I have a question about our refrigerator. I have a digital thermometer inside on the upper shelf and a small battery operated fan on the middle shelf. The temperatures have been showing 34 - 46 degrees. I have the temperature set for the coldest setting (5). When the outdoor temps are above 70 degrees I don't see the temps inside the refig getting below 41 degrees. If the outdoor temps drop into the 60's or lower (mostly at night now) then the refig will get into the 30's. But all day (when the temps are in the 80's ) it is mostly showing 45 degrees. We are not opening the door a bunch. No grand kids with us right now. I pulled the covers off the slide and had a look inside at the back of the refig. I see there is a fan near the top, but I have yet to see it running. There is a set of fins at the very top and on the one end is what appears to be a thermostatic switch. The mounting screws were loose and the switch was not making firm contact with the fin. I remedied that situation but I think the cooler night temperatures helped more. When should I expect to see that fan run?Dometic DM2862LBFX in a slide.

When your chimney fan will come on is a guess if you don't know the temp setting for the snap disc. I have two on my rig one set at 150* on the boiler tube to supply electrical power (so that the fans will only run when the frig is on) and the other set at 90* in the upper chimney to turn the fans on (I have two). With temps @ 100+ outside in the desert my frig has stayed cold. I put my battery operated cool can fan on the bottom shelf to take advantage of the colder air there and blow it upward I also make sure there is space between the items in the frig to ensure proper circulation of air. good luck.

Theoretically, the fan will run when temperatures are above 100- the switch itself closes at 150 and opens at 130.I would prefer to have the fan come on at a lower temp- the single door fan kit has a switch that closes at 105 and opens at 90- it is Dometic p/n 3104723.006.I would try just jumping across the thermo switch to run the fans for a while- they should make a huge difference.

flyfishing48 Take your small fan on the inside of the fridge and place it on the top shelf pointing directly at the fins near the thermistor. Your temp will go down a few degrees fairly soon.

Thanks for all the input. So far today. It's holding 36 dregs on the middle shelf. It's in the low 70's outdoors at noon. Maybe tightening the screws on the switch is helping. I will look into changing out the switch to the lower temp one also. Great idea.

Our Norcold 641 (2005 mdl) fan quit working last year with the same result as you are having except when higher temps occurred the Norcold would display a "no cooling" error and shut down, requiring a manual reset. Of course it didn't happen until we were traveling.When we returned home, I pulled the fridg, cleaned everything, and replaced the fan which corrected the problem.As a backup, I also added a second manually switched fan. I've found that in very hot weather the additional fan seams to help.

Refirig fan questions | Good Sam Community

alcouch33
Explorer
Jun 27, 2015
My Norcold N3150 stopped cooling on our last trip in our 2014 VIA. It was 30 in the freezer and 50 in fridge. 2 days later I heard the fan come on and a few hours later, temps back to normal. After much research, I discovered the thermostat for the fan is in an area that can be damaged by excessive heat and the one fan is in a location which at best circulates hot air. Plus, to replace this fan, you need to pull the fridge. My fridge is vented by two panels (upper & lower) on the wall of my RV.
I found this website, http://www.arprv.com/ that has a product that will shut down the unit if it overheats due to being unlevel and comes with 2 fans to cool the system. Has anyone used this product?
Puttin
Explorer
Jun 26, 2015
Unsubscribing
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jun 26, 2015
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Placebo effect........

I think an actual measured decrease of several degrees is real. BTW, refrigerators are not affected by a Placebo effect.

And, finally, you haven't actually tried using adjustable thermistors, have you?

YES have used them.
OK for replacing a bad thermistor but not a fix all clue....and have only very minor overall affect. No more than a functioning thermistor does.

Done.
TechWriter
Explorer
Jun 26, 2015
Old-Biscuit wrote:
Placebo effect........

I think an actual measured decrease of several degrees is real. BTW, refrigerators are not affected by a Placebo effect.

And, finally, you haven't actually tried using adjustable thermistors, have you?
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jun 26, 2015
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
. . . if thermistor is properly functioning........again WHY replace it. NO gain by replacing with the KIT.

Using an adjustable thermistor allows you to make the fridge colder because absorption fridges don't function well in hot weather.

I know this from personal experience.

I used Dinosaur's Adjustable Thermistor (similar in principle to the Snip The Tip) in my Dometic NDR1292.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
BUT having a rheostat sensor will NOT affect overall fridge temps on models that have an adjustable temp control (on upper control panel).

It can affect (minor) those models that use a preset factory thermostat (non-adjustable models)

Again, not what I found. My NDR1292 had an upper panel with adjustable temp control.

After installing Dinosaur's Adjustable Thermistor (essentially in series with the fridge's thermistor), I was able to drop the temp by several degrees.

Have you actually tried either of these?

Placebo effect........
Kinda like setting A/C t-stat at 60* and expecting it to cool down to 72* faster

Trucks drives better after washing it also.
TechWriter
Explorer
Jun 26, 2015
Old-Biscuit wrote:
. . . if thermistor is properly functioning........again WHY replace it. NO gain by replacing with the KIT.

Using an adjustable thermistor allows you to make the fridge colder because absorption fridges don't function well in hot weather.

I know this from personal experience.

I used Dinosaur's Adjustable Thermistor (similar in principle to the Snip The Tip) in my Dometic NDR1292.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
BUT having a rheostat sensor will NOT affect overall fridge temps on models that have an adjustable temp control (on upper control panel).

It can affect (minor) those models that use a preset factory thermostat (non-adjustable models)

Again, not what I found. My NDR1292 had an upper panel with adjustable temp control.

After installing Dinosaur's Adjustable Thermistor (essentially in series with the fridge's thermistor), I was able to drop the temp by several degrees.

Have you actually tried either of these?
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jun 26, 2015
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
Besides fans, you can also get an adjustable thermostat like Snip the Tip.

This is a great kit to replace a defective thermistor.
But why replace one that is functioning properly?

To give you more leeway during very hot weather.

Unless you have a fridge with an adjustable temp control settings..........then it will have NO affect.
Only on fridges with FIXED temp control (non-adjustable).

Replacing a functioning thermistor will NOT give you more leeway

Perhaps you should follow the link in my original post to see that Snip-The-Tip applies to OP's fridge model.

YES it applies but only in the fact that it can be used as a means of replacing a BAD thermistor vs pulling new wiring/thermistor.
The KIT can be used on numerous models......Dometic & there is one for Norcold.

BUT having a rheostat sensor will NOT affect overall fridge temps on models that have an adjustable temp control (on upper control panel).
It can affect (minor) those models that use a preset factory thermostat (non-adjustable models)

And if thermistor is properly functioning........again WHY replace it. NO gain by replacing with the KIT.
Moving position of thermistor on non-adjustable models will achieve the same effect.
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Jun 26, 2015
..
TechWriter
Explorer
Jun 25, 2015
Old-Biscuit wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
Besides fans, you can also get an adjustable thermostat like Snip the Tip.

This is a great kit to replace a defective thermistor.
But why replace one that is functioning properly?

To give you more leeway during very hot weather.

Unless you have a fridge with an adjustable temp control settings..........then it will have NO affect.
Only on fridges with FIXED temp control (non-adjustable).

Replacing a functioning thermistor will NOT give you more leeway

Perhaps you should follow the link in my original post to see that Snip-The-Tip applies to OP's fridge model.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jun 25, 2015
TechWriter wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
TechWriter wrote:
Besides fans, you can also get an adjustable thermostat like Snip the Tip.

This is a great kit to replace a defective thermistor.
But why replace one that is functioning properly?

To give you more leeway during very hot weather.

Unless you have a fridge with an adjustable temp control settings..........then it will have NO affect.
Only on fridges with FIXED temp control (non-adjustable).

Replacing a functioning thermistor will NOT give you more leeway

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