Freezer not cold...

[Blueknight]

So we went to the supermarket yesterday and bought food, which we put in our freezer. We’ve been full time for 4 months now and haven’t had any issues.

This morning I realized that the food isn’t frozen, and some things seem to be thawing out.

The refrigerator is still cold, but the freezer seems to be warmer.

Is this just a case of needing to defrost the freezer? There seems to be frost on the back. Or, is there a bigger issue.

Dometic RM2852.

Thanks!!

[Domo]

You need a thermometer so you can report real numbers. That will help the community to assist and also would be a good tool for you to have to verify proper storage of your food while traveling (or at home).

This is true when doing electrical troubleshooting which is when you need to have a meter so that others can help diagnose.

Questions regarding your situation: Were the foods you put in the freezer frozen to begin with? Are any vents blocked? Are you on propane or shore power? Does the light on the fridge light up when the door is open? Are the coils in the back hot (too hot to touch). Is the unit level? What is the temperature outside? If the coils are not hot on one power source - try switching to the other source and see if they heat as they should.

Others will have good knowledge to help you SAVE THE ICE CREAM!

[Blueknight]

Originally Posted by Domo

Questions regarding your situation: Were the foods you put in the freezer frozen to begin with? Are any vents blocked? Are you on propane or shore power? Does the light on the fridge light up when the door is open? Are the coils in the back hot (too hot to touch). Is the unit level? What is the temperature outside? If the coils are not hot on one power source - try switching to the other source and see if they heat as they should.



Others will have good knowledge to help you SAVE THE ICE CREAM!

I have a thermometer probe attached to my multimeter in the freezer now. Current temp is around 23 degrees. Outside temp is 75. The food I put in wasn’t frozen, but some of the food that was in there began to thaw. Vents aren’t blocked, and I’m on shore power. The RV is level, and been here for over a month. The light comes on as well.

I’m not 100% sure the propane works on this fridge. How would I check this?

Thanks

[dons2346]

Sounds like you need to do a good defrosting

[rrtribble]

BlueKnight,

Question: may be a mistype but you show 23* in freezer so how is food thawing?

The only thing I can think of is if you put a lot of hot food in the freezer it would warm up before it started freezing simply because of the heat you put in.

Hope you find the problem soon - RIchard

[Blueknight]

Not a mistype. I didn’t check the temp before I defrosted the freezer.

I defrosted it, put the food back in, and left the temp probe in the freezer and have been monitoring the temp since.

[Blueknight]

Originally Posted by dons2346

Sounds like you need to do a good defrosting

Did that. Hoping it’ll be colder when I get back and check it. Thanks

[Old-Biscuit]

Absorption fridges are NOT like a residential fridge....they do NOT recover very quickly when the COLD is let out OR when high load demand (warm food) in food compartment or freezer




Your Fridge WILL recover......


See pg 25.how absorption process works
See pg 26 Section 8.8 Food storage
Then peruse entire Service Manual
https://www.fourwh.com/NewDometicRefrigeratorManual.pdf

[Blueknight]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Absorption fridges are NOT like a residential fridge....they do NOT recover very quickly when the COLD is let out OR when high load demand (warm food) in food compartment or freezer




Your Fridge WILL recover......


See pg 25.how absorption process works
See pg 26 Section 8.8 Food storage
Then peruse entire Service Manual
https://www.fourwh.com/NewDometicRefrigeratorManual.pdf

Thanks for the info!!

[dons2346]

Originally Posted by Blueknight

Did that. Hoping it’ll be colder when I get back and check it. Thanks

Did you actually defrost it? meaning getting all the ice from behind the rear panel? There is a lot of ice hidden behind the panel on the rear of the freezer and it takes quite awhile to get it all out

[Blueknight]

Originally Posted by dons2346

Did you actually defrost it? meaning getting all the ice from behind the rear panel? There is a lot of ice hidden behind the panel on the rear of the freezer and it takes quite awhile to get it all out

Not sure what you mean. I defrosted the whole inside of the freezer. I didn’t see any other frost.

Do you mean behind the rear wall? If so, I’m not even sure how to defrost that.

Thanks

[gcamper]

When we had the absorption refrigerator we were alway careful to leave air space between the unfrozen items in the freezer until they froze. Once completely frozen we were able to stack the items and kept them frozen.

[vettenuts]

When you put unfrozen food into the freezer, it will warm the frozen food already in there. Then it will take quite some time for the freezer to recover. This will also happen in the refrigerator if you put in a lot of room temperature items such as water bottles. I would give it more time to recover.

[dons2346]

Originally Posted by Blueknight

Not sure what you mean. I defrosted the whole inside of the freezer. I didn’t see any other frost.

Do you mean behind the rear wall? If so, I’m not even sure how to defrost that.

Thanks

Yes, behind the rear wall. It is a slow process. You can put a pan of boiling water on a shelf and shut the door and wait. Keep doing that and eventually the ice will thaw.


Or you can get out the hair drier and use it on the back wall. Be careful not to over heat the plastic or it will deform.


When we had the 12cuft Dometic, it would take about an hour to totally defrost it