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psac1965's avatar
psac1965
Explorer
Oct 06, 2013

dometic refridge quits working when weather turns cold

Our dometic NDR 1292 gas/elec refridgerator in our 2006 Teton 5th wheel turns off at temps below 35/40 degrees. It would turn on later in the day as the outside temp. warms up. This started last winter in northern AZ. I've always covered the outside access covers and switched to "low ambient temp" operation. This year its been cooler than usual at night and has started acting up again only now when I restart it the proper lights come on, but now I get a "check" light that also stays on. After about 3 min. it turns completely off again. I've tried this in both elec. and gas operation modes. I haven't sealed the access covers yet this year but I've had it in low ambient mode and that hasn't helped. As of now it's been down for 2 days, it won't stay powered up. Has anyone experienced this same problem? any suggestions would be helpful
  • Chris_Bryant's avatar
    Chris_Bryant
    Explorer II
    Oct 06, 2013
    To be clear- when you say shut down, do you mean the indicator lights go off, or it just stops cooling?
  • camperpaul's avatar
    camperpaul
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    psac1965 wrote:
    I looked in the manual for a way reset the temp. Is that the sensor that slides up and down on the fins in the inside rear of the fridge?

    It is not a setting.

    When the outdoor air temperature falls below 28°F the water in the cooling unit freezes. To prevent this you HAVE TO use a small heater near the coils; a 60 Watt light bulb works very nicely.

  • psac1965's avatar
    psac1965
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    The temp setting on the control panel is set at 3. its where we always se and it seems to keep things cold without freezing.
  • psac1965's avatar
    psac1965
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    I looked in the manual for a way reset the temp. Is that the sensor that slides up and down on the fins in the inside rear of the fridge?
  • camperpaul's avatar
    camperpaul
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    dons2346 wrote:
    Put a 60 watt light bulb near the coils and cover up half of the vent.

    That is what I do.

    I also use a Thermocube to control the temperature.

    It's a preset thermostat that turns on at 36°F and off at 45°F.
  • dons2346's avatar
    dons2346
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    Put a 60 watt light bulb near the coils and cover up half of the vent.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Oct 06, 2013
    YOU have a few problems.
    1. You NEVER/NEVER cover the outside access doors at all. You MUST have air circulation from the bottom back to the upper roof/side vent. Blocking off ventilation will ruin a cooling unit
    2. The low ambient switch is just to leave the Interior refer light on to prevent freezing of food close to the evap fins.
    3. Check light means it did not light on LP for some reason. The check light is ONLY a LP lighting failure. Doug
  • Johno02's avatar
    Johno02
    Explorer
    Oct 06, 2013
    Not the exact problem, but if the refrig inside temp is too cold, it will not work. Solution was to turn on coach heat, with refrig door open and let it warm up a bit. Then it worked OK from then on. Seems like the inside refrig thermostat thinks it is cold enough. Once started, temps in freezer started dropping as they should, and all was well.

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