Fridge - Freezer is great, fridge is too warm?

[TheRedDawn]

Hi all,

My wife and I are new owners of a 2004 17' Freedom Deluxe!!! Everything is great minus a fridge issue.

Fridge is a Dometic 2452.

Freezer goes down to 4 degrees F with both propane and electric.
Fridge only goes down to upper 40's on both propane and electric.

We tested with the fridge empty. Outside temp was between 75 and 90. Both tests were run for 24+ hours.
Flame is blue
Orifice looks clean
Flame on/off indicator only just barely moves into the green when using propane

I just ordered a fridge fan but won't arrive until Thursday. We leave on a weekend trip Friday morning.

Has anyone had this issue? Freezer performs but fridge is working poorly? Please share your solution.

Thanks!

Matt & Shannon
Foothills of Nor Cal

[Dudley]

Check your door seal, the cold may be going out the bottom.

[Bob in Mb]

An empty fridge never appears to cool . Put a glass of water with a thermometer in it and run it overnight. You will get a better idea of what is going on. It will be even better the fuller the fridge is.We always start out with several frozen bottles of drinking water in it , by the time the ice begins to melt everything is stabilized, and ice water is always good to have on a hot day.

[Raz]

I'm with Bob. We fill quart Rubbermaid containers 3/4 full with water and freeze. When we're ready to go we top off the containers and put them in the fridge. Don't freeze full containers, they will split. Also, the fan will help. Raz

[Talia]

Originally Posted by TheRedDawn

Hi all,

My wife and I are new owners of a 2004 17' Freedom Deluxe!!! Everything is great minus a fridge issue.

Fridge is a Dometic 2452.

Freezer goes down to 4 degrees F with both propane and electric.
Fridge only goes down to upper 40's on both propane and electric.

We tested with the fridge empty. Outside temp was between 75 and 90. Both tests were run for 24+ hours.
Flame is blue
Orifice looks clean
Flame on/off indicator only just barely moves into the green when using propane

I just ordered a fridge fan but won't arrive until Thursday. We leave on a weekend trip Friday morning.

Has anyone had this issue? Freezer performs but fridge is working poorly? Please share your solution.

Thanks!

Matt & Shannon
Foothills of Nor Cal

Check your venting and make sure it matches the manufacturer's specifications. With an absorption fridge/freezer, the freezer is cooled first, then the fridge. I run a 6cu ft propane fridge for two weeks every summer, outside in 95 degree heat and sun, and I had a terrible time getting it to cool reliably until I followed the manufacturer's instructions concerning the proper enclosure and air circulation for it, and got a fan that forces air over the coils in back.

These fridges need to have air moving over the back where the cooling coils are. This is critical to good operation. Many of them require specific clearances and a baffle in the right place in order to cool correctly. As far as I've experienced, having air moving over the back from bottom to top is way more effective to cold operation than a fan placed inside the refrigerator.

[Joe Romas]

You can't tell if the gas jet or or tube is clean by looking.

With the pointer barely in the green I suspect you have a low flame, my pointer is in the center of the green area.

They must be cleaned and the manual suggest yearly.

Temperatures here have been near or above 90 and my freezer hoovers around 0 f and the refrigerator is at 35f EMPTY! I had to turn the dial just below 3 to avoid below freezing temperatures in the refrigerator.
No ice or water totally empty except for the thermometer probe.

And what Talia says!!!
There's a L O N G thread on the casitaforum about "making the refrigerator work better" by venting and baffles. The solutions work good. So good a external fan is rarely needed.

Joe

[Talia]

Originally Posted by Joe Romas

And what Talia says!!!
There's a L O N G thread on the casitaforum about "making the refrigerator work better" by venting and baffles. The solutions work good. So good a external fan is rarely needed.

Joe

Yes, exactly! The reason my particular situation requires an external fan is because I run the refrigerator outside in the middle of August when the heat and humidity are very high, and it is being opened and closed all day long. Even under those taxing conditions, I can keep the fridge at 40F and the freezer will make ice.

If the unit is cooling at all, then all of it should be cool. It just needs to be set up properly, or as Joe says, your flame may be too small.

[Joe Romas]

Here's my vertical baffle that separates the 2 sources of heat. The hotter from the propane chimney tends to mixe with the cooler one from the refrigerant coils as factory installed making the system less efficient.
As a side benefit forcing the airflow past the refrigerant coils also improved 120 VAC operation.

The first picture shows the baffle before installation.
Second one shows it mounted and hanging from the refrigerant coil (bad)
The revised third one has the coke can extension with the tab off the cooling coils.
It work really well now.
When at the beach in 2 weeks I suspect I'll be running the external fan for the reasons Talia lists.
This and other improvements are in the long thread previously mentioned.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Bob in Mb

An empty fridge never appears to cool . Put a glass of water with a thermometer in it and run it overnight. You will get a better idea of what is going on. It will be even better the fuller the fridge is.We always start out with several frozen bottles of drinking water in it , by the time the ice begins to melt everything is stabilized, and ice water is always good to have on a hot day.

No, I totally disagree about a packed refrigerator being more efficient. Yes, the less airspace in a freezer, the more efficient the freezer works. However, in an RV refrigerator food needs airspace around it for cooling. You jam it full and the food in the middle won't cool. If you rotate frozen water bottles into the refrigerator, that supplements the cooling ability. Using a battery powered fan, helps even more.

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-A10-...frigerator+fan


See also this information, especially item the second paragraph in #2 and #3: http://www.fmca.com/polks-top-7/2633...fficiency.html

[brendadave]

I agree with Donna, I have the fan she linked to in her post, without it everything near the top freezes, and stuff at the bottom is to warm and spoils. Since we started using the fan several years back we have no problems at all, temperature is consistent throughout, and it "seems" to cool faster.

[Cslcs25]

By now you are overwhelmed with ideas but I just can't resist adding my 2 cents worth.
We had the *exact* problem you describe. We were running it on 5 to no avail....freezer crazy cold, frig not very cold. Here is what we have hit on that has been working consistently for the past year (in Texas heat).

1. A day or two before trip turn on frig and set to 3.
2. Put in a couple of blue ice things to give it a kick start.
3. Do not run the fan.

That's it. I load my frig pretty full with no problems. Also, put temp sensors towards the back. The door temp will always be warmer. We camped all last week in 100 degrees with no shade. I kicked it up to 4 one of the days when frig temp got up to 40. Best of luck to you. Hope this works for you. I know the frig can be a real stress point (at least it is for me). Cold refrigerator = happy camper.

[Grant Allen]

I was having the same issue, bought the fridge fan. Takes 2 D size battery's sits in the bottom of the fridge. Worked great on my last trip to Arizona. Battery's work for about a month.

[Raz]

The OP states both electric and propane are producing a 40* fridge. So while cleaning the burner is always a good thing to do, I'm not sure it would solve this problem. I agree with those that suggest adding ice and a fan.

[Talia]

Should also clean the flue, and the baffle that hangs down into it.

[TheRedDawn]

Thanks everyone. I put in the fan + cleaned the orifice with some Goo B Gone. The fridge just went down to 14 on propane so I think we're in business.
Also, regarding the Flame indicator: Friends of our have the same fridge and their indicator just makes it into the green as well.

Thanks again!