Hello Im new at trailering and need some help. I bought WW 5th wheel 2008, and my fridge is not always cold. Freezer works great. Ok, when i bought the trailer the fridge was cold. when i brought it home fridge cold warm. saw the hanging thermostate so i put it back on the last fin, where i thought it went. no luck. disconnected the thermostat and fridge works great. bought a new thermostat and put it in. fridge still worked fine, but when i got home from work fridge was warm. thought maybe i lost power, so i powered down and powered up. next morning fridge is great. same thing again when i got home. no power loss on AC. im using a standard electical extension. i tried moving the new thermostat up and down, but the fridge still giving me same issues. Can i just disconnect the thermostat or will that just be a temporary fix. Please help, i want to enjoy my long awaited trailer.Thanks,ErnieChino, CA

You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.

It take a long time to cool down an RV fridge - common mistake by newbies is to open the fridge door often to check temp noting that freezer is cold and fridge isn't. Be patient .. if your super curious put a remote thermometer inside fridge. Consider putting in a water jug or something for thermal mass - easier to test for cold by grabbing the jug after 8 hours or so.When I go camping I turn the fridge on the night before .. I put in the food (pre-cooled in stick house fridge) in the morning.

Sloop Smitten wrote:You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.True. Chasing temps in an empty fridge will drive you crazy. In addition to Sloop Smitten's comments, place your thermometer in a container of water, move the thermistor UP on the fin for colder, and consider installing some small computer type fans to move air up the vent stack.

I have been buying a 24 pack of 16 oz water bottles and freezing them in the deep freeze at home. Then like others have said load the fridge with all cold items. Then I pack any area in the freezer that is not full with frozen water bottles and the same in the fridge. This makes a huge difference. If in really hot weather you can grab a couple frozen ones from the freezer and put them in the fridge and put the melted ones in the freezer at night. Works great. By the way this was not my idea, I stole if from someone here on the forum!Besides those melting bottles of ice make for a great drink on a hot summer day!

Sloop Smitten wrote:You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.The Freezer has nothing to do with the temp Thermister. The Thermister senses the temp of the evaporator fins, nothing else. If you have an AUTO temp refer (no adjustable tstat) then moving the thermistor up and down only changes the refer temp 4 to 5 degrees. If NOT cooling below 40 degrees, then he has a operational problem. Doug

Dometic Fridge | Good Sam Community

dave17352
Explorer
Jun 27, 2014
I have been buying a 24 pack of 16 oz water bottles and freezing them in the deep freeze at home. Then like others have said load the fridge with all cold items.
Then I pack any area in the freezer that is not full with frozen water bottles and the same in the fridge. This makes a huge difference. If in really hot weather you can grab a couple frozen ones from the freezer and put them in the fridge and put the melted ones in the freezer at night. Works great. By the way this was not my idea, I stole if from someone here on the forum!

Besides those melting bottles of ice make for a great drink on a hot summer day!
RJCorazza
Explorer
Jun 27, 2014
Sloop Smitten wrote:
You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.

True. Chasing temps in an empty fridge will drive you crazy. In addition to Sloop Smitten's comments, place your thermometer in a container of water, move the thermistor UP on the fin for colder, and consider installing some small computer type fans to move air up the vent stack.
ksg5000
Explorer
Jun 27, 2014
It take a long time to cool down an RV fridge - common mistake by newbies is to open the fridge door often to check temp noting that freezer is cold and fridge isn't. Be patient .. if your super curious put a remote thermometer inside fridge. Consider putting in a water jug or something for thermal mass - easier to test for cold by grabbing the jug after 8 hours or so.

When I go camping I turn the fridge on the night before .. I put in the food (pre-cooled in stick house fridge) in the morning.
Sloop_Smitten
Explorer
Jun 27, 2014
You can disconnect the thermostat but you willl have a freezer that runs constantly if you do. Ammonia type refrigerators are notoriously weak and at their worst when empty. I suspect the heat of the day is raising the temp in the fridge. Take a couple of gallons of water and place those in the fridge and see if it holds temperature better. If all you have is air in the frig when you open the door the inside temp will drop drastically. The water will act as a heat sink and help maintain the temperature.

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