Thetford Fridge Temperature

[stevec176]

Hi,

After having nearly 2 years of having my fridge defrosting for no reason it has eventually been sorted by the replacement of the Thermistor.

I still have a couple of questions that some of you might know the answers to.

Is it normal to have ice forming on the drain chanel on the back wall of the fridge? Its like the ice is melting on the fins and the water drips onto the chanel and refreezes before it can run away.

Second, I have the fridge usually set at 3, mid range, but the temp inside the fridge ranges from about 1° up to about 11°. Is that range normal, has anyone else monitored their fridge temps.

I've asked Thetford who referred me back to the dealer who doesnt seem to know.

[Derek Uzzell]

For reference purposes, this link is to Steve’s earlier posting about the Thetford fridge/freezer problem.

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Rapido-Thetford-Fridge-Freezer-Defrosting/49660/

 

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Steve

 

I would have thought that water should exit the drain ‘shelf’ beneath the fridge’s cooling fins quickly enough for it not to have time to freeze. It would be worth you removing the lower external ventilation-grille and checking that the drain-tube leading from the shelf is not blocked. (I’ve modified the drain-tube arrangement of my Rapido’s Thetford fridge/freezer so that water drains directly through the vehicle’s floor rathe than collects in the standard plastic ‘cup’.)

 

I’ve never monitored my Thetford fridge/freezer’s internal temperature - I occasionally ask my wife if the fridge seems to be functioning properly and, as she has always said Yes, I've never felt the need to check further.

[colin]

Having the fridge at a single setting doesn't work, it needs adjusting with regard to the weather, we have found this out the hard way with salad stuff getting frozen in the main compartment.

 

Sometimes you can get icicles off the fins onto the drain channel, othertimes the fins will be running with water.

 

 

[Laurence]

Steve,

 

You do get these issues with Absorption fridges unfortunately. We have an electronic sensor system that sends temperatures for fridge and freezer to an external unit every minute, so you don't have to open the door to know the temperatures, and we can monitor them all the time. In fact, it's so good, we bought another system for use in the house.

 

We had a tall thin Thetford fridge in our last MH, and had no end of problems getting the right temperatures, and dealers told us the design with just a single element at the bottom was insufficient for such a tall fridge. We have a low-line Dometic now, and it is far better.

 

Forgive me if you know all this, but Absorption fridges are designed to provide a temperature that is 20-25 degrees below ambient - the 5 degree variation dependent upon where the fridge is sited, the design and size etc. We found the Thetford to be quite ineffient on 12v whilst running, whereas the Dometic is much better, but both fridges have a tendency to develop ice on the back wall and fins, and we found you can minimise this if you prevent the fridge contents touching the fins and back wall - difficult, I know, when you are travelling. In hot climates we do think about how we site the van on the pitch to keep the fridge in shade as much as possible, and his helps a great deal.

 

We were told that Thetford lack some of the patents that Dometic use to design their fridges, but I don't know how true that is.

 

Getting down to your problem, from 1 to 11 degrees seems a wider that normal variation. Absorption fridges lose their cold much quicker than compressor fridges when you open the door, so we minimised that, but in the end we concluded with the Thetford that the tall thin fridge just simply had design issues.

 

My OH is out at the moment, but when she is back I will ask if she has any other tips that would help, and get back to you.

 

Regards,

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Colin

 

Are you referring to a Thetford fridge/freezer similar to the one Steve and I have?

 

I just choose the number of ‘blobs’ (3 in cold weather, 4 when it’s hot) and let the appliance sort out the cooling temperature. And I never fiddled about with the temperature controls on my previous Dometic fridge/freezer to match changing weather conditions.

 

 

[stevec176]

Thanks for replies. I did make sure the drain was clear and water drained away. I just dont understand how the ice can melt and freeze again so quickly that there are stalagtites hanging from the cooling veins and ice blobs on the drain shelf. Am I being too picky, I don't know, it is our first MH. If only Thetford or the dealers would say it's normal operation????

[colin]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-11-07 11:45 AM

 

Colin

 

Are you referring to a Thetford fridge/freezer similar to the one Steve and I have?

 

I just choose the number of ‘blobs’ (3 in cold weather, 4 when it’s hot) and let the appliance sort out the cooling temperature. And I never fiddled about with the temperature controls on my previous Dometic fridge/freezer to match changing weather conditions.

 

 

Ours is a Dometic, but Afaik the Thetford is similar, at least my friends one is.

Can't say we fiddle with it, more along lines of noticing it is running warm/cold and turning it up/down a bit.

[Adiebt]

We have found that the ice sheet develops much more the warmer the external temp , in such climes we monitor n remove the ice sheet if necessary every couple of days.

I have a fridge thermometer and the temps can vary quite dramatically depending yet again on the outside temp , tbh as king as the fridge isn’t freezing or boiling the contents I’m not too fussed.

We also find if the outside temp is high the fins in the freezer can dramatically ice up so we use a silicone spatula periodically to de ice the freezer to maintain its efficiency!

I regard the MH fridge simply as another motorhome quirk !