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Topic ClosedDometic Fridge - Event Date: 14 Jul 2016
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Joined: 26 Jul 2015
Location: Pinckney, Mi
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Posts: 91 		Direct Link To This Post Calendar Event: Dometic Fridge
    Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 9:45am
Ouch  Just got back from a 5000 mile trip to Colorado, Idaho and back to Michigan.
Found on the way back that the Dometic Fridge is not cooling while on the road with either the battery or propane feeding it. The freezer seemed to be okay as the meat up there stayed frozen while the fridge was at 60 degrees. The manual recommends traveling in battery mode for safety standpoint at gas stations. Not good having open flame (propane) at fuel pumps. Does great on 110 while at a campground.
Any thoughts?
I have a call into General RV to get a look.
Walt & Lynne
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Joined: 29 Nov 2015
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Posts: 6418 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 10:48am
Does it cool properly using propane while not on the road?
StephenH
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Joined: 26 Jul 2015
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Posts: 91 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 10:56am
No
Walt & Lynne
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Joined: 13 Jan 2012
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Posts: 4518 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 10:58am
We had something similar happen when we were down in the Keys, it was 100 degrees and humid, and the fridge just couldn't maintain on battery will driving. Worked fine once we plugged in at a campground.
Leo & Melissa Bachand
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Posts: 91 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 10:58am
Sorry, didn't read the whole question. Yes it cools on campsite on propane. Didn't take a temp reading but butter was firm and meat was cool to touch.
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Joined: 29 Nov 2015
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Posts: 6418 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 11:22am
If it cools while on propane while stationary, it should also cool effectively while moving. Others have commented that propane works better than 12V for cooling. However, at 100 degrees, and with the interior of the R-Pod probably significantly higher (if vents and windows are shut while moving), the cooling capacity may not be sufficient to overcome the heat moving into the refrigerator from the hot R-Pod interior.
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Posts: 298 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 11:49am
Originally posted by StephenH

If it cools while on propane while stationary, it should also cool effectively while moving. Others have commented that propane works better than 12V for cooling. However, at 100 degrees, and with the interior of the R-Pod probably significantly higher (if vents and windows are shut while moving), the cooling capacity may not be sufficient to overcome the heat moving into the refrigerator from the hot R-Pod interior.

+1

And the reason that the manual states that it's safer to drive with the refrigerator on 12 volt is due to lawyers, plain and simple.

The only documented case of a fire resulting from someone running their refrigerator on propane I have been able to find was five years ago, and the guy literally sprayed the refrigerator vent on the side of his camper with gasoline.  But even the local fire marshal wasn't convinced that the running propane was the cause of ignition.  So the odds of anything bad occurring are at least 100,000 to 1 and probably far less, given all the people with RVs on the road running their fridge on propane and the number of accidents.
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Joined: 26 Jul 2015
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Posts: 91 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 5:55pm
It was mid ninties that day and the pod was sealed up.
Walt & Lynne
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Posts: 91 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 5:55pm
It did keep it at 60!!!
Walt & Lynne
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Joined: 29 Nov 2015
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Posts: 6418 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2016 at 9:31pm
If it was mid-90s, it was probably well above 100 inside the pod. I also was noticing that the refrigerator was less effective on our last trip. On our first trip (winter), it worked great. This trip (summer), not so great. However, it still is better than an icebox, which also would have trouble keeping an even cold temperature and have everything end up soggy from melted ice.
StephenH
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