Fridge not working so well on gas (1 Viewer)

Armytwowheels

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Can anyone suggest a possible quick fix while on site. Our fridge was working OK whilst on hook up and was reasonable cold yesterday on gas, but it's not doing a good job today and the frozen stuff is defrosting. The van is level so it's not that, should we have the vent covers on to help it or does this only make a difference when temperatures are below freezing?

Colin cleaned the flue out before we came away as is was sooted up. It's burning lovely and clear without any smells, in fact the best it has ever been, except not ruddy keeping the food cold enough! :Doh:
 
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Techno

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The vent covers prevent OVER cooling. You have the opposite problem so I would ignore that unless the wind is blowing the gas out
 

Techno

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Here at the New year meet you'll see my lower vent cover is on but only as a result of the gas being blown out this morning

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TheBig1

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when sweeping the flue, did he dislodge the baffle inside the tube?

the fact it works on ehu but not gas says the coolant is flowing ok, its just a heat transfer issue. fitting vent covers will stop the chimney being cooled by the ambient temperature
 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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when sweeping the flue, did he dislodge the baffle inside the tube?

the fact it works on ehu but not gas says the coolant is flowing ok, its just a heat transfer issue. fitting vent covers will stop the chimney being cooled by the ambient temperature

Not sure about the baffle, is it possible to see if it has been dislodge without taking the fridge out? It's pitch black out there now so any further investigation will have to wait till morning.

It has dropped a couple of degrees since putting the vent covers on, off to the pub for dinner so will have to see if the temp keeps dropping.
 

Techno

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It may be that your gas blew out last night like mine cold air across the rear of the fridge increases cooling. This is why people fit fans at the back to use in summer.
Vent covers are for when in storage or when over cooling is evident in cold temperatures.
Perhaps Dave miss read your problem

I would suggest that your fridge was bringing the temperature down already and that fitting the covers is just circumstantial and not contributing

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dave newell

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YES if the fridge is overcooling otherwise NO


Sorry mate but you're wrong. Read your Dometic manual and you will find it advises the use of winter covers in ambient temperatures of 10 deg C or less. The reason the fridge doesn't work so well in these lower temperatures is that more of the heat from the flame gets lost to the atmosphere so less of it gets absorbed into the cooling circuit to evaporate the refrigerant. We were overrun with complaints of fridges not working in the cold weather a couple of years ago in the really bad winter.

D.
 

dave newell

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.........................................................................Perhaps Dave miss read your problem

No Dave didn't misread the problem, Dave has read the Dometic installation and user manuals for many fridges and services them on a regular basis. Winter covers are exactly what their name implies, covers to be fitted in winter temperatures to reduce the cold air flowing into the cooling circuit area.

D.
 

Techno

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I've not experienced this myself with three dometic fridges but thank you Dave

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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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We have a warning light that flashes and clicks if the gas has blow out and that didn't happen. We did run the engine for about 20 mins to try and help the cooling process & the temp did drop a couple of notches while on the 12v, but now it's staying at -8.8 for the freezer and +13 for the fridge. The freezer is usually at -17 when on hook up.
 

JJ

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I apologise in advance should my question below be too patronising for anyone given that probably all Funsters know to check for this all the time but...

...have you got anything inside the fridge touching against the aluminium cooling vanes?

My people tell me this hinders the fridge in it's cooling considerably.

JJ :Cool:


 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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I apologise in advance should my question below be too patronising for anyone given that probably all Funsters know to check for this all the time but...

...have you got anything inside the fridge touching against the aluminium cooling vanes?

My people tell me this hinders the fridge in it's cooling considerably.

JJ :Cool:



Just double checked, nothing touching the vanes (well not now anyway :Blush:)

Unfortunately while we have been in the pub, the fridge has taken a turn for worse. It has warmed up to -7.9 in the freezer.

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Allanm

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We had problems with our fridge and freezer not cooling properly earlier this month in temperatures down to -5 outside. I fitted top and bottom vent covers just before we went away.
When we got home, with temperatures still well below 10˚C, I took the top vent cover off and the fridge started immediately to get cooler. The top vent was very hot, I suspect that was the problem.
Allan
 

Techno

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Quote from a Dometic manual

When the outside temperature falls below +8°C,
the winter cover should be fitted. This protects
the unit from excessively cold air which could
have adverse effects on the performance of the
unit
end quote

Adverse does not necessarily mean a lack of cooling and my own experience is overcooling without the covers

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