Refrigerator problems

[deerislandbrew]

I know I may be dredging up a sore subject about inadequate performance of absorbtion refrigerators, but I would like comment on what I should really expect as normal working parameters relating to temperature. I have a dometic dbl door RM1350 SLMX in a 2019 303 RLS. I have done every mod imaginable to get this fridge to cool properly. In addition to the stock fans in the rear of the slide activated by a thermistor, I installed a fan at the bottom vent to pull air in and push it up through the back space of the fridge. I have two small fans at the top vent expelling warm air out. In addition I have two small fans running in the interior of this fridge.. Nine fans total, five running 24/7 and here I am in Arizona with daytime temps of 86 to 90*, the slide containing fridge in the shade and slide covered with an awning, and still hitting 41 to 43* or more, during the day. I have no divider issue sticking partway open and not sealing the cold air. I always park fridge slide on the shady side of RV and have the awning slide topper installed to help shade the fridge.
Is anybody else experiencing this? Is this poor performance considered a bad fridgerator? It works OK in the cooler temps of the NW. Low overnight temps work we ell to cool it down. 50s 60s 70s are fine. Low of 34, high of 36- 37*. But when we get in the warm country, when highs are 80 plus, this fridge is crap. I realise getting a residential is great, however, I don't want to have to run inverter power 24/7 when boondocking. Is this situation normal for these two door fridges? Or is it a defect? My old single door fridge worked fine before I upgraded...

[AZMike]

Mine came with a Dometic 2882 and cools fine. I live in Arizona and camp mostly in warm (hot) climates and never had a problem. The fans get quite loud when the temp is 90 or above, but the fridge stays nice and cool. I have not made any mods either, like extra fans, did I get lucky? I guess so, but I did purchase the extended warranty from Dometic.

[geotex1]

You don't mention your temperature setting, but in broad strokes the design does not work efficiently and is worse in larger and double door configurations when mounted in slides. In this case, I would wager you may have caused some of the performance issues. You have too many fans working behind the unit in an unengineered manner. Without doubt, you now have turbulent flow and probably some eddies leaving warm pockets. These units were really intended to exhaust vertically through the roof to perform well. My advice to you would be to remove most of you fans and approach in a minimalist way and do make sure the baffle is properly positioned as many weren't from the factory. A Dutch-Aire 12VDC compressor solution might be an option you too as there's a good chance you're already pulling the amperage needed to run the conversion with the fans you have.

[deerislandbrew]

You don't mention your temperature setting, but in broad strokes the design does not work efficiently and is worse in larger and double door configurations when mounted in slides. In this case, I would wager you may have caused some of the performance issues. You have too many fans working behind the unit in an unengineered manner. Without doubt, you now have turbulent flow and probably some eddies leaving warm pockets. These units were really intended to exhaust vertically through the roof to perform well. My advice to you would be to remove most of you fans and approach in a minimalist way and do make sure the baffle is properly positioned as many weren't from the factory. A Dutch-Aire 12VDC compressor solution might be an option you too as there's a good chance you're already pulling the amperage needed to run the conversion with the fans you have.

My setting for this fridge is #5 the max, coolest setting possible. The fridge performed poorly from the beginning with stock fans. That is why I have done all the mods I can. I'm not an engineer, so I only go by the principle that cooler air, or any air at the bottom of the compartment, being pulled in, and exhaust fans at the top vent, pulling air out, should be beneficial. By baffle, your refering to the fixture of metal angled over the top of fridge on outside to move air out the vent? I also stuffed insulation into the corners and sealed all that with duct tape. So...over engineered? Hum...

[deerislandbrew]

Mine came with a Dometic 2882 and cools fine. I live in Arizona and camp mostly in warm (hot) climates and never had a problem. The fans get quite loud when the temp is 90 or above, but the fridge stays nice and cool. I have not made any mods either, like extra fans, did I get lucky? I guess so, but I did purchase the extended warranty from Dometic.

Mine is dbl door 13 cu. Yours is 8cu? Single door? I had one that size in a Cougar 5th wheel. The smaller ones tend to work fine. My old one did.

[AZMike]

Mine is dbl door 13 cu. Yours is 8cu? Single door? I had one that size in a Cougar 5th wheel. The smaller ones tend to work fine. My old one did.

Yes, 8 cubic feet, double door. When it fails past my extended warranty I think I will replace it with a 12V compressor fridge.

[geotex1]

My setting for this fridge is #5 the max, coolest setting possible. The fridge performed poorly from the beginning with stock fans. That is why I have done all the mods I can. I'm not an engineer, so I only go by the principle that cooler air, or any air at the bottom of the compartment, being pulled in, and exhaust fans at the top vent, pulling air out, should be beneficial. By baffle, your refering to the fixture of metal angled over the top of fridge on outside to move air out the vent? I also stuffed insulation into the corners and sealed all that with duct tape. So...over engineered? Hum...

Yeah, there's been a couple different issues with baffles on various in-slide installations. Sounds like you have great knowledge of yours. Regarding the fans, yes, more is not necessarily better. Particularly when trying to push and pull airflow. Pulling it alone is usually the simplest and most effective. See what the effect of running your exhaust fans only, with those you have in the lower intake path removed is with the lower intake cover on and then off. Again, these units aren't great performers and yours may be within the broad spec of acceptable but too much to the warm side for your climate.

[xrated]

I have the Nevercold 2118, as it was OEM in the new Momentum 394M that I bought in Feb. 2019. I've done the door flap mod (it wasn't closing all the way), I've added two Titan fans on the inside of the upper vent, blowing out hot air, and I've even tried the Muddypaws thermistor hack...all to no avail. I've finally reached the breaking point and next spring will make an appt. at JC refrigeration to have the 12VDC Dual Compressor mod done to my 2118. Upper 30s to mid 40s in the fresh food compartment are just not acceptable for me. Neither is 15 to 22/23 degrees in the freezer compartment.

I will be switching over to a DIY 304AH LFP battery and changing out the Converter/Charger to a LFP charging profile unit (already started on that project) and then, when the new mod is done to the 2118 next spring, I should have a refrigerator that I like (18 cu. ft.) as well as one that works properly. And, with the LFP battery, JC refrigeration says that it should last anywhere from 24-27 hours before needing charged up. I don't have solar and have no intention of adding solar, and I also have no intent on adding a DC to DC charger on my truck. We almost never boondock, so the purpose of this is to have a large battery AH supply for days that we might be on the road traveling 8..9...10 hours and then plug into shore power at a campground.

[C4755M]

Hi Alan,

We have a 2019 solitude which had the 1350 in it. We had nothing but performance problems from day one, now keep in mind we were in Vegas. Days were at 100 and fridge would get to 50 during the day, obviously not food safe!

Had unit serviced and they replaced the refrigeration unit, to the tune of $1900. I don’t think a new one costs much more. Even after this repair the fridge had trouble keeping below 45.

I tried all kinds of mods and nothing seemed to work. Since we are a full timing family I had to get it fixed. We ended up going with the Residential Samsung ($1200) which can be ordered in this unit. It is not a direct slide-in replacement, I had to pull out the base filler panel and a few other tweaks. You also gain a lot of space going from 10 cu ft up to 17-ish if I recall correctly.

Installed an inverter and some lithium-phos batteries and we couldn’t be happier!!! I’ve had no issues with keeping it running, and between the generator and a few solar panels we’ve had no power issues. I know the pain your feeling, but I feel the only guaranteed fix is the residential.

[LanerC]

I know I may be dredging up a sore subject about inadequate performance of absorbtion refrigerators, but I would like comment on what I should really expect as normal working parameters relating to temperature. I have a dometic dbl door RM1350 SLMX in a 2019 303 RLS. I have done every mod imaginable to get this fridge to cool properly. In addition to the stock fans in the rear of the slide activated by a thermistor, I installed a fan at the bottom vent to pull air in and push it up through the back space of the fridge. I have two small fans at the top vent expelling warm air out. In addition I have two small fans running in the interior of this fridge.. Nine fans total, five running 24/7 and here I am in Arizona with daytime temps of 86 to 90*, the slide containing fridge in the shade and slide covered with an awning, and still hitting 41 to 43* or more, during the day. I have no divider issue sticking partway open and not sealing the cold air. I always park fridge slide on the shady side of RV and have the awning slide topper installed to help shade the fridge.
Is anybody else experiencing this? Is this poor performance considered a bad fridgerator? It works OK in the cooler temps of the NW. Low overnight temps work we ell to cool it down. 50s 60s 70s are fine. Low of 34, high of 36- 37*. But when we get in the warm country, when highs are 80 plus, this fridge is crap. I realise getting a residential is great, however, I don't want to have to run inverter power 24/7 when boondocking. Is this situation normal for these two door fridges? Or is it a defect? My old single door fridge worked fine before I upgraded...

I dont believe anyone has mentioned checking the door seals, using a piece of paper between the seal and the refer. it should be just a little hard to pull out.