Refer Temps

[Lauren]

Could someone let me know what the nominal temps should be for the freezer and refer of an Dometic 5er?

I just had it in again for service and they said all was "just fine". And the cheapie refer thermometers I had in the freezer and refer were no good. Hey, I don't doubt that.

Our ambient temp here today is about 70 and I had the cheapies in the refer for about 5 hours on gas. Coldest setting. And I put a digital unit that has a wire and sensing probe on the end.

They stayed at 402 or so (both) and the digital said 60 after 5 hours.

So I put one of the cheapies in the freezer and in a few minutes it was -10.

Now I have an additional digital in the refer and see what it says here in an hour or so.

My thoughts have always been to have the freezer at zero to 10 below and the refer in the, say, 36 to 42 range.

Any input would be appreciated.

I can't find the manual and Dometic is closed for the weekend.

Thanks.

[DSDP_Don]

When you Google average refer temps, it is recommended that the refer be kept between 35-38 degrees to keep bacteria from forming. I like my stuff cold and keep both the house refer and RV refer at 34 degree and the freezer at -4.

[Lauren]

This is all good. I will take a glass of water and test it.

On edit ........

No need for the water in the glass.

The cheapie thermometer in the freezer was buried below 20 below zero and the good ones in the refer were 36 and 38.

So I was wrong in not allowing more time.

Thanks for educating me; even old guys can learn. 🙂

[RJCorazza]

X2 or 3 on waiting 24 hours. Also, with an empty fridge measuring air temps you will be chasing wildly fluctuating temps. For starters place the thermometer in a glass of water for a more accurate representation of the fridges cooling.

[Fresno_Tundra_D]

donn0128 wrote:
Dometic 5er? Never heard of that model. Typical refer temp should be around 42. Gas usually works better than electricity for cooling. Clean the chimney is my first suggestion.

I think your sarcasm was missed. Like others have said already, leave it on gas unopened for at least 24 hours.

[Lauren]

When one is camera ready and shoots the pic within 2 seconds of opening the door the thermometer does not react that fast for the temp to change. Especially a digital.

And it just seems warm in there anyhow.

[popeyemth]

They work better on gas than electricity
More heat produced
Opening the door to check a thermometer in an empty fridge is counterproductive
All the cold air falls out an is replaced by warm air with no contents to act as a cold buffer....you get warmer not colder.
The display in my picture is a remote reading thermometer.
$30 or so at Amazon

[Lauren]

What gets to me is that the repair place said it was fine and was in the 40's in a few hours. I am on gas; will see tomorrow when I plug it in if that makes a difference.

The fins do not even seem cold.

I really don't care about the differential between the two; I just want the refer to get down to 42 and, if I really cranked it to coldest just to see, I would expect it to be down to about 32. Based on our highs here right now of about 75 or so.

[popeyemth]

Freezers by design get cold first then the fridge

[Big_Katuna]

You can adjust the difference between freezer and fridge by sliding the thermistor up and down the fin.

A fan inside the fridge evens out the temps too.

I bought the one that runs off the light when the door closes.

[Lauren]

Thanks - will give it 24 hours and see where it is at. Refer is empty. Amazes me, though, that the freezer drops right down to -10 and the refer has hardly cooler; in fact, the refer is warmer now than about 9 hours ago. Will give it til 10am tomorrow; that is 24 hours.

[pianotuna]

From an ambient temperature start my Dometic takes 5 hours before the first cycle. I'd wait 24 hours before I would worry about it being too warm.

An internal fan helps cooling speed, and external fans may help as well.

[robsouth]

I would let it run longer than 5 hours for a test. Mine usually take about 12 hours to reach correct temps, especially if there is nothing in the unit. Fill only with "pre cooled" items as it will take forever to cool down with warm stuff put in it.

[Ivylog]

In my 1200 NoCold there is a 10 degree difference in the Refer section depending on where you measure... on the lower door being the warmest. Where are you measuring the 42? If the back wall of the freezer is 0, the fins will be a little below freezing on mine. If the freezer is -10 then the fins will be closer to 22-24 and the bottom of the door will be around 38.

[stickdog]

At the present time mine is freezer 14 refrigerator 40 setting on 2. It was lower/cooler but we just restocked this afternoon so I expect it to go back down to somewhere around 7 freezer and 37 refrigerator.