Dometic fridge not adequate in 80+ weather?

[aznighthiker]

My brother has installed a small fan on his refrigerators in the various campers that he has owned and the fan makes a big improvement in performance. In 90 degree plus weather he also removes the exterior cover. He also places a frozen soda bottles (filled with water) in the refrigerator and freezer before he leaves for his camping trip. When he arrives and has the refrigerator running he stocks it from his ice chest. 

[shortcircuit]

[font face="comic sans ms" size="3"][span]    [/span]We just returned from a camping trip to wild and wonderful West Virginia! We still had the cooling issue when plugged into 120 volts ac and using the 120 vac heater. It would not get the temp down below 40 deg. even with outside temps in the 60's. I switched to 12 volt heater on the fridge and it came down to mid 30's. I also tried it on LP and it did the job as well, bringing it down to 32 deg. at night. 
[span]    [/span]I suspected the 120 volt heater was weak, so I measured the current and voltage and came up with 155 watts. The Dometic manual says it must be 175 watts +/- 10%. The minus 10% = 157.5 watts so as I  suspected, the heater is weak. So, I will contact the dealer and see if they will order a new heater and put it in for me. (or I will install it myself. it doesn't look difficult)
[span]    [/span]We still have items to address such as towel racks in the bath, making a shelf in the storage cabinet, checking out a small water leak around the slide in heavy rainfall. Otherwise we are very satisfied with our 14DBS!
[span]    I hope you all have enjoyed the camping season. We are done camping for the year as we live in Ohio.
Take care and may God bless you all![/span][/font]