# Colder Settings?



## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

Okay... Need some help again... My Fridge, a dometic RM2652 in our Outback 21RS is cold, but seem to think the white plastic thing on the fins in the back of fridge needs to be somewhere?? Can someone with similar model take pictures of how yours is setup with the white wire... or explain how it SHOULD be... my wire is loose but the white plastic thing is down low... on the fin.

Thanks for the help again!!

Tom


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

tomstacey616 said:


> Okay... Need some help again... My Fridge, a dometic RM2652 in our Outback 21RS is cold, but seem to think the white plastic thing on the fins in the back of fridge needs to be somewhere?? Can someone with similar model take pictures of how yours is setup with the white wire... or explain how it SHOULD be... my wire is loose but the white plastic thing is down low... on the fin.
> 
> Thanks for the help again!!
> 
> Tom


Perhaps you could post a picture of your situation so we can try to help.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Our white plastic thing is on the last fin to the right. Sliding it higher makes the fridge colder.


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## akjason (Jan 2, 2011)

duggy said:


> Our white plastic thing is on the last fin to the right. Sliding it higher makes the fridge colder.


Yup, we just found that out on our last trip. I have mine on the far right, and on the 07 model year it's almost to the top and seems to be perfect.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

duggy said:


> Our white plastic thing is on the last fin to the right. Sliding it higher makes the fridge colder.


Well, why didn't they put THAT in the manual... what about the wire too... I'll get a picture of mine and post in a while...


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## Sandlapper (Apr 12, 2010)

The white "wire" is basically a thermostat (sensor). I'd say as long as its hanging freely and out of the way, its right where it should be. And yes, the fin is an adjustment for temperature settings.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

So, what I'm hearing is that the wire doesn't have to be anywhere in particular, just out of the way, and slide the white plastic thing up high on the last fin to make it cooler.... here is how it is now... and not very cold..... 
How does that white thing work anyway?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The tip of the wire is a sensor (called a thermistor) and when placed in the air will run the fridge at the coldest possible setting. When placed on the fins, it will sense the fin temp and control the fridge from the temperature it senses there. Looking at the fins in the back the center top is the coldest and if the sensor is placed there the fridge will run the warmest. If the sensor is on the outer fin at the bottom it is the warmest spot on the fin and will allow the fridge to run cooler.

If you follow the wire back to the control board and unplug it the fridge will run continuously and will have no temp control.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

wow... that's how that thing works... okay.. cool... great!!!
here is where it is now... (hopefully picture shows up) and the wire can be dangling anywhere??


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

tomstacey616 said:


> wow... that's how that thing works... okay.. cool... great!!!
> here is where it is now... (hopefully picture shows up) and the wire can be dangling anywhere??
> View attachment 1692


The wire can dangle but you actually want it snapped into the white plastic clip so you can attach it to the fin and have it sense the fin temperature.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

Once again, thank you all on educating me on this setup. Funny thing, when we did the 2 hour run through at the dealer, they never went over that part.








It's going to be interesting to see how much colder it is when I get home today!!


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## hookem (Apr 28, 2011)

Just saw this and have the same problem. I am a little confused. My refrigerator is the same, but on the side it shows that the higher I move the clip up the fin, the colder it will be. I might not be understanding what I should be doing.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Our fridge says to make it colder, you raise the plastic thingy - down is warmer.


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## hookem (Apr 28, 2011)

That is what I thought too, just thinking I was reading the other post wrong that said to put it on the outer fin at the bottom due to the temperature of the fin and I was thinking it should be at the top. Just a newbie trying to understand from all of you that have been there done that.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Just to verify, I went out to the driveway where our 28RSDS is patiently waiting to be traded in and took a peek. There's a sticker on the inside wall of the fridge that points up for colder, down for warmer. Now, if somebody could just explain to me how moving a little wire up and down by a few inches changes the temperature of a refrigerator, I'll die a happy camper.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

hookem said:


> Just to verify, I went out to the driveway where our 28RSDS is patiently waiting to be traded in and took a peek. There's a sticker on the inside wall of the fridge that points up for colder, down for warmer. Now, if somebody could just explain to me how moving a little wire up and down by a few inches changes the temperature of a refrigerator, I'll die a happy camper.


I will try.

The primary cooling effect is in the freezer and the very top of the fridge. Run the fridge for a few weeks and look inside and you will see ice in the top center of the fins but no ice on the bottom or outer fins. They are cold but just not cold enough to form ice. This heat transfer is by convection and the farther away from the cold source the warmer the fins are. Now if you place the temp sensor at the warmest spot on the fins, the bottom of the last fin the sensed temp will be warmer then if you place it on the top of the fin. The warmer part of the fin results in longer run times as the fridge tries to cool that fin area down to about 32 degrees. The difference in temperature of the fin from top to bottom is 5 or 6 degrees warmer.

One of the tests for function of the fridge is to run it on gas and then place the tip of the sensor in a glass of ice water with has had some salt poured into it. The salt causes the ice to melt faster and lowers the water temp to about 28 degrees. This is cold enough for the sensor that it should tell the control board to turn off the gas.

Anyway the stickers that all point up for colder is confusing as moving the sensor up will not result in a colder fridge. If it is referring to the fin being colder then it is correct.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

CamperAndy said:


> Anyway the stickers that all point up for colder is confusing as moving the sensor up will not result in a colder fridge. If it is referring to the fin being colder then it is correct.


I hear what you're saying the theory is, but I know from our own fridge, the sticker says to raise the "plastic thing" to make the fridge colder, and having adjusted it, that is what happens with ours. Sliding the "plastic thing" higher, makes the fridge colder.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

And to follow on to my own posting with the question, I did what you all said yesterday, "raise the white plastic thing" and this morning, actually late evening yesterday, the fridge was a lot colder... the wire too, i was able to clip it into part of the plastic thing, not against the coil though...


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Glad we were able to help. Nothing worse than warm beer!


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

duggy said:


> Glad we were able to help. Nothing worse than warm beer!


NAH... no beer in there, very big cooler full of ice... only place for beer, wine, pre-made long island iced tea... etc etc....


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

tomstacey616 said:


> Glad we were able to help. Nothing worse than warm beer!


NAH... no beer in there, very big cooler full of ice... only place for beer, wine, pre-made long island iced tea... etc etc....
[/quote]

Good point. Beer on ice beats beer out of a fridge, any day!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

duggy said:


> Glad we were able to help. Nothing worse than warm beer!


NAH... no beer in there, very big cooler full of ice... only place for beer, wine, pre-made long island iced tea... etc etc....
[/quote]

Good point. Beer on ice beats beer out of a fridge, any day!
[/quote]

In an effort to control the coolers and runs to town for ice since I dry camp in out of the way state parks for the most part. My beer goes on the drip tray under the cooling fins and the top door shelf. Beer to the left on the tray comes out, all beers move left, the left beer from the door goes to the right side of the tray. All beers in the door move left and a fresh beer goes into the door on the right. This holds 11 beer and I really can not drink them fast enough to get a warm beer. The tray is the coldest spot in the fridge and the beer in mine runs about 32 degrees. The only time beer goes on ice is when we go rafting or just sitting by the river, this way we can make enough ice in our freezer. The only time there is an issues is when it is Daiquiri or Margarita night, then we may have to make a town run to get enough ice.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

CamperAndy said:


> Glad we were able to help. Nothing worse than warm beer!


NAH... no beer in there, very big cooler full of ice... only place for beer, wine, pre-made long island iced tea... etc etc....
[/quote]

Good point. Beer on ice beats beer out of a fridge, any day!
[/quote]

In an effort to control the coolers and runs to town for ice since I dry camp in out of the way state parks for the most part. My beer goes on the drip tray under the cooling fins and the top door shelf. Beer to the left on the tray comes out, all beers move left, the left beer from the door goes to the right side of the tray. All beers in the door move left and a fresh beer goes into the door on the right. This holds 11 beer and I really can not drink them fast enough to get a warm beer. The tray is the coldest spot in the fridge and the beer in mine runs about 32 degrees. The only time beer goes on ice is when we go rafting or just sitting by the river, this way we can make enough ice in our freezer. The only time there is an issues is when it is Daiquiri or Margarita night, then we may have to make a town run to get enough ice.
[/quote]

I like your system. To be honest, with the Outback, I just keep the beer in the fridge. We boated for years, and the fridge was less than half the size of what you get in a TT. I had trouble finding room for two or three beers at at time, so it was impossible to keep it cold. A cooler was the only option. There is something nice about a beer dripping in ice water, but it's a whole lot more convenient to just keep the fridge stocked.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

Time to put in a phone call to Gilligan and get the definitive answer. For all we know, these refrigerators are installed upside down and the freezer is supposed to be on the bottom!


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

Insomniak said:


> Time to put in a phone call to Gilligan and get the definitive answer. For all we know, these refrigerators are installed upside down and the freezer is supposed to be on the bottom!


Nice one!!








I find it humorous how this thread went from y'all helping me and others who read this adjust their fridge temps to how to keep beer and other "camping beverages" cold...... and how others do it.....


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

tomstacey616 said:


> Time to put in a phone call to Gilligan and get the definitive answer. For all we know, these refrigerators are installed upside down and the freezer is supposed to be on the bottom!


Nice one!!








I find it humorous how this thread went from y'all helping me and others who read this adjust their fridge temps to how to keep beer and other "camping beverages" cold...... and how others do it.....
[/quote]

Yeah, I was thinking we were getting a little off topic, but then again, a cold fridge and beer are both pretty important related topics!


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## hookem (Apr 28, 2011)

duggy said:


> Time to put in a phone call to Gilligan and get the definitive answer. For all we know, these refrigerators are installed upside down and the freezer is supposed to be on the bottom!


Nice one!!








I find it humorous how this thread went from y'all helping me and others who read this adjust their fridge temps to how to keep beer and other "camping beverages" cold...... and how others do it.....
[/quote]

Yeah, I was thinking we were getting a little off topic, but then again, a cold fridge and beer are both pretty important related topics!








[/quote]
That is the main reason I was trying to figure out how to use the refrigerator in the firs place!


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

Soooooooooo, back on track here....







how does 39 degrees up top and 45 at the bottom of the fridge sound ??


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

tomstacey616 said:


> Soooooooooo, back on track here....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not cold enough. I've never measured mine, but I know you can't make ice cubes at 39 degrees.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

duggy said:


> Soooooooooo, back on track here....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not cold enough. I've never measured mine, but I know you can't make ice cubes at 39 degrees.
[/quote]

The Freezer should run at about 10 degrees F. The fridge can run from 33 to about 40.


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## tomstacey616 (Apr 13, 2011)

CamperAndy said:


> Soooooooooo, back on track here....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not cold enough. I've never measured mine, but I know you can't make ice cubes at 39 degrees.
[/quote]

The Freezer should run at about 10 degrees F. The fridge can run from 33 to about 40.
[/quote]

That's what i meant, the fridge is 39 degrees near the top and 45ish on the bottom (that was yesterday, today could be colder, we have it about half stocked to be ready for camping this weekend), the FREEZER on the other hand, makes great cubes!!!


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

tomstacey616 said:


> Soooooooooo, back on track here....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not cold enough. I've never measured mine, but I know you can't make ice cubes at 39 degrees.
[/quote]

The Freezer should run at about 10 degrees F. The fridge can run from 33 to about 40.
[/quote]

That's what i meant, the fridge is 39 degrees near the top and 45ish on the bottom (that was yesterday, today could be colder, we have it about half stocked to be ready for camping this weekend), the FREEZER on the other hand, makes great cubes!!!
[/quote]

Congratulations! It sounds like you're all set. Enjoy your first weekend of camping!


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## Maxx2005 (Sep 25, 2011)

Great Topic! A fun read if still confusing as to the thermister placement, as I read opposite solutions. At least now I know that the thermister is in the plastic thing! My fridge runs all out all the time. Freezing everything in the fridge. Placement of the plastic slider made no difference (and yes, why isn't that little tidbit of important info in the manual?) so perhaps I need a new thermister. I will do the salt/icewater test next.
Thanks for that tip ...as well as the beer rotation line concept!
-Maxx


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