Dometic fridge issue

[WanderLoveJosh]

This dometic Cfx65dz is starting to be a pain in the ass.

I can't get the temperature to go below 35, and sometimes the temp will raise, then go down only a couple degrees many hours later. Example. Yesterday I woke up and it was at 35, then it managed to climb all the way to 39, while not being opened at all and plugged in and on, and many hours later only made its way back to 35 degrees. 

I'm tempted to just try to sell it, I'm sure someone can fix it, or at least take the time to send it away to get fixed. Any thoughts would be appreciated.. Gonna keep an eye on it for a couple of days before I try to get rid of it.

 

[SternWake]

Do these have a thermocouple on the evaporator/ coldplate?

Do you have another method to check internal temperature?

Are you still using the Ciggy plug? It is only a matter of time before they fail, and/or become intermittent. It IS the most common reason for poor performance or perceived failure of a compressor fridge. Ciggy plugs and receptacles insult 12vDC and mock the human who has faith in them. Ubiquitous they are, and junk they are.

Those insisting on using this junk shit crap connector should at least wire up a dedicated receptacle with thicker wire to fuse block, and replace the provided plug with this:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...004XIWF12/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8


Not sure about the Waeco compressor, but on a danfoss, when input voltage is too low, the condenser fan kicks on, but not the compressor. A user might hear the fan and think the compressor is running, when it is not.

Shine a stong light into the cooling unit vents and look for excessive dust build up on the condenser.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GE15JG/ref=twister_B00WIXZPH0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Make sure the electrical contacts on every connector leading to the fridge are actually clean. One cannot really See if they are clean, but if they look dirty then they are heavily oxidized.

A high percentage of failures of electrical appliances are caused by poor conductive surfaces on the connectors.

The Linked products above have no equal when it comes to ensuring those conductive surfaces are not the issue. Use some on Ciggy plug and receptacel, where cord pluds into fridge, and if you can easily remove the acess cover to cooling unit, the compressor controller will have about 8 quick disconnect push on wire terminals.

Also, Use the Deoxit on your phone USB input cable ends, and it will reseat into phone with a better than new click, and the battery will likely charge faster.

 

[TrainChaser]

Why would a fridge have to go below 35F ? It's REFRIGERATOR, not a freezer.

 

[SternWake]

That dometic advertises it is either, and it should be able to get to 0f. If 35f is the minimum temp it actually achieves when asked to go lower, something is not right with it.

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Why would a fridge have to go below 35F ?  It's REFRIGERATOR, not a freezer.

It's actually a freezer/Fridge dual zone.. So it has both.. The temperature on these are read on the freezer part.. That's why I would want it to go below 35.. To keep frozen stuff frozen.

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Do these have a thermocouple on the evaporator/ coldplate?

Do you have another method to check internal temperature?

Are you still using the Ciggy plug? It is only a matter of time before they fail, and/or become intermittent.  It IS the most common reason for poor performance or perceived failure of a compressor fridge.  Ciggy plugs and receptacles insult 12vDC and mock the human who has faith in them.  Ubiquitous they are, and junk they are.

Those insisting on using this junk  shit crap connector should at least wire up a dedicated receptacle with thicker wire to fuse block, and replace the provided plug with this:

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Sys...004XIWF12/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8


Not sure about the Waeco compressor, but on a danfoss, when input voltage is too low, the condenser fan kicks on, but not the compressor.  A user might hear the fan and think the compressor is running, when it is not.

Shine a stong light into the cooling unit vents and look for excessive dust build up on the condenser.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GE15JG/ref=twister_B00WIXZPH0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Make sure the electrical contacts on every connector leading to the fridge are actually clean. One cannot really See if they are clean, but if they look dirty then they are heavily oxidized.

A high percentage of failures of electrical appliances are caused by poor conductive surfaces on the connectors.

The Linked products above have no equal when it comes to ensuring those conductive surfaces are not the issue.  Use some on Ciggy plug and receptacel, where cord pluds into fridge, and if you can easily remove the acess cover to cooling unit, the compressor controller will have about 8 quick disconnect push on wire terminals.  

Also, Use the Deoxit on your phone USB input cable  ends, and it will reseat into phone with a better than new click, and the battery will likely charge faster.

Can I just come find you and pay you in beer to fix it, I'm not smart enough to understand any of that. Lol

It had gone from 35 this morning then down to 33 for a couple hours, now back to 35.

Anyone got a shot gun we can use the fridge for target practice.

 

[TrainChaser]

Okay, I see. Well, at least you've got a fridge.....

 

[SternWake]

When i had my friends ARB set at 32f, it would go down to 27 and rise back upto 36 or so before switching back on, and the Yoyo would continue.

Next time you hear the compressor running, give it a few minutes to run, then turn fridge off, pull out the ciggy plug, and quickly see if the spring loaded tip of the plug is warm to the touch or perhaps hot, or if it smells like hot plastic.

If so you have identified the issue, and the cure is cutting that damn plug off and hooking it right to the Fuse block, or replacing the plug with the Blue seas model linked.

My price is 6 beers

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

When i had my friends ARB set at 32f, it would go down to 27 and rise back upto 36 or so before switching back on, and  the Yoyo would continue.

Next time you hear the compressor running, give it a few minutes to run, then turn fridge off, pull out the ciggy plug, and quickly see if the spring loaded tip of the plug is warm to the touch or perhaps hot, or if it smells like hot plastic.

If so you have identified the issue, and the cure is cutting that damn plug off and hooking it right to the Fuse block, or replacing the plug with the Blue seas model linked.

My price is 6 beers

It doesn't seem to be warm at all.. Which leaves me stumped.. I'm over it.. I'd rather just get rid of it.. Have more space.. Maybe downgrade to something much smaller and cheaper. Not gonna make the mistake of spending $700 on a damn fridge ever again.. If I'm lucky maybe someone will give me $150 for it. I'm sure it's fixable.. I'm just not able to invest more time and money on it lol. Lesson learned, don't go all out.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I'd at the very least cut the cig cord off of it and temporarily wire it to your battery just to see if that's the issue before dumping it. Could be the plug on the fridge or the outlet in the truck.

 

[akrvbob]

I think you're putting too much faith in that digital readout, there is a very good chance it's working perfectly and the reading is wrong.

What I did and would work for you is go to Walmart and buy an Accurite thermometer with outside temperature unit. Put the sending unit in a ziploc bag and put it strategically in the unit you want it to be in.

Next, force the fridge to come on by turning it down much lower than it reads as the current temperature inside. If it says it's 35 inside, set it to 27. Listen for the compressor to kick on. You should be able to hear it and feel heat coming out of the vent.

Now, watch the Accurite thermometer and see if the temperature drops like it should. My guess is that it works just fine but the digital display on the Dometic has a long lag before it shows the change.

I've owned three different fridges, and they all have had at least some lag behind the actual inside temperature, I consider it normal. But the Accurite with the sending unit inside the fridge is fast and accurate, trust it. Problem solved by using it to monitor the inside temp.

 

[o3dave]

I have the same model and it works perfectly. It is imperative that it has air space around it. The vented areas on the side and back need fresh air for the compressor to work. I have had mine not work right when I packed too much stuff in and around it.

 

[MrNoodly]

I built an insulated box for my Dometic CF-25. Two-inch polyiso on all sides, top and bottom (with cutout for the vents). The base also raises it three inches off the van floor to minimize the effects of engine and exhaust heat. I have no trouble keeping it at 31°.

As other have suggested, it might be only the plug. Mine was causing problems, so I direct wired it to my house battery. Problem solved.

 

[SternWake]

What is the battery voltage when the temperature display does not meet your expectations?
What are your charging sources?

These have low voltage cutouts.

Yesterday I woke up and it was at 35, then it managed to climb all the way to 39

This could be due to a battery that is losing capacity. Its morning voltage was too low, in combination with the voltage drop on the Craptastic Ciggy plug cord and too thin wiring from battery to ciggy receptacle. With too low a voltage the compressor would not fire up, until the battery was recharged and voltage risen. Such as when the solar has had some time to increase battery voltage.

That unit says it can draw 5.5 amps, but that spec is likely at 12.6v. That is 69.3 watts

69.3 watts divided by 11.8 volts is 5.88 amps. But say the too thin wiring and the ciggy plug connector are dropping another volt.
69.3 watts divided by 10.8 volts is 6.41 amps.

The higher the amperage, the more the voltage drops on the circuit.

Ciggy plugs are Ok upto about 60 watts. When older and worn this lowers to 50 watts, then 40 watts, then

"My fridge does not work properly anymore"

Somebody here would love to snap up thsis fridge for 150$. they will likely cut off the ciggy plug, wire it to the fuse block directly, dance a Jig, and get the deal of the century.

 

[Mobilesport]

I use to have the same issue with my cf35 , i ended up cutting the ciggy plug off and
 hard wiring it with thicker guage wire , problem solved.

 

[wagoneer]

Amen to cutting and hard wiring, siggy plugs suck for larger draw appliances... Hi Jill

 

[frater secessus]

some folks have reported results from putting a fan somewhere to blow hot air off the coils

 

[TMG51]

Can I just come find you and pay you in beer to fix it, I'm not smart enough to understand any of that. Lol

It had gone from 35 this morning then down to 33 for a couple hours, now back to 35.

Anyone got a shot gun we can use the fridge for target practice.

Whereabouts are you anyway? Someone would probably help.

As others have said, it may be working in spite of the readout. If you don't have a thermometer to test it, put a bottle of water in and see if it freezes solid...

 

[WanderLoveJosh]

Sorry for the late reply, have been out with no service for a couple days, just got back into Phoenix.

Here's what I did the other day,
I took out the freezer divider, and the temp stayed steady at 30 degrees for two days.. Very weird indeed. Which is fine as long as I can refrigerate food. I guess I'll just keep an eye on that for a few days and make sure it stays steady. As well as taking bobs advice on the thermometer.

Further, I have recently had to set the voltage cut off on the fridge to low.. Which makes me think my batteries are just going to crap.. At the RTR it was set on medium and the fridge was fine staying at steady temp of around 25.

During the evening tho my batteries, according to the renogy adventure charge controller are reading around 12.2 after sun down.. Which still seems low. The reason I believe my batteries are going bad is because of such a low reading on a very bright and sunny day. Then again I know nothing and that's why I'm on here trying to figure it out, so I really appreciate everyone's input.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have noticed that those Renogy charge controllers a kinda funky with their numbers. I find you need to verify the numbers and reset the controller on occasion. highdesertranger