Dometic 4 door 12cuft fridge not getting below 40 degrees

[Leatherneck2093]

We bought very rarely used like new 2019 Grand Design Reflection 28bh. We are on our maiden voyage check out trip. The dometic 4 door 12 cuft fridge, which is in a slide out, is set to 5 and doesn’t want to cool below 40. The freezer stays between 12-17 degrees. I can hear fans on the back of the fridge running from time to time. I don't see the thermistor clip on the inside fins that I can adjust. Daytime temps are running 90-96. We are in a nicely shaded spot so the fridge doesn’t see direct sun.

I have noticed that the cabinet around the fridge is really warm. That tells me that its not insulated and a lot of the heat from the cooling unit coil is filling that void. Is insulating that void around he body of the fridge something that would adversely affect its operation or would that be a good thing to do?

There is a baffle in the top vent that covers 2/3’s of the vent cover. That doesn’t make a lot of since to me either.

I tried searching for this but wasn’t successful.

Any help or direction to a previous thread would be greatly appreciated.

[Leatherneck2093]

Well today my fridge went from a low of 33 this morning to a high of 38.5 around 3pm. It has now begun to drop since the heat of the day has eased off.

I will be interested to see how the three 120mm fans I ordered for the top vent cover will affect it. The two valterra fans I put in the bottom are quiet, I can barely hear them with the lower vent cover on and can not hear them at all inside the rig even when sitting next to the fridge cabinet. So far so good.

We store our rig set up in a small RV park near the town we live in. We stay in it about 50% of the time when not traveling. I added a wyze panning WiFi camera in the rig for security purposes and with the wireless thermometers I added to the freezer and fridge I can monitor their temps as well as the cabin temps. Can’t beat it for $35.

[Garry_Gayle]

To avoid any further misinformation, here is a link to the sservice manual
Clicky

[Leatherneck2093]

dougrainer wrote:
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space'

INCORRECT and FALSE. You misunderstood what Dometic told you. This applies to both Norcold and Dometic----The TOP outside roof of any refer should NEVER have any air space at all. You can block off or insulate to top to the ceiling of the RV. You never want the cavity between the top cooling coil and the front of the refer to have gaps. That allows convection air to NOT correctly go out the roof or upper door vent. Doug

PS click this link and look at the 4th pic. That is HOW a best installed refer convection flow should look.

https://forums.motorhome.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30115737/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

Thanks for the clarification Doug.

[Leatherneck2093]

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I got this from Dometic Tech, and its also in the Dometic Technical manual; to do a reset turn off refer the cut all power 12V and 110V for a few seconds then turn on 110 and 12V turn on refer. the first defrost cycle will occur after 60 hours and then repeat every 48 hours there after.

Thanks for the information I will do this at noon today.

I added two Valterra fans in the bottom of the fridge yesterday. Prior to adding them the fridge was running between 39-43 degrees for the past several days. At 10pm last night the fridge was at 37 degrees and this morning it is at 33. I have not removed or modified the baffle yet. We’ll see how it does though the heat of the day. I haven't mounted them yet. When I do I will install switches in the fridge cabinet inside so they cant draw 12v when I don't want them to.

I also ordered 3 cooler guys120mmx25mm 105cfm 0.36 amp 42db IP67 12v fans on Amazon for $17.96 I will wire tie them to the top vent cover and put them on a switch. This should to help evacuate the heat. I’ll cut enough of the baffle away to allow the fans to fully function.

I am that this will resolve my issues.

[dougrainer]

Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space'

INCORRECT and FALSE. You misunderstood what Dometic told you. This applies to both Norcold and Dometic----The TOP outside roof of any refer should NEVER have any air space at all. You can block off or insulate to top to the ceiling of the RV. You never want the cavity between the top cooling coil and the front of the refer to have gaps. That allows convection air to NOT correctly go out the roof or upper door vent. Doug

PS click this link and look at the 4th pic. That is HOW a best installed refer convection flow should look.

https://forums.motorhome.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/30115737/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

[dougrainer]

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I got this from Dometic Tech, and its also in the Dometic Technical manual; to do a reset turn off refer the cut all power 12V and 110V for a few seconds then turn on 110 and 12V turn on refer. the first defrost cycle will occur after 60 hours and then repeat every 48 hours there after.

Put the link for a DOMETIC. What you posted is for a NORCOLD. Dometic's have NO defrost cycle. Norcolds do. Doug (Dometic trained Tech for 41 years)

PS.the "only" reset is to turn the refer OFF for 10 seconds and back on after you have a check light come on from LP lack of flame

AND, There is NEVER any reason to remove 120 power to a Norcold or Dometic. The controls are ALL 12 volt.

[Garry_Gayle]

I got this from Dometic Tech, and its also in the Dometic Technical manual; to do a reset turn off refer the cut all power 12V and 110V for a few seconds then turn on 110 and 12V turn on refer. the first defrost cycle will occur after 60 hours and then repeat every 48 hours there after.

[dougrainer]

There is NO reset on a Dometic refer. Doug

[Leatherneck2093]

Garry&Gayle wrote:

Leatherneck2093 wrote:

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I had the same panel covering half the top vent on our Dometic RM1350 of which I cut to allow full vent flow. I then installed a 3rd fan in the back centered just above the factory fans along with triple vent fans inside, the thermistor should be on the left side wire is not very long. My fridge will run around 37 degs. and freezer is at 10 deg in 95 deg. heat. The eyebrow temp says 33-34 degs. the inside room temp will effect them also, try and keep below 80 deg. if possible.
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space.

Thanks for the info. I am able to keep our Reflection 28bh at 71 degrees easily with the 15k btu and the 13.5k btu AC’s. Was your baffle metal? If so how did you cut it?

I arranged my drain line to have a trap in it today and restarted the fridge at noon so the 2 hour defrost will happen in the middle of the night now. Don’t know how much affect that will have but why not. Every little bit helps.

The panel on mine was wood paneling which I cut easily with a hand saw, when you restarted your refer did you do a reset? or just off and then on again?

Just off for ten minutes then on. Didn’t know about a reset. Is that required and how is that done?

[Garry_Gayle]

Leatherneck2093 wrote:

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I had the same panel covering half the top vent on our Dometic RM1350 of which I cut to allow full vent flow. I then installed a 3rd fan in the back centered just above the factory fans along with triple vent fans inside, the thermistor should be on the left side wire is not very long. My fridge will run around 37 degs. and freezer is at 10 deg in 95 deg. heat. The eyebrow temp says 33-34 degs. the inside room temp will effect them also, try and keep below 80 deg. if possible.
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space.

Thanks for the info. I am able to keep our Reflection 28bh at 71 degrees easily with the 15k btu and the 13.5k btu AC’s. Was your baffle metal? If so how did you cut it?

I arranged my drain line to have a trap in it today and restarted the fridge at noon so the 2 hour defrost will happen in the middle of the night now. Don’t know how much affect that will have but why not. Every little bit helps.

The panel on mine was wood paneling which I cut easily with a hand saw, when you restarted your refer did you do a reset? or just off and then on again?

[Leatherneck2093]

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I had the same panel covering half the top vent on our Dometic RM1350 of which I cut to allow full vent flow. I then installed a 3rd fan in the back centered just above the factory fans along with triple vent fans inside, the thermistor should be on the left side wire is not very long. My fridge will run around 37 degs. and freezer is at 10 deg in 95 deg. heat. The eyebrow temp says 33-34 degs. the inside room temp will effect them also, try and keep below 80 deg. if possible.
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space.

Thanks Doug.

[Leatherneck2093]

Garry&Gayle wrote:
I had the same panel covering half the top vent on our Dometic RM1350 of which I cut to allow full vent flow. I then installed a 3rd fan in the back centered just above the factory fans along with triple vent fans inside, the thermistor should be on the left side wire is not very long. My fridge will run around 37 degs. and freezer is at 10 deg in 95 deg. heat. The eyebrow temp says 33-34 degs. the inside room temp will effect them also, try and keep below 80 deg. if possible.
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space.

Thanks for the info. I am able to keep our Reflection 28bh at 71 degrees easily with the 15k btu and the 13.5k btu AC’s. Was your baffle metal? If so how did you cut it?

I arranged my drain line to have a trap in it today and restarted the fridge at noon so the 2 hour defrost will happen in the middle of the night now. Don’t know how much affect that will have but why not. Every little bit helps.

[Garry_Gayle]

I had the same panel covering half the top vent on our Dometic RM1350 of which I cut to allow full vent flow. I then installed a 3rd fan in the back centered just above the factory fans along with triple vent fans inside, the thermistor should be on the left side wire is not very long. My fridge will run around 37 degs. and freezer is at 10 deg in 95 deg. heat. The eyebrow temp says 33-34 degs. the inside room temp will effect them also, try and keep below 80 deg. if possible.
Dometic told me not to add insulation to the very top of refer they need that air space.

[dougrainer]

Leatherneck2093 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
Temporarily try a battery operated fan in the fresh food compartment. Dry ice too. Then warranty service.

I installed a triple fin fan unit inside now I’m considering additional valterra fans outside in the top vent.

Bingo, Refers in slide rooms need an additional fan blowing OUT that upper door to cool correctly. OEM's never install that needed fan. Install that fan and you will be amazed at the better cooling. Doug