dometic 2 way 4 door refer in Everest

genecurp · 09-30-2010, 03:57 PM

My Everest 340 I is 1.5 years old. Model year 2009. Out of warrenty with keystone.

It is not cooling refer or freezer as before. Refer got to 52 this pm. It is dometic RM 1350 4 door. No water thru door and no ice maker.

My dealer has been trying and can not find anything wrong with refer. Dometic tells them it is keystone's fault cause the air ventilation is not right. Basically dometic is saying the design or the installation of the refer by keystone is the problem.

Anyone out there have this problem and how was it resolved?

Thanks to all.

Safe travels
Gene

dsniper22 · 10-01-2010, 07:09 PM

on elec, propane or both?

Ruffus · 10-02-2010, 03:55 AM

Gene, what was the interior temperture of you RV when you were trying to cool your refer? I found that if mine was in the upper 80's or low 90's it wouldn't cool lower than 50 degrees in the refer. This was after they replaced the cooling unit. With normal interior temps in the low 80's it cools fine and almosty to cold.

Jim B

genecurp · 10-02-2010, 04:35 AM

It has been running for 7+ days none stop. Set on auto, so elec in campground and propane when traveling. Just got into TN from PA. I am a full timer so refrig is never off in the past except when traveling. My dealer suggested by phone to use the auto mode so it wouldn't heat up during travel so I tried it.

Since the inside of the RV gets air conditioned each night in the past the fridge would recover cooler temp in just a few hours. That is not happening anymore.

Thanks for the tips.

I used a flashlight last night to make sure the air ventilation area between the two vents in the outside wall were clear. Found on shifted insulation or anything looking like a problem.

Keep the tips coming.

Dometic said it is an installation problem and recommends heat "baffling" to direct heat out the top vent grill and more fans. Keystone could not be reached Friday as they were closed per my dealer. I have trouble with this Dometic theory due to I have full timed in this unit 18 months in some hot weather, so if installation/ ventilation is the issue why do I have problems all of the sudden after summer heat has moderated?

Still buying ice for my new cooler.
Gene

genecurp · 10-02-2010, 04:42 AM

Keep thos tips coming. Thanks to all
Gene

Flyguy · 10-02-2010, 04:58 AM

An auxiliary 12v fan is available for the outside compartment to push air over the fins and up the vent to make cooling more efficient.

Ruffus · 10-02-2010, 07:51 AM

After my dealer installed a new cooling unit in my refer he told me to remove the bug screens from my vents per the manufacturer. When I went to remove them I found that the dealer had built a deversion wall that went all the way up to just below the top vent. When I called and asked them about it he said that dometic told them to try this to direct the heat to the top vent. They said I could probably take it out if I wanted to but said it would not hurt anything to leave it in. I can take some pictures and post them later if you like.
I also found that these units don't cool all that great when on gas or when traveling but the biggest problem for me was when I had my trailer in storage and the A/C wasn't running the only way it would cool down was to use ice. I leave mine on auto all the time and it switches between gas and electric as needed.
I unit I had in my old fleetwood was a real cooler and it operated on gas and
12 volt and never had a problem.
Oh yeh I forgot to tell you that even when mine was in storage the freezer always worked but the refer would not, thats when they changed the cooling unit.
Jim

genecurp · 10-02-2010, 08:53 AM

Dealer had fan blowing up the lower vent. Did not help.

Maybe the cooling unit is bad from inadequate ventilation for 18 months?

Ruffus, don't do the pictures yet. I'll ask my dealer if he'd like them.

Gene

Jim W · 10-02-2010, 12:01 PM

This is a wild shot in the dark but here goes.

Where is the temperature control unit in your refrigerator? I have notice on my refrigerator that the temperature probe will slip out of the slide unit on my unit every once in awhile. When this does the refrigerator will not cool adequately. This is just a guess and I hope the dealer tech look at this but has yours slipped out of the clip on the slide of the cooling fins? This will cause a cooling issue when it is not placed correctly.

Jim

genecurp · 10-02-2010, 05:59 PM

Hi Jim
My unit's temp is controlled by an electronic thermosat. My previous Montana had a wire inside the refer box with a plastic piece that could be slide up and down the wire. Is that what you mean by temperature probe. If so the RM 1350 doesn't have one.

On the left side, inside the refer box, there is an insulation covered wire coming out of the back wall and it is mounted to a bracket on the side wall of the refer box. The wire is just under the fins on the back. THe wire has an enlarged end. Not in the owners manual. I am guessing a thermometer that reads the refer temp for the elctronic desplay on the outside of the right hand door.

Thanks Jim

dsniper22 · 10-02-2010, 07:11 PM

I would try switching it over to strictly propane for a day to see if it makes much of a difference. When I got my alpine, the dometic 4 door in it wouldn't cool much past 50-60 on electric but on gas it worked great. The tech at the dealership where i bought it pulled some elec panel or circuit board and reset the electronics and after that it worked great.

genecurp · 10-03-2010, 03:47 AM

Thanks Dsniper
Your Alpine is the successor to my Everest brand.

We have tried elec and propane and saw no diff. My dealer suggested a 24 hour test as you have. We are at hour 20 on propane and no benefit. The temp went up a couple degrees in late PM sun and dropped a couple overnight.

It is at this moment warmer in the frig (49) than it it outside (47).

With my vast ignorance I am coming to conclude the the heater part is working on both propane and elec. Also the ventilation Dometic has been proposing may be what killed my refir but it won't fix this one.

Cooling unit? Blockage in the ammonia circulation? Voodoo?

Thanks for your input!

Festus2 · 10-03-2010, 09:01 AM

Have you tried going online to the Dometic website? If you don't have a manual for your frig, you should be able to download one from the site. What about contacting Dometic by phone and speaking to one of their service technicians?

genecurp · 10-03-2010, 09:55 AM

Hey Festus,
I have the owners manual and the installation manual. I have not yet called Dometic personally. But my dealer has. I do think I should call as you suggest since can know how performance has been over time. The dealer is stumped. THey did us an ohm meter and found no problems.
Thanks Festus.
Keep the suggestions coming

Jim W · 10-04-2010, 03:37 AM

Where is your furnace in your camper? In my unit the furnace is under the refrigerator. If the furnace is under the refrigerator could this be causing the heat of the furance, when it is on to raise your refrigerator temperature?

Jim

genecurp · 10-04-2010, 04:02 AM

Thanks Jim. Our furnace is not under or beside the refir. And during most of the bad refer performance we have not run the furnace.

Thanks again,
Gene

geo · 10-04-2010, 06:26 AM

Gene -

If my memory serves me correctly, I think the Dometic fridge has a two year warranty. Did you register your Dometic fridge warranty with Dometic? One can also purchase an addtional three year warranty add-on to take it to five.

That said, I believe most Camping Worlds are authorized Dometic service centers. Try getting on Dometic's USA website and look on the warranty area.

Ron

genecurp · 10-04-2010, 12:46 PM

Thanks Ron
In my case the warrenty is 1 year parts and labor and 2 more years parts only. My dealer is an authorized dometic repair provider.

We are still trying to get the problem diagnosed. Dometic thinks it might be the air movement/ventilation in the rear of the refrigerator becasue they have seen that problem in refers in slide outs. Mine is in a slide out, but I have measured the clearances and it appears installed correctly per my copy of the installation manual.

We have to determine what is wrong in order to see whose "fault" it is.

I am still trying.
Gene

genecurp · 10-11-2010, 07:36 AM

Tuesday our dealer will install the Dometic specified ventilation "fix" baffles that address the improper installation issue. Keystone has agreed to pay for this installation.

We will then test to refrig to see if all problems are resolved. We expect additional work to be required.

genecurp · 10-13-2010, 01:45 PM

Keystone agreed to pay for the ventilation fix Dometic demanded. The fix did not solve the problem.

Dometic has now agreed to ship for free a complete new refrigerator and pay 1 hour labor to install it.

My patience has been challenged, but all is working out in the end. Thanks to both Keystone and Dometic.

It seems it was the cooling unit from the beginning.

Thanks to all
Gene

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