Dometic CRX 80 Fridge Not Getting Cold

[Taura]

Brought this fridge 5 years ago snd worked perfectly unti this weekend.

Loads of 12v power, Fan runs, compressor can be heard, no warning lights, but just not getting cold.

Any suggestions please.

 

[Boathook]

No gas in the system ?

 

[Taura]

Im not sure how i can test it??

 

[billskip]

Im not sure how i can test it??

With great difficulty if it's not fitted with the appropriate connection and you don't have a gauge.....but if it is "insufficient gas" it's necessary to locate the leak ....new fridge could be more economical.

 

[Kwik Decision]

As others have said, its likely to be a lack of refrigerant (gas). This isn't an easy DIY fix. When faced with similar, I got a pro in who, after inspection, said that he would re-gas it, but if it stopped working again, it's cheaper to replace, as trying to find what will probably be a tiny leak is almost impossible. Sure enough 6 mths later it stopped getting cold again, and was replaced.

 

[vyv_cox]

Im not sure how i can test it??

Info here Recharging marine refrigeration systems

 

[Neeves]

As others have said, its likely to be a lack of refrigerant (gas). This isn't an easy DIY fix. When faced with similar, I got a pro in who, after inspection, said that he would re-gas it, but if it stopped working again, it's cheaper to replace, as trying to find what will probably be a tiny leak is almost impossible. Sure enough 6 mths later it stopped getting cold again, and was replaced.

We had a similar issue and having a gas engineer visit a yacht is like a licence to print money, in Australia. Ours was almost 20 years old and had an independent compressor box for the Danfos unit.

We declined the service and bought a new fridge - which had the same dimensions as the old one. Except the new one had a recess in which the, Danfos, compressor sat - so the volume was a bit less. The new fridge, both were Dometic, was more efficient than the old.

Jonathan

 

[Taura]

Thanks for all the advise. Decided to buy a new NRX 80.

 

[Neeves]

Thanks for all the advise. Decided to buy a new NRX 80.

The fridge is quite small and is easily handled. However if you transfer to your yacht, which might be on a swing mooring, in a dinghy the fridge seems to grow and become unmanageable during transit. Its best to come alongside a pier or pontoon.

Jonathan

 

[jakew009]

Thanks for all the advise. Decided to buy a new NRX 80.

Be aware it comes in two versions and the cheaper version doesn’t have a freezer compartment (or indeed much inside it at all). Proper penny pinching from Dometic.

 

[Jim@sea]

When in 1976 we also had a heatwave my fridge was not working, a friend who sold fridges said that we should buy the Fridges they use in Spain as they have more powerful compressors to cope with the hot weather.
That was the start of the electricity European Harmonisation where we were to cut back on electricity consumption and you could no longer buy a 3 kilowatt electric fan, so now we can only buy weak fridges which cant cope when it gets warm.

 

[Refueler]

Interesting ... my Vevor has recently decided that it will not cool to the user set temp ....

Room is about 21C ... setting at +3C for my Guinness ... Vevor gets to about +8C and that's it .... but before - it would happily go to +3 or lower ...

Tried -4C to see if it would go lower ... but it seemed reluctant to ..

Have switched it off for a day to see if it was overuse ... let system 'unfreeze' ..... it has been running for over a year continuos.

I have a feeling that "Jim@sea" may have a point .. as I noted that when room temp dropped - the fridge box temp reduced also ..

 

[jakew009]

When in 1976 we also had a heatwave my fridge was not working, a friend who sold fridges said that we should buy the Fridges they use in Spain as they have more powerful compressors to cope with the hot weather.
That was the start of the electricity European Harmonisation where we were to cut back on electricity consumption and you could no longer buy a 3 kilowatt electric fan, so now we can only buy weak fridges which cant cope when it gets warm.

I think that’s bollocks, my new Dometic NRX50 is fantastic compared to the 25 year old Dometic / Coolmatic RPD50 it replaced.

Uses a fraction of the power, almost silent and gets much colder much faster.

 

[jakew009]

Interesting ... my Vevor has recently decided that it will not cool to the user set temp ....

Room is about 21C ... setting at +3C for my Guinness ... Vevor gets to about +8C and that's it .... but before - it would happily go to +3 or lower ...

Tried -4C to see if it would go lower ... but it seemed reluctant to ..

Have switched it off for a day to see if it was overuse ... let system 'unfreeze' ..... it has been running for over a year continuos.

I have a feeling that "Jim@sea" may have a point .. as I noted that when room temp dropped - the fridge box temp reduced also ..

Your problem is that the fridge is a piece of crap from Vevor, manufactured for about £2.50 and designed to last just beyond the warranty period.

 

[Refueler]

Your problem is that the fridge is a piece of crap from Vevor, manufactured for about £2.50 and designed to last just beyond the warranty period.

Strange that independent reviews AND forumites on YBW have given Vevor a thumbs up .....

 

[jakew009]

Strange that independent reviews AND forumites on YBW have given Vevor a thumbs up .....

Except yours doesn’t work

Vevor is just a retailer of cheap Chinese tools / machines, they don’t manufacture anything themselves and the same stuff is available direct for half the price usually.

 

[Neeves]

Vevor is just a retailer of cheap Chinese tools / machines, they don’t manufacture anything themselves and the same stuff is available direct for half the price usually.

Its all part of capitalism, price the product such that you make a decent, even better, an indecent, profit. If the market, you, me them are happy....? - its our choice.

Don't knock it - its worked for decades. When you find something that fits the model what are you going to do?

Anchor chain for the European market os largely made in China. Lewmar anchors are made in China (do Lewmar make anything themselves....? Musto kit is made in China,

Jonathan

 

[jakew009]

Its all part of capitalism, price the product such that you make a decent, even better, an indecent, profit. If the market, you, me them are happy....? - its our choice.

Don't knock it - its worked for decades. When you find something that fits the model what are you going to do?

Anchor chain for the European market os largely made in China. Lewmar anchors are made in China (do Lewmar make anything themselves....? Musto kit is made in China,

Jonathan

Absolutely.

My musing was more that someone said “fridges are crap now because of some EU regulation about energy efficiency”.

And then someone else said “ahh maybe that is why my fridge from Vevor doesn’t work very well”.

The two are entirely unrelated a new Dometic fridge cools brilliantly and uses very little power, the Vevor piece of junk seemingly doesn’t work at all.

 

[Refueler]

Absolutely.

My musing was more that someone said “fridges are crap now because of some EU regulation about energy efficiency”.

And then someone else said “ahh maybe that is why my fridge from Vevor doesn’t work very well”.

The two are entirely unrelated a new Dometic fridge cools brilliantly and uses very little power, the Vevor piece of junk seemingly doesn’t work at all.

WOW ... you really do make 2+2 = 5 !!

The word "maybe" should be regarded as exactly waht it means ...

I picked up on "Jim@sea" comment because it tallies with observation of my fridge box ..... that with reduced room temp - the box cools more ..

Finally if you really think that the Vevor is so bad compared to your Dometic ... then I suggest you are not in a majority group .... you only have to search YBW .. let along many other forums and you find that Vevor has quite a following ... with generally good reviews.

Given that I run my Vevor 24/7 since day I bought it ... which is probably more than 2yrs ago ... and I run it on quite a low temp setting ... maybe (oh dear there's that word again) it explains its reduced performance. But lets see what happens when switched back on again ...

EDIT : I switched it back on again about 1hr ago ... it was showing 27C .... yes its hot and humid here today ... I have a IN / OUT digital thermometer as well as its own display monitoring .... in that hour its dropped to 11C from 27C inside (independent thermometer)... which tallies with manual saying can be 1.5hrs or more dependent on ambient temp ....

 

[Refueler]

Except yours doesn’t work

Vevor is just a retailer of cheap Chinese tools / machines, they don’t manufacture anything themselves and the same stuff is available direct for half the price usually.

I think most people are aware that Vevor is a Box mover ...

AND that the Vevor portable fridges are Alpicool ... mine runs via the Alpicool App etc.