Dometic Fridge Cooling: Odd Change?

[jesfl45]

 

Good morning folks,

I have a Dometic 2-way fridge cooling issue, a sudden change in the cooling operation.

I just spent considerable time reading posts here. I also saved an article about 18 common Dometic fridge problems and solutions, and there was nothing in it addressing this issue.

As background, I just spent 7 days boondocking on the beach In the Padre Island National Seashore. While there, my propane flame went out (blew out?) numerous times. I noticed it by the rising temperature from my inside freezer/fridge thermometer. I would turn off the fridge for a short while and then turn it back on (on propane) and it would light and run just fine for hours. However, by the end of my stay on the beach because of this on/off problem, the inside refrigerator temps had increased from my typical 38d/5d to 52d/16d and would not cool any lower, even overnight with cooler temps/no sun.

I attributed the fridge temp creeping higher to the periods of the propane being off before I restarted the fridge. I attributed the propane going off to the very heavy winds on the beach with the RV parked with the fridge vent on the windward side. (Note: I installed a glass baffle to replace the metal wind guard so I could see whether the flame was on/off with a glance through the exterior opening cover, so wind being the cause of the propane going off really does not seem logical to me, but . . . maybe?)

Now I am at an RV park and I have tested the fridge running 24 hours on propane and 24 hours on electric.  The propane flame did not go off during this test and the refrigerator cooled OK, albeit much more slowly than previous to my beach stay?

Of concern is that the lowest the inside temps have gone now is 46 degrees in the fridge and 14 degrees in the freezer after 75 hours of continuous operation.

Something seems to have changed?

Any thoughts from anyone about (a) what caused this change, and (b) solutions to return the fridge to its previous (much better) cooling levels. 

Reference facts:

- Dometic RM26562, replaced control board in mid-2020,

- Freezer is nearly full, fridge is only 2/3 full,

- No frost on the cooling fins, some frost in fridge, thermocoupler sensor on the right-most fin inside,

- no signs of coolant leaks (yellow stuff) or ammonia smell,

- added interior 12v fan for air circulation and exterior 12v fan blowing air out the vents,

Yes, I'm in mid-80's temps in Texas, but I also was in the higherr temps for a week before I went to Padre Island and the fridge was cooling great running completely on propane.

To me, it's just odd -- both the propane flame going out while on the beach in the wind, and the fact that the fridge is suddenly not cooling like it was?

Or could this change just be a precursor to a complete failure for my 2004-vintage Dometic fridge?

Any comments/suggestions will be helpful.

Thank you in advance for any ideas you offer.

jesfl45

[Kirk W]

37 minutes ago, jesfl45 said:

Or could this change just be a precursor to a complete failure for my 2004-vintage Dometic fridge?

That is a possibility to consider. The cooling unit does have to work harder when the freezer is full so that might be a contributing factor. 

39 minutes ago, jesfl45 said:

Of concern is that the lowest the inside temps have gone now is 46 degrees in the fridge and 14 degrees in the freezer after 75 hours of continuous operation.

If you have the temperature set to it coldest setting that is concerning. By continous operation, I assume that you mean normal operating where it cycles on and off as required? A way to test if farther would be to remove the plug for the thermister from the control board(a 2 pin connector) as that will cause it to go into constant cool mode and that way you would know for sure that it was cooling to the maximum of it's ability. Most refrigerators cool best when using propane but it wouldn't hurt to try both sources. If I were trouble shooting the thermister disableing would be what I would test next.

[Ray,IN]

When did you last clean the burner and flue?

[D&J]

It's running the same on propane as electric so that narrows it down to the cooling unit itself. I'm thinking that the heat exchanger is plugging up and sorry to say there is no fixing it, eventually it will start tripping off on high temp. 

Denny