robcc
Advanced Member
1 yr old Dometic Refrigerator 3 way Model 2193 cooling problems.
We’re having some cooling issues on 120V and propane:
This spring there were some odd smells coming from the inside the camper and possibly from the fridge area but no sign of any leakages.
120 volt (shore powered): Seems to cool much slower than it’s 1st year. However the silver chimney is quite hot (the chimney is 105F and 215F at the top T vent using an infa-red thermometer). I used a multimeter and 120V is available at the switch and the fuses seem fine.
Propane: Cools a lot less than last year when we inadvertently froze vegetables several times. Now it gets below 33F only at night and mostly stays around 50F on a hot day and propane setting is on high. There is a good blue flame and chimney is 105F (maybe 115 at the bottom) and 215 at the t vent. We used to be able to get it closer to freezing on a hot day.
When the fridge is at 50F and struggling to cool the silver fins inside are 42F. All of these temps are on level ground. And while it struggles to cool in the heat of the day (90F) the fridge got to 20F last night when the outside temp was 50F. Hmm.
Actions so far:
I’ve cleaned the exterior black fins and blown out dust. I followed the instructions to open the burner box which seemed rather clean. I could not get the burner to drop down to remove (hmm bad design??) but blew on it with compressed air. I didn’t go so far as to remove the jet at this point. Not sure if the Flue tube needs cleaning.
Can there be issues with the interior silver fins inside the fridge? What do people think the smell was about and can the ammonia leak and if so can more be added? We have run it a couple of times (more recently) on unlevel ground mostly plugging in shore power in the driveway but not sure if this caused the decrease in cooling capacity. It's on level ground now.
We’re having some cooling issues on 120V and propane:
This spring there were some odd smells coming from the inside the camper and possibly from the fridge area but no sign of any leakages.
120 volt (shore powered): Seems to cool much slower than it’s 1st year. However the silver chimney is quite hot (the chimney is 105F and 215F at the top T vent using an infa-red thermometer). I used a multimeter and 120V is available at the switch and the fuses seem fine.
Propane: Cools a lot less than last year when we inadvertently froze vegetables several times. Now it gets below 33F only at night and mostly stays around 50F on a hot day and propane setting is on high. There is a good blue flame and chimney is 105F (maybe 115 at the bottom) and 215 at the t vent. We used to be able to get it closer to freezing on a hot day.
When the fridge is at 50F and struggling to cool the silver fins inside are 42F. All of these temps are on level ground. And while it struggles to cool in the heat of the day (90F) the fridge got to 20F last night when the outside temp was 50F. Hmm.
Actions so far:
I’ve cleaned the exterior black fins and blown out dust. I followed the instructions to open the burner box which seemed rather clean. I could not get the burner to drop down to remove (hmm bad design??) but blew on it with compressed air. I didn’t go so far as to remove the jet at this point. Not sure if the Flue tube needs cleaning.
Can there be issues with the interior silver fins inside the fridge? What do people think the smell was about and can the ammonia leak and if so can more be added? We have run it a couple of times (more recently) on unlevel ground mostly plugging in shore power in the driveway but not sure if this caused the decrease in cooling capacity. It's on level ground now.
