Dometic Refer Fridge Portion not Cooling
I did a search to find this issue but turned up minimal. I have a 2011 Keystone Cougar 328 with a Dometic Refrigerator. The Freezer part seems to be cooling fine, but the Fridge might get down to ...
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I could use some help also . . . .
Over last weekend my fridge (Dometic 2852) ran up to ~58F but more commonly in the 48F range (when I get concerned). Normally the high temp is 44F and low 40F. Outside temp was a sweltering 95F with the Sun shining on the fridge side of the Class A RV. Inside the AC was keeping a cool 80ish until the Sun went down. Fridge was running on AC as long as the generator was running. Before the trip it seemed to take a long time to cool down to operating temp (overnight). Control board is the Dinosaur PCB (original fried a long time ago). I think the temp setting is on "4". Still some room to go. On Day 2 & 3 outside temps relaxed a bit but the fridge still seemed to struggle in the 44-48F range.
Thermistor is aging and wasn't keeping the fridge in range so 6 months ago I soldered a resistor across it. Yes, I'm that cheap. It just means the temp range is narrower.
So this week I started investigating and running some tests. Fridge temps ranged from 40-44F. Freezer was a good 0 to -2F. PERFECT! But highest outside temps were 85ish. There was one point where it didn't seem to run. Reinserting the eyebrow control connector on the PCB seemed to make it work again. I couldn't reproduce the problem (could this be my entire issue? don't know). During testing the element or flame was on more than I expected.
Door seals look ok. There is surface rust along the bottom seal.
There's no sign of any coolant leaks or ammonia smell. Intake is clear and top fins are clear. Top shroud is a Camco and doesn't seem to breathe as well as the original. With the shroud off there's lots of heat coming out! No, I can't run a fan to help it as most weekends I'm boondocking. Flame appears good? but there's considerable rust around the bottom of the flue.
I started to pull the fridge out (really don't want to) to clean the flue but not sure that will improve my heat transfer to the heating tube. Besides, it didn't do very well in AC mode.
I use the RV about 2 weekends / month. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
I doubt we'll see high temps until next year, so can't effectively test any fixes.
Thoughts?
Best,
- bob
Over last weekend my fridge (Dometic 2852) ran up to ~58F but more commonly in the 48F range (when I get concerned). Normally the high temp is 44F and low 40F. Outside temp was a sweltering 95F with the Sun shining on the fridge side of the Class A RV. Inside the AC was keeping a cool 80ish until the Sun went down. Fridge was running on AC as long as the generator was running. Before the trip it seemed to take a long time to cool down to operating temp (overnight). Control board is the Dinosaur PCB (original fried a long time ago). I think the temp setting is on "4". Still some room to go. On Day 2 & 3 outside temps relaxed a bit but the fridge still seemed to struggle in the 44-48F range.
Thermistor is aging and wasn't keeping the fridge in range so 6 months ago I soldered a resistor across it. Yes, I'm that cheap. It just means the temp range is narrower.
So this week I started investigating and running some tests. Fridge temps ranged from 40-44F. Freezer was a good 0 to -2F. PERFECT! But highest outside temps were 85ish. There was one point where it didn't seem to run. Reinserting the eyebrow control connector on the PCB seemed to make it work again. I couldn't reproduce the problem (could this be my entire issue? don't know). During testing the element or flame was on more than I expected.
Door seals look ok. There is surface rust along the bottom seal.
There's no sign of any coolant leaks or ammonia smell. Intake is clear and top fins are clear. Top shroud is a Camco and doesn't seem to breathe as well as the original. With the shroud off there's lots of heat coming out! No, I can't run a fan to help it as most weekends I'm boondocking. Flame appears good? but there's considerable rust around the bottom of the flue.
I started to pull the fridge out (really don't want to) to clean the flue but not sure that will improve my heat transfer to the heating tube. Besides, it didn't do very well in AC mode.
I use the RV about 2 weekends / month. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
I doubt we'll see high temps until next year, so can't effectively test any fixes.
Thoughts?
Best,
- bob
