Refrigerator woes again - so frustrating

[SolarPoweredRV]

I feel like next year we're going to ditch this POS and get the Samsung to replace it. But that's a big expense considering I will probably need solar and batteries. UGH!!!

There is another option, and a better option, in my opinion, than replacing your fridge with a Residential unit and increasing the battery system size that needs to go along with that option.

You can change out your refrigeration unit on your existing fridge with a new 12 volt, high efficiency, DC compressor. These compressor systems are sold by JC Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana. ( https://jc-refrigeration.com/ )

These High Efficiency DC Compressor systems could easily be powered off of four 6 volt batteries and make installing Solar optional.

Here is a video done by Tom Morton (Mortons on the Move) about his experience installing this system in his Coach. By-the-way, you can have the company install the system for you, or you can have the system shipped out to you and get a Mobile RV Mechanic to install the system for you.

Mortons on the Move Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yte1V3CkDrw

PS: I kind of hate Tom for presenting me with this as an option because, I really want to do this to our Coach, but can't quite justify doing on a Coach that is still under warranty.

[SolarPoweredRV]

Is this thread pertaining to boon-docking? We have a Norcold RV 4-door refer that is 18cf capacity. It worked fine the first 6 months but the last 6 the refer section was hard pressed to maintain 40 deg. About 3 wks ago it shot up to 55 then 62 overnight. We replaced the thermistor and it's now maintaining ~41 deg. (However right now it's up to 45). The freezer works fine. We added two muffin fans to the outside lower compartment, no noticeable change. We don't think it's working right. Since we live in it full-time, things get complicated. We have a cooler we move things to when it gets too warm but don't feel we should have to do that. It's on shore power 50amp 90% of the time. It is quite warm where we are at and will get warmer when we go to AZ in October. We are considering buying/making a outside screen for the two vents to deflect some of the heat but are not sure that's going to help much. Any thoughts out there on next steps, short of having a tech come out.

We are experiencing similar issues with our new 4-door refrigerator as well. Last week we had it at the dealer and we were trying to figure out why the Flapper Bar did not close into it's position. While we were examining it, we noticed there were some scrapes on the top of the "Made in USA" sticker placed on the bottom of the fridge. The Dealer removed that sticker and the "Flapper Bar" worked much better (we had been having a problem where the "Flapper Bar" would only half close itself). Time will tell if this fixes our problem or not.

[tim-o-w4yn]

Is your refrigerator in the slide out? If so, remove the upper vent and see if GD installed the baffle. Here is a link to a prior discussions on the Atwood refrigerator. The same venting would apply to your Dometic.

https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...1374#post41374

Two additional things; first, RV refrigerators don’t work well at high ambient temperatures regardless. You said it was 100 degrees out that day. Secondly, many have added additional fans both below and above the cooling fins to push/pull hot air up and out the upper vent. That is something you may want to consider.

Even if not in slide out, GD has some installed like the slide out IE 2607MK . RV mfg.'s don't install these correctly, as you said the baffle for one, also insulation around refrig sucks, upgrade it to pink foam. I made a baffle out of aluminum flashing and real aluminum duct tape. I also installed a second fan and temp switch to improve air flow, you can't have too much. The install instructions are fairly clear on where baffle needs to go.
Tim

[pballer40]

We've had intermitent issues with our 12 cu ft Dometic. It would work just fine for a few weeks then one morning the temp would be up to 50 degrees. It would stay at 50 for a few days and then go back to working right. We tried erverything. We put a battery operated fan on the bottom shelf, removed lots of items for better air flow, switched between electric and gas and swtiched the temp contol between min and max cool. We also replaced the control box and the thermistor. Nothing fixed the issue. We had 2 Dometic techs look at it and couldn't find a problem. The third repair place we took it to found the doors weren't closing properly. He adjusted the doors and so far so good. I still don't trust the fridge and am waiting for the day it quits working again.

[Sterling042214]

Just wanted to let you know the first summer in SC with our new Reflection travel trailer we had to have a local repairman out to fix our fridge. He claims the Chinese are out to get us and not making the fridges correctly anymore just to cost us money for repairs. He has been doing mobile fridge repairs for nearly thirty years and he talked us about thirty minutes on the subject. Also, our hot water heater leaked and we have mold under our flooring in the bedroom and bathroom. No one claims responsible and no one wants to pay to fix it.

[john&debbie]

If I get a Samsung residential do I need to upgrade my house batteries as well? Right now we have 2 Interstate lead acid batteries. Our typical travel day is about 5-7 hrs depending on how many stops the kids need. We don’t boondock since we are limited by tank capacity for 5 people.

So so can I get by with 4 lead acid batteries or do I need some of the newer battery technology? And as a consequence do I need solar to recharge them or will a simple overnight charge at a campsite with 30 or 50 amp power suffice? Of course we are usually running both our AC units at the same time.

BTW our fridge is the side by side 12 cu ft Dometic. We just got back from dinner and it still shows 40 degrees. The meat in the freezer remains frozen but I’m worried about the rest of the stuff.

You probably will not need new coach batteries, you would though need an inverter to convert the 12 VDC to 120 VAC, and preferably with automatic transfer switching, then the only time you would need to turn off the inverter is if you were not going to use your rig for an extended period of time.

[Rich T]

You probably will not need new coach batteries, you would though need an inverter to convert the 12 VDC to 120 VAC, and preferably with automatic transfer switching, then the only time you would need to turn off the inverter is if you were not going to use your rig for an extended period of time.

Our 300GK came with a Samsung 18 CF. It doesn't seem to use that much battery power. I have 2 6V batts. We camped last summer overnight in Oregon July summer temps (hot but didn't need AC at night). In the morning the battery monitor showed about 1/4 charge, I hooked up a Honda 2000 watt inverter gen and ran it during breakfast etc for about 1 hr, it bumped the batts up to almost full charge. We did some tourist stuff and left the area mid afternoon with no problems. The truck battery charges batteries as you travel. I'm not into setting up this type of stuff but as stated the inverter is the key. I think ours is a 2000 watt and has a switch inside for on/off. I have seen comments here saying it is auto off when AC power is hooked up. I don't trust this and try to do it manually. Really like the size, consistency and ice maker. We don't boondock much so it works for us, each to there own.
Rich

[Markb777]

Could you post more detail about how this was wired? I’m terrible at electrical.

Well I'm not much at electrical either however using a voltmeter I found a 12v power source which is only on when the fridge is powered on. I took power from that source to the fan mod. As far as the thermostat you just basically replace the OEM one with the new one. I don't believe the wiring for the thermostat is difficult and don't think there is really a positive or negative side. It's open until 85 degrees is met then closes to complete the circuit. There are many electrical experts on here, probably master electricians who could provide much better detail than me.

Something else I did was purchase 2 white covers instead of using the OEM black ones. I still use the black ones in the winter however using the white ones just seems to make sense during warmer weather.

Mark

[ncitro]

Well I stand corrected. On a three week trip down to Florida in 95 degree plus our Dometic 12cf (same trailer and fridge as Lexx) just couldn’t keep up. Most of our travel days had it above 42, and ice cream was pretty consistently soft. Since I had already upgraded batteries and added an inverter and solar I’m in the midst of changing to residential. The layout of the 28bh makes this pretty easy as the cabinet it’s in is just for the fridge, so we can use pretty much any counter depth fridge we want by removing that cabinet. We got a great deal on a Samsung 22cf with two of the smallest dents you’ve ever seen. Got it in place and hooked up today, need seal up and insulate the access panels and get it trimmed out tomorrow. On my inverter it was drawing under 20 amps DC with the compressor running. I’m running four golf cart batteries, and I estimate with no sun and limited other power usage I’ll get over 24 hours of usage depending how much it runs. Battle born is going to be at the Elkhart rally, so an upgrade there may be in my future. So far I can say it’s cavernous in space compared to my old one, and I’m looking forward to having faith in my fridge again.

I can say after pulling my old one out, that my unit from the factory has four fans and two sheet metal baffles. There were also two bats of fiberglass on either side of the fridge. I could feel the warm air blowing over the fins and out the upper vent. I looked this over with a couple buddies and just do not see that it could be improved enough to regain my confidence. I just don’t think with it in the slide with a lot of sun and heat that they can keep up. Or maybe something was wrong with mine, but given the other reported issues I’d doubt it. Given I already had the solar and inverter setup, plus what I figure I can get for mine used it was an easy decision. Hopefully I’ll get some pictures tomorrow.

[Jims94vmx]

At the rally I met with the rep from Domestic and he explained that the fridge goes into a auto defrost mode on a set schedule (I think 72 hours after being turned on and then every 48). For this defrost cycle it turns off coming to the fridge for I think two hours. So if for example you turned your fridge on first thing in the morning, it could be shutting off in the heat of the day to defrost, causing it to heat up. He suggested turning it off for ten minutes and then back on at around 2pm, which would cause it to defrost in the middle of the night. Since I've done that I've had no issues with it maintaining temperature.

Wouldn't it then defrost at 2 PM?

Maybe it is early and coffee hasn't kicked in. Why not say 10 PM so in 72 hours it would defrost at 10 PM?