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  1. #11
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLexx View Post
    I think it’s a Norcold. I’ll check when we get back to the trailer. I have it set at the Max cold setting - level 5.
    If 5 is the coldest setting it may not be a Norcold. Our Norcold goes to 9.

    Salt in the wound - sorry - but we run ours on 5 and it cools VERY well, and also holds its temp when turned off very well - six hours turned off in moderate temps and we still have hard ice in the freezer.

    The troubles we've had with it have been related to door sealing, especially the flap between the doors not closing properly. Like others here we have installed a washer on the lower hinge pin of the left door to raise the door so the flap doesn't rub on the floor and not close properly. I've seen others promoting the advice you've already got here from @minnow101 and others about extra fans and baffling the airflow at the back of the fridge. We haven't had to do that, which is not to suggest it's not good advice - others have reported big improvements from doing it.

    Good luck.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

  2. #12
    Big Traveler
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    The outside ambient temps have been well into 100-105F. With the fridge in the slide that goes out, I can see how it gets hit with a lot of hot sun.

    Yes there is a baffle that extends to the upper vent. It’s made of a thin sheet of plywood. The electronics are behind the lower removable baffle.

    This morning with the refrigerator at half empty the temperature readout was 35°. So overloading in the refrigerator is probably part of the problem. Still I am tired of constantly worrying about whether were to lose a bunch of food or if we get sick due to food poisoning.

    When we get back from our trip I’m going to leave the trailer at the dealer and see if they can figure out if there something wrong with the refrigerator. Then I’m going to the interior and exterior fan modifications and see if it makes a difference. If not I’m going to replace it with a residential refrigerator. I don’t think I’m going to invest money into lithium batteries if I can avoid it as we just don’t use the trailer outside of the summer months. I’d rather pick up a dual fuel generator like the Harbor Freight Predator.
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  3. #13
    Big Traveler
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    Update

    when we got back to the trailer at 10pm, the fridge showed 39F. It was a blistering hot today in Vegas. Nevertheless this is very poor temperature control and makes me very concerned about food safety.
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
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  4. #14
    Seasoned Camper ncitro's Avatar
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    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.
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  5. #15
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ncitro View Post
    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.
    Well now isn't that interesting!
    Ours is a Dometic 12cuft RM1350 SLMX. It has 4 muffin fans at the top as manufactured by Dometic, verified all 4 are working. Past camping, In the heat of the day fridge will get to 40. So I did the upper air vent deflector mod yesterday with a piece of roof flashing. Now I'm testing to see how much effect it has had. After the deflector mod yesterday afternoon, I put the setting on 5 and this morning when I checked, it was 33 degrees inside the fridge. It is supposed to get to 100 degrees for the next few days so now I'll check it in the middle of the day to see what the temp is. Next I'll put in the two little battery powered fan air circulators and see what effect they have on the temp.
    I will keep in mind what the Dometic rep told you, and then see if that makes a difference on our unit.

    testing -testing - testing
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
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  6. #16
    Site Sponsor jasonl78's Avatar
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    Like others have said, I have found that not over packing the unit and using a battery powered air circulator keeps my Dometic 12 cu ft side by side at a happy temp of 36 to 38 while on setting 3 or 4. I haven't been in 105 degree weather though so I can't say how it would do under those circumstances.
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  7. #17
    Big Traveler
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steven@147 View Post
    Well now isn't that interesting!
    Ours is a Dometic 12cuft RM1350 SLMX. It has 4 muffin fans at the top as manufactured by Dometic, verified all 4 are working. Past camping, In the heat of the day fridge will get to 40. So I did the upper air vent deflector mod yesterday with a piece of roof flashing. Now I'm testing to see how much effect it has had. After the deflector mod yesterday afternoon, I put the setting on 5 and this morning when I checked, it was 33 degrees inside the fridge. It is supposed to get to 100 degrees for the next few days so now I'll check it in the middle of the day to see what the temp is. Next I'll put in the two little battery powered fan air circulators and see what effect they have on the temp.
    I will keep in mind what the Dometic rep told you, and then see if that makes a difference on our unit.

    testing -testing - testing
    I have the Norcold 12 cu ft. I installed remote thermometers to monitor temps. Every day at late afternoon the temps would rise to 40+ degrees. I discovered it was the defrost cycle. Restarted frig at midnight, problem solved. The addition of internal fans helps keep stuff in the frig from freezing. So far, knock wood, the Norcold keeps the ice cream hard and frig temps in the 30s.

  8. #18
    Big Traveler
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steven@147 View Post
    So I did the upper air vent deflector mod yesterday with a piece of roof flashing. Now I'm testing to see how much effect it has had. After the deflector mod yesterday afternoon, I put the setting on 5 and this morning when I checked, it was 33 degrees inside the fridge. It is supposed to get to 100 degrees for the next few days so now I'll check it in the middle of the day to see what the temp is. Next I'll put in the two little battery powered fan air circulators and see what effect they have on the temp.
    I will keep in mind what the Dometic rep told you, and then see if that makes a difference on our unit.

    testing -testing - testing
    What’s the air deflector mod?
    2017 Ford F450 - our kids call her "Big Red"
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  9. #19
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLexx View Post
    What’s the air deflector mod?
    See pic, sorry for the crudeness, When you take the exterior top panel off you find just a pocket that partially traps the hot air and some just ends up blowing inside the walls. When you make a deflector or baffle and stick it in there, more of the hot air is channeled out through the cover opening hopefully making the fridge run cooler. i can tell you after I put the deflector in there more hot air is coming out through the cover then it was before.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_2023.jpg  
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
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  10. #20
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheLexx View Post
    What’s the air deflector mod?
    Well Lexx my air deflector mod really didn't make that much of a difference. Yesterday late afternoon when the ambient temp was @ 95 degrees and the sun was shinning directly on the slide with RV refrigerator, the temp inside the fridge rose from 33 to 38 degrees with the setting always on 5. Fridge was empty nothing in it. So I figure with stuff in the fridge pretty well loaded and the ambient temp 95-100 degrees outside, inside the fridge will still hit 40 or above. To be honest, at this point I don't think there is much I or anyone can do to get the fridge temp consistently lower @ 35-37 degrees on whatever setting, in the heat of the day near 100. The freezer part of the fridge seems to always work ok and stays really cold and will freeze ice cubes eventually. I really don't think defrosting cycle has a whole lot to do with it. Inside the fridge got to 38 way before any defrost cycle would have occurred. Here in TX when the sun is directly on the slide with the fridge and 100 degrees, I don't think this type of RV fridge can keep up. Probably a residential type fridge would.

    I have a small dorm room type Magic Chef fridge @ 2 cu ft 110VAC 1.2 amps, I had thoughts of maybe putting it in the lower pass-thru storage compartment or up front storage compartment where the generator would normally be installed as a backup. If I put it in the pass-thru I would probably need to look at venting the heat generated by the fridge fan. Up front generator storage is all ready vented. I've got plenty of payload capacity in the RV ( dorm fridge weighs 43#) and truck payload to carry it.

    Just thought I would pass along my results. Good Luck on your unit and please post if you get it solved.
    Last edited by Steven@147; 06-14-2019 at 10:35 AM.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

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