Fridge coils icing up

[artluvr]

Our Dometic Fridge coils are iced up with a thick coat of frosty ice. I think the fridge is cooling (we do not have a thermometer), but my wife thinks it isn't cold enough. The freezer and icemaker are working fine. Is this normal? OK?

[satchelpaigefan]

fifthwheeltraveler wrote:
We disagree with the door seal theory and the humid air theory. We installed this device Found here and have never had another problem... No ice, and tons of air flow...

We had to laugh at a magazine article that suggested opening the door of our refer, snapping a pic, and slamming the door real fast. They said looking at the pic and never leaving the door open for more than 3 seconds would eliminate the ice... WRONG...

We hate to sound like a broken record. But why spend 60k on an RV and then not spend a few buck on something that helps you live in it? This is our home on the road, and I am certainly not going to snap a pic when I open the refer! Lol...

We have this same device installed. A friend of ours turned us on to it, as we had many of the issues talked about here. our least favorite was all the ice that would accumulate on the cooling fins. The RV dealership that we bought our coach from told us to "just carry a cooler with you to put your food in while you defrost". ?? And where exactly are we supposed to carry the cooler when we are not using it?

We usually do not post about stuff like this, but the guy and his family that build these are some very helpful folks. we got ours at their website. It was worth every penny and then some.

[SolidAxleDurang]

Nom

[fifthwheeltrave]

wolfe10 wrote:
Can circulating fan(s) inside the refrigerator help-- SURE.

But, limiting the intrusion of hot, humid air into the refrigerator (from whatever source) is also important. Not sure a debate over which is more important is relevant.

What the fan(s) can do by circulating air over the fins is keep the fin temperature above 32 degrees F. So, moisture can condense (and take cooling BTU's to do so), but it then drips into the tray and out the condensate tube. Is this a good idea-- sure.

Combine this with minimizing the amount of moisture intrusion into the refrigerator and you have the BEST answer.

You will never be able to limit the amount of air that enters into the refrigerator. Using the refrigerator as intended allows this moisture to enter. We even accumulated ice while we were in the desert of New Mexico! At less than 10% humidity!

Any air that passes over the cooling fins will cool to its dew point. If there is no air flow, that means ice will form. Constant air flow means that the fins do not have to be below freezing to cool the inside of our refrigerator. It seems that the increased air flow allows the thermistor to sense the proper temperature soon, so the fins do not have to be below freezing to maintain , say, 34 degrees in the refer.

The increased air flow allows for the thermistor to sense temperature drops or spikes much faster... Fin temp is immediately transmitted throughout the fridge.... No need for the fins to even be below freezing....

Hope this helps...

[wolfe10]

Can circulating fan(s) inside the refrigerator help-- SURE.

But, limiting the intrusion of hot, humid air into the refrigerator (from whatever source) is also important. Not sure a debate over which is more important is relevant.

What the fan(s) can do by circulating air over the fins is keep the fin temperature above 32 degrees F. So, moisture can condense (and take cooling BTU's to do so), but it then drips into the tray and out the condensate tube. Is this a good idea-- sure.

Combine this with minimizing the amount of moisture intrusion into the refrigerator and you have the BEST answer.

[fifthwheeltrave]

We disagree with the door seal theory and the humid air theory. We installed this device Found here and have never had another problem... No ice, and tons of air flow...

We had to laugh at a magazine article that suggested opening the door of our refer, snapping a pic, and slamming the door real fast. They said looking at the pic and never leaving the door open for more than 3 seconds would eliminate the ice... WRONG...

We hate to sound like a broken record. But why spend 60k on an RV and then not spend a few buck on something that helps you live in it? This is our home on the road, and I am certainly not going to snap a pic when I open the refer! Lol...

[dougrainer]

Yes, it is normal if you have not defrosted the refer lately. That type Ice build up will make the refer NOT cool as well in the bottom. You need to defrost and get that build up of ice off the fins. These are NOT self defrosting refers, you must manual defrost everytime the fins build up with ice. Doug

[wolfe10]

Another source of moist, hot air is the condensate drain. I have seen several with the restrictor that is supposed to be in the outside end removed. A sure source of hot humid air going right to the refrigerator fins.

The restrictor should allow water to drain out, but materially restrict hot air from rising into the refrigerator.

And, as mentioned above, do the "dollar bill" test on the door gasket to insure a good tight seal all the way around.

[louiskathy]

Make sure there's air flow inside the fridge - get a battery fridge fan... don't pack items too tight together and don't allow items on the top shelf to be pushed up against the coils.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[bob213]

X2 on gasket. Small coil mounted fan may help also.

[donn0128]

Door left open allowing hot humid air to enter the box. Or bad door gasket are the two main causes of ice buildup