STOP THE PRESSES!
Although the baffle may contribute a small bit to the fridge cooling, I am now convinced it is not the big problem. I encourage everyone to hold off on the baffle install (unless you are bored) for a few more days.
Tammy and I are currently travelling in a 5.0TA. This is one of the units I was playing with in the yard trying out different methods of fridge installation. This unit has insulation packed in around the sides and top of the fridge, baffle and exterior 'Texas' fan. Seemed to perform ok in the yard...not so on the road.
Mike from Smart RV Products was kind enough to ship one of the Fridge Fix fan kits to me on the road in Oregon to play with along the journey.
Oddly, the two day drive down the coast to Bandon OR, the fridge held fine, but once we reached Bandon, it started to go downhill...and it wasn't that hot on the coast.
As we headed inland, it just can't keep up. I have done everything possible on the installation side to achieve the best performance. While in Bandon, I had a close up look at the install of the Dometic fridges in the Casita trailers, and they have much the same gapping as our install without baffles. The owners are quite happy with the cooling of their fridges!
What am I missing????
We are currently in Eastern California with temperatures in the low 30's and the fridge is holding in at around 5 degrees...with ice packs in the fridge.
Unfortunately the Fridge Fix is not helping...and today I think I figured it out. I stopped and bought an infrared thermometer so I could see what the temperature is on the cooling fins.
First of all, let me start with...I have two thermometers, one is a digital wireless which is nice...the other is a horizontal unit with the red stuff (?) that shows the temp and stays in fridge. Digital unit reads about 1.5 degrees C higher than cheap unit.
Ok, fridge set on max, inside temp reads 5 degrees, so does the fins. One hour later, the fins read 0 degrees. I have caught it as low as -5 at times, so I know if it would stay there, the Fridge Fix fan would definitely have some cold to move around the fridge interior.
Today I had another lengthy conversation with one of the higher- ups at Dometic. With all the information I have gathered, we have to be able to come to a solution, because so far, nothing suggested has really worked...effectively. I am now convinced that the thermistor is not set correctly or is simply failing. Dometic is going to overnight some products to me tomorrow to try. As I kind of butchered the one in this fridge trying to see any change, I will start with a new replacement thermistor. Hopefully it is as simple as a defective unit. I also asked for a thermistor out of a different fridge that I can splice in, as maybe these are just not set properly. Dometic mentioned they did have a booster for the thermistor for fridges that simply could not cool enough.
I am hopefully getting one of those too! He was not sure if they were still available.
So, after all that, if in fact the thermistor is the problem, lets try that fix before we jump into the baffle fix...because it isn't helping right now.
I will keep in touch
Reace
Although the baffle may contribute a small bit to the fridge cooling, I am now convinced it is not the big problem. I encourage everyone to hold off on the baffle install (unless you are bored) for a few more days.
Tammy and I are currently travelling in a 5.0TA. This is one of the units I was playing with in the yard trying out different methods of fridge installation. This unit has insulation packed in around the sides and top of the fridge, baffle and exterior 'Texas' fan. Seemed to perform ok in the yard...not so on the road.
Mike from Smart RV Products was kind enough to ship one of the Fridge Fix fan kits to me on the road in Oregon to play with along the journey.
Oddly, the two day drive down the coast to Bandon OR, the fridge held fine, but once we reached Bandon, it started to go downhill...and it wasn't that hot on the coast.
As we headed inland, it just can't keep up. I have done everything possible on the installation side to achieve the best performance. While in Bandon, I had a close up look at the install of the Dometic fridges in the Casita trailers, and they have much the same gapping as our install without baffles. The owners are quite happy with the cooling of their fridges!
What am I missing????
We are currently in Eastern California with temperatures in the low 30's and the fridge is holding in at around 5 degrees...with ice packs in the fridge.
Unfortunately the Fridge Fix is not helping...and today I think I figured it out. I stopped and bought an infrared thermometer so I could see what the temperature is on the cooling fins.
First of all, let me start with...I have two thermometers, one is a digital wireless which is nice...the other is a horizontal unit with the red stuff (?) that shows the temp and stays in fridge. Digital unit reads about 1.5 degrees C higher than cheap unit.
Ok, fridge set on max, inside temp reads 5 degrees, so does the fins. One hour later, the fins read 0 degrees. I have caught it as low as -5 at times, so I know if it would stay there, the Fridge Fix fan would definitely have some cold to move around the fridge interior.
Today I had another lengthy conversation with one of the higher- ups at Dometic. With all the information I have gathered, we have to be able to come to a solution, because so far, nothing suggested has really worked...effectively. I am now convinced that the thermistor is not set correctly or is simply failing. Dometic is going to overnight some products to me tomorrow to try. As I kind of butchered the one in this fridge trying to see any change, I will start with a new replacement thermistor. Hopefully it is as simple as a defective unit. I also asked for a thermistor out of a different fridge that I can splice in, as maybe these are just not set properly. Dometic mentioned they did have a booster for the thermistor for fridges that simply could not cool enough.
So, after all that, if in fact the thermistor is the problem, lets try that fix before we jump into the baffle fix...because it isn't helping right now.
I will keep in touch
Reace