Dometic fridge doesnt get very cold but the freezer does (Do I need to defrost?)

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ROOFTOP SPECIAL

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Oct 2, 2006
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My fridge doesn't get cold at all now. The fins in the back don't feel cold either.

I do have a decent amount of frost built up in the back of the freezer over the vents. Would frost in the freezer cause the fridge not to work? I don't really know how these fridges or any fridge for that matter work.

I'm assuming I just turn the fridge off with the doors open to defrost? I would have thought the fridge would have a built in defrost? Is there something I can test?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions but first and foremost would be if I defrost the freezer will my fridge work better?

Thanks everyone,

Casey
 
RV fridges do not have automatic defrosting. There are technical reasons for that, but I won't digress here.

The freezer has absolute priority on the cooling capacity, so until it gets cool not much else does. A frost build-up inhibits that, so your first action should be to defrost to get rid of the build-up.

If that doesn't do it, I'm afraid your cooling unit is dying and needs to be replaced. Not the whole fridge - just the cooling unit on the back.
 
The cooling units are brutally expensive from Dometic.
I priced one from them and it was going to be...hold your hat...$3500 for a side by side with an ice maker.
I bought a better one (supposedly...lots of good reviews) from a Mennonite company in Indiana...paid $1000.

Got the darn thing home and the fridge started working again.  I now have the new cooling unit sitting here as I know the fridge is going to crap out.

 
Guys,

I wanted to report back in case it may help someone here. I defrosted the freezer and it didn't help.

I started reading some more and read a thread that mentioned fridges placed in a slide-out generally don't cool down as well well because of the way they are vented. This was especially a problem in hot environments like mine (100+ through the summer). I read that some people add fans to help with the venting/dissipating of heat behind the fridge. I was about to buy some 12v fans when I noticed mine had one that was hidden. I traced the wires down and they went to a temp switch on the cooling fins behind the freezer. I bypassed the switch and let the fan run. I put a gallon of water, some other water bottles and of course some beer. This was yesterday afternoon, I just checked the temp of the water and had 38 degrees! This is coming from 68 degrees before.

I'm enjoying my ice cold beer now  ;)

Thanks everyone,

Casey
 
ROOFTOP SPECIAL said:
Guys,

I wanted to report back in case it may help someone here. I defrosted the freezer and it didn't help.

I started reading some more and read a thread that mentioned fridges placed in a slide-out generally don't cool down as well well because of the way they are vented. This was especially a problem in hot environments like mine (100+ through the summer). I read that some people add fans to help with the venting/dissipating of heat behind the fridge. I was about to buy some 12v fans when I noticed mine had one that was hidden. I traced the wires down and they went to a temp switch on the cooling fins behind the freezer. I bypassed the switch and let the fan run. I put a gallon of water, some other water bottles and of course some beer. This was yesterday afternoon, I just checked the temp of the water and had 38 degrees! This is coming from 68 degrees before.

I'm enjoying my ice cold beer now  ;)

Thanks everyone,

Casey
Click to expand...

Casey, how did you access the internal fan? I have one that I think is making noise but I haven't been able to find it. Did you get to it from the access panel outside?
 
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