KEBrown
Kansas
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Joined: 10/15/2007
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Is it worth the effort to modify my opening for a Norcold fridge or have the Dometics gotten better.. is there a still a problem w/ Dometics catching fire?
Also; are the new fridges better made, better thermostats and not blow out as easy? Mine just will not cool down below 50 in the heat and I've tried every trick in the book, so I'm going to cave and get a new one.
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KEBrown
Kansas
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FYI: Today it was about 98 and the fridge got to 51 degree.. tonight, it's down to 28; I've already blown off the back of the frige and installed a 12vt fan on the roof vent to help w/ drafting.. none the less... 51 is to warm, and the door wasn't opened at all - this was just a test to see if I should get a new one.
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jwmII
out west
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Joined: 05/12/2003
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STOP STOP. Don't go for a new one yet. What you are describing is pretty typical for this time of year and there are some things you can do. As you said about the sun going down and the unit cooling down to 28. It will probably go down more and the freezer will be way down by morning. Both Norcold and Dometic only design these things to work properly to about 90F. When the ambient temp is above that and when you have high humidity to go with it the ability for these units to cool deteriorates rapidly. Some things that help are to try and park with the fridge side in the shade if at all possible. Put a small fan in behind the fridge with it blowing up thru the coils on the back of the fridge to carry away heat. These are made to run on 12 volts and can be connected right there in the back of the fridge. Some even run a wire inside across a toggle switch so they can turn the fan on and off from inside. Also when parked it helps to open the outside access door behind the fridge allowing still more air to be drawn up behind the unit.
One reason the freezer holds up and cools better than the fridge is the freezer is first in the loop and uses all of the cooling mediums ability to cool and there is nothing left to cool the fridge.
The addition of fans, parking with the fridge on the shady side, opening the door for more air flow, etc, will go a long way to cool things down.
I have a 6" fan from Walmart that I frequently lay in the back compartment when added cooling is needed and plug it into the 12volt lead where my other fan is plugged in and it has not failed to do the job yet. My fridge is a dometic. After sunset it readily cools back there and all the fans can be turned off if they are not on a temp. controlled switch. When it comes down to this problem there is no difference between Dometic and Norcold.
jwmII
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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Joined: 07/28/2006
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Is it full or empty? This is no surprise on an empty fridge as there is nothing "cold soaked" in the fridge to help buffer the fridge's movements throughout the day. If it's full of food, then you do have an issue.
Jeff - WA6EQU
'06 Itasca Meridian 34H, CAT C7/350
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nosaint3
Sioux Falls,SD
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Joined: 02/06/2005
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My Norcold has the same problem. My fans won't come on. I put a fan outside blowing air up the back and the frig wants to freeze. Mine caught fire in the past also, but they had replaced the cooling unit after I bought it and it stopped working. I guess they all have had problems so you may want to reconsider modifications.
nosaint3
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tom_kat
way upstate new york/lake george area
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have you tried a fan on the inside of the fridge,i made one from a 12 volt computer fan and it helped a lot.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
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KEBrown
Kansas
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I did add a fan on the outside, but it is not blowing up, it's mounted at the top vent so it's "sucking" air up. The fridge get's to 51+ and the freezer thaws. I've been doing this test with the fridge empty. Yesterday I turned the inside a/c on, opened the lower door outside completely and it seemed to get cool, but why is the freezer thawing...plus I can't always drive w/ the vent door open (hahaha). I did the dollar bill check on the door seals and it's good and tight...this thing is driving me bananas... and being as old as it is, when the flame blows out (going down the road) you don't know it until the temp rises and then after you re-light the flame, it's almost to late and it takes forever to cool back down again. This is a 20 year old fridge that was rebuilt 4 years ago..nothing fancy, just some idot knobs to turn. I've double checked and adequate insulation is around the fridge and air seems to be drafting (per a blown out candle test.) Called the shop, they pretty much said they didn't even want to mess with it because it was so old and first just recommended rebuilding it again for $500, plus a $100 "service fee" to trouble shoot it... a new one is $949...
* This post was
edited 07/07/08 02:39pm by KEBrown *
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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Do yourself a favor and fill it with something: jugs of water, soda, whatever, preferably cold, but things that won't sour in case if failure.. Basically simulate real world packing.
Let it all stabilize a few days and do these tests again. I think you will have a marked difference in your results.
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weissmand
Los Angeles, CA
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I have a dometic and I couldn't get it any colder than 38 degrees and when it's hot outside, it was in the mid 40's during the day. Not good enough.
Then I started reading the posts about adjusting the fridge temp by moving the thermistor up or down (I think up is warmer down is colder). That didn't do much good.
Finally I removed the Thermistor from the fins and it's mounted above my light in the fridge.
The fridge is now at 33.2 degrees. This past weekend it was in the mid 90's outside and my fridge was 38 degrees.
Try moving the thermistor off the fins and away from them before you call it quits.
Jeff is right about putting "stuff" in the fridge and getting a fan to circulate. The fan makes a huge difference and the objects help moderate cycling. It doesn't help speed up testing though!
good luck.
Josh
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KEBrown
Kansas
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Ok...what is a thermistor... the fins on the outside or the fin inside the fridge... actually, nothing is attached to either one of these, but I'd still like to know what a thermistor is; this is a 20 year old Dometic 2601, might not have one of them dohickies.
I already have a exhaust (computer) fan in the roof vent and I'm ordering one of those "d" battery fans for inside.
I'll fill the fridge w/ some cold soda cans and test again; not going to try it with beer, I hate hot beer hehehehehe...
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