Dometic Sidewise Fridge

[Jim28730]

I have a Dometic Sidewise side-by-side refrigerator that has never operated the way I think it should. It's five years old now and I'm seriously thinking of replacing it.

I have had it in the shop, or should I say shops, numerous times because it just doesn't cool the way I believe it should. In the dead of winter, the freezer will get down to 2 degrees, and the refer box to 42. Any time the exterior ambient temperature exceeds 80 degrees, the freezer will get up to 8-12 degrees and the refrigerator box to the high 40's. I don't expect an RV fridge to function as well as the one in my house, but am I wrong to expect it to keep food reasonably cold? And yes, I have tried all of the remedies; exterior fans, interior fans in the box, stating it 48 before loading for a trip, loading the box carefully and not too full.

My RV tech has been on the phone with Dometic and they claim that it is within normal operating range....I'm not buying it. My tech tells me they have had numerous issues with this fridge, way too complicated, way too many computer boards, etc. The self-defrost experiment may not have been such a good idea. Maybe that's why you can find new ones being closed out at 1/2 price.

I'm curious if anyone has had similar issues with this particular model, and also would like to hear from anyone that has a Dometic Elite 2+2 and their experience with what may end up being my replacement model.

[Route 66]

I had the 1402 in my MH. What you are experiencing is not normal.

My 1402 worked perfectly until just before the warranty expired then it started doing as yours does.

Newmar got Dometic to replace the entire unit. The new one worked perfectly.

If your unit is in a slide, then it's extremely difficult to get them to work right.

[SUMDALUS]

Jim28730,

Could use a little more information about your specific refrigerator.

Can you please provide:
.....Model Number,
.....Product Number, and
.....Serial Number.

It's very hard to research information with just a "name".

Thanks,

[Jim28730]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUMDALUS Jim28730, Could use a little more information about your specific refrigerator. Can you please provide: .....Model Number, .....Product Number, and .....Serial Number. It's very hard to research information with just a "name". Thanks,

It's a Dometic 1402 - "Sidewise" side-by-side. It is a 2006 model. The coach is not where I can get to a serial number at the moment.

[38 Special]

Our 1402 is at 1 and 34 most of the time. It does warm up when traveling and takes a long time to recover if you put in something warm. Like a 6 pack of beer or an 8 pack of cokes. Ours is in a slide and does not have the fan modification.

[ken vp]

I have a Dometic side-by-side refrigerator S/N 91100027, P/N921 14 80-40, Mod #1292, Freezer seems to be working ok but the refrigerator side hardly cools at all. also Ice maker doesn't make ice.
Last year all seemed to work fine. We live in Mi. and I think I do a good job winterizing it, so don't think that has anything to do with it not working. any ideas. thanks
ken vp

[michelb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken vp I have a Dometic side-by-side refrigerator S/N 91100027, P/N921 14 80-40, Mod #1292, Freezer seems to be working ok but the refrigerator side hardly cools at all. also Ice maker doesn't make ice. Last year all seemed to work fine. We live in Mi. and I think I do a good job winterizing it, so don't think that has anything to do with it not working. any ideas. thanks ken vp

I'm also having the same problem where the freezer is fine but the refrigerator is not cooling. Any suggestions or troubleshooting recommendations?

[Sammie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelb I'm also having the same problem where the freezer is fine but the refrigerator is not cooling. Any suggestions or troubleshooting recommendations?

You could be experiencing a partial blockage of the cooling unit. What happens is the tubing that makes up the cooling unit package on the back of the fridge starts to corrode on the inside. As this corrosion continues some of the crud begins to plug up the tubing. Usually the first place you will notice the problem is in the fridge area as temperatures begin to increase as the plugging gets worse. When the fridge finally gets to the point where it will no longer keep food cold, it's probably time to replace the cooling unit.

I replaced the cooling unit on my Norcold 1201 with an Amish Built cooling unit a few months ago and am very happy with the results. If your handy with tools, you can do the job yourself and save some $$$$.

Here is a video I made that shows the work involved in the cooling unit replacement.

Sammie

Norcold 1200 to Amish Cooling Unit Conversion.mpg - YouTube

[michelb]

Hopefully it's not the cooling unit (again). I replaced ours with a refurb about 18 months ago (at the time I really hesitated not simply replacing it with a residential fridge - hopefully I don't regret that decision). Last time it was very noticeable that the unit had failed as there was yellow powder everywhere and nothing worked (freezer is still working very well this time).

In case it provides any more usefull information, I did notice that the 'check' light went on after a while if I run it on gas (doesn't seem to go on even after running overnight on AC - just doesn't really cool).

--- update ---

Checked my records and the replacement unit was 2 1/2 years ago (not 1 1/2 years) but the good news is that it looks like it's still on warranty.

Also I'm noticing that the I think the freezer side isn't working either, it's just keeping cold much longer cause we don't open it much :(