Fridge Not working

pipeliner798 · 09-01-2013, 08:55 PM

I have it scheduled for service Tues, but thought I would ask here to see if it could get fixed. fridge went from 50 to 65 degrees won't get any cooler. Freezer is working fine. fridge has been tried on lap and electric. The thermoister has been moved to far right. nothinghhelps. The Rv level and no obstructions from other vent on the outside and no type of leaks. Hats off to my salesman who told me to go buy a mini fridge and he will reimburse me out of his on pocket! stand up guy, has helped me through all my troubles and got me in contact with Ron. any suggestions?

Norskeman · 09-02-2013, 04:39 PM

Had a similar problem with our fridge last summer (Dometic DM2852RBFX)

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. I added a second exterior fan and a small fan on the interior (cube fan operated off D cell batteries). Seemed to help this summer - quicker cool down times and stayed cooler.

The freezer always cools fast - design of system and then the frig interior starts to cool. The thermistor tip should be all the way to the top of the plastic slide?

There is an exterior fan that is used with frigs that are in the slide. Pictures are taken of the items behind the top access vent.

Also from info gleened on
the internet, the right side of the cooling fins, as viewed from the front of
the fridge are the coldest, therefore moving the sensor a fin or 2 to the left
may help those whose reefers are NOT cold enough.</span>

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 I left mine on the far right fin.

The original exterior fan is controlled by this switch on the condenser fins:

If the fan is working you will hear the high pitched sound. It is about 1/3 of the way down from the top.

Second fan - very quite and variable speed. Controlled by its own on/off switch. Powered by a 1 amp in-line fuse and the 12 VDC power terminal strip. It is offset from the air flow of the original fan so as not to disturb the existing air flow.

The system is made up of several different parts- we will
start at the boiler. </span>In the boiler, the
ammonia/water solution is heated, vaporizing it. In an RV refrigerator, the
heat can by generated by an LP gas flame or an electric heating element- the
heating element can be 120 volt AC, or 12 volt DC. Once the ammonia/water
mixture is heated and turned to vapor, it naturally rises into the next part of
the system- the water separator or rectifier, </span>where the water condenses, and runs back down
into the boiler.

The ammonia stays a vapor, and rises to the condenser fins,
at the top of the system - these are the fins that you will see if you remove
the top vent over the refrigerator. The only purpose of this part of the system
is to make liquid ammonia out of the ammonia vapor- the more liquid ammonia it
can make, the better the system will cool, as pure liquid ammonia is the heart
of the cooling cycle.

Once the evaporator has made liquid ammonia, gravity takes
over, running the liquid down into the evaporator section, which is actually
inside the refrigerator box. In this section, the liquid ammonia comes in
contact with the hydrogen, which causes the ammonia to evaporate again, </span>drawing heat from the inside of the
refrigerator. In a properly charged system, which has enough air flowing over
the condenser, enough liquid ammonia is made that there is enough to keep
evaporating until it has run down the evaporator coils into the fresh food
compartment.

From here, the ammonia/ hydrogen mixture vapor, being
heavier than pure hydrogen, sinks through the lower coils, where it is combined
with a weak water/ ammonia solution, which absorbs the ammonia, leaving the
hydrogen free to rise to the top of the system.

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Edited by: Norskeman

pipeliner798 · 09-02-2013, 05:04 PM

when I picked it up it was one from the right 3/4 of way up and it wasn't cold enough so moved it one more which was all the way tothe rright? was this right or wrong?

Norskeman · 09-02-2013, 07:59 PM

Moving it to the left may help - tip to the top of the slide. I checked the temperatures of the fins in the fridge with an infra red temperature detector and the fin temperature right to left only varied by a degree or so. So putting the slide on the right fin near the top and the probe tip near the top of the fin will give "max cooling".

The area around the fins of the condenser was about 135 degrees when the outside temp was about 75 degrees. So having the external fan working is a must. When the outside temp is above 75 to 80 degrees ours runs constantly. It will turn off at night if the temps drop off.

pipeliner798 · 09-02-2013, 08:02 PM

yea that's where mine is. taking it in for service tomorrow

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