Fridge Repair

Michael T

From your comments it does appear that you have a door seal problem - particularly if there was mildew present.

Some of the white Dometic door gaskets are adjustable. They have a series of ridges. If you pull gently on the gasket it will click to a new ridge.

The doors of some of the Dometics are adjustable too but you have to take the fridge out to do that.

Handymans342

I dont believe its the gasket unless it has a 1/2 inch gap all the way around. I have had refrigerators 40 years old with original gaskets

Michael T

....40 years.....Geez Steve I didn't even think you were that old! Did you have a beer fridge in your crib?

Handymans342

My dad did. It was his old Kelvinator circa 1962

Michael T

If it was a Kelvinator it is probably still running!

Liberty44140

I do see your point Handy, my garage fridge is probably 20 yrs old with the original gasket. However - it does not have a mini freezer at the top and it is 19 cu ft which is almost 5 times the size of the boat fridge. So - far more area to dissipate condensation and again no freezer inside the fridge. Am I off here?

MarkB

I agree, you should be able to get something temporary from Home Depot with one sided sticky tape, just to see if it works. If it doesn't, all you've wasted is about $10. but it might just do the trick.

Handymans342

If you have a gap in the gasket may I suggest the door is out of alignment. If the gasket is still soft and no separation, its still good. You may also have a bad thermostat shutting off the compressor too soon. 

Liberty44140

So I asked the admiral for more detail about the mildew she cleaned on the gasket, she said it was on all 4 sides and it was both on the outside and inside of the gasket AND on the front of the gasket (the area of the gasket that seals to the fridge). If mold can build on the seal side then it aint closed. Maybe its a door adjustment, maybe its the gasket, but this thing is not sealing fully. Once I know its sealed well, I'll move on to the Tstat but the control seems to be working. The higher I turn it, the more condensation I get near the door. Boat is 70 min away but I may head out there tomorrow...

Dream_Inn

I'm with on thinking it's not sealing.  If you have condensation, that is a good sign of not sealing.  I've had my freezer (inside the fridge) not seal and it was leaking condensation out of it making a mess until I found it was not closing all the way.

& MT, I've met Handy...my kids wanted to call him Grandpa!   LOL! (sorry, couldn't resist Handy!)

zaverin1

If mold on the door is a new problem that started this year then sure replace it or try to fix it.
my experience with marine or rv fridges been we'll.......
buy a new one or used one that works.
Trust me some you cant even refill
some are just not serviceable period 
most are no longer made and no parts are available. That way people buy new models when old poops out.

TonyWalker

The Salt Shaker is on her 2nd fridge!  All things considered it is an improvement.  Larger capacity and better temperature statility.

zaverin1

Short story
when I got my rinker this past winter I went and had all the electrical equipment checked.
fired up the fridge and nothing a slight hummmm. Now that was running 12 volts. Plugged in 110 and nothing. Took fridge out and 110 was unplugged

Michael T

Grandpa Steve, I like the sound of that!

Wildboating

Ok guys,  units out, fan is running, coil is clean as is radiator.  With boat on shore power and fridge breaker on, I have no dc power in.  Plug 110 in and ac circuit kicks on

Handymans342

Thats normal, unhook the AC and the DC should kick in. 

Handymans342

If the DC is hooked up

MDboater

Liberty44140 said:

So I asked the admiral for more detail about the mildew she cleaned on the gasket, she said it was on all 4 sides and it was both on the outside and inside of the gasket AND on the front of the gasket (the area of the gasket that seals to the fridge). If mold can build on the seal side then it aint closed. Maybe its a door adjustment, maybe its the gasket, but this thing is not sealing fully. Once I know its sealed well, I'll move on to the Tstat but the control seems to be working. The higher I turn it, the more condensation I get near the door. Boat is 70 min away but I may head out there tomorrow...

Why not test the faulty gasket / door adjustment hypothesis by sealing the door closed with duct tape?  Consider applying duct tape around the perimeter of the door between the door and the side of the fridge (on all 4 sides).  While this may not fix the problem, I would expect an improvement if the gasket is not sealing.  Just choose a duct tape that is less likely to leave residue after removal o minimize your clean up.

Lastly, I assume whatever you are measuring as indicative of the fridge temperature has a large enough thermal mass that it's temperature is not quickly changed by the opening of the door.

 

Wildboating

Well, I found this online.  Hope this helps others.

http://dometicenviro.com/marinerefrigerator/PDFs/L-2120.pdf  

Liberty44140

Wild, Thanks - the manual I have for my fridges is not that in depth for electrical trouble shooting.
MD - Actually that is a great idea. Would have been a good test. I ended up getting the door last night, a friend was close to the boat and he grabbed it for me. I found a 1" tear in the gasket which I had not seen before as it was near the hinge. Also found that the seal side of the gasket was still pretty moldy and the top of the gasket is very compressed, more than the gasket for the bottom.
So - I went ahead and ordered a new custom gasket. Will be around $85 delivered. If it works, great. If not its something else to check off. For $85 it certainly cant hurt.
I am measuring with "analog" refridgerator thermometers. I have two to make sure they are the same. The mercury doesn't start to rise until the door has been open for 30 sec to a min.  They are cheap but when I put them in my cockpit fridge for several hours I can get to 35 F, not the case in the galley. 

Michael T

To see where a friend's fridge door was not sealing we turned on his smart phone to camera started it rolling, shut the door and shone a real bright led all the way around. Then looked at the phone. Could easily see where the light was getting in and fixed the gasket.

Another way would be to put a bright LED light in the fridge at night close the door and turn off the cabin/cockpit lights and look around the seal for escaping light, then adjust/fix.

Liberty44140

Thanks! Once I get the door back on with its new fancy gasket it will be good to try this to be sure that its fully sealed. 

Liberty44140

Forgot to post what I did here, thanks Wild for the PM asking. I never did the new door seal. I cancelled the order because I could not figure out how to mount the new gasket. Existing is glued in to the underside of the lining so the new would be on top and I was worried I would not have the space. I ended up bringing the door home and thoroughly cleaned the seal with WD40. Inside, outside, top, etc.. of the seal cleaned as there was 10 years of condensation mildew there. I then repaired a 1"rip in the gasket with liquid elec tape. Lastly I re conditioned the seal with vasaline which softened it up nicely. Oh one other thing, I did a thin layer of 3/8" foam tape from HD under the seal to give it some more volume. Worked well, box held a much lower temp all summer with much less ice, condensation, frost, etc.. 

Wildboating

Thanks for the update Liberty.   I will give that a shot myslef and see what happens.

bazza

This is my trade, almost definitely low on refrigerant, most probably a small gas leak somewhere, it should be found and repaired braise in new filter dehydrator vacuum and weigh in the 50 grams of 134a, best left to the fridge man it's less expensive than a new fridge or compressor replacement, or it could as others have said go horribly wrong,
cheers Bazza

Handymans342

I have to do that as well but I dont have a scale that weighs 50 grams. Oh wait I may still have my scale from the 70s LOL

Dream_Inn

Handymans342 said:

I have to do that as well but I dont have a scale that weighs 50 grams. Oh wait I may still have my scale from the 70s LOL

LOL!  But now it needs to read higher amounts!

Handymans342

Well it's not metric LOL

rasbury

The way I look at most repairs I do and the way it usually works out, I generally screw it the first time and by the time I fix it the second time, its usually cheaper than paying someone to do it the first time and then i know how to do it. Only problem is I don't know if I can use the knowledge before I forget how I did it!

Liberty44140

getting the door gasket up to speed solved my issue, I keep the thermostat dial in the middle now and it holds around 40 (38-40), but if I were to have another issue I would probably look for a local tech to charge and not do it myself. These fridges are so easy to get out it could be taken to a pro with ease. One thing I forgot to mention is that we also realized as the summer went on that the admiral was not fully appreciating the need to make sure the door clicks closed at the latch. She would push it like at home and often it would not click. If doesn't click it's not closed!