New 4.3 & 6.7 fridge info

[MyronL]

The fridge was kept empty during entire testing period. A remote digital thermometer was used on the lower shelf, in the middle. The thermometer with display readings was kept on the countertop. Readings were noted either before opening the door or long after the door had been (open for no more than 4-5 seconds), closed.

I was not interested in going for the coldest temperatures possible when camping. I was interested only in seeing if there were any variations in a base temperature with the variable being an absolute, controlled minimum.

The "variable" was fan on or off, and moved to different locations inside.

 

[Klem]

All frozen veggies aside, when trying to determine the temperature of a closed system (aka door stays closed) with a remote readout digital thermometer inside, the manual instructions are irrelevant.

We'll said!

I just posted it to show you don't need to 'load' the refrigerator to test. Food safety is a serious issue, especially when traveling, and these refrigerators are not operating properly..

 

[Donna D.]

There's a whole bunch of folks on the forum that are new to all-molded towables. Am I the ONLY one that remembers Pete Dumbleton? (RIP). Cold air SINKS. As soon as you open the frig door... out goes the cold. Pete (full-time Scamp owner), rigged up a "plastic" pass-thru for his frig. Kinda like the "flaps" you see in huge refrigerator cases. Almost transparent, but allowed the owner to reach through and grab the milk... but no (or nearly) no loss of "cooling." I'm just sorry I didn't capture the pics... we lost those in the "hack" of FiberglassRV (use your imagination).

 

[MyronL]

Pete was a wonderful mentor to many of us.

Other noted "variables:" My fridge door open for one minute resulted in a temp increase of 5 degrees that held for at least 3 hours.

 

[FMLNM]

There's a whole bunch of folks on the forum that are new to all-molded towables. Am I the ONLY one that remembers Pete Dumbleton? (RIP). Cold air SINKS. As soon as you open the frig door... out goes the cold. Pete (full-time Scamp owner), rigged up a "plastic" pass-thru for his frig. Kinda like the "flaps" you see in huge refrigerator cases. Almost transparent, but allowed the owner to reach through and grab the milk... but no (or nearly) no loss of "cooling." I'm just sorry I didn't capture the pics... we lost those in the "hack" of FiberglassRV (use your imagination).

I did just that in our fridge...didn't know anyone else had done it before...great minds I guess
I used the remnants from a shower curtain, duct tape and twist ties....
I made two sections..one was just the top shelf and the other was from the top shelf to the bottom.

 

[Klem]

Are we all 'on the same page' that the refrigerator should remain below 40 degrees F ?

During my tests in high 60's to high 70's temperatures a door opening of a minute or so would increase the temp a couple (2) degrees and it would be back down in an hour. That was with the freezer removed, thermistor moved down, and on 3 power bars. Refer temp 35-38 degrees F. I could only keep it under 40 with the freezer installed at 5 power bars ... that would result in no reserve for hotter climates.

From USDA:

Refrigeration slows bacterial growth. Bacteria exist everywhere in nature.
They are in the soil, air, water, and the foods we eat. When they have
nutrients (food), moisture, and favorable temperatures, they grow rapidly,
increasing in numbers to the point where some types of bacteria can
cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures
between 40 and 140 °F, the “Danger Zone,” some doubling in number in
as little as 20 minutes. A refrigerator set at 40 °F or below will protect
most foods.
There are two completely different families of bacteria: pathogenic
bacteria, the kind that cause foodborne illness, and spoilage bacteria, the
kind of bacteria that cause foods to deteriorate and develop unpleasant
odors, tastes, and textures.
Pathogenic bacteria can grow rapidly in the “Danger Zone,” the
temperature range between 40 and 140 °F, but they do not generally
affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. In other words, one​

cannot tell that a pathogen is present.

 

[Donna D.]

Pete was almost one of a kind. Lived full-time in a 13' Scamp. His Scamp frig was a 3-way.. and he's be gone for more than six years. HE HAD problems keeping his Dometic down to temperature.. even THEN!

The other "big" thread on FiberglassRV had to do with "dust ruffles." He kept his rear dinette down in "bed mode" permanently and posted about his solution to hiding all his stuff.. he and Gina D. and a GREAT back-and-forth thread going on...

After ALL of that, I can tell you.. STOP, quit trying to figure out the best solution for the frig problems. Give Reace and Dometic a chance to find the solution that will work best for all of us...

 

[gbaglo]

I agree with Donna.
Dometic is a huge worldwide company selling in 100 countries. They probably have more engineers in R&D than we have members. Those are people who have the schooling and the smarts to solve the problem.
Until then, put a Coke in the fridge. I hear it works wonders in all sorts of ways.

 

[Klem]

Donna, please allow us to continue to work on this. I just need my refrigerator to work for me and many things in life are never 'fixed' by anyone else. Those who wish to wait are welcome to. Those who wish to work on solutions should be free to do that.

So they are saying above 40 degrees F for 2 hours may be a problem for your food. I am trying to set a realistic goal for refrig operations.

Is food in the refrigerator safe during a power outage? It should be safe as long as power is out no more than 4 hours. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and leftovers) that have been above 40 °F for over 2 hours.
Never taste food to determine its safety! You can’t rely on appearance or odor to determine whether food is safe.

 

[FMLNM]

The curtain solution really just addresses the loss of cool when taking things out or putting things into the fridge....a loss worth minimizing no matter how well the fridge is working.

 

[Donna D.]

Donna, please allow us to continue to work on this. I just need my refrigerator to work for me and many things in life are never 'fixed' by anyone else......

It's your trailer do what you want. I'm a former.. back packer, car camper, tent camper, sleep in the bed of the truck... sleep on the beach in the sand person! I'm just willing to put blocks of ice inside my refigerator with the "cube" fan running before I'm willing to do what some of you folks are doing.... I'm grateful I own a couple of coolers for dairy and meat. Everything else just needs to be kept "cool." YMMV

 

[tractors1]

If everything worked perfectly life would be truly boring for us retired engineers......we love problems!

 

[gbaglo]

And, we're now on page 40 of 40.

 

[Donna D.]

And, we're now on page 40 of 40.

and I've been reading on the all-molded forums about cooling refrigerators for about a half-dozen years! AND that doesn't take into consideration the BIG sticky forums ;D

And for those that think Casita has figure it out... check out this thread started on the CasitaForum from August 15: Refrigerator not cooling and outside vents are hot

 

[dglasrud]

A big thanks to Reace for his persistence with the dometic fridge issues!!!!!!

 

[Patandlinda]

What about the items in the door ?

 

[gbaglo]

Presumably, you wouldn't store anything in the door shelves, because that's already the warmest place in a fridge ( based on observations of where I've placed my thermometer).
There are so many uncontrolled variables that I question all the reported results.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Myron, check this thread in re: your fans operation http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9/inside-refrigerator-fans-4167-11.html#post63898
post #103

 

[jamie beers]

Are we all 'on the same page' that the refrigerator should remain below 40 degrees F ?

We may be; however, Dometic is not. This is from Dometic:

"For your model [6.7 cf] the food storage should be 43 degrees or below with an ambient temperature of 90 degrees or below...."

 

[Jim Bennett]

And, we're now on page 40 of 40.

I must not be getting all the posts, I am on page 10 of 10.

I know I have a fridge that works good (the 5.0), and not a problem model like the new ones, but I have to agree that it seems that this has been over analyzed to the nth degree here. Reace started this thread to share information as he garnered it with his dealings with Dometic, and others have been posting all their remedies and cures, yet there seems to be no resolution from all of this.

Reace has said Dometic has admitted there is an issue, and that they will find a good solution to this problem. I too would be stressing less than some seem to be, and use a temporary solution, like blocks of ice, while the people that know the product work things out.