Dometic Compressor Freezer Query (1 Viewer)

[Paul F]

I am just wondering if anybody else has experience of the RCD 10.5XT compressor fridge/freezer. The fridge adjusts from cold to very, very cold just fine, but no matter what setting I use, the freezer only just does the job - and my ice cream is 'only just' firm (first world problems I know!). This prompted me to put a thermometer in the freezer which tells me that I am getting about minus 12c. I thought all freezers were supposed to run at minus 18c but I cannot find anything on Dometics website to tell me what to expect. It was about 22c outside over the weekend and am a bit concerned that when I travel to warmer climes in the summer, my ice cream could even melt!! The 3 way fridge/freezer in the old van worked extremely well, even in last years 40c heatwave and I thought the compressor fridge was supposed to be better. Has anybody else experienced similar issues?

 

[Howard B]

I have the same with my 3 way fridge, always end up with very soft scoop ice cream

 

[Steve and Denise]

I am just wondering if anybody else has experience of the RCD 10.5XT compressor fridge/freezer. The fridge adjusts from cold to very, very cold just fine, but no matter what setting I use, the freezer only just does the job - and my ice cream is 'only just' firm (first world problems I know!). This prompted me to put a thermometer in the freezer which tells me that I am getting about minus 12c. I thought all freezers were supposed to run at minus 18c but I cannot find anything on Dometics website to tell me what to expect. It was about 22c outside over the weekend and am a bit concerned that when I travel to warmer climes in the summer, my ice cream could even melt!! The 3 way fridge/freezer in the old van worked extremely well, even in last years 40c heatwave and I thought the compressor fridge was supposed to be better. Has anybody else experienced similar issues?

Our Dometic cool box gets down to -20

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[Paul F]

Hmmm...as I suspected...maybe the freezer is not doing the job that it should!

 

[Lyrick]

I've an RCL 10.4s and the freezer compartment also only goes down to around -12 to -14.

I've just come back from Spain and had the fridge running on the ferry. On checking the current draw history through the Victron Smart Shunt , via the app, that when the engine was switched off on the ferry the fridge didn't draw any power for 26 hours at which time it started up again. The freezer temp rose to -5.

This is the second time this has happened , might be more but it is only noticeable when on battery . I'm assuming that the current draw wont show when on hook up/solar as the charger/solar controller compensates for it.

The fins at the rear of the freezer also ice over quite quickly.

The fridge part keeps the beer very cold so not all bad.

I'm going to contact the dealer tomorrow.

 

[Nirvanauk]

Can’t get my freezer below minus 8

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[Steve and Denise]

I would say there is something wrong our Dometic compressor cool box has kept between-18 to -20 for a week now and I have been monitoring it as we have food in it for next weeks rally.

 

[Lenny HB]

Sounds OK to me I wouldn't expect it to perform like a 4 star domestic freezer.

Freezer ratings.

 

[RedFrame]

A Dometic RC D 10.5xt Compressor Fridge Freezer is rated at ST, so up to 38⁰C ambient.

At 38⁰ C ambient temp it should be able to maintain -18 easily, if not there's something wrong.

Edit: Taking the settings on the unit into account... see Lenny HB post above.

Cheers
Red.

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[Paul F]

Thanks Lenny, thats a useful chart. I cannot find any claims by Dometic of any particular performance level. As Red says, they simply state that the fridge is ST Climate Class which I understand means it will ‘operate properly’ in the temperature range appropriate to the class (18c to 38c in this case). The question I guess is whether ‘operating properly’ means delivering -12 or -18.

 

[RedFrame]

I've had a quick look at the manual and it doesn't seem to give you separate control of the fridge from the freezer...

However, working in the industry, without control I would at least expect the freezer to maintain -15 as a minimum.

If it can't it's faulty.

Cheers
Red

 

[Lenny HB]

Just had a look at the manual it is 2 star rated so -12 °C is what it's supposed to run at.

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[Paul F]

Thats what I needed to know - where did you find that Lenny? I must have missed it amongst the 464 pages and 18 languages of the manual I am looking through!

 

[Lenny HB]

Thats what I needed to know - where did you find that Lenny? I must have missed it amongst the 464 pages and 18 languages of the manual I am looking through!

Not sure but only took a few seconds to find I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[Lenny HB]

There is only 10 pages in English.
Page 8, section 2 Intended use.

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[Paul F]

Got it - I was looking for some sort of symbol and didn't actually read the words!! I think that is my answer then - only a 2 star freezer and it’s running as it should. Looks like ‘Only just firm’ is the way my ice cream is going to stay.

Thanks for that Lenny, greatly appreciated.

On a positive note, if I turn the fridge up flat out, it feels like it gets almost as cold as the freezer, so no serious problems like warm beer to contend with.

 

[Lenny HB]

On a positive note, if I turn the fridge up flat out, it feels like it gets almost as cold as the freezer, so no serious problems like warm beer to contend with.

Proper beer should be stored at +10° you must be a larger lout.

 

[Paul F]

Guilty as charged…on a warm day anyway!

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[funflair]

I am just wondering if anybody else has experience of the RCD 10.5XT compressor fridge/freezer. The fridge adjusts from cold to very, very cold just fine, but no matter what setting I use, the freezer only just does the job - and my ice cream is 'only just' firm (first world problems I know!). This prompted me to put a thermometer in the freezer which tells me that I am getting about minus 12c. I thought all freezers were supposed to run at minus 18c but I cannot find anything on Dometics website to tell me what to expect. It was about 22c outside over the weekend and am a bit concerned that when I travel to warmer climes in the summer, my ice cream could even melt!! The 3 way fridge/freezer in the old van worked extremely well, even in last years 40c heatwave and I thought the compressor fridge was supposed to be better. Has anybody else experienced similar issues?

Hi Paul F

I knew there had been lengthy discussion on a German forum so I have just finished reading 19 pages of Dometic 10.5XT fridge freezer woes, many people are dissatisfied with -12 or worse and it would appear that Dometic have changed their technical wording to make this look normal, what I picked up is that basically the fridge regulates the compressor operation so the freezer just follows, the fix is to blank off some of the fins in the fridge area making it work harder and the freezer will get colder.

Here the blanking is just with tin foils but others have actually removed some of the fin plates.

Good luck and do let us know if this works.

EDIT reading again it's actually thin alloy sheet but I am sure foil would work as an initial trial as it's just to reduce the surface area of fins.

 

[Paul F]

Experiment now underway with a sheet of Tesco's finest tin foil!

 

[Paul F]

The tin foil worked a little bit - maybe one degree cooler in the freezer. I think the foil was probably not insulating the fins particularly well but was OK as a test.

In the meantime Josh from Premium Motorhomes picked up on the thread and let me know that Morelo are aware of the issue and have some improvements available. The MH was in for some bits to be done this week anyway, and Josh has made some changes to the fan and ordered me some permanent fridge plates from the factory which I am sure should work better than the tin foil (thanks Josh if you are reading).

Fingers crossed - we will see!

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[funflair]

The tin foil worked a little bit - maybe one degree cooler in the freezer. I think the foil was probably not insulating the fins particularly well but was OK as a test.

In the meantime Josh from Premium Motorhomes picked up on the thread and let me know that Morelo are aware of the issue and have some improvements available. The MH was in for some bits to be done this week anyway, and Josh has made some changes to the fan and ordered me some permanent fridge plates from the factory which I am sure should work better than the tin foil (thanks Josh if you are reading).

Fingers crossed - we will see!

On the right track then possibly Josh is brilliant but don't tell him Thanks for the update.

 

[Hoovie]

Hi Paul F

I knew there had been lengthy discussion on a German forum so I have just finished reading 19 pages of Dometic 10.5XT fridge freezer woes, many people are dissatisfied with -12 or worse and it would appear that Dometic have changed their technical wording to make this look normal, what I picked up is that basically the fridge regulates the compressor operation so the freezer just follows, the fix is to blank off some of the fins in the fridge area making it work harder and the freezer will get colder.

I don't have a Dometic Compressor Fridge, but I think the bit above you wrote (and I highlighted) is spot on - and often leads to poor Freezer operation, going as far as nearly allowing the freezer to defrost - and then refreeze.
On my own (240V) Compressor Fridge/Freezer that I installed in my Motorhome, I changed the operation so I don't use the FRIDGE thermostat control to dictate the running of the Compressor, but instead a temperature sensor I fitted in the FREEZER section.
I found I get a much more reliable Freezer operation with a greatly reduced fluctuation of temperatures

Screenshot 2023-06-11 at 13-15-03 Monty - VRM Portal by David, on Flickr

I would recommend you get a logging Fridge thermometer such as this - https://amzn.to/3J6RKL9. They are cheap and you can check the fridge (or freezer temp - which is where I suggest you put it) at any time without opening the door via a Phone app, and you can see if the freezer is warming up excessively and then refreezing (your 'soft icecream' sounds a bit like that might be happening and is pretty common on the Weaco compressor Fridges).
You will also be able to tell with that device just how efficient and effective the mods Morelo is making to the Dometic unit with a 'before and after' log.

View attachment 762741

Here the blanking is just with tin foils but others have actually removed some of the fin plates.

Good luck and do let us know if this works.

EDIT reading again it's actually thin alloy sheet but I am sure foil would work as an initial trial as it's just to reduce the surface area of fins.

 

[Ridgeway]

The tin foil worked a little bit - maybe one degree cooler in the freezer. I think the foil was probably not insulating the fins particularly well but was OK as a test.

In the meantime Josh from Premium Motorhomes picked up on the thread and let me know that Morelo are aware of the issue and have some improvements available. The MH was in for some bits to be done this week anyway, and Josh has made some changes to the fan and ordered me some permanent fridge plates from the factory which I am sure should work better than the tin foil (thanks Josh if you are reading).

Fingers crossed - we will see!

Paul F

Curious to see what the mod was and if it has worked ?

Experiencing the exact same phenomena on the same fridge/freezer. At least the fridge is working really well.

I assume the mod was some fashioned alu plates ?

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[Paul F]

Whilst the MH was up at Premium, Josh swapped the direction the fan runs so that rather than pulling air in from above the fridge/freezer, it vented from there instead. Apparently this was a manufacturing change implemented late last year. This helped a little, but I don’t have the plates yet. They have been ordered from the factory and I am waiting for delivery.

In the meantime I got a logging thermometer as Hoovie suggested, and that is showing a much fuller picture. The freezer temperature is actually only -4c to -8c for a significant amount of time. It is actually worse if I leave the fridge closed for a long period, because the thermostat in there is happy with the temperature, and stops the compressor kicking in - whilst in the meantime the freezer warms up.

Sitting in the Eifel National Park now with 28 degrees outside and freezer at -5c. Heading South today and it will be getting even warmer (hopefully), so we will see how it copes.

 

[funflair]

Need to keep taking a cool beer from the fridge then maybe substitute water for beer if you are driving.

 

[EuroTrotters]

They are designed on an old combination design.

does the thermostat read from the fridge or freezer temperature?

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[Ridgeway]

Whilst the MH was up at Premium, Josh swapped the direction the fan runs so that rather than pulling air in from above the fridge/freezer, it vented from there instead. Apparently this was a manufacturing change implemented late last year. This helped a little, but I don’t have the plates yet. They have been ordered from the factory and I am waiting for delivery.

In the meantime I got a logging thermometer as Hoovie suggested, and that is showing a much fuller picture. The freezer temperature is actually only -4c to -8c for a significant amount of time. It is actually worse if I leave the fridge closed for a long period, because the thermostat in there is happy with the temperature, and stops the compressor kicking in - whilst in the meantime the freezer warms up.

Sitting in the Eifel National Park now with 28 degrees outside and freezer at -5c. Heading South today and it will be getting even warmer (hopefully), so we will see how it copes.

Great and thanks

Will take a look at my fan and might request the cooler fin plate from the dealer, may make a temp bodge in the mean time though.

Will order a Wi-Fi thermometer with tracking and 2 channels, that seems to be a must

 

[funflair]

They are designed on an old combination design.

does the thermostat read from the fridge or freezer temperature?

Reads the fridge temperature on the ones being discussed here and the German forum I first read it on.

 

[TCG]

This is a bit concerning. As I am booked in to have my RMD 8555 swapped for the 10.5 compressor.
Nothing wrong with the 8555 only that it struggles when the sun comes out....tried everthing fans.changed cooling paste. And then though sod it change the fridge to a compressor....looks like I may be jumping from the pan into the fire.

Why can't Dometic manufacturer a fridge that is fit for purpose.

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