Electrical Fridge cooling problems

[Seanm5253]

Merry Xmas All
Just had a week away in the van and had a fridge problem that I wondered if anyone else has had?
150lt Dometic Fridge (tropical rated) after a day of having the fridge on setting 4 which usually is around 0 degrees for our fridge in 37degree heat the fridge fins iced up and for the rest of the trip the lowest the fridge would cool was between 3-5 degrees on Max setting which was borderline cold
As we had a weeks full of food (beer) for Xmas and a week away did not want to turn fridge off and defrost and sit for a while.
Back home now and I've left the fridge off for a day and fridge is working fine
minus 2 degrees on setting 4 (empty) in 37 degree temps.
Thoughts anyone???

 

[Drover]

Sounds about normal really, if the door gets opened too often then it will cause icing up and that does show the fridge is working well... The temp gauge will only show the air temp so if the door is opened a fair bit the stuff should still be cold but the air is warmer, a good trick in the bigger fridge is a cap of water/ice cream in freezer, if it gets soft then things aren't working well.
I keep the important stuff, Beer, in the Engel that way when I open it the cold doesn't fall out.

 

[Bluey]

Ours works good have it on 4 but somtimes lettuce is frozen and other stuff so we turn it down

 

[G Daddy]

Any ice on the evaporator in the bottom of fridge will cause cooling problems due to many factors. eg house fridges have automatic defrost.
Best option if ice is building up is to turn off until the ice melts (as ice is a cooling matter) then restart fridge. The fuller the fridge is with food or cheer the less cold air falls out and hot air enters when door is opened = less ice because hot air contains heaps more moisture.
X Fridg'y.