[RodeWorthy]

Well, I will offer our experience with fridge problems this past winter. It was covered in another post but I am not sure if I ever posted the result of our repair efforts.

First, be aware in Mobile Suites 2007 model year Dometic came out with new model refers -mine is the two door 9 cu ft model with the stainless steel look on the front door. The indicator above the freezer door shows a temperature and error codes (if they exist) that are generated by the new control board with built-in diagnostics. Mikey, I can't remember if you have the two door fridge or the larger one but the controls should be the same as on our units (same model year).

In our experience we could not keep the lower box cold enough even running on the maximum setting of 5 in a range of 1-5. The freezer, on the other hand, stayed very cold telling me it was not a cooling problem but instead a control problem. Our freezer would consistantly be below 0 deg F when the fridge was between 40 and 50 degrees. Originally we could keep the fridge between 32 and 40 degrees on setting 3. When the fridge worked properly the freezer was more in the order of +5 to +10 deg F.

Our problems began after a thorough defrosting and cleaning of the entire fridge during which the plastic thermistor holder at the right of the fins was dislodged from its original position. It was replaced but we had not observed where it was in the first place and none of the Dometic documents we had even mentioned this sensor but the diagram and parts list did show it. There was no indication of where to place it. We tried many configurations to no avail.

I checked all the fuses and the operation of the fans. I could not get an indication that the fans ever ran. Our problem persisted even through ambient temps that were colder than the interior of our refrigerator box. I did find the insulation above the fins in the upper compartment had fallen down onto the fins. I used duct tape to resecure this insulation so as to allow maximum air flow out of the compartment.

On our way home from our winter destination we stopped at a RV tech in Indiana to have this and other warranty issues addressed. The tech called a refrigerator tech who came out and tested the fuse and applied a heat gun to the heat sensor on the fins in the upper outside compartment. He changed the 1A fuse to a 3A fuse (supplied by me) and left. We observed no change in the condition and we were in ambient temps in the mid 30's to mid 40's.

The service tech without consulting me proceeded to remove much of the insulation around the walls of the fridge area ostensibly to allow more air flow around the unit. There was no change in the condition and the shop had nothing more to offer.

I moved to a local camp and contacted Dometic. I had heard horror stories about this but I got connected immediately with a helpful representative who upon hearing my description indicated it was either a thermistor sensor problem or a circuit board problem. He suggested I pull the connection for the thermistor which would cause the cooling system to cool as hard as it could. The indicator on the front showed error code E0. We needed several hours to verify the result. The fridge did come down several degrees under this condition. I notified Domtetic and they advised getting the sensor checked by a qualifed service tech. I set out to find a refrigeration technician and after several calls and referals I was placed in contact with Leon Herschberger who runs National RV Refrigeration from his shop north of Shipshewana IN. Phone (260) 768-7059. This young man knows his stuff. He was able to diagnose the sensor problem by an interesting method.

He shut down the 110V operation of the refer causing it to go to propane operation. This was done so that he could get a visual indication when the fridge was calling for cooling (the propane would burn). Next he placed the sensor in a cup of water filled with ice cubes. This water would be about 32 degrees F which is the range we were trying to achieve. by observing the operation of the propane burner and moving the sensor in and out of the ice water he was able to determine the sensor was defective. He cut the connector off the original one and taped the new one to it and used that combination to feed the new sensor up into the fridge compartment. He placed it with about 1/2" showing above the plastic holder. It was not touching a fin but was just above the top edge of the fins. Previously I had a problem with the holder falling off the fins but I had resolved that by applying a strip of double-sided foam tape between the gripping surfaces of the holder. I did not remove the protective strip on the outer side of the tape. This made the holder stay in place quite well and still allowed for adjustment.

We ran the fridge for several hours to see if we had made progress and I am delighted that we now run our fridge on level 3 and have perfect control of temperature in the fridge and freezer. I have not touched it since - no need to take it apart to find out why it is working so good.

I was very impressed with Leon Herschberger and recommended him to a friend of mine who was also having similar refer problems. His issue was different than mine but Leon fixed him up and he is also happy to see his fridge running properly on level 3. If you are in that area I highly recommend National RV Refrigeration for your Dometic or Norcold problems.

Mikey, you are correct that there is no longer an ambient control switch in this model.

On line information about the position of the sensor is confusing -some users claim moving the sensor down increases cooling, some say the same for moving it up. The correct answer is to move the thermistor up to minutely increase cooling in the fridge. The sensor should not touch the fins.

I realize that your problem is different since you are losing cooling in your freezer too but I hope some of the diganostic methods we went through might be helpful for you to determine the problem. I have to say I was pleased with my contact with Dometic but I have heard others were not so fortunate.

I hope you get this resolved quickly. Refers are an absolute necessity and there is much angst when they don't work. Good Luck.