Fridge hose on outside?

[acritzer]

After reading another post I decided to venture into the outside access for my fridge. Inside I found a plastic hose that seems to have an opening in the wire mesh of the access cover.
Is this the drain for when it defrosts, or drops condensation?

This hose is very brittle from being so old. Is it easy to replace? It just kind of disappears up into the cabinet area. This hose did not have a cover on it at all....any worry of bugs finding their way up there? Or, was this originally suppose to drain through the mesh of the access cover? Someone cut a hole through the mesh.

Thanks!

[beemerphile1]

kellertx5er wrote:

dbbls wrote:
There should be a plug in the end. This keeps air out but let's water drain.

That's a good trick, letting water through but not air.

Yeah, I'd like to see how that works.

[kellertx5er]

dbbls wrote:
There should be a plug in the end. This keeps air out but let's water drain.

That's a good trick, letting water through but not air.

[beemerphile1]

Question is already answered but I would add that many people don't realize the hose should be installed with a dip in it to create a trap that holds water. The water filled trap is what stops air leaking.

[YC_1]

Watch this video.

They have some excellent videos.

[Ozlander]

Since the fridge is a closed box, except when the door is open, I can't imagine there's a lot, if any, of air flow thru the hose.

[D_E_Bishop]

I don't want to start a controversy but what make, model and year of your fridge and do you have a manual or have you looked for one?

My Dometic is older than most and the drain tube is also hard and brittle, mine terminates with the plug to keep bugs out and in a plastic cup. I was in an RV store someplace and saw the plugs and bought a package of two for about $5.00.

I can't find Dometic fridges in my catalogs so just for kicks I'm going to Google them or look them up on Chris Bryant's site to see if any have the tube with a "U" trap bend in the hose.

[TNGW1500SE]

wa8yxm wrote:
The two major brands of Fridges are Dometic and Norcold
Norcold there is an evaporation chamber (AKA CUP) inside the compartment into which the hose should drip

Dometic the hose is supposed to exit via one of the holes in the outer cover so it drip, drip,drips on the ground.

My dealer the service techinican said "I always put it out" (I was there for the dometic recall) When I returned to the rig.. He lied.

My old Norcold Model N611 had hose that drained by the tire.

[SquirrelyM]

I just replaced the brittle and broken hose on my Dometic unit. From the outside access I was fortunately able to see and reach the spot where it attaches to the drain, without having to move the whole fridge forward.

I replaced the hose with some clear 1/2" ID vinyl tubing, and I did add a loop as a trap. This Youtube video provides a lot of good information.

The OEM drain plug is available on Amazon but you can find replacements much cheaper on eBay (for example, this listing).

[dbbls]

There should be a plug in the end. This keeps air out but let's water drain.

[acritzer]

Well, mine is a Dometic. What I'm trying to figure out now is if there's suppose to be a U curve in the hose. Or, there's some other trap in there that helps keep the hot air out.

[wa8yxm]

The two major brands of Fridges are Dometic and Norcold
Norcold there is an evaporation chamber (AKA CUP) inside the compartment into which the hose should drip

Dometic the hose is supposed to exit via one of the holes in the outer cover so it drip, drip,drips on the ground.

My dealer the service techinican said "I always put it out" (I was there for the dometic recall) When I returned to the rig.. He lied.

[acritzer]

YC 1 wrote:
It is important to be intact because warm air will enter the refer and raise the temps more that you would imagine. In one friends setup I was able to slide a clear plastic tube inside the old tube. Enough of it was intact to hold well. In some setups there should be a U so the end is higher up so it can trap a bit of water to act as an air plug.

If the set up is not designed with a U, what keeps the warm air from getting in? This hose is already pretty short just to make its exit point. If there's suppose to be a U I would have to get really creative.

[YC_1]

It is important to be intact because warm air will enter the refer and raise the temps more that you would imagine. In one friends setup I was able to slide a clear plastic tube inside the old tube. Enough of it was intact to hold well. In some setups there should be a U so the end is higher up so it can trap a bit of water to act as an air plug.

[RooDude09]

Yes it is supposed to have a cap with small holes in it to keep the bugs out