Bad Time For Fridge Problems

I'm leaving in the morning for Grand Teton NP. Fired up the Dometic to pre-chill before packing it tonight. Although I have it set to 37 which has been my previous setting, It doesn't seem to go below 45. But... when I measure the inside temp it measures near 0. ???????

I don't really have time for this, especially not knowing the problem, or having time to fix it. I'm hoping it stays on the cold side regardless of the Dometic "reading". I hate losing the food I'll be loading in it.

 

Hi JohnC,

__Just curious, how are you measuring the actual temperature? If it really is nearly 0 F, it sounds like there might be a problem getting the signal from the temperature sensor to the controller. If the controller has a set point of 37 and thinks the tempertaure is 45 it will continue to try to cool. In fact, it might just freeze everything you have in there and use a lot of power. You may also risk burning up the compressor.
__Do you have room in your cooler to fit an ice-block in case the cooling unit fails or to use it without the compressor?
__Do you have a regular (analog?) cooler?
__How do you feel about canned food? Or fasting? Maybe this is how some people go on vacation and actually lose weight.

FWIW, if I am travelling 4 days or less I prefer old fashioned ice block bottles over the Dometic.

Cheers,
--Ken

 

Hi Ken,

I'm using a cheap IR gun to measure the inside temp. But even by just sticking my hand in there I know it's a lot colder than it reads.

I tried unplugging it, letting it warm up and starting over. Now it seems stuck between 73 and 81 on the meter and approaching 0 again inside. Obviously there is some temperature/thermostat issue. I think you're right that it will probably run forever if I don't just shut it off. It's barely a year old and only been on a few trips. It worked fine on my last trip in June. Kind of annoying to fail so soon. I'll have to call Dometic when I return.

I do have the original Coleman cooler I bought with the trailer. While it works fine, I hate dealing with ice and water and I really hate having to go buy ice every two days on sooner. I'll be gone at least 2 weeks, maybe more. But I am calling an audible and the Dometic is staying home while I now go buy some ice for the cooler.

I always hate trying to figure out what food to bring. I really try to take a minimalist approach but I do have a need to take some refrigerated items, especially for longer trips. So there's always a mixture of food types. And unfortunately the first week of this trip is to somewhere I've not been before, so it's hard to know what kind of options I'll have when I get there. But I'll make it work. I can always stand to lose a little weight.

 

Hi JohnC,

Regarding ice/water... I've had good success with the "Arctic Ice" encapsulated bottles. They contain the melt nicely.

Arctic Ice Cooler Packs

Good luck on your trip.

Cheers,
--Ken

 

Thanks!

 

Sounds like a thermistor...mine failed and di the same thing...the comrpsesor just ran and ran...ultimately this killed the compressor. I wouldn't suggest running the compressor for the 24 hours we did.

When you get back, you can find thermistors for a few bucks and they take just a few screws and about an hour of profanity-laced self-conversations to replace. A screwdriver should be your only tool if it is built the same way mine was. The better news, is the way the replacement was made it should be more reliable.

Condensation soaked the one that failed on mine, I assume that was the failure.

 

It took an hour of labor just to swap one out? Sounds like a lot of work for one part.

 

The first time. Now, knowing what I do, it’s probably a 10 minute job.

videos on the internet took me down a an unnecessary rabbit hole. I also like to Scotty effect….Gordy, it you always tell the captain how long it will really take, how do you expect to become a miracle worker?

To elaborate, on mi cf35, you basically just have to remove the control panel and unplug the thermistor, and snip a couple zip ties. The other side (sensor side) is just hell in with some sealant. Give it a tug. When I did that to mine, a coupe, teaspoons of water came out with it. I assume that was what killed the actual sensor.

reinstall was just the opposite….

 

I returned from my trip last week and have been busy trying to get caught up. Today I finally called Dometic. Customer service is making me send an email documenting what I tried and how it failed. Because the "fridge" guy is "on the road" this week, nobody in the office can deal with it until speaking with Mr Fridge guy. They will get back to me after speaking with him. The impression I get is that they may ask me to do more tests to meet their satisfaction. He didn't seem very impressed that my IR gun showed 0 to 4 degrees when the Dometic wouldn't read less than 43 degrees while continuing to run. Somehow placing a real thermometer in a glass of water would better confirm or deny the fridge is broke.

It has a 2 year warranty and is still covered. I was told that once Mr Fridge apparently approves, they will just swap it out for a new one. Not sure how that will work though.

I was also told it's possible a local dealer could handle all of this. But then the rep admitted that just being a local dealer doesn't mean they are a service center or will do anything. So who knows if that's much of an option.

I understand problems can happen and nothing is infallible. But so far I'm less than impressed with the level of service I'm getting for paying a premium price for a name brand product.

 

Its a problem throughout the whole industry. I wish there was something more to be done. The worst part of is that LCI (Lippert) owns so much and there is no competition.

 

Latest update is that they are going to send me a new one. Hopefully it's better packaged than the last one. Fingers crossed.

 

Hang on to the old one ---its good for parts

If it is as easy as the thermistor you have 2 --- although I'm sure they will want the old one back

 

They tell me they don't want the old one back. Just the sticker off the old one so it can't be warrantied again.

 

NICE!!!!

 

The new Dometic arrived yesterday. I've been testing it overnight and all appears fine. Just need to switch out the CI handles from the old one to the new one.

Next project will be to see if replacing the thermistor in the old will give me a backup fridge.

 

(Y)

You going to try to fix the old one?

 

I hope. Even the Dometic field tech told me it was probably the thermistor. He wanted to send me a replacement part and let me fix it myself. I declined to resolve my warranty claim by repairing it myself. No real risk in trying now.

 

Keep us posted on your results. Inquisitive minds want to know!

 

Having done it --- PM me if you have any questions if my posts, and the other posts on the topic doesn't help

 

Thanks. First I have to find out where to buy the thermistor. The vendor referenced in the thread listed at the bottom of the page is supposedly $5. Everywhere else I see $30-$50 for one. Not sure I trust the $5 one.