Fridge is cycling on and off every 10-15 seconds

Also we are camping at the moment, I turned the fridge off and it is still cycling..would that be normal?

Thanks for the great info..I am pretty handy but have never pulled a fridge..is it that difficult?

My Dometic had the exact same problem. Pulled the refer and found that the thermo switch was installed directly in the air path of the fan. As soon as the fan turned on it cooled the switch and shut it off, rinse repeat!!

I moved the switch to a different location and problem solved.

ok, here is the likely issue. First the good news. Outback did the fridge install as dometic outlines, proper baffling, proper venting, and including the thermostatically controlled 12V fan across the coils in the proper location. Makes for good fridge operation, good and cold etc. etc.

So what's the problem??? Well, something you likely won't get dometic or a dealer to fix for free, and it's time consuming. The issue is that on some dometic fridges the thermostatic button either comes loose or partially fails and ends up with a too close on/off temperature difference. So you get the cycling. To fix it means pulling the fridge to get access to the fan and thermoswitch, since it is about half way up the stack.

I've know mutliple folks with properly installed fridges that have experienced this issue.

What you'll likely find is it happens most at moderate temperatures. Hot days the fan will run almost continously. Cold days it won't come on, Nice days, it cycles on and off.

Mine worked fine till this last summer, when it started acting up.

So what can you do?? Fortunetly one fix is reasonably easy,

1) get one of the solar fan kits and install it. This will keep enough air flowing and without very much noise, so the normal fan never comes on. There are several options, one has a solar panel that fits on the fridge top vent cover. and mount the fan either at the top of the vent. (requires cutting and replacing the screen) or drop the wire down the stack and mount the fan at the bottom of the compartment. I did this mod, and it stopped the cycling of the normal fan completely.

2) Live with it. It isn't hurting anything, other than what can be an anoying noise when everything in the trailer is quite.

and it has nothing to do with power source, AC or propane.

Is this fridge mounted in a slide, as on many fivers? If it has a sidewall top vent (as opposed to a roof vent) it should have a fan as original equipment.
OK you're plugged in. But is the fridge running on "Auto" where it should be using a 120VAC electric heating element? Or did it get punched into the "GAS" setting on the panel where it'll use LPG whether there's AC power or not?
If it's trying to run on LPG and there's a problem with the flame sensing circuit, you could be hearing it light, go out, and re-light.

ashnic wrote:
I am assuming..its the general area..and when outside you can hear it very clearly thru the fridge vent...Converter is on other side of camper...hmmmm Will turn fridge off and see..

Some have a fan in the back to encourage the heat to rise. Most refrigerators mounted in a slide use a fan because it is not an optimal installation.

I am assuming..its the general area..and when outside you can hear it very clearly thru the fridge vent...Converter is on other side of camper...hmmmm Will turn fridge off and see..

Never had an RV fridge you can hear running. I also bet it's a fan cycling of even the converter fan (if it's close)

Maybe you are hearing a fan cycle off and on. My refrigerator is silent.