu ft refrigerator from 12v batteries.

I'm going to hold out for those 30 pound, 120v lithium batteries at $199.00.

Sigh...

[rbryan4]

Dave,

I have been reading up on the subject of absorption refrigeration. I know, dry stuff, but there is some interesting info out there. One thing that surprised me is how the unit needs to be absolutely level in order to operate properly, mainly because there is no means of moving the liquid inside the coils except by gravity.

I know you probably already level your trailer religiously when camping, but for those who don't, getting everything dead level might help the performance.

I also found an article which showed just how important the venting is. Most trailers used to have a chimney to vent the heat from the fridge, but now almost all of them have the side panels, which is a very inefficient method to vent in general. Thus, Reace's solution of adding the baffle to aid in heat dissipation.

Lastly, when your Dometic does finally give up the ghost, you might consider replacing just the cooling unit, with a remanufactured one from this place in Tucson Arizona. Their rebuilt cooling units are supposedly over-engineered to do a better job than the factory parts:

Trailer & RV Refrigeration - Sales and Service Gas RV Refrigerators

[daveandsandyclink]

Hi Larry,

I get my best cooling on propane. I will often do my cool down @ home on 120v a night or two before. Taking everything out cold or frozen and load it quickly giving time for recovery before leaving. During our trips out, I will on stay on propane if the ambient temp is warm. I dial the temp control to achieve 27 to 30 by morning if I can get it and generally dial to MAX to slow the rise during the day hoping to squeak by. I have never shutoff during travel. I pull in for fuel leaving the trailer out in the open and away from fuel pumps. I run my "ducted outlet" Texas fan, another 12v squirrel cage discharging upward at the lower vent and two battery fans in the fridge. I have my gas regulator set at the maximum recommended pressure and have checked and cleaned the flame orifice. While camped, I take the lower vent cover off. My fiberglass skin is insulated. The space between the fridge and wall has foam added. I have a thermometer in both the refrigerator and freezer. And a digital display unit with alarms to keep watch on the refrigerator temp. I always setup and run level. We quickly snatch out and put in what we rarely need. An I use my high performance ice chest. I am currently waiting for my Fridge Fix and if that doesn't help, I am going to remove my freezer door.

Can anyone reading this see something I have missed?

[davescape]

Originally Posted by reace

When it gets too warm outside the problem is that condensation never begins at the top of the cooling unit because there isn't enough temperature difference.

Reace

Reace, would it help to direct some of the air conditioned air from the interior of the trailer onto the back side of the fridge to compensate for the high exterior temperatures via a small louvre or a powered vent? If it was feasible, then at least those who had 120v power and air conditioning could maintain the fridge while parked.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

Can anyone reading this see something I have missed?

Moving to the NorthWet?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Found on Amazon - "Dometic 120V 325W Refrigerator Heating Element".

From this, I infer that any energy source, be it 12v, propane or 120v, will have to supply around 325 watts to the "boiler" component of our Dometics on a continuous basis...

I agree with the logic, but that must be for a very large Dometic absorption refrigerator; it runs three times the power of the heater in the refrigerator in my small trailer (Escape 17' sized). Maybe I'll check larger units tomorrow...

Originally Posted by rbryan4

One thing that surprised me is how the unit needs to be absolutely level in order to operate properly, mainly because there is no means of moving the liquid inside the coils except by gravity.

Well, decently level anyway. It doesn't have to be completely level.

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Most trailers used to have a chimney to vent the heat from the fridge, but now almost all of them have the side panels, which is a very inefficient method to vent in general.

Most RVs still use a roof outlet vent - which gives a good "chimney" effect - including larger Escapes. Upper vents are placed on the wall (instead of the roof) when the refrigerator is placed in a slideout (now common in large RVs), when a small refrigerator is placed under the counter (common in small RVs), or in most traditional moulded fiberglass travel trailers (including the Trillium which inspired the Escape design).

Originally Posted by alanmalk

Lastly, when your Dometic does finally give up the ghost, you might consider replacing just the cooling unit, with a remanufactured one from this place in Tucson Arizona. Their rebuilt cooling units are supposedly over-engineered to do a better job than the factory parts:

Trailer & RV Refrigeration - Sales and Service Gas RV Refrigerators

We had a Dometic refrigerator replaced with a complete new unit in our motorhome (under warranty). A couple of years later, it stopped working it again, and the tech recommended that we go with a rebuilt cooling unit instead of a complete new appliance (both of which would have been covered by our warranty). He explained that the robotic welds joining the tubing of the new units tend to penetrate excessively and cause rough joints inside the tubes, causing clogging, while the rebuilts are manually welded and allow better flow. True or not, the replacement rebuilt cooling unit is running fine.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

Hi Larry,

I get my best cooling on propane.

Can anyone reading this see something I have missed?

The only other thing I can think of, and I don't really know the best/safest way to do this, is to get the propane burner to exhaust way up in the top, as far as possible from where the fins are trying to cool the ammonia enough to get it to condense and run back down the tubes. That's probably why Norcold, in the info that Reace posted recently, suggested running on 120V when the temps are high. While propane does the best job of providing a heat source, it leaves us with a hot exhaust to deal with in an area we're trying to cool. Of course the 120V idea doesn't help while traveling.

I believe these larger fridges have been designed with too little margin. In two previous campers with 1.9 cu ft fridges, we tossed out a lot of lettuce, not because it was too warm, but because it froze. The cooling apparatus to fridge volume ratio leaned toward overcooling. In these larger fridges, if Dometic wanted to, they could double the size of the entire cooling setup, and we would likely run at 50-60 percent of the max except for really hot days. Of course that would make these things even more expensive, and there is still probably a thermodynamic limitation in getting the cooling fin/coils cool enough to work on really hot days.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by davescape

Reace, would it help to direct some of the air conditioned air from the interior of the trailer onto the back side of the fridge to compensate for the high exterior temperatures via a small louvre or a powered vent? If it was feasible, then at least those who had 120v power and air conditioning could maintain the fridge while parked.

I think that would be tricky when running on propane. There would be too many opportunities to get combustion exhaust in the living area. If these operated on 120V only, it might be helpful....but then we could just use 120V fridges which would be way better to start with.

[padlin]

I'm new to the single door fridges and have been reading all the diverse threads on cooling problems and the associated topics. Not to belittle the problem that some folks are having, obviously to them this is a huge issue as it would be to me. I'm Just wondering if this has gotten blown out of shape. So far we have add on fans behind the unit, up in the roof vent, battery jobs inside the unit as well as more or less permanently installed fans blowing on the fins.

Also wondering if we suffer from too much info. Thermometers that minutely measure and report highs and lows and our striving to get these to equal FDA suggested specs may be looking to get these units working better then they are designed to be. Kind of like striving to get my truck to meet the government standards of 23 mpg when I get 17.

Limited testing and a couple nights camping don't show one here, if I don't worry about staying at 38 degrees like the residential one does. 2014, 6.7

Polls don't work too well here but I'd like a show of hands one way or the other as to if you have an issue, please state fridge size and trailer year if you know it.

[Ruthe]

We've only had the frig for a month and for three weeks it was pretty cold outdoors. However, the last week has been very hot in Montana-- nineties, and the nights have not been cooling down so much. I've been watching the frig carefully and everything has been as cold as it should be and the stuff in the packed feeezer has stayed frozen. We have the "Texas" fan and we can't figure out if it has turned on or not in the heat, but so far so good.

[KarenH]

2013, 3.0 cubic feet, no problems.

[Tonny LR]

I talked with Reace regarding an electrical isuue not related to fridge last Friday. He told me that there is a call on Dometic fridge related to 19 ft. He will send emails and video to those involved. Stay tune.

Tonny LR

[daveandsandyclink]

I forgot to add that my heater chimney has been extended near the top vent to help prevent heat buildup.

Move? I just knew someone would suggest that.
Sorry...We're Texas Born/Texas Proud
Have you forgotten that thread "Enough Already"

[cpaharley2008]

So far my 6.7 has been fine. No spoilage and the beer is always cold, but I'm adding the fridge fix not to make it cool better, but to enable it not to work so hard to keep it cold.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

I forgot to add that my heater chimney has been extended near the top vent to help prevent heat buildup.

Move? I just knew someone would suggest that.
Sorry...We're Texas Born/Texas Proud
Have you forgotten that thread "Enough Already"

Dave, looks like you've done more to fix this issue than anyone I've seen. Maybe it's just a bad cooling unit? Hate to think of the cost of replacement, especially if you get the same problem.

[Stargeezer]

Originally Posted by daveandsandyclink

I forgot to add that my heater chimney has been extended near the top vent to help prevent heat buildup.

Move? I just knew someone would suggest that.
Sorry...We're Texas Born/Texas Proud
Have you forgotten that thread "Enough Already"

Thanks for the very thorough description Dave. Perhaps we'll get a better test when we hit 100/100... that's 100 F & 100% humidity...

Thanks again,
Larry

[escape artist]

Hi: padlin... I'm in the no issue camp too!!!
My Dr. says "one bottle a day" so I don't over fill the 6.7 cu. ft. in our new 5.0TA.
Ice is nice in a soda... and the only thing spoiled is ME!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie