Dometic Fridge Problem with a twist

[Blue Skies]

Reading through the older posts, beyond general cleaning and maintenance, the circuit board is often to blame for many fridge cooling problems.

We took our motorhome for a short trip for the first time this season and noted that the freezer cools appropriately but the fridge section never gets cool.

Any initial suggestions on how to proceed next?

[Blue Skies]

Reading through the older posts, beyond general cleaning and maintenance, the circuit board is often to blame for many fridge cooling problems.

We took our motorhome for a short trip for the first time this season and noted that the freezer cools appropriately but the fridge section never gets cool.

Any initial suggestions on how to proceed next?

[kayo]

Check the door gasket

[RV Wizard]

If you do not detect the odor of ammonia then you probably have a partial blockage or you do indead have a leak and it might be on the outside area of the cooling unit. The freezer section is the primary or first evaporator in the system. it will be the last to go down and does get the coldest by design. If you have a fairly accurate temperature tester you can have the unit on and running for at least an hour and check the temperature on the outside back of the unit and you should have about the same temperature of the vertical metal wrapped boiler and on the horizontal tubing. If not ( and it probably won't be in your case) which one is the hotter? Knowing this I can tell you if it is a blockage or has a leak.

[Blue Skies]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">If you have a fairly accurate temperature tester you can have the unit on and running for at least an hour and check the temperature on the outside back of the unit </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That makes sense. No ammonia smell from the front or the back. The door gaskets appear intact and both fridge and freezer doors close securely.

What do you recommend to test the temperatures in the back?

Thanks for the advice. I am assuming a blockage is better than a leak.

[RV Wizard]

I use an infared temperature tester for all kinds of things and the price of them has come down over the years. A blockage is still serious and will probably return (a day or a year later) even if you were able to clear it by burpping the ref.

[Blue Skies]

After plugging in for several hours today, the fridge is finally beginning to cool. I did not do anything except drive the RV since my first post on this thread. I'm not sure if a blockage or gas bubble in the cooling element displaced by Divine intervention.

The freezer continues to work well on either AC or propane. And, for the time being I will live by the motto, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, I will travel with a couple of extra coolers this season to unload the fridge in case of an emergency.

Also, I'll look into getting an infrared temperature tester if the price is not prohibitive.