Dometic fridge; 110 V, fine! LG: Freezer, fine! Fridge, poor

[fastartcee]

Dometic 2-way fridge

On 110V, all's well. On LP, the freezer's good, but the fridge isn't. Runs about 10 C (50 F).

I've cleaned the jet orifice and the burner assembly; gas flame looks good... bright blue.

I suspect the flue/baffle is fouled. A few heavy bangs brought down some big pieces of soot. I've concluded that the fridge has to come out so I can get at the top of the flue, remove the baffle, clean both baffle and flue, and reinstall.

Does this sound about right, or are there other suggestions. (I took off the roof vent cover, but access to the flue is blocked by a heat exchanger, which also looked like it could use a cleaning.)

Thanks for any help!

Art

[Gene_Ginny]

Glad to hear it is solved. Thanks for letting us know what you did to make it work AND the temp it is now running at.

[fastartcee]

Solved.

Replace blown fuse; and, for good measure, soaked LP orifice in 99% isopropyl alcohol for an hour.

Running the last 6 hours on LP, in the direct sun, and the temperature in the fridge part of the fridge is 1 C (34 F).

I reassessed the amount of rust/scale that came out of the flue. Actually, it was quite a pile. I don't think it would have been cleaned out if I had just used an air compressor to blow it out.

In my case, at least, sliding the fridge out to do a proper maintenance job on the flue/baffle was worth it. It's like we've got a new fridge!

Issue closed.

Thanks for all the advice,
Art

[fastartcee]

CA Traveler wrote:
My long standing advice is to label everything before a project and especially wiring projects then take and save pictures to a permanent location.

Your color matching sounds right. Highly recommend a DVM or test light to see if you have 12V coming to the refer. Price is free to $10 (or more). But highly recommend DVM so that you can also check polarity, would expect black to be positive but RVs have no color standards.

There are a several sticky threads and various other threads with picture posting information.

Thanks. Couldn't agree more with your suggestions.

[CA_Traveler]

My long standing advice is to label everything before a project and especially wiring projects then take and save pictures to a permanent location.

Your color matching sounds right. Highly recommend a DVM or test light to see if you have 12V coming to the refer. Price is free to $10 (or more). But highly recommend DVM so that you can also check polarity, would expect black to be positive but RVs have no color standards.

There are a several sticky threads and various other threads with picture posting information.

[fastartcee]

I would like to double check wire connections I've made at the terminal block. (Sorta dumb... but I didn't make a sketch before disconnecting.)

I have two black wires connected through the terminal block to a black wire. I have two white wires connected through the terminal block to a white wire.

Are these connections correct?

(I have an image of the wiring diagram from the installation manual, but I don't see how to attach or insert it into this message. The diagram implies black-to-black and white-to-white connections.)

I've got myself into a time jam, and could really use a bit of help. Thanks.

[fastartcee]

Slid fridge out; cleaned baffle & flue (quite a bit of rust flakes; but maybe not enough to degrade performance); slid back in and hooked everything up; tested for LP leaks; and reconnected main and house batteries.

Obviously this model wasn't designed to facilitate regular maintenance of the flue & baffle. It's impossible to do recommended maintenance without sliding the fridge out, completely.

Big surprise: When I was done, I had no power at fridge control panel! I suspect a fuse, but both fuses in controller box at rear of fridge are okay. Taking a break now; will check fuse panel in AM.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, and would save my behind. (I had promised Alice better fridge performance, then had to tell her she had NO fridge! Ouch!)

Art

[CA_Traveler]

Another common refer problem is air leaks: door gasket, insulation for openings in the back, etc.

[fastartcee]

NRALIFR & Gene&Ginny,

Thanks for the suggestions; I'll try both, starting with the LP pressure check.

[Gene_Ginny]

Check your LP pressure. After I did all you mentioned I still had lack of cooling on LP even though the flame "looked" good. I made a manometer with a length of plastic tubing and found the pressure was 8 inches WC and it should have been 11 inches WC.

[NRALIFR]

You probably don't need to completely remove the fridge. Just disconnect all the wires and the LP line and remove the mounting screws, then push it about 6" to give you enough clearance to reach down from the top through the roof vent. That's what I have to do on mine in order to get the flue baffle out of the flue.

Here's a hint to make it easier next time though: don't clip the flue baffle wire back in to the slots on top of the flue when you put it back in. That way you can remove it easily with a straightened-out coat hanger, rather than having to stick your arm down through the vent into an area it will not fit.

:):)