Dometic Fridge Not Cooling

[TazMcren]

Interesting read. Thanks

[mikec557]

Glad to hear that the extended warranty will take care of it.

[bbells]

I have had many freezers and fridges stop because of a bad temperature unit. Usually if it is bad when you turn it it won't click.

[apachewolf]

Our brand new than (2015), Keystone Laredo 240MK had a fridge problem that lead to the fridge being replaced. But after bringing it home from the dealer we had the same problem. We solved it for the trip we had planned by using a small residential fridge paced in front of the Dometic for the duration of the trip. Worked real well for us. It later turned out that Keystone had forgotten to cut the vent hole in the roof and the dealer did not discover that until I saw it and alerted them where after they cut the hole and the problem was fixed. But mine got real hot but could not get rid of the heat generated by the cooling. Hope you can solve the problem. Replacing the Dometic with a 12 vdc compressor unit sounds like a REAL smart way to go.

Happy camping.

[firestation12]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

If the fridge is on, go outside and remove the bottom access panel. GENTLY touch the chimney, it will be HOT!! If it is, then move to the left and feel the rolls of coils. They should be warm to the touch. It will take about an hour to feel heat in the coils. IF you see ANY yellow powder, DONT TOUCH, and unfortunately your cooling unit has failed.

As Chuckster57 opined, the chimney should be very hot. If it isn't, I would focus first on why it isn't. At the bottom of the round chimney stack, there is a removable plate that will allow an inspection for the presence of a pilot flame. With the heat source set to gas, a small flame should be visible.

[lcarver02]

Take it to a Dometic Repair Shop - 2 year warranty I think. You could have so many problems. Hope your on flat ground. Others have said how to check on propane.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by TazMcren

Hey Mike. Sure was deflating but in the bright side it we noticed it before loading up the fridge. My wife and I had that discussion and would tend to lean towards changing to 12vdc but we have an extended warranty so Keystone or Dometic will pay. We do not dry camp (DW needs full power) or have any solar or generator.

If you continue to have issues as I did with the same 1350 refrigerator, I installed a new 12v compressor driven cooling unit from JC Refrigeration out of Indiana. Fixed all my issues. Can let it run while traveling and not have to deal with propane issues. It cools in about 4 hours from initial start up. Maintains 35 to 37 temps in 95-100 degree outside temps. Freezer is -18 degrees. This is on the third temp setting. Basically have a residential type fridge without their issues as well. Comes with a 3 year warranty! They use heavy duty tubing, thicker than Dometic, and built to take the bouncing and vibration abuse from traveling. I have been in their facility and watched them build some units. Check out jc-refrigeration.com. They have tons of information and pricing on their web site.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by TazMcren

Hey Mike. Sure was deflating but in the bright side it we noticed it before loading up the fridge. My wife and I had that discussion and would tend to lean towards changing to 12vdc but we have an extended warranty so Keystone or Dometic will pay. We do not dry camp (DW needs full power) or have any solar or generator.

If you continue to have issues as I did with the same 1350 refrigerator, I installed a new 12v compressor driven cooling unit from JC Refrigeration out of Indiana. Fixed all my issues. Can let it run while traveling and not have to deal with propane issues. It cools in about 4 hours from initial start up. Maintains 35 to 37 temps in 95-100 degree outside temps. Freezer is -18 degrees. This is on the third temp setting. Basically have a residential type fridge without their issues as well. Comes with a 3 year warranty! They use heavy duty tubing, thicker than Dometic, and built to take the bouncing and vibration abuse from traveling. I have been in their facility and watched them build some units. Check out: jc-refrigeration.com. They have tons of information and pricing on their web site. Was worth every penny.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

If you continue to have issues as I did with the same 1350 refrigerator, I installed a new 12v compressor driven cooling unit from JC Refrigeration out of Indiana. Fixed all my issues. Can let it run while traveling and not have to deal with propane issues. It cools in about 4 hours from initial start up. Maintains 35 to 37 temps in 95-100 degree outside temps. Freezer is -18 degrees. This is on the third temp setting. Basically have a residential type fridge without their issues as well. Comes with a 3 year warranty! They use heavy duty tubing, thicker than Dometic, and built to take the bouncing and vibration abuse from traveling. I have been in their facility and watched them build some units. Check out: jc-refrigeration.com. They have tons of information and pricing on their web site. Was worth every penny.

We have installed two of their 120V units on 2 Norcold 2118 units. They do cool down fast, haven’t dealt with any of their 12V units yet.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

We have installed two of their 120V units on 2 Norcold 2118 units. They do cool down fast, haven’t dealt with any of their 12V units yet.

What is nice with the 12v is that I didn’t have an inverter, and the 12v doesn’t require one. My grandkids are in and out of the fridge all the time and the temp only varies one or two degrees and recovers temp in about 10 minutes. Keeps the ice cream rock hard and the beer cold, cold.

[taxrew]

Originally Posted by Mikelff

What is nice with the 12v is that I didn’t have an inverter, and the 12v doesn’t require one. My grandkids are in and out of the fridge all the time and the temp only varies one or two degrees and recovers temp in about 10 minutes. Keeps the ice cream rock hard and the beer cold, cold.

We have a 1350 in our Cougar 5vr 2018 310RLS and had to have it replaced by Dometic in 2019. On 90 degree heat wave days the new one will go into the 38-40 range. We decided to stop worrying and all, so far, is well.

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by taxrew

We have a 1350 in our Cougar 5vr 2018 310RLS and had to have it replaced by Dometic in 2019. On 90 degree heat wave days the new one will go into the 38-40 range. We decided to stop worrying and all, so far, is well.

Your target temp should be 36-37 degrees. Having been in the foodservice industry for 39 years I can tell you that food bacteria starts to grow at 38 degrees and 40 and above allows food bacteria to grow rapidly, so you will have food spoilage much faster than normal. The second issue is temperature recovery is very slow with an absorption fridge, allowing higher than acceptable temps for several minutes. I just got tired of all the issues. Just got back from two week trip. Fridge never got above 37 degrees and mostly stayed at 35-36 90% of the time. Freezer stayed at -12 to -9 degrees.

[taxrew]

I will look up JC-Refrigeration and review my options. Is there anything in our RV Accessories world that would assist as a "Heat Shield" ?

[Mikelff]

Originally Posted by taxrew

I will look up JC-Refrigeration and review my options. Is there anything in our RV Accessories world that would assist as a "Heat Shield" ?

What you need with an absorption fridge is air flow over the heat exchanger fins at the top of the fridge. That is why you should have a baffle that directs all the air from the bottom of your air vent over the heat exchanger at the top. If your fridge is in a slide out, this is especially important. You probably have a set of fans installed by Montana a couple feet below the top vent to help circulate the air from bottom to top. It is especially important to make sure there are no openings where hot air can get past the insulation on top of the fridge or the sides. I had to get a roll of aluminum duct tape and seal off several openings at the top of the fridge and sides. Even with all that, the fridge still struggled maintaining a temp below 38 to plus 40. Especially in hot weather. I went with the 12volt JC refrigerator so it could run while traveling, and no inverter required. Have had it for about a year now and it works great! It is built to take the vibration and bouncing that the rv goes through. They use much thicker heave duty tubing than what Dometic uses, or any residential fridge. It also comes with a 3 year warranty. You can also buy an additional extended 3 year warranty, for a total of 6 years, but I see no reason for it myself. I toured their facility and was quite impressed at their commitment to build a quality product. Their unit does not have welds, but braise their tubing, which holds better. It’s not cheap, but you get every penny’s worth IMO. You also need fans on the inside of the fridge to circulate the cold air and keep frost off the cooling fins. There are lots of posts on this issue if you do a search. Hope this helps.