Dometic fridge acting strange

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603Country

Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2017
Posts
20
Location
Thornton, Texas
We have a brand new TT (Grand Design Imagine 2150). First time out, for two days, the fridge worked fine. Next time out the best temps it would reach were 35 in the freezer and 55 in the fridge. Brought it home, called to arrange warranty work, and turned the fridge on and lo and behold it appears that it's cooling Ok. I'm scheduled to drag it 120 miles to the dealer tomorrow, but maybe I don't need to. What do you folks suggest? What would you do?

And, just to say it, the unit was level at all times and we put frozen stuff in the freezer and fridge to speed cooling, and still it would not get cold. Today I put no frozen stuff in the unit and it's at 15 in the freezer and 47 in the fridge and the temps are steadily dropping. It's set on max cool and the thermistor is all the way up on the cooling fin.

Kirk
 
Would this be a warranty claim?
Was the ambient temp when it was 55/35 warmer than when the fridge temps were lower?
 
It would be a warranty claim, and they said they'd give it a quick turnaround since it was brand new. As for the temp comparison, the first time we used the TT, and the fridge worked fine, we were in a hot place with no shade. The next time, when it didn't cool properly, we were in the shade. Both times we were in hot days in Texas. Today was another hot day, with the fridge side of the trailer in shade, and the fridge cooling better than it did last week. I just can't see any consistency in any of this, so I can't troubleshoot it. Frustrating. And I don't want to drag the TT 120 miles just to show the repair guys a fridge that's working within parameters and tell them it isn't working right. Making me crazy...

 
I have noticed twice on mine, that if we load frozen stuff in the freezer, and have very little in the fridge, i=the fridge doesn't seem to get cold. If we also put chilled stuff in the fridge section, it works fine.
I don't know how you are reading the fridge temp, but either a system with a remote reading sensor or a pocket thermometer in a small glass of water works best.
 
Might be where you parked.. I am currently parked with teh fridge on teh NORTH side of the RV.  IF I movwed across teh road it would be on teh SOUTH side.. and it would not work as well with ye-old-sun shining on it.

I have offically established a patteren in this campground
1st visit this year I was on site xx1... Second visit xx2, and now I'm on xx3 (my 3rd visit).
 
We have small thermometers in the fridge and freezer. At 9 pm yesterday, the freezer was at 15 degrees and the fridge at 47. Things were looking better. This morning the freezer was at 43 degrees and the fridge at 64 degrees. Houston, we have a problem!

We are off to the shop for warranty work as soon as we get dressed.
 
RV fridges have little reserve cooling capacity, so any problem can cause poor cooling.  RV builders all too often do not install to spec, maybe failing to seal around the back sides adequately or not installing the required baffles to channel air flow in back.  These problems are especially acute if the fridge in in a slide, where the top vent is in the wall instead of the roof. That decreases the natural convection air flow and reduces cooling capacity further.

Hope your dealer can fix it, but dealer techs often lack the detailed fridge expertise needed to diagnose problems like this.
 
Well, they have it now, and say they'll get to it on Thursday. I dragged it up Interstate 35 West to the south side of Fort Worth. We call that freeway "the highway of death", since traffic is very heavy and at 80 mph, and bad wrecks are very common. 18 wheeler traffic is very heavy, and did cause me some anxious moments. No real problems except cresting a hill and getting hit by a blast of wind from the side, causing a little wobble. Note to self: stay off the freeways. I hate I-35.
 
did you take it to camping world, which is on the southside of ft worth?
 
I've had my share of problems - mostly self-induced - with my Dometic fridge since getting my coach this spring.

One thing is that I found I grossly under estimated how much recovery time is required from opening the door to check temps.

I went to a remote reading thermometer with a second probe for the remote. I put the main remote unit in the fridge and the second probe in the freezer.
Now I can check the temps without opening the doors and I also have the coach temp.

Think I paid $8.xx at Menards.

Tom
 
I've read that the best way to measure/monitor temps in the fridge is to put the thermometer in a glass or container of water
I'll generally just want a rough idea, so I'll often just shoot the temp of the milk, or whatever, with my IR thermometer
but for troubleshooting or testing new I'd think the thermometer in water makes a lot of sense
 
Yep, one of these in a small glass of water. Only need an inch or so of water in the glass.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-pocket-thermometer-46586.html

 
603Country said:
Update: The dealer has determined that the freezer/fridge needs to be replaced. We should have the TT back home by Saturday.
Click to expand...

Nice to hear about a dealer who stands behind their sales and gets things fixed in a timely manner.
 
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