Dometic RML 8555 owner statistics

[cpaharley2008]

As Dometic has agreed to replace those poorly functioning units, some owners may or may not have issues. I never really camped in 95 degree weather nor had spoiled food. That said I thought it may be helpful for those owners to see what others have to deal with. I thought a log maybe helpful my myself and others to compare. Hopefully this will enable me to determine if my unit is functioning inadequately or not.

I'll start with my information:
I turned on my refer this past Sunday after this past brutal winter. I see the control to #3 on 120v and installed my thermometers. Now since thermometers are known to be inaccurate, I have 3 to determine the correct information. The wireless digital, the Taylor model Alf mentioned and the old fashioned round unit found every where.

I have found the round unit it the least accurate because the Taylor and digital units agree.
Stats:
Monday it was sunny and warm, temperatures in 70's. The digital read 42/8 for the refer/freezer. The digital also showed the hi/low to be 61(when it was turned on) and a low of 6.
Tuesday, cloudy but still warm, no change. I turned on the interior fans I installed with the fridge fix kit last year. On Wednesday the reading was 38/3. Today it is colder so I'll report tomorrow when it supposed to get warmer again. Refer is still on #3 setting.
Feel free to record your own info if you like.

[escape artist]

Hi: cpaharley2008... When we get home I will start replacement proceedings. The door is so flimsy as to leak cold air and cause condensation at the latch. On a still air day it struggles at 80+*
Temps have varied from now 37* set on 4 bars, to as high as 44*. Some mornings it's 32* but if we use the MaxxFan o'er night it's a lot higher.
At present it needs defrosting but we have no cooler to sub. I did leave the thermistor sensor off the fins for this trip. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
Headin' for Tenn. Friday

[Bobbito]

I like your idea of people logging actual fridge/freezer temperatures in relation to outside temperature. But don't stop there. It would be so useful if fridge users could submit a form (developed by moderators/Reace) that would help get a handle on how many units are problematic. Ask the right questions and you could give Reace even more ammunition if the problem persists. I have read some posts that appear to expect more from these fridges than they are capable of doing, but many more that appear to be legitimately under performing. You could provide such a form under files or have a link to it, have people email it to a designated moderator and have them compile the data for Reace and others to give Dometic, concrete information. As my trailer will begin construction in the next week or two, I wonder how big the issue is. I know that there are measures being taken to address the problem, but I still wonder how prevalent it is. Are there Escapers with this fridge who use in the 80 - 90 deg F temperatures and can demonstrate it at least comes close to the expected performance? If there ever was a forum capable of compiling such valuable information this one is it.

Bob K

[Jubal]

Can we limit the results to the data without any auxiliary devices (fans, etc.) and the frig kept in the standard OE configuration ?
This will help determine if the frig actually cools adequately in warm and hot weather and if more add on devices are actually needed.

[Jubal]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

I like your idea of people logging actual fridge/freezer temperatures in relation to outside temperature. But don't stop there. It would be so useful if fridge users could submit a form (developed by moderators/Reace) that would help get a handle on how many units are problematic. Ask the right questions and you could give Reace even more ammunition if the problem persists. I have read some posts that appear to expect more from these fridges than they are capable of doing, but many more that appear to be legitimately under performing. You could provide such a form under files or have a link to it, have people email it to a designated moderator and have them compile the data for Reace and others to give Dometic, concrete information. As my trailer will begin construction in the next week or two, I wonder how big the issue is. I know that there are measures being taken to address the problem, but I still wonder how prevalent it is. Are there Escapers with this fridge who use in the 80 - 90 deg F temperatures and can demonstrate it at least comes close to the expected performance? If there ever was a forum capable of compiling such valuable information this one is it.

Bob K

How do we define the expected performance ? Would this be the parameters of the SN subnormal temperature design ratings ?

[padlin]

We're beating a dead horse here, what folks have encountered has been posted ad nauseam, plus they've already agreed to replace them. Temps get over 80-85, fridge can't stay at safe levels.

[Parker]

Jim, I believe I understand your dilemma. Having not camped in really hot weather, you would like to be able to compare operation at lower ambient temperatures with others in hopes of making some determination about how yours will work on hot days, so you can feel justified in asking for a replacement. You don't have much else to go on. The problem is, there are just too many confounding factors to make such a determination. The question I would suggest is to ask how many 8555 owners have had acceptable cooling at 90 degrees or above. Ours works great below 80 degrees, similar to what you're reporting. At 90, it's terrible, and we have thrown away a lot of food as a result. I don't recall anyone bragging about how well their 8555 works at 90 degrees or higher. If there are some instances of this, I'd love to hear about them.

[cpaharley2008]

The information I was hoping to gather would just be data, any conclusions would have to come later. I'm not trying to reopen the other issues, just collecting data for future reference. As a side note, it appears the only other manufacturer, Norcold is having issues of their own, fires. http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...html#post89189

[Jubal]

"As a side note, it appears the only other manufacturer, Norcold is having issues of their own, fires. Norcold recall and settlement.... "
How is this relevant to the performance of Dometic refrigerators ?
The Norcold recall is for older production refrigerators.
http://www.norcoldrecall.com/

[BCnomad]

While I didn't have a thermometer Jim, my last trip was average outside -5 to teens C. Inside roughly 15-18C all week.

Had the fridge on "4" and it held no surprises. No frozen milk, no spoilt milk - everything cold as I felt OK with. When I remembered to check the ice pack in the freezer (once) it was plenty frozen.

A "4" under those easy conditions could/would be corollary to Parker's comments about higher temps, especially since I supposedly have the improved door.

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by Bobbito

...Are there Escapers with this fridge who use in the 80 - 90 deg F temperatures and can demonstrate it at least comes close to the expected performance? If there ever was a forum capable of compiling such valuable information this one is it.

Bob K

We live in northern Alberta where hot temperatures are definitely not the norm. However, we did spend 3 weeks during summer (July) 2014 in SW USA (mostly WY, UT, AZ, CO) with daytime highs varying in range of 33°C to 43°C (91°F to 109°F).


Our fridge operated on propane most of that time, with about 1/3 days at sites with electricity. We had no issues with our 2013 6.7cu ft fridge not keeping up with the cooling. Although we honestly were not monitoring the fridge performance for issues, we never noticed any problems, food stayed cold in fridge, food froze and stayed frozen in freezer (my wife passed out freezies to heat suffering neighbor kids in Devil's Garden CG in Moab). Steaks taken from the freezer and placed in the fridge to thaw would do so only after a very long time. So for us, I would have to say that up until now, we have had no negative performance issues with ours.

That being said, we do plan on continuing to travel to hotter climates in the future and all of the negative things I have been hearing about the fridge have me a bit concerned that my fridge performance could degrade in the future. Should I risk things and keep my fridge, or should I take up Dometic's offer and go with the new 2 door fridge? That is the question for me. (And are we sure that this new fridge has resolved the issues others are having? Maybe I will be exchanging a relatively problem free situation for something much worse?)

[cpaharley2008]

My thoughts exactly, Dave....

[float5]

What improvement is the new refrigerator supposed to have?

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Floating Cloud

What improvement is the new refrigerator supposed to have?

Reace says it has a "Stronger cooling unit" in post #8 here http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f2...ough-5343.html
and they are taking a new one to Texas this week for a rally and will report back their results.

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

My thoughts exactly, Dave....

Very hesitant to post this(don't want to rain....) however has anyone searched RMD8555 performance reviews? Folks Down Under seem to be complaining similarly about it as we are up here with the RML8555, so for me it is a toss up( I know it's a tropical environment). Am probably going to the new one if the "re & re" isn't too expensive. I don't think our current single door unit is adequate.

[padlin]

If I hadn't put a thermometer in the fridge and freezer we wouldn't have known the temps go to 45 when it's hot out and Deb wouldn't have had me toss out the dairy products. I really couldn't tell other then the thermometer, frozen stayed frozen and the items in the fridge felt cold to me. Might be one of those too much info times, like monitoring the tranny temp on a digital meter.

We like the idea of a 2 door fridge, had one before and liked it. Of course we didn't use a thermometer on it...

[cpaharley2008]

I did it mainly to see if the refer while on propane blew out while towing and then came on again when slowing down. My Lance trailer would do that.