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jornvango's avatar
jornvango
Explorer II
Aug 18, 2026

Freezer working, fridge not cooling

My Dometic DM2652 fridge is not cooling but the freezer is working fine.  It's running on propane as I'm boondocking.  This problem suddenly started.  It's 90s outside during the hottest time of the day but the back of the fridge is mostly in the shade. 

What troubleshooting have I done?  At first I moved the sensor upwards on the fins of the fridge.  No effect.  Then I unplugged the sensor cable from the control board as I read that this would cause the fridge to run at full power (in case the thermistor sensor was the issue), but no effect.

Is there something else I can try before I replace it with a new compressor fridge?

16 Replies

    • jornvango's avatar
      jornvango
      Explorer II
      Aug 20, 2026

      I haven't put the thermometer in there yet.  Food is frozen solid in there so I assume it's working well.

  • jornvango's avatar
    jornvango
    Explorer II
    Aug 19, 2026

    I tested the thermistor and it reads 5,220 ohms at room temperature (80F) which seems to be OK.

    AI says:

    When a Dometic DM2652 thermistor is unplugged, the control board defaults to maximum cooling (running continuously). If the fridge still does not cool at all, the issue is not the thermistor, but rather a lack of power, a failed main control board, or a blocked/dead cooling unit.

    So seeing that the freezer is working, I can assume the fridge has power and the cooling unit is working, so that leaves the main control board? Is that a correct assumption based on the above and how does one test a main control board?

  • jornvango's avatar
    jornvango
    Explorer II
    Aug 19, 2026

    I tested the thermistor sensor using a multi-meter: at room temperature (around 80F), it reads 5,220 ohms.  The internet seems to think this is OK so the thermistor sensor is not faulty.

  • jornvango's avatar
    jornvango
    Explorer II
    Aug 18, 2026

    Thanks! Current outside temperature is 99 F, the fridge is at 71 F.  Will adding fans potentially fix that as it's a long way down from 71 F to 34 F or something close ...

    • jetboatrich727's avatar
      jetboatrich727
      Explorer III
      Aug 19, 2026

      71 seems very warm, in my opinion fans won't fix that, did you adjust the temp on the slider, maybe bumped it?

       

       

      • jornvango's avatar
        jornvango
        Explorer II
        Aug 19, 2026

        I tried moving the slider up (thermistor sensor), but no improvement.

        Then I tried unplugging the slider cable from the control board in the back as I read that that would force the fridge to run at full power, but no improvement either.

        Overnight, when the outside temperature goes down into the 70s, the fridge goes down to around 60 F, so not good, even overnight. 

    • StirCrazy's avatar
      StirCrazy
      Moderator
      Aug 18, 2026

      you want to put them at the top vent, pulling air up, don't force it in from the bottom.  also make sure there is not to much space between the fins on the back of the fridge and the space wall.  this is the most common instalation mistake which allows aire to go around the fins instead of through them.  Idealy what you are trying to do is get more air movments through the fins on the back of the fridge

    • Lwiddis's avatar
      Lwiddis
      Navigator
      Aug 18, 2026

      Outside…up…the direction heat wants to travel. Inside I use a fridge box fan about 3’x3’. 

  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Navigator
    Aug 18, 2026

    Fans! In the back of the fridge and inside. I prefer battery operated. 

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