Many of us have an issue with the 4-door Dometic fridge not cooling properly. This was one of the service items we had submitted for the National Rally in Goshen. A Dometic tech came and looked at our fridge and made 2 modifications:
1) This applies ONLY to the 4 door fridge, and ONLY the ones used in Grand Design coaches - there is a baffle in the upper access panel that is too large. While that baffle is needed in different applications, it is NOT required in the GD 4 door fridges (they admitted that there was previous miscommunications stating that it should not be removed). The tech removed this baffle.
BEFORE: Baffle prevents warm air from venting out from fridge.
AFTER: Removing the baffle allows more warm air to escape.
2) The hose that drains the condensate should NOT be straight, as in my before photo, but should have a P-trap. This traps some of the condensate in the 'elbow', which prevents warm air from flowing back into the refrigerator.
BEFORE: Our hose was straight, which allowed warm air to travel up into the fridge.
AFTER: Reconfiguring the hose to have a P-trap allows condensate to collect in the area marked in red. This stops the warm air from flowing back up into the fridge.
Another tip that might help with proper cooling: When you first turn your fridge on, it will run for 60 hours, then shuts down for 2 hours to help with frost buildup. After that initial cycle, it will do the 2 hour shut-off every 48 hours. It's best to try and time that during the cooler part of the day, usually night time. If you started your fridge at noon, the shutdown cycle would happen from midnight to 2AM. So no matter when you start your fridge, if you turn it off for a minute and then re-start around noon, you can 'force' that frost cycle for an optimum time.
Hope this is helpful to some of you, and since I never knew anything about my fridge other than how to turn it on and off (and where to find the cold beverages!), if I've made is mistake in trying to explain what I learned last week, please let me know so I can correct my post.
Andi
1) This applies ONLY to the 4 door fridge, and ONLY the ones used in Grand Design coaches - there is a baffle in the upper access panel that is too large. While that baffle is needed in different applications, it is NOT required in the GD 4 door fridges (they admitted that there was previous miscommunications stating that it should not be removed). The tech removed this baffle.
BEFORE: Baffle prevents warm air from venting out from fridge.
AFTER: Removing the baffle allows more warm air to escape.
2) The hose that drains the condensate should NOT be straight, as in my before photo, but should have a P-trap. This traps some of the condensate in the 'elbow', which prevents warm air from flowing back into the refrigerator.
BEFORE: Our hose was straight, which allowed warm air to travel up into the fridge.
AFTER: Reconfiguring the hose to have a P-trap allows condensate to collect in the area marked in red. This stops the warm air from flowing back up into the fridge.
Another tip that might help with proper cooling: When you first turn your fridge on, it will run for 60 hours, then shuts down for 2 hours to help with frost buildup. After that initial cycle, it will do the 2 hour shut-off every 48 hours. It's best to try and time that during the cooler part of the day, usually night time. If you started your fridge at noon, the shutdown cycle would happen from midnight to 2AM. So no matter when you start your fridge, if you turn it off for a minute and then re-start around noon, you can 'force' that frost cycle for an optimum time.
Hope this is helpful to some of you, and since I never knew anything about my fridge other than how to turn it on and off (and where to find the cold beverages!), if I've made is mistake in trying to explain what I learned last week, please let me know so I can correct my post.
Andi
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