Fridge not working April 20, 2018, 11:54:30 pm I researched before posting but found nothing appropriate. Fridge worked a week ago, but now nothing. House batts are great but out of LP. Dometic RM 3406, 3-way 1989. I had to tape up fridge roof vent which is not there. (Rain would pour in) . Worked when I had LP and selected AC/LP. Vehicle is level now but has not always been the case. Have I murdered my friend? As a newbie to RV's, I feel/am clueless.
Re: Fridge not working Reply #1 – April 21, 2018, 03:06:58 am By nothing, do you mean no lights on the panel? If so, a fuse is likely out. If you mean it seems to be on, but there is no cooling in any mode, then it may indeed have met its maker...Steve 1 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #2 – April 21, 2018, 12:17:08 pm Quote from: Steve - April 21, 2018, 03:06:58 amBy nothing, do you mean no lights on the panel? If so, a fuse is likely out. If you mean it seems to be on, but there is no cooling in any mode, then it may indeed have met its maker...SteveDo have panel lights. Well rats! Here in Redding our summers tend toward the insane heat wise. We are the second sunniest place in the US!Are these not serviceable?
Re: Fridge not working Reply #3 – April 21, 2018, 01:02:37 pm Since your LD is out of propane, plug the rig into a 120-VAC source and run the refrigerator on A/C.After and hour or two, see if the chimney (the metal can on the right side of the exterior compartment) is getting hot.The refrigerator's interior does not get cold quickly, sometime taking many hours, check the freezer since it gets cold faster.If the chimney does get hot, and if after eight hours the interior does not get cold, it may be time for a new refrigerator.If the chimney does not get hot, you may have a burned out heater element, a relatively easy part to replace.Try running it on propane, if possible.A bad control board can also keep the refrigerator from getting hot and operating.Larry 2 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #4 – April 22, 2018, 02:10:04 pm Not working - meaning inside is the temperature of the room or somewhat cooler?Your RV fridge is very different than your house fridge.Do you have a thermometer in the fridge and:or freezer? One is critical to understand what is going on. We use sensorpush equipment (they have a web page and amazon sells them). Bluetooth connections and you can see history and with WiFi setup you can see the temps and get alarms when away from the RV (good for fridge but critical for pets). With history, I can see the fridge is at 40 degrees in the evening when I get home but also I can see that the fridge got up to 60 for hours middle of the day and understand the issues better. It really helped us figure out what was going on and see those huge spikes that we didn’t know were going on. But be aware unless you have one of the new waterproof ones spills or leaks inside the fridge can break them (we put them inside a baggies now after frying one).50 degrees in your fridge will mean things spoil and at 70 it might feel it is not cooking at all when it is cooler than tempsInside the RV or outside temps.It is defiantly easier to keep temperatures at the recommended levels - freezer at 20 degrees or lower and the fridge at 40 degrees or lower - during the winter when it is cooler out and it can be a real struggle when it is hot out.Newer to RVing ourselves and living in very hot Phoenix AZ, we have found our fridge and freezer cooled better when we did these things (below): Note this is in order of importance:The room temp was lower - e.g. 75-80 not 85-90 degrees. That includes all cabinets next to the fridge (having the air conditioner on and open an inch the wardrobe cabinet door next to the fridge so it got cooled also. If he cabinet door was shut we could put a hand in and feel the heat inside (felt like 90+).Note this one item made a big difference and can make a 10-20 degree difference in your fridge temp.Putting Reflectix over windows helps a lot to cool your RV.. Radiant Barrier - Insulation - The Home DepotFreezer was 3/4 full but not 100% full. 20% full made a big difference.Cooling things diwn before putting them in the fridge/freezer. Putting items cold from the store that is 10 minutes away (eg meat) into he freezer can raise freezer temps by 20 degrees quickly. Putting things cold from the store 10 minutes away or even opening the door for 30-60 seconds (onenor more openings) can raise fridge temps by 10 degree and take an hour or more to cool back down. Putting room temp items into the fridge can raise the temp even longer.Putting that just cooled but will eat later meal into the fridge hot can raise the temps by 20 degrees and take a long tine to lower it.We now cool things down with ice before putting them into the fridge (especially still hot meals) and that makes a big difference.Fridge was very full (90% is nice but 75-80 was ok).Running on propane works better then running on electricity (several degrees difference).We parked so there was less sun in the refrigerator side of the RV.Even with all this we have added ice to the fridge during the summer and added a fan to the fins that helps circulate air inside (that was at the end of last summer so the jury is out how well that helped).We are in sunny phoenix where we get above 110 in the summer and are already getting mid to high 90 temps.Check the labels inside the fridge to see how old it is - our LD is older but our fridge is a 2013 two way fridge.? From what others have said at some point LD stopped installing the 3 way and did only 2 ways as people ran their batteries down running in DC mode so your fridge might be quite old.JaneSent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone 1 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #5 – April 22, 2018, 03:28:28 pm Does parking the LD so the fridge is on the North side of the rig help? I have some silver insulation which helps keep the heat out. I was wondering if hanging a piece over the exterior of the fridge would block some of the sun's radiant effect.
Re: Fridge not working Reply #6 – April 22, 2018, 04:18:35 pm Our refrigerator door on the outside is vented to allow air circulation. In addition there is a propane flame inside that compartment. I’d suggest not blocking that vented door. It seems risky to me. Hope this helps. 1 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #7 – April 22, 2018, 05:16:33 pm Joel, we found parking so the sun was not as direct on our RV fridge did not make that much difference - inside temps made a ton more difference and as well as the freezer being full.We do have the proper spacing for fridge iinstallation (some newer models had too much space - some owners took out the fridge, added insulation, and reinstalled it). I checked spacing by seeing how close the fridge was to the outside wall (inside that vented opening). Since ours was installed in 2013 by the previous owners I have no idea if any insulation was added at that time - none is between the fridge and the outside wall that we can see so I am guessing there is none-Since we are in Phoenix AZ where sun shining on windows creste more heat inside a house than the lack of attic insulation, I have thought of putting Reflectix on the outside of the fridge but I also would strongly suggest not covering up that entire vented door ( just cut out for that hole).Summer is approaching way too quickly this year (close to 100 degree highs and it is not even May yet). So we might try Reflectix - it would be nice to not give up fridge space to ice. 1 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #8 – April 22, 2018, 05:23:34 pm LD doesn't do a super job of installing and insulating the refrigerator but you can. The missing vent restriction next to the cooling fins can be added, as shown in the Dometic installation manual. The restriction speeds up the air flow and forces it through the cooling fins, not around them.Reinstalling refrigerator | FlickrBefore reconfiguring the refrigerator's installation, two fans were located at the top of refrigerator's roof vent, used to speed up air flow.Once the refrigerator's enclosure was rebuilt, adding the missing restriction around the cooling fins, the vent fans stopped making a difference and were removed .Refrigerator vent fans | FlickrWe have dual wireless temperature sensors in both the refrigerator and freezer, mounted at the top and bottom of each compartment, with the readouts located in various places in the LD's interior so the temp can be easily be checked.Adding some type of fan inside the refrigerator to circulate and even out the interior temps is good idea.This is the fan being used now, it's very quiet and runs whenever the refrigerator is powered.Refrigerator fan | FlickrDo try to park with the refrigerator on the shady side. Anything you can do that blocks the sun will help as long as the refrigerator's access door vents are not covered.Make sure the propane pressure is set to 11-14 in/h20, with the refrigerator and one other propane device operating.Low pressure produces too small a flame to drive the refrigeration process at full efficiency.The propane jet can get dirty over time, restricting the gas flow, and will periodically need cleaning.The cooling produced should be similar when using either propane or 120-VAC power.Larry 3 Likes
Re: Fridge not working Reply #9 – April 22, 2018, 09:35:25 pm JandS2, I bought a roll of Reflectix to cover the windows on the inside and the vent hatches. I found the most effective spot was the bathroom skylight. On an 85 degree day in Sacramento, the edge of the skylight was 115 ! A semi-permanent reflectix installation there did wonders for it and the rest of the interior. Of course, on the 31 IB, the fridge is next to the shower.I was thinking of hanging a leftover strip above the vent when parked. The panels for the windows work very well for insulation. It cuts the view which is not a problem when parked in the side yard.
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