Refrigerator Help Wanted

[gfs1943]

A day or so into our current trip, our refrigerator died. It quit making ice, then quit cooling at all. I tried every trick I know. It had power, the control panel showed that it should be working, but nothing happened. The gas burner lights off when I turn electric off or set the control panel switch to gas only. But no cooling at all.
We had to throw away a bunch of food. Then, a miracle happened. Without me doing anything, the fridge came on and started cooling again. Within a couple of hours, it was making ice. Now it's working as if nothing ever happened. It has been going fine for four days now.
I don't trust it to keep going, and I don't have access to any repair people at this time (currently in Greenville, North Carolina).
Any help greatly appreciated. I have tools and can usually figure out any problem, but this one has me stumped.
Fridge is a four-door Dometic with water dispenser in door. Fridge was installed in 2012.

[dougrainer]

gfs1943 wrote:

Jim@HiTek wrote:
Any chance you were traveling during those 3 days it was off after it quit working?

Any chance the RV had been sitting with the refer off before this most recent trip? If so, how long?

Hi Jim,
Yes, I was traveling during those three days. And, the RV had been sitting with the refer off for about three weeks before this trip.
How does that affect the system? Sounds like you have some insight, and I appreciate it. By the way, it's still working good now, but I still don't trust it enough to load it up with expensive frozen stuff -- I just can't afford to throw stuff away.
Thanks for your ideas.

Traveling or sitting does NOT make a difference. UNLESS, you were off level AND the refer was ON. If you store an RV refer off level and DO NOT turn it on, it will have no relation with performance once you level the refer and turn it on. IF you turned it ON and it was not correctly level, and it did not cool, then traveling would cause the refer to start operating. BUT, if this was the case you have partially destroyed the cooling unit and the refer will never operate to its full potential. Doug

[gfs1943]

Jim@HiTek wrote:
Any chance you were traveling during those 3 days it was off after it quit working?

Any chance the RV had been sitting with the refer off before this most recent trip? If so, how long?

Hi Jim,
Yes, I was traveling during those three days. And, the RV had been sitting with the refer off for about three weeks before this trip.
How does that affect the system? Sounds like you have some insight, and I appreciate it. By the way, it's still working good now, but I still don't trust it enough to load it up with expensive frozen stuff -- I just can't afford to throw stuff away.
Thanks for your ideas.

[gfs1943]

dougrainer wrote:
The Fan tstat is mounted on the top rear condenser fins. You have to pull the refer to check the tstat and fans. So, until you pull the refer, you cannot check the fan operation. What were the outside ambient temps when the refer malfunctioned? What are the Ambient temps NOW that the refer is now operating? Doug

Outside temps in the 60s, with lows in the 40s, when fridge started malfunctioning. Pretty much the same while it was off. Daily highs getting into the upper 70s now.

Today I can hear fan(s) running inside the motorhome; haven't checked outside. When I had all outside stuff open a couple of days ago, I noticed that the fridge was running on gas even though I'm connected to 50-amp electric. At the circuit control box, there was no voltage at the connections for electric heater. I discovered that a small fuse inside the control box was blown. I can't read the specs on the fuse, but I did a temporary repair on it and the electric cooling is working now. When the fridge is not opened for a while, the interior temp drops to 35 degrees, even seen 34 a couple of times. During daily use, it stays at 36-38, so that seems like it's good. I'd just like to find and fix what caused the problem in the first place.

Thanks a million to everyone who helped. I appreciate it.

George Stewart

[kenbert]

Were you parked off level with fridge running, could be a clog in cooling tubes that worked itself loose.

[dougrainer]

Dale.Traveling wrote:
If the exterior fans had stopped wouldn't the cooling unit still work by natural convection? There are a lot of rigs, pop-ups to 40' class A's, without fans to circulate air that work. Might see higher internal temps but not a total loss of cooling.

Almost sounds like like a partial blockage or crystallization problem in the piping which is what killed my fridge this summer. Gave every indication that it was working but the fridge section never cooled and the freezer only slight temperature drop.

Fridge Failure Info

1. Yes, most RV refers use natural convection cooling.
2. Larger RV refers REQUIRE cooling fans to get the temp BELOW 45 to 50 degrees. When the fans fail to operate, the refer will cool but not below that 45 to 50 degrees.
3. Smaller Pop up type refers will sometimes have cooling fans also.
4. If the unit is blocked or partially blocked, NOTHING will then allow the refer to then start cooling to spec. It may "cool", but not to the temps required for safe food temp operation. Doug

[Dale_Traveling]

If the exterior fans had stopped wouldn't the cooling unit still work by natural convection? There are a lot of rigs, pop-ups to 40' class A's, without fans to circulate air that work. Might see higher internal temps but not a total loss of cooling.

Almost sounds like like a partial blockage or crystallization problem in the piping which is what killed my fridge this summer. Gave every indication that it was working but the fridge section never cooled and the freezer only slight temperature drop.

Fridge Failure Info

[dougrainer]

The Fan tstat is mounted on the top rear condenser fins. You have to pull the refer to check the tstat and fans. So, until you pull the refer, you cannot check the fan operation. What were the outside ambient temps when the refer malfunctioned? What are the Ambient temps NOW that the refer is now operating? Doug

[Jim]

Any chance you were traveling during those 3 days it was off after it quit working?

Any chance the RV had been sitting with the refer off before this most recent trip? If so, how long?

[Heisenberg]

Bad ground.

[gfs1943]

Bruce Brown wrote:

gfs1943 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
I would suspect the rear cooling fans have a problem. They were NOT working and then they started to work. Possible BAD Tstat for cooling fans. Doug

I'm happy to see you responded, Doug. I appreciate your expert advice.
Where would I find the rear cooling fans and the Tstat? I cannot see or hear the fans.

NOTE: This fridge is NOT in a slideout, if that makes any difference.

I appreciate your help.

The cooling fans will be on the back of the fridge. Take to outside cover off and look up. There should be 2 pancake type fans mounted on the tubes.

Not visible. If they are there, they must not be working because I can't hear any fan noise. Any chance they are in the top of the vent column?

[Bruce_Brown]

gfs1943 wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
I would suspect the rear cooling fans have a problem. They were NOT working and then they started to work. Possible BAD Tstat for cooling fans. Doug

I'm happy to see you responded, Doug. I appreciate your expert advice.
Where would I find the rear cooling fans and the Tstat? I cannot see or hear the fans.

NOTE: This fridge is NOT in a slideout, if that makes any difference.

I appreciate your help.

The cooling fans will be on the back of the fridge. Take to outside cover off and look up. There should be 2 pancake type fans mounted on the tubes.

[gfs1943]

Bruce Brown wrote:
I believe there are also some snap disc switches in the system that trip when overheated. Maybe one overheated, then when you shut it off it cooled and reset.

Then again I could be out to lunch...

The fridge had been OFF for three days when it started working again. And, strange situation, it came back on without my help -- I had put everything that would survive at around 40* into a portable cooler, and turned the fridge off. It was totally off -- no inside lights, etc.

I just want to find out what caused the problem so I can try to fix it.

[gfs1943]

Chris Bryant wrote:
Clean the burner. It sounds like a bit of trash cut the flame back.

Fridge would not work on either gas or electric; it had worked on both before the trip. Works on both again now.

I know it's hard to try to find a problem that doesn't exist anymore, but I don't trust that it won't quit again. I can't afford to throw away food.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

[gfs1943]

dougrainer wrote:
I would suspect the rear cooling fans have a problem. They were NOT working and then they started to work. Possible BAD Tstat for cooling fans. Doug

I'm happy to see you responded, Doug. I appreciate your expert advice.
Where would I find the rear cooling fans and the Tstat? I cannot see or hear the fans.

NOTE: This fridge is NOT in a slideout, if that makes any difference.

I appreciate your help.