Fridge Repair

Wildboating

The fridge down stairs seems to not get cold inside the box on 110 or 12v, with that said the freezer box in the top of the fridge is frozen.  Any ideas where to start and how to get these things back to working like new?

03' Rinker 342 FV

Handymans342

I have the same issue and I suspect a drop in freon. These fridges hold very little freon so any little loss and it went cool properly. Is your thermostat all the way up?

Wildboating

Handy, the thermostat is turned up.

Wildboating

Do you know if they are chargeable?

MarkB

Yup. Too low of a freon pressure will cause over freezing. You might get some extra life by defrosting. Turn off the fridge at the thermostat. Leave the door open and let all that ice melt.  Put towels in to absorb the water.

Handymans342

Yes I have a service port

Wildboating

Anyone know what refrigerant it is?  I think auto zone has R-134A handheld cylinders.  Will they work?

rasbury

I'm sure there are gauges required not to overfill.....

Liberty44140

Interesting, i noticed that my main fridge is only getting down to the low 40's on my 342 where the cockpit gets to the mid 30's easily. Handy where is the freon port? Are these things easy to remove if the port is on the back? Good thread. 

Handymans342

Yes it should be 134a  I have a port on the top of my compressor. You take 4 screws out of the trim and slid out the fridge. 

Liberty44140

Thanks. Fairly simple to add? What is the right psi? Looks like those auto zone cans come with gauges. Probably could top off the galley and cockpit fridges with a can. 

JC290

A call to happy days in port Clinton and I'm sure they can guide you in the right direction 

Handymans342

I would be surprised if they hold more than 6 oz

Liberty44140

Thanks guys. Has anyone here ever actually topped off their compressor?

checkmate

It should say it on the identification tag on the frig.  I wouldn't do more than 2 oz if you can't find the info on it.  Here is a example.

rasbury

I don't think it's the volume you need to worry about it's the PSI that will get you into trouble? If you have to much in there and it pressurizes then won't it blow out a seal somewhere? I was going to top off my vehicle but this was over my head and figured, as usual, take a small problem and turn it into a big one!

Michael T

The proper pressures are indicated on that tag Ras. If you have a refridgerant bottle with gauges and "know what you are doing" it's no big deal. If not call a marine HVAC.

Liberty44140

IF I were to do this I would buy the more expensive can with the gauge attached. I've never done this so I dont "know what I am doing" YET.... then again I've completed projects all over my boats and homes for the last decade without ever doing the task before and with some good advice from those who had done it before and UTube the task was completed with out regret. Its all about planning  

MarkB

Too high of a pressure and it will trip the compressor on a high pressure sensor. Too low, it either trips or freezes up the condensor. This is all related to pressure.

Handymans342

Too much freon and it will come back to the compressor as liquid and goodbye compressor. Those PSI on the tag are wrong. They will be fairly low. 

Liberty44140

I called the Tundra Service Dept at Dometic and talked to a great guy named Jimmy Adkins. He said DO NOT charge the system with R-143 from the auto store. The oil and leak preventers in it will kill this system. He said before we go digging in to the thermostat and other electrical components that could need swapping to do the following this weekend:
1 - Pull it out and really clean the coils, fan, etc... 10+ years of dust and dog hair build up can easily be the culprit. These things need ventilation.
2 - Make sure the fan is running once I have it out. It should kick on. If it doesnt run, the fan is the issue.
3 - Thaw it out overnight even though I just started it a few weeks ago. They need to start cold and I put a bunch of warm water in it when I turned it on this year and thats the wrong thing to do. He said to re start it with nothing or preferably a big bag of ice as these things need to start out cold. After its good and cold then you can put warm water and beer in there to cool down but not on initial start up.
Hopefully this solves it, if not the issue is likely something electrical. He said something like 90% of the time on these Tundra's the issue is not freon related. 

Handymans342

Great info. You can buy virgin134a without any oils in it. My coil is clean, fan works, 

Michael T

BTW I always pre-chilled what I put in the fridges. We carried a cooler with the stuff in it. If we had to stop for stuff we had the cooler empty with just ice in it to accept the drinks etc. made a big difference. Fingers crossed Liberty!

Liberty44140

Yea I'm feelin kinda dumb on the warm water thing but hey ya live and learn. Pre chilling everything all summer will be tough but a phase in process may be in order. Hopefully this is helpful to Wildboating as well who started this thread  

Michael T

@Liberty44140, don't be tough on yourself. This cruising "thing" was a huge learning curve for most of us. IMO, you're doing great! BTW if I knew I would be going on a long slow cruise I'd turn the fridges up at the dock before to get them real cold then turn them down to half when idling along to be easier on the batteries. I'd tell everyone to take 4 drinks out at a time LOL. Sometimes I'd fire up the generator or put the boat on plane with some rpms and turn the fridges up (really just an excuse to go fast) LOL.

NRath

The data plate pressures are limits, not operating conditions, that are required to be shown by UL.  I don't see the UL logo on there, but I imagine it's a recognized or listed appliance.  The Dometic guy had some good tips.  A clean condenser is vital to good performance- that goes for your home A/C, also.  It should be cleaned every year literally to maintain performance and increase compressor life.

Wildboating

Thanks guys for all of this great info.  I will start with pulling mine out, cleaning then going from there.  Does someone have a sequence checklist?  Like turn unit in, hear compress start, then fan, then... To verify each function is happening?

Handymans342

Compressor is so silent you cant hear it run

Cableguy Greg

Liberty44140 said:

Yea I'm feelin kinda dumb on the warm water thing but hey ya live and learn. Pre chilling everything all summer will be tough but a phase in process may be in order. Hopefully this is helpful to Wildboating as well who started this thread  

I wouldn't throw in two cases of warm brews in the fridge and start it up. Once you have it running with cold brews and you need to replenish, rotate the stock... Warm 12 pack in the back and cold case and a half in the front. It will be able to keep up with it that way. And you will have cold brews in arms reach.

BTW, I replaced my front panel, which was faded off white, with a stainless panel from Metaldepot dot com for $25 plus shipping. It is brushed stainless and makes it look new.

Liberty44140

Hey Gang - well unfortunately the process I mentioned did not help. Still cant get above 40 F after 8 hours with the door closed. Condenser is clean and fan runs just fine. Thawed, re started with ice, etc... I am getting a lot of condensation on the inside around the door especially at the top and the admiral reminded me of all the mildew on the gasket that she cleaned this spring. The freezer part ices up quickly and towards the front and the freezer door and drip pan quickly have condensation on them. Its wet in there. So - I am pretty sure that this is a gasket issue. Warm air is invading! Of course, they do not sell gaskets or doors anymore! Has anyone ever had a gasket made for their Dometic/Tundra? I got the name of this company. Looks like IF they can make it, it would be around $40 not including shipping. https://www.rhsparts.com/storefrontCommerce/custom-gaskets.do  

Dream_Inn

I'd go for the custom gasket.  Heck, temporarily you might be able to find something from Homedepot that sticks on to see if that works.