dripping water in refrigerator

[yarnkitty]

My husband and I moved into our motorhome this week and are living in an RV park.  We have been getting the crash course on the workings of this thing and wearing out the manuals.  I have a question about the refrigerator.  I have a Dometic refrigerator/freezer that cools quite well.  There is a fair amount of water dripping from the fins inside.  Not enough to leak out, but enough to collect on top of things on the top shelf.  Is this normal?

 

[Molaker]

Condensation is normal, but there s/b a plastic tray under the cooling fins with a drain.  The drain should have plastic tubing that runs out the back to drain the tray.  Condensation can be reduced by keeping the fridge door shut as much as possible and by ensuring the door seal is intact.

 

[John From Detroit]

Also on Dometics.. If you open the outside panel on the fridge you should see a ribbed tube, usually black, often with a "Something" stuck in the lower end.

this is where the water is SUPPOSED to go  Out via that tube

The tube is supposed to be put out thrhough a vent hole in the cover so it drips, drips, drips, on the ground NOT inside the compartment.

My dealer assured me they ALWAYS put it out.. Right,  It was not out when I picked it up new, nor did they put it out when they did the dometic recall. But they assured me they ALWAYS put it out.. For some reason I tend not to believe them.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Even my Norcold fridge has a plastic tray under the cooling fins and has tube that runs out to a stainless steel bowl on the side of the heater tube to catch the water. Suppose to drip in the bowl and the heat of the tube is suppose to dry it out. But I've never seen mine drip enough to even drip in the bowl.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you are getting a lot of condensation, there may be a leak in the door seals. Or maybe you just tend to leave the fridge door open while you hunt around inside. An RV absorption fridge does not have forced air circulation inside like modern residential fridges, so warm, moist air condenses on the back fins rather than being carried away by the air flow.  So yes, it is more normal to see condensation in an RV fridge, but you can help by minimizing the door-open time.

The time-honored check of door seals is done with a fairly crisp dollar bill. Close the bill in the door at various points and pull it out slowly. You should feel some resistance. If it slips out real easy, your seals are probably in poor condition at that point.

 

[denmarc]

Ditto Gary's post.  Myself being permanently parked and in a high humidity situation, a good fridge door seal should be checked.  The check of using a crisp, dead president bill is exactly the way to go.  My Norcold also works as Mopar's.

Is the temperature setting at a correct position for your environment?  Is an internal fridge fan in use?  Maybe put in an internal thermometer to see what the true temperature really is.  You might have another issue as a cause for your interior condensation.

 

[yarnkitty]

Thanks for the tips.  I did check temp.  Set on setting 3 temp was 48 and setting 4 was 32, too high and too low.  I went with setting 4.  Haven't checked the seal yet, but will do it when I can.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Temps in an RV fridge are very uneven (no forced air circulation), so you should sample several spots. Best method is to put thermometer ina glass of water to get a more stable and aaccurate reading.

 

[John From Detroit]

ON many RV fridges you can "Fine tune" that temp setting a bit... Usually on the right, on oen of the fins is a plastic clip.

Sliding it up or down will have the opposite effect on compartment temp (Up lowers it) as I recall.  Slide it a bit, and then re-do the number/Temp test and reset per resluts.

 

[yarnkitty]

I will check the temp with the water in the glass.  Thanks, I didn't think of doing that.  I'll look for the clip thing too.

 

[jmugs]

A little 4" battery opperated pancake fan really helps too. I have one hanging with wire clips to the underside of a shelf. Made a big difference. Just make sure the seal is good all the way around.

 

[dan2]

I run the black hose to a coffee cup; I check it every couple of days and it's nice when I shut the refrigerator off after the trip. I sometimes
adjust the temp. when it cools off at nite, then bump it up during the day.