Is Poor Cooling At Higher Temps Normal?

[87Itasca]

Hi all,

Been 'testing' the Dometic fridge in my RV since I installed it Saturday evening.

I've been disappointed so far in its cooling performance, and want to ensure this is not a sacrifice one must make with this type of fridge before I start looking into what to do.

A little background, my RV sits in the grassy area beside the shop, in the sun, all day every day. The temps here are in the upper 80's, lower 90's with the heat index between 95-100°.

With the RV fridge set on #4 on the 1-5 cold scale, in the early morning it's about 18-20* in the freezer, and 42* or so in the fridge. with no one opening it, the temps will climb into the 30's, lower 40's in the freezer, and lower 60's in the fridge by the afternoon. Obviously, this makes it impossible to keep perishable foods in the unit. I do not have a shady area to put it to test and see if that will help any. Temps in the RV during the day hover in the mid 90's, as I leave the Fan-Tastic fan running to reduce the 'greenhouse' effect.

I haven't found much related to cooling problems in hotter climates, primarily just problems related to failed cooling units, which should not be the case here. The doors seal well, I've read some posts about battery operated fans installed inside helping things, as well as units installed under the vent to push air out of the compartment. While I have no problem doing these things, I don't want to add a bunch of band aids to mask a problem with a defective coil, or something else.

I've run the fridge on both LP and 110, and the performance seems to suffer in the heat either way. I'm pretty disappointed honestly. I've spent $600 on a coil to go from a fridge that didn't work, to a fridge that still is pretty much unusable.

[Froggy1936]

Everything is relative If the surrounding temps climb the temps inside the fridge will also climb, I have found that shutting the unit down completely letting it rest then restarting it it will perform better ea time you do this  Fans in the chimney will definatly also help My freezer will remain @ 0o when interior of camper is @ 75o And fridge will be @ 34o It improves ea season Make sure the box is well insulated from the camper Also operating with the outside door open helps   Frank

[BrianB]

My 30 year old unit (Norcold 3-way) will keep the freezer frozen even with outdoor temp in the 80's when operating on LP. Fridge doesn't get as cold as it should though.

DC can't keep up on mine, and AC currently isn't working (haven't had time to troubleshoot).

Just a data point.

[MotorPro]

My dometic set on 3 is 34 in fridge and -5 in freezer even in mid 90 degree weather

[87Itasca]

Something clearly is not right here then. Mine is currently on '5'.

Left it on gas for the last 12 hours. Temps inside this morning were 31 on the metal shelf in the freezer, 42 in the freezer itself, and 67 in the fridge!

The "check" light was not on, so I'd imagine the burner and such were working properly.

This is ridiculous.

[Rickf1985]

Do you have the proper clearances in the back between the back wall and the coils? It is usually almost zero clearance so as to direct airflow up and through the evaporator at the top of the unit. Is the sun shining on that side of the camper? I just installed a fan in my top vent to pull hot air up and out and that is helping. Also there can be NO clearance above the refrigerator. If there is any it has to be blocked off from the rear area so no hot air can accumulate above the fridge and stagnate there. Likewise on the sides, 0 clearance. All the air that comes in the vents in the back has to go up along the back of the fridge and through the evaporator coils.

[Froggy1936]

  Did you use the special thermal mastic compound on the back of the inside box between the coils and the refrigerator ??  Extremly important . Also the 110 heating element installed properly & The flame from the propane adjusted correctly ??  Frank