Dometic 2 door 3 way fridge not cooling...

[TurnerFam]

Dometic 2 door 3 way fridge not cooling in the fridge, but the freezer works just fine... 120v power no problem.

is there a 'cavity' or connection between the two areas that could be clogged?

or
how does the 'thermistor' temp sensor work? What does it tell the fridge to 'do'?


thanks : )

[TurnerFam]

sorry, it's a two-way, with constant 120v power - and the freezer works perfectly, but no matter when the 'thermistor' sensor height is on the fridge section, it's not cooling now, even though it has been for months.

[Pete'sMH]

It’s a very simple device and the same coolant cools both compartments. Typically the freezer gets cold more quickly though. How long has it been running?

[EA37TS]

When we had our class c with the Dometic fridge I found that placing aq small battery operated fan like this always helped with cooling.

https://www.amazon.com/Increase-Cool.../dp/B07L22DMYR

We also had the freezer cold and fridge warm situation before we included the fan. Seems internal air circulation was the culprit.

Note, the Amazon fan is an example only and ours cost about 9.00 through Camping World.

[lwmcguire]

I would check the door seals, every inch by sliding a bill along

If the door seals are good and no ice in the coils it could be

Burner/element weak

Try propane and see if it gets cold

Still warm, probably gettplugged up

[lwmcguire]

We had a 4 door brand new we added internal fans and external fans

New improved door seals

Sure don’t miss it, was in the Landmark

Originally Posted by EA37TS

When we had our class c with the Dometic fridge I found that placing aq small battery operated fan like this always helped with cooling.

https://www.amazon.com/Increase-Cool.../dp/B07L22DMYR

We also had the freezer cold and fridge warm situation before we included the fan. Seems internal air circulation was the culprit.

Note, the Amazon fan is an example only and ours cost about 9.00 through Camping World.

[TurnerFam]

o.k., we've solved the recent problem...

history: bought the used RV back in June, fridge and freezer worked perfectly all that time since

recent: fridge lost cooling, freezer seemed to be working just fine



SOLUTION: I realized that recently while 'winterizing' much of the RV, and having put insulation batts behind each outside compartment door, I had also had the 'brilliant' idea of also putting insulation batts behind the fridge's outside vent cover.
I now realize that this is a mistake, as RV fridge's need air flow...

when we removed the insulation yesterday, the fridge today is suddenly COOLING just as it should be....solved.

[16ACE27]

Self-induced problems are the worst. I'm glad you resolved it and came back to let everyone know what the problem turned out to be. More knowledge for the collective.

[TurnerFam]

yes, I certainly accept the blame here... I think my 'reasoning' for adding the insulation was from the other RV we own, my son's camper, which we replaced the small RV fridge with a much larger apartment fridge - 120v only, and no longer needed the outside vent. I insulated his the same, and apparently thought that since this other RV fridge was 'only' using 120v power all the time, insulation behind it wouldn't matter, either. Wrong. : /

[Chance]

Yep, completely different types of refrigeration cycles even though they can both operate on 120 Volt electrical power. In one case electricity feeds an electric motor that powers a compressor, and in the other a lot more electricity is used to create heat.

Residential-type (compressor) use so much less electricity that the heat it generates is considered negligible and rejected to inside of RV. That saves putting more holes in side of RV. With absorption fridge (propane or electric) it uses so much heat that it would make the inside of RV too hot in summer, plus there’s the safety issue as well.

I hope I never own another absorption RV fridge. For my needs technology has made them obsolete. Plus they are heavier, smaller, and require holes in side of RV.

[Pete'sMH]

And to answer one of the questions...the thermistor is what tells the controller how cold it is inside the fridge so it can turn the cooling unit on and off appropriately to maintain the desired temp. It works by varying the current depending on its temp. You’ll generally find it clipped to the fins in the back of the lower compartment. A tech told me that one of the things you can try if your fridge is behaving poorly is to completely disconnect the thermistor (by unplugging it from the compartment light). That will “tell” the controller that the fridge is warm and cause it to run continuously. Can be a useful test but beware it might cause everything in both compartments to freeze.

I learned about thermistors by having one go bad. It happens. But at least it’s a cheap and easy repair.

[Travelin' Texans]

Originally Posted by TurnerFam

o.k., we've solved the recent problem...

history: bought the used RV back in June, fridge and freezer worked perfectly all that time since

recent: fridge lost cooling, freezer seemed to be working just fine



SOLUTION: I realized that recently while 'winterizing' much of the RV, and having put insulation batts behind each outside compartment door, I had also had the 'brilliant' idea of also putting insulation batts behind the fridge's outside vent cover.
I now realize that this is a mistake, as RV fridge's need air flow...

when we removed the insulation yesterday, the fridge today is suddenly COOLING just as it should be....solved.

I guess it's fortunate it was apparently switched to electric only & didn't try to cool on the gas, could've been quite a fire.

[TurnerFam]

right, I wouldn't have done that insulation is propane was in play, but we don't even have propane connected. We're on 120v always.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by TurnerFam

right, I wouldn't have done that insulation is propane was in play, but we don't even have propane connected. We're on 120v always.

As you discovered, you need the vent open for air to circulate behind the fridge as part of the cooling process. I.e. it’s not to provide air for the burner it’s to cool the ammonia based coolant back to liquid so that the burner, whether on gas or electric, can reheat it and maintain the cooling cycle.