Freezer cold/fridge not?

[Eraygunz]

Hi
Wondering if anybody can help with this?
It seems that my fridge/freezer is having an issue?
The freezer is nice and cold.....but the fridge is not cold at all?
I was running it on 12volt thru my series of coach batteries and solar.
Is it just not able to draw enough current?did I not let it run long enough?
Are they two different components?
Any help would be great.
Thank you
Eddie

[peteco]

What is the age and model of your fridge?

Our B fridges struggle because the sidewall venting doesn't provide enough vent are over the condenser. Fans in the vent compartment help. Also, some B's vent compartments are not baffled properly. I had to add an inner wall and upper deflector to make my 210 vent meet the Dometic factory vent guidelines. Check the installation instructions for your fridge.

Also, older fridges can struggle due to having been overheated from operating off-level. Nothing can be done about that.

Operating on 12 volts provides less thermal energy to the absorption system than 120 volts or propane. Try running on propane and then 120 volts and compare.

Also, parking with the sun on the fridge side makes the venting less efficient as it fights external heat (the sun) while removing heat.

A fan internal to the fridge helps too.

I have improved my fridge performance by gradually addressing all these issues. It is frustrating and if there was a drop-in model available I would switch to a compressor fridge.

[Eraygunz]

Hi
It's a1997 210 I believe.
There is a fan added to aid in the venting.
It's odd that the freezer was cold but fridge not.
It probably does not help that I am in SW Florida in July?
I will try the other two options,and a few other things.
I have been thinking of replacing it with a compressor fridge myself.
Can run it off the batts and inverter when not hooked up.
Thanks for your help.
Happy travels
Eddie

[Eraygunz]

By internal fan ,did you mean inside the fridge?
I have read that a fan inside can help?
It has one in the outside compartment to help with venting.
Thanks

[BBQ]

.

Some people put a battery-operated fan inside the fridge to help with circulation.

Check the baffle between the freezer and the fridge...is it blocked?

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Eraygunz

By internal fan ,did you mean inside the fridge?
I have read that a fan inside can help?
It has one in the outside compartment to help with venting.
Thanks

Yes, inside the fridge. I have a battery powered one from an RV store.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Eraygunz

It's odd that the freezer was cold but fridge not.
It probably does not help that I am in SW Florida in July?
Eddie

That is what typically happens when a fridge starts to struggle. The freezer is first in the circuit to extract cooling from the system. If there is not enough cooling capacity remaining then the refrigerator portion is not able to cool down like it should.

[mojoman]

Throw a few frozen water bottles in the fridge before you fill the fridge to help it come to temp faster. The 3way fridges are slow to cool.

[avanti]

Common wisdom says it takes 24 hours for an absorption fridge to stabilize. Ones in perfect condition do better, but that is the norm.

Get a compressor unit.

[InterBlog]

OP, just to give you a point of reference, we've owned our Class B for 2.5 years, and our second Dometic absorption fridge just died after 20 whole months of occasional operation (the original Dometic never did work properly). Technically this newer one is still under warranty, and already it's a goner, and it was handled with kid gloves while we owned it.

We ran through the sequence of troubleshooting that Dometic publishes, but there was no fix for it, other than replacement of its cooling unit. That manual is available here at this link below (I don't know what your "210" reference means, but this is for Dometic, at least):

http://www.fourwh.com/NewDometicRefrigeratorManual.pdf

Note the caveat on page 24: "A refer that chases the out-side temperature is improperly vented or has a weak cooling unit". That rather vague gem applies to our 20-month-old, at least in part.

The specific problem you mention might be related to hydrogen loss - at least that's the speculation recently over on Air Forums. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule in the universe and it is suspected to diffuse out preferentially through the welds in the cooling unit, leaving an inadequate cooling mixture remaining in the closed system, hence the "weakening". Reportedly, that then impacts the fridge more than the freezer. I don't know if there's any truth to this explanation.

My husband and I are in the process of retrofitting a compressor fridge - no more unreliable absorption units for us! I'll come back to this thread and link my blog post after we get the job done - that explains why we picked the model that we did, now we modified cabinetry to accept it, etc.

[BBQ]

.

I assume
210 as in Roadtrek 210

[GeorgeRa]

Absorption refrigerators are sensitive to levelling, more side to side than front to back. There is a lot of internet wisdom how level it needs to be, from being comfortable to pencil not rolling to about +/- 3°. The problem due to levelling is cumulative, a little damage here and there and it fridge cools less and less. This was a good experiment of levelling versus fridge operation. Fridge: How Level is "enough"?

With vague specs folks treat levelling vaguely as well and then it is too late. There is a gadget which senses operating temperature and stops if it gets too hot for whatever reason but levelling could be the one. If I would continue to use absorption fridge I would use this ARP or a similar device if they exist. https://www.arprv.com/absorption-ref...controller.php It is too bad that manufacturers don’t have a safety system built in. Since having the compressor fridge any levelling need is truly to just be comfortable.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Eraygunz

Hi
Wondering if anybody can help with this?
It seems that my fridge/freezer is having an issue?
The freezer is nice and cold.....but the fridge is not cold at all?
...
Eddie

What do you mean by "The freezer is nice and cold"?

Is your freezer freezing? or just "nice and cold"?

There is a big difference.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Absorption refrigerators are sensitive to levelling, more side to side than front to back. There is a lot of internet wisdom how level it needs to be, from being comfortable to pencil not rolling to about +/- 3°. The problem due to levelling is cumulative, a little damage here and there and it fridge cools less and less....

As an anecdotal supplement to this general line of thinking, we noticed that level appeared to become a much bigger issue with our fridge in weakened condition, and I have a reference number to go with it.

Our driveway is gently sloped for drainage. The house was built in 2010 in Houston (=flat as a pancake), so the slope is quite minimal. It's the lowest amount that they could get away with (by that time they were using GPS-controlled grading equipment) and still meet building specifications.

I don't believe it's over 3 degrees front to back, although I don't have that exact number. But I DO know the delta associated with my home-made stackers, because that's easily deduced from stacker height and wheel base using trigonometry. Raising two wheels on stackers results in a 1.7 degree closer-to-horizontal camper van in the driveway, which at that point is darned near level.

When the fridge was new, 1.7 degrees resulted in no discernible performance difference. Fridge and freezer got wonderfully cold whether the van was on stackers or not.

But once the fridge started to show signs of going bad, all of a sudden that 1.7 degrees appeared to become a real issue. At that point, stacking the van resulted in a fridge temperature drop of about 10 degrees vs. non-stacked.

An observation FWIW.

[hbn7hj]

ARP does not handle the DC current of a 3-way fridge and most Bs have 3-ways. Their website does not cover how to use the ARP with a 3-way, at least I can't find it..

Found it. It is there.

https://www.arprv.com/dometic-contro...heme-Number-5N

[peteco]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

ARP does not handle the DC current of a 3-way fridge and most Bs have 3-ways. Their website does not cover how to use the ARP with a 3-way, at least I can't find it..

Found it. It is there.

https://www.arprv.com/dometic-contro...heme-Number-5N

I just installed the ARP v2.1 on my Roadtrek 210 with Domestic RM2554 fridge. The ARP does not affect the heater wiring (neither 12 volt or 120 volt). So it works the same on both 2-way and 3-way models. It attaches between the the 12 volt battery supply and the refrigerator control board. The ARP v2.1 and 3.1 controls vent fans if desired. I bought it primarily to protect agains off-level overheating, as well as better control of the vent fan. The boiler and fan temperature readout is a handy diagnostic. This is a nice unit, especially for a B which could easily be operating at off-level conditions.

[hbn7hj]

I notice there is a thermal switch on the burner shield on a Dometic RM2663. Assuming it turns the refrigerator off if the burner gets too hot it would seem to provide the function of the ARP. Why would you need an ARP in addition to the standard thermal switch?

[peteco]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

I notice there is a thermal switch on the burner shield on a Dometic RM2663. Assuming it turns the refrigerator off if the burner gets too hot it would seem to provide the function of the ARP. Why would you need an ARP in addition to the standard thermal switch?

I think the ARP site talks about this, and its function is different than what ARP provides. There is a lot on the site so it may take you a while to find it.

[g1g]

After a day or two my freezer is freezing but i need to run it for several more days before the fidge gets cold also I must keep the inside of the RV cool during this col down time.

[Eraygunz]

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

I assume
210 as in Roadtrek 210

My mistake 2410,2310, I think.
No it's a 1997 190 pop.
Thanks
Eddie