Air conditioner causing fridge temp to rise

[joem789]

After spending a few years in my 2003 KZ Sportsmen, this is the first year I have had to deal with temperature related issues with my fridge. I noticed it began having problems staying cold. I usually have my Norcold on 6. But just to keep things cold enough I have had to put it on 9. The highest setting. I chalked it up to the reason being the hot, humid weather we have been having. But had decided to do some experiments to get to the bottom of it.

At first I tried removing the rain cap to allow heat to move it faster. AT times I seemed to help. At other times, not so much. Then I tried leaving the cover off the back wall of the fridge. Also, putting up a tarp to keep the sun off that opening. I even put a small fan in there to help move air upwards better. This didn't really solve the problem.

The fridge does manage to make it down to 26 through the night when things cool down more. Today we had a mild day for a change. So I didn't run the ceiling AC. The fridge stayed at 27 all day long. Even after the sun came out to torture us. Later in the afternoon, I decided to run the AC. Not 10 minutes later, the fridge was showing 33. Then finally went up to 37, which has been typical. So I am thinking there is heat coming from somewhere in the ceiling that is affecting the cooling unit. Or is this just a coincidence?

Any ideas?

[2oldman]

joem789 wrote:
.. assuming that lack of cleaning and improper leveling were the culprits. Would the problem they cause manifest itself gradually over time?t.

Yes, especially improper leveling. Whether the symptoms can manifest suddenly is unclear to me.

[dougrainer]

joem789 wrote:
Sorry. I neglected to mention I run the fridge with propane. We boondock. So using the heating element is usually out of the question. But I did run the generator to try using electric to see if it acted any better. But it was actually worse. I think the element might have been giving problems a couple years ago during last time I used it. But became a non-issue with using propane ever since.

I am only just now seeing this issue. The door seals are like new. And seal up nice and tight all way around. Although. If they were an issue, they never stopped the fridge/freezer from doing its job. I don't think they apply in this case. The problem seems to stem from the back of the fridge.

The late afternoons/evenings are the time of day when the doors are typically opened and closed numerous times with the family being home. Right now the fridge thermistor reads 33. Mid 30s is typical this time of night. Leaving the door shut overnight, itll get down to around 26 reading. Normally everything in the fridge would be frozen by morning at a setting of 9. But that won't be the case. I can put a jug of water in the freezer and it takes 2 days to begin to freeze. Whereas, before. It would freeze overnight.

From the way I understand it. The fridge fins work off the freezer. So I am thinking the freezer just isn't operating as cold as it should. SO what would cause that to happen? I think my Norcold is a 62x 2-way model.

1. The FREEZER has nothing to do with bottom temp. Don't know why you would think that.
2. HOW are you measuring the lower temp? The ONLY way is to measure the temp of a small glass of water. You cannot use an IR gun or the air temp in the refer.
3. There is NO way just running the roof AC would raise the temp in the refer 6 to 10 degrees in 10 minutes or 1 hour or all day. There are only 2 things that seal the refer. The door gasket and the condensate drain tube out the bottom of the evaporator pan.
4. You "think" you know the model?????? It is on a sticker inside the refer. Doug

[wa8yxm]

37 for a fridge is considered NORMAL it may be coincidence the temps you see.

HOwever as for the freezer. I see one of the responses says the freezer gets "Warmer" when A/C is running... this may be because the temp sensor in the fridge is IN THE FRIDGE, not the freezer.. The manufacturer assumes a relationship between the fridge and freezer and designs it so that percentage of cooling goes to each part.. If it is warmer out or in this specific warmer INdoors the fridge heats faster and the cooling system runs more... The freezer gets colder too. But since the fridge has more surface (larger door) it warms faster and thus the freezer gets colder.

Of course, the explanation about voltage is good too. Plug in a meter or 2 (i have 3)

[LarryJM]

ScottG wrote:
When I had my fridge out, there was openings into the attic where the roof vent penetrated the ceiling. Since that can only disrupt air flow, I sealed them up with foil tape.

That is a critical item in the installation that is often either missed or has been compromised. The space above the frig at the back MUST BE SEALED since if it's open an air pocket can form and distrupt the "chimney effect" for the convection cooling of the condenser.

Since this air pocket effect is dependent on temps generally ambient the correlation with the A/C makes some sense ... i.e. when A/C is needed the air pocket actually forms and could be stronger (hotter).

To check take off frig rain cap on roof and look feel down at top of frig and make sure there is a barrier along the top that runs the entire width of the frig.

Larry

[Chris_Bryant]

Have you cleaned the burner?

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Energy drops off dramatically when voltage drops.

Example:

at 118 volts watts of output will be about 325.

at 108 volts watts of output will be about 297.

That's about a 10% loss of heat--enough to make a huge difference in cooling for the fridge.

[Old-Biscuit]

YES............

[joem789]

Thanks for all that information. I haven't done any cleaning on the system in the past few years I have owned it. Since the fridge always worked well, it didn't occur to me. But assuming that lack of cleaning and improper leveling were the culprits. Would the problem they cause manifest itself gradually over time? My problem seems to have suddenly happened in a single day. With the fridge going from cooling wonderfully one day and hardly at all the next.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I am smiling...

Try placing a fan on the floor blowing directly onto the doors. What happens?

[Old-Biscuit]

You stated....

"I have noticed when I put my hand on the wall on the upper fridge side (above the stove), it feels warmer. That would be the air space above the fridge."

And then this.....

"I would like to mention I have tried unplugging the thermistor for a day. As well as tried sliding it up towards the top of the fin, which helped some. But not enough. "



Dead air space....that area should NOT be warm to the touch. It should be completely sealed/blocked from the airflow going up across/thru cooling unit removing HEAT from unit.
Dead air space should be that...DEAD
Looking down from roof vent check it out and seal it OFF



Thermistor unplugged all day......
Freezer temps should have gone down to 0*F and lower
Food compartment should have dropped to 32*F
But it didn't

(Sliding thermistor on a Norcold Fridge with adjustable temp settings does NOT change anything)

When was the last time you thoroughly cleaned burner, cleaned up spark electrode, removed flue baffle/wire brushed it down and run a brush down thru flue?????

Dirty/sooty/carboned up flue/burner......LOUSY heat transfer.....LOUSY performance of cooling unit

IF a good cleaning does not resolve issues.........then it maybe that cooling unit is dying due to obstructions/blockages over the years since 2002.
Every off level operation can cause overheating which forms crystals which plate out on the inside of tubing.
Process is accumulative and PERMANENT

[TakingThe5th]

You might try the dollar bill test. Open the door and close it against a dollar bill in the gasket area. You can judge the condition of the gasket by how well the dollar bill is held in place. Test the entire gasket.

Warning - use only dollar bills. Larger bills may be snatched up by others prior to the completion of testing 🙂 Also please note that $20 bills are not significantly thicker then $1 bills, most certainly not 20 times thicker. 🙂

[joem789]

Sorry. I neglected to mention I run the fridge with propane. We boondock. So using the heating element is usually out of the question. But I did run the generator to try using electric to see if it acted any better. But it was actually worse. I think the element might have been giving problems a couple years ago during last time I used it. But became a non-issue with using propane ever since.

I am only just now seeing this issue. The door seals are like new. And seal up nice and tight all way around. Although. If they were an issue, they never stopped the fridge/freezer from doing its job. I don't think they apply in this case. The problem seems to stem from the back of the fridge.

The late afternoons/evenings are the time of day when the doors are typically opened and closed numerous times with the family being home. Right now the fridge thermistor reads 33. Mid 30s is typical this time of night. Leaving the door shut overnight, itll get down to around 26 reading. Normally everything in the fridge would be frozen by morning at a setting of 9. But that won't be the case. I can put a jug of water in the freezer and it takes 2 days to begin to freeze. Whereas, before. It would freeze overnight.

From the way I understand it. The fridge fins work off the freezer. So I am thinking the freezer just isn't operating as cold as it should. SO what would cause that to happen? I think my Norcold is a 62x 2-way model.

[newman_fulltime]

bad door gaskets the ac is sucking the air from the fridge causing warm air to go in

[newman_fulltime]

bad door gaskets the ac is sucking the air from the fridge causing warm are to go in