I have a 2011 Eclipse Attitude toy hauler with a Dometic refer. The fan cycles on and off every 30 seconds AFTER being "fixed" by the local dealer. Supposedly the fan will turn on when the temp gets above 100 degrees and then goes off below that. At first it was cycling every 7 seconds, they "fixed" it by replacing the thermal switch and now it is every 30 seconds. After returning it to the dealer upon further inspection they said the hole in the roof is too small, it is about 70% the size of the inside of the vent, plus there is a rafter going through the center of the hole, as is a bunch of wiring. I suppose it is possible, has anyone ever heard of a problem of like this? It won't be that hard to open up the hole (they wanted $400.00 to do it) but I don't want to waste the time if it is a refer issue not a circulation issue. Thanks all!Tony

I would be worried about the heat deteriorating the wiring over time.Why not call the manufacturer and ask them. Could be they took the obstruction into account when putting in the vent.I would troubleshoot by first putting a good digital thermometer in the went and seeing what the temperature actually is when the fan kicks on.http://www.eclipservmfg.com/contacts

IIRC that thermodisc switch closes when temp goes above 100*F and then opens temp drops below 90*F.If outside ambient air temps are over 90*F then the fan is going to be running constantly Proper clearances for correct air flow (draft affect) is critical to good cooling unit operation on absorption fridges.The roof opening being smaller than roof vent and obstructed doesn't sound like the rv mfg. met Dometics installation requirements.Which model of Dometic fridge.....installation manuals will give max/min clearances & measurements needed.

You have a another bad snap thermistor or it is touching something it should not be. It is designed to run with air temps and not be contacted to something that will dissipate heat quickly. If your refer is working normally other than the fan cycling access the device and see if they have it screwed to some fin that may cause it to cool quickly.

Don't let then mess wit the hole in the roof. They're grasping at straws because they don't know how to fix it or whats going on.

No way I am spending 400 bones for them to enlarge the hole in the roof, if that is the issue I will do it myself. I sent an email to Eclipse and my contact there who has helped me several times said she would forward it to and engineer and they would get back to me. The way I see it I can either cut the hole bigger (a few hours work) or take the fridge out to check the thermistor myself (also a couple hours). Depends on what Eclipse says, but my guess is they use the same template for every trailer with that size refer, so I really doubt that is the problem. The other odd thing is the fact that no matter what the temp outside it cycles every 28 seconds like clockwork. The other thing is that my buddies have NEVER heard their fans turn on - EVER - and their rigs are the same age as mine.

Dometic Refer Fan Issue | Good Sam Community

j-d
Explorer II
Oct 13, 2014
It is not outrageously difficult to pull a fridge if that's what needs to be done to make it right. Just be sure you do a soap bubble test on the gas line when you re-connect.
TRazzo
Explorer
Oct 13, 2014
Went camping this weekend, was pretty cool out but the fan still cycled constantly. We bought a digital thermometer and put it in the fridge, and it was down to 29 degrees. turned the temp up, got that dialed in and pulled the fuse in the fan wire, and the temp still stayed just right. The real test won't be until next year when it is 95 degrees and see if it stays cool without the fan. Dometic wants 110 sq. inches of vent area, right now after opening things up I only have 51. The most I can get if I rebuild the cabinet above the refer is 108, still below the minimum required. The vent would allow 133, but because of the engineering of the coach 108 is max I can ever get. Very disappointing.
TRazzo
Explorer
Oct 05, 2014
Well, after about an hours work or so, the fan still runs. I guess the good thing is it doesn't run quite as often, still runs for 30-45 seconds and is off for a little over a minute, but it still runs A LOT. Next step is a switch to kill the fan if we are dry camping. I was quite surprised to see what hack job Eclipse did on the hole for the vent though, it was about 30% restricted as the dealership said, I cut quite a bit out and cleaned up what they did at the factory. They offered to enlarge the hole for me, all I had to do was drive about 4000 miles round trip to the factory and they would do it for me. Thanks for nothing Eclipse. Next RV will be a different brand for sure.
TRazzo
Explorer
Sep 28, 2014
Old-Biscuit wrote:
HERE is a service manual that covers your model (2652). pg. 22 has all the proper dimensions for installation.

Fan should be center line of fridge and 38 1/2" above floor of fridge.
Thermodisc should be on on far right of condenser coil.

Thank you, I found and downloaded all of the manuals except this one, I never saw this one - must have missed it. The fridge is mounted exactly as it is supposed to be, fan in the right place as is the thermal switch. After reading everything I could, and looking at the installation it could very well be that the fridge is just not getting enough air flow without the fan running, so there is a couple of things I can change to increase airflow through the "chimney" so to speak. I will repost the results after I get a chance to make the recommended fixes. Thank yo all for posting, I appreciate the help!
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 27, 2014
HERE is a service manual that covers your model (2652). pg. 22 has all the proper dimensions for installation.

Fan should be center line of fridge and 38 1/2" above floor of fridge.
Thermodisc should be on on far right of condenser coil.
TRazzo
Explorer
Sep 27, 2014
Model number is EM2652LBX. I've considered putting a switch to turn it off if I'm dry camping and don't want to run the battery down.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 26, 2014
Which model of fridge?
YC_1
Nomad
Sep 26, 2014
Have you located the snap thermistor? If it has been changed before it is probably easy enough to reach. Likely close to the top. You may be able to remove the vent on top and reach it. If you want a quick fix just install a switch at the bottom and you can turn it on or off by removing the lower vent cover.
TRazzo
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
Upon further research, the fan looks to be an optional item so not all refers have them? I couldn't find anywhere in any of the documentation where the fan is, or the thermal switch that controls it. There is only a 12 volt inline fuse mentioned in the user manual for the optional power vent fan. Guess I will just leave it alone, as annoying as it is the refer works well so maybe my concerns are invalid.
TRazzo
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
No way I am spending 400 bones for them to enlarge the hole in the roof, if that is the issue I will do it myself. I sent an email to Eclipse and my contact there who has helped me several times said she would forward it to and engineer and they would get back to me. The way I see it I can either cut the hole bigger (a few hours work) or take the fridge out to check the thermistor myself (also a couple hours). Depends on what Eclipse says, but my guess is they use the same template for every trailer with that size refer, so I really doubt that is the problem. The other odd thing is the fact that no matter what the temp outside it cycles every 28 seconds like clockwork. The other thing is that my buddies have NEVER heard their fans turn on - EVER - and their rigs are the same age as mine.

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