Dometic Fridge Performance Help??

[Drag Racer]

Having a little trouble keeping up in the +90 weather with my Dometic Americana. I have a battery operated fan inside the fridge circulating. My next plan is to install a 12v fan to assist in exhausting the heat out through the rear vent. I'm also trying to freeze some water bottles to move to the fridge for the hard part of the day. Just wondering if anyone has any other performance tricks....Fridge works well under 85 and I don't see any evidence of coolant leaks. Thanks!

[homeless]

Park where the sun does not hit the side of your rig with the fridge on it.

[Oh-one]

Be glad it works at all. Ours never cooled in 85 much less 90 degree temps. It was a source of problems from day one. We replaced it with a residential frig. and never looked back. It is nice to have frozen ice cream and ice for drinks without buying them at the store.

[ninos]

I'm glad that I just removed the nerver cold and installed a residential refrigerator, it's 50% biger And it works like a charm, best mod that I have done to my Rv. Joe

[GaryKD]

The exhaust fan(s) at the top of the chimney will help a lot. I had to start my refer from scratch in 100+ degree weather. It took 4 days for the refer to cool down so one could use it. The freezer cooled overnight. It was the refer part that took 4 days. I have fans inside the unit. There are fans (2) at the top of the chimney and 2 fans sucking air in at the bottom. Put the temp selector on the coldest setting and put only about 1/2 the food one normally puts in the refer.

[toneumanns]

I added cooling fans on the interior of my Norcold 1200. I have been able to maintain 38 degrees in 100 degree temps.

[chuckftboy]

You may want to check the installation manual for your unit. It seams that many manufactures don't install the air baffles that Dometic shows in their instructions. My son's Dometic could not get below 55 until he installed the baffles and now it holds 35 on a 100 degree day. They go on the back of the unit above the condenser.

[SpringerPop]

I believe the baffles are to ensure proper air flow over the finned coils.

"Chimney" fans almost guarantee better air flow, with or without baffles, but I believe using BOTH can only help.

I put four computer fans above my fins, and the reefer reads 37 degrees pretty consistently, though our high today was only 90.

I posted in another forum about a real quiet fan array I found to use. Here's what the array looks like:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a...SSEMBLY/1.html

I'd like to add at least one small air circulation fan inside my 'fridge, too, to keep from having warm and cold spots.

There are things that can be done to make these absorptive refrigeration units perform better on warm days, but the manufacturers aren't doing them because of cost.

We can certainly add them, however.

Pop

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by GaryKD

The exhaust fan(s) at the top of the chimney will help a lot. I had to start my refer from scratch in 100+ degree weather. It took 4 days for the refer to cool down so one could use it. The freezer cooled overnight. It was the refer part that took 4 days. I have fans inside the unit. There are fans (2) at the top of the chimney and 2 fans sucking air in at the bottom. Put the temp selector on the coldest setting and put only about 1/2 the food one normally puts in the refer.

Nrrcold, Dometic and Fantastic Fan all say that it's more efficient to pull the air out than pus it in sot he fans should be located at the exhaust (top) vent

[sc3283]

my 8 cu ft Dometic worked great during our last outing. 5 days of 100-107 outside, coach parked in full sun, both ACs on inside with inside temps of 69-77(pending time of day). I have 1 pancake fan in the flue duct. No fans inside the fridge of freezer. Upper shelf temp of fridge..37-40 degrees, freezer temp -10 to 0 the whole trip.
Remember to open and close doors quickly. It takes forever for them to make up the loss from doors open too frequently or too long. If possible pre-cool or pre-freeze all foods going inside. My kids and wife tend to peek inside too long making a decision on what to get out to eat or drink. They need constant reminding

[berlin]

springer pop do you know temperture rating of the motors. on a 100 degree day they will be exposed to tempertures close to 130 coming off condensor. thanks.

[sc3283]

drag, let me add....even though they claim if level enough to walk comfortably inside the coach, my fridge tends to do better the closer to perfect level it can be made

what do you race?

[SpringerPop]

Originally Posted by berlin

springer pop do you know temperture rating of the motors. on a 100 degree day they will be exposed to tempertures close to 130 coming off condensor. thanks.

They are Panaflo NMB-MAT FBA09A12M fans. See:
FBA09A12M datasheet(1/7 Pages) PANASONIC | Locked rotor protection circuits Automatically restarts in a few seconds Reverse voltage protection

Minus 10* to plus 70*C.

Though these fans are normally 3-pin, on these particular units, only two are wired.

Pop

[rdownward]

Try taking the outside refrigerator cover door off. The cover restricts the flow of air and inhibits the cooling ability of the refer. I do this when temps exceed 90 and it makes a huge difference. I only do it when parked and not when traveling down the highway.