Fridge not cold but ice in the freezer

[rosalan]

I had this problem and referred to the handbook, which was no help. I tried the manufacturers agent and local dealers who also could not help. Then spoke to a real engineer who explained it was the heat (cold) transfer mastic that had failed. He explained that I should remove the back panel inside the fridge (through the bit with fins on) there was an ice covered pipe leading to the freezer. The part with fins on should be making cold contact from this pipe with a special thermal transfer paste. It can dry out and fail. Once replaced my fridge worked perfectly.
This is a very simple task BUT at least two of the dealers contacted wanted to fit a new refrigeration unit. Only one person had an answer and buying the thermal mastic was not easy to find, or cheap. Someone suggested using computer heat sink paste. I bought some (cheap). It was like painting the Titanic with a pint of paint. Finally I got the paste from an American RV dealer. One tube should be enough ( about 1/2 litre).
If you need to do this, the job is really simple but not worth doing unless you really have this problem.

 

[Figaro]

If you need to do this, the job is really simple but not worth doing unless you really have this problem.

I disagree, it is indeed a cheap and simple fix and in my opinion well worth doing on any older fridge to vastly improve performance.
Mine was barely there and what there was had dried out completely.
Ebay sell the heat sink paste cheaply, I don't know why you had to go to a US RV dealer ?

 

[rosalan]

I disagree, it is indeed a cheap and simple fix and in my opinion well worth doing on any older fridge to vastly improve performance.
Mine was barely there and what there was had dried out completely.
Ebay sell the heat sink paste cheaply, I don't know why you had to go to a US RV dealer ?

Ebay at the time wanted approx £30 per tube, they had two left and turned out to be an American RV agent. I bought one, which was mega cheaper than calling out a dealers engineer.
My van was just over 3 years old at the time, and the volume of paste used by the manufacturers was minimal with gaps.
Someone had suggested using paste from computer suppliers. This paste was much more liquid and came in a small squeezy tube, it did not work for me but the real thing did.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

rosalan and Figaro
Any links/description of what this stuff is please, our fridge isn’t cold enough but the freezer works great, could have same issue maybe? Haven’t investigated yet. Dometic RMD8505.
Thanks

 

[tonka]

Somewhere on here Is a thread, as I did this last year and posted some pictures to help. Thermal paste / heatsink compound available on eBay

Found it.

3way fridge thermal gel replacement ?

As previously discussed have received the tube of thermal gel and dismantled the fridge cooling fins which shows no sign of the old gel.Where does the gel (copper paste ) go.. between the screws or where it goes around the black tubes? Also does it go on tubes before the freezer plate slides...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

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[Andy MacD]

rosalan , how old is your van? We have a new Adria Twin and have noticed the freezer compartment door getting blocked by ice build up. Is that what you had?

If so photo of fix would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Odd-no-more]

Dow Corning 2265931 340 Heat Sink Compound 100g | eBay

This is achieved by creating an intimate bond between the surface of the device and the heat sink.

www.ebay.co.uk

I have used this on boilers for years and would use it on a fridge too

 

[Lenny HB]

Dow Corning 2265931 340 Heat Sink Compound 100g | eBay

This is achieved by creating an intimate bond between the surface of the device and the heat sink.

www.ebay.co.uk

I have used this on boilers for years and would use it on a fridge too

Thats what I was going to suggest, I think I have ½ a tube in the garage about 30 years old.

 

[Richard n Ann]

This was my saga

Our 3 way fridge saga

My story just might help someone with 3 way fridge trouble so here goes; We've had our motorhome 3 years now and the fridge was always ok even in Spain's high ambient temperatures, until suddenly about a year ago we were in Spain, temperatures were the usual high twenties and I noticed the...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Jev88]

Would this be suitable? £11.98 for 200g tube.

https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/ppc115/paste-thermal-200g-tube/dp/SA03685

PASTE.

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[fat haggis]

This is all you need. It’s pc cpu paste as long as you clean off the old stuff. Put this on and you will be happily surprised. It works better than the stuff the fridge manufacturers used

SYY Thermal Paste, 2 Grams CPU Thermal Paste Thermal Compound Paste Heatsink for IC/Processor/CPU/All Coolers, 15.7W/m.k Carbon Based High Performance, Thermal Interface Material, CPU Paste Amazon product ASIN B07BNDPKL5

 

[Richard n Ann]

Would this be suitable? £11.98 for 200g tube.

https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/ppc115/paste-thermal-200g-tube/dp/SA03685

PASTE.

You don't need as much as 200g
Just look on ebay for "heatsink compound"
I'll see how big the ones I ordered are...

 

[fat haggis]

The 2 grams on the one I put above is more than enough for the job

 

[Richard n Ann]

I ordered 2 x 30g tubes and used one and a half for both fridge and freezer

 

[Richard n Ann]

2g definitely wouldn't be enough for my fridge depends how big your fridge is though I suppose

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[rosalan]

My refrigerator problem recurred in the last few days. Once more I removed the 6 star screws holding the delicate alloy fins on. It took a little gentle prising to release the the fins from the paste which had partly stuck to the cold pipe at the back. There were several areas that the paste had not made good contact. I also discovered that there were 6 holes in the plate with fins but crucially 7 screw holes available at the back. I added a new hole, and fresh non-setting thermal paste where it had not stuck before. All units must be very different for I needed more like 1/2 a cupful of paste, having previously tried the paste used in computers with no success.
As said by others, this is a very easy job but take care to refit the temperature sensor without breaking te plastic as I did.

 

[fat haggis]

Using to much heat sink paste is just as bad as zero. You only want to put paste on the very top or side the contact patch of the black metal tube that’s got the coolant in it. And the aluminium back of the fins should be a clean as possible. Even polished is better. Then it’s just a thin contact with the pâté on the tube tighten and bobs your trans anti. To much paste and it won’t cool as it should.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

A fine example of the benefits of being on MF.
Hopefully this will improve the performance of our fridge, the freezer is fine. Dometic RMD8505.
T25 Torx bit screwdriver, scraper, thermal grease, some paper towel for the old grease and about 20 minutes work.
I used one and half tubes, guided by the amount that was on.

 

[68c]

On older models there is a window in the bottom left hand of the fridge compartment. You should be able to see a blue flame clearly. On newer models you need to remove the metal shield around the jet assembly accessed by the lower external cover. You can see the flame once the lower metal shield is removed. I just removed the screw on the left side of the shield and gently bent it clear. The flame should be at least an inch high, blue with only the faintest of yellow at the tip. On mine it was hard to start and had only a small flame. I found the sintered metal filter in the fitting to the jet had gummed up. Washed with meths and blow dried. Flame normal and easily seen through the little window.