Funfinder, negligent manufacturing defects

[Woodgrain]

Just want to give a heads up to everyone considering this brand of trailer.

Our Funfinder 189FDS (by Cruiser RV) has had trouble with the refrigerator not cooling when outside temps exceed 80*.

When I had the unit looked at before the warranty was up, the dealer said it was a pinched gas line, but that also never resolved the problem. Now it is out of warranty and Cruiser won't take responsibility for poor design.

For those of you that are not familiar with this model, it has the refrigerator and dinette in the slideout so the fridge does not have a roof vent, it has the upper and lower wall vents.

Upon doing some research and working with Dometic, it has come to my attention that Cruiser RV did not follow several of Dometics installation requirements.

(1) minimum sidewall vent spacing: Requirement is 56" but they are installed at 50". This results in the cooling fins to be higher than the upper side vent, forcing hot air to be trapped above the fridge and not allowing airflow through the fins

(2) maximum space in back of unit, 1": Cruiser installed it with 2". This extra space allows air to flow around the piping in the back and not through it for proper cooling

(3) install boxes and baffles to direct air flow: no boxes or baffles in the compartment to compensate for the extra inch and missing baffle at the top to direct sit through the cooling fins.

(4) cooling fan is mandatory and not an option in the installation type. No fan installed, not even wired for it.

From my personal observation, all of this was to accommodate a drawer below the fridge. Had they done away with the drawer, there would had been enough space to install the fridge lower to accommodate all of Domitics installation/clearance requirements.

I would have rather had a fridge that works than one extra drawer. And it make me question the integrity of every other component in the trailer.

Cruiser RV you should be ashamed.

 

[LJAZ]

Yup, sounds like an improper install. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of manufacturers don't install them in slides correctly. On the other hand you did report the problem during the warranty period and the fix didn't work so the claim should still be valid. Your dealer should keep pushing for a warranty repair.

 

[Woodgrain]

Dealer has stopped selling the brand so they have little leverage and unfortunately little interest in helping.

I have been asking Dometic to put pressure on them. Will keep the club posted on that.

 

[Dakota 1120]

IF you are a member of the "Good Sam Club" they have an 'intervention group' that has helped many folks (at no charge) resolve issues with a rv manufacturer... even when some were out of warranty.

Check it out. ;-)

 

[Woodgrain]

I will look into It, might be worth joining if they can help.

Here is a pic if it's of interest to anyone.
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Al5HzHjRVZRahknjBfwI98Q9PMGa

 

[M Wilkie]

What year is your trailer? We just met some folks at a campground here in Michigan this week that had the same model as yours. Theirs is a 2011 and was very nice inside. But fairly new to them. We have their email address.

 

[John_C]

What year is your trailer? We just met some folks at a campground here in Michigan this week that had the same model as yours. Theirs is a 2011 and was very nice inside. But fairly new to them. We have their email address.

Hi Mich,
Ours is an '08 and ours is pretty nice as well... I haven't had any problems really and wish they would have built the trailer as if THEY were going to work on it... The short-cuts on the build probably saved money for FF, but makes things a bit more difficult for the owner; however, nothing so far that cannot be overcome or changed...

We made a trip to the west coast last fall, out to AZ, then to San Diego, back up through Vegas, Yellowstone, and back home... roughly 6,000 miles. Earlier this year out to AZ and back... about 5,000 miles and we are very happy with the tow handling, and trailer in general...

The noise from the A/C, Heater Fan, HW Heater light, Water Pump, and the Stove Hood & Ceiling Fans are annoying, but the trailer is not a house... It is a light weight. aluminum structure, thin-walled trailer. I have searched for upgrades for some of these items and feel they are a bit more spendy than I want to shell out at the moment. With that said, I plan to upgrade the whimpy and noisy ceiling fan with one of the variable speed/reversible turbine fans over the next few weeks (I might even look at the T-Stat controlled Fan)... Anyway Mich, hope to see you folks around a campfire one of these days...

 

[M Wilkie]

I think our fridge is lower than in the ones with the slide out. But there is a sticker inside on the right side that says hotter and cooler but no dial to change the temperature of the fridge or freezer. Another mystery. We did purchase a fantastic fan with all the bells a whistles.. Thermostat, rain sensor etc. we like it a lot but haven't needed to use it much yet. Pretty easy install.

 

[twinster2]

With regard to the OP's issue with fans missing, it is possible to use a couple of 12 volt dc computer fans that cost about $5 each and mount in a way to blow air over the heat exchange coils. They are extremely quite and do a great job of improving the efficiency of the refrigerator. Just takes a little ingenuity to get it to work better than it currently does.

 

[APD]

On our older '05 T139 FK the upper sidewall vent for the fridge was 2/3 blocked by the microwave compartment. Even though there was room behind the micro to make the vent area behind the fridge taller and open up that vent.
I had to remove the microwave, cut out the rear of the compartment and box it back in to uncover the upper vent. I also installed a small squirrel cage type exhaust fan while I was in there.
Since the PO warned us that the unit didn't work very well, I really believe it's the first time the refrigerator has actually worked like it should. Now it will actually make ice in a couple of hours after start-up.
As for defects and negligence, don't get me started on the under sized Tork-Flex axles. Ours little dude has a 2200# axle under a 3000#GVW camper!! With our usual gear we're exceeding the 2200# rating but still under the GVW rating!
I looking at changing/upgrading the axle. Why didn't I just build one from scratch?
We bought used so I guess all this just goes along with the joy of ownership. I was hoping that maybe the newer models are better but, from what I read and hear, they're not!

 

[Woodgrain]

What year is your trailer? We just met some folks at a campground here in Michigan this week that had the same model as yours. Theirs is a 2011 and was very nice inside. But fairly new to them. We have their email address.

Ours is a 2013 and we do like the interior layout/floorplan

 

[michellep]

You should go back and read my nightmare experience with the Atwood fridge on my 2015 189fs!

I now have a Dometic and plan to exercise it a lot in the coming months. Since the Dometic was installed by my dealer, I HOPE he did it properly cuz I sure as heck don't know what to look for in the way of faulty installation!

My dealer also stopped carrying any Cruiser RV products...bad company to have to deal with, he said.

Love the layout, and hopefully, all the bugs have been worked out.

 

[Woodgrain]

From my recent experience, the cooling performance is about venting and airflow. I would advise learning about it and inspecting the installation.

There is an old saying in project management, "people do what you inspect, not what you expect"

 

[brackenlip]

To the OP, yep, it's important to keep the cold drinks cold ! My 189FDS is a 2012 model.

The install in this cabinet works fine with a fan.

I took the original smaller fan out and replaced it with a 5" computer fan, because the original was noisy ( vibration ). About ten bucks at the computer store.

I have camped now for over four years, in temps from as low as 10 degrees outside to as high as 110. From sea level to over 10,000 ft in Colorado.

With the thermistor set as you see in this picture, the fridge stay at 34 degrees, and the freezer section around zero degrees. If I set it any colder, the fridge section drops into the upper twenties, and that does bad things to my lettuce.

You can see in my picture here where I placed the fan. If you have a DM2652, as I do, look on page 45 of the install manual. You'll see how the fan is wired there. If you don't have the install manual/wiring diag, let me know which model fridge you have, and I'll shoot a picture of it for you.

Honestly, the install in this application is fine as long as there is a fan. If, with a fan operable, it still does not cool, there is another issue with it.

.....remember....as I always say about RV's...... "some assembly required".

 

[M Wilkie]

We have a DM2652 also and there is no fan. Our installation manual is only 19 pages long. It has factory preset temperature control though it does have the "thermistor" adjustment on the fin. It seems to run the fridge at about 34-36 degrees and the freezer at 0 consistently. It also has the Settable climate control to be used when using the fridge in warm temperatures without the air conditioner. That runs on 12 volts.
But there are many different models of Dometic refrigerators. Ours is in a 2008 189fbr.

 

[michellep]

Today, I took a pic of my upper vent (2015 189FDS) and sent it to my dealer, asking what were the wood and the diamond-plate looking stuff (which is bent at just over a 90 degree angle (hard to tell from pic). His reply was this:

That is there to restrict the air flow all the way to the top of the cooling unit. Provides more of a chimney effect with it in place.

I just now measured temps with infrared thermometer: lower side of trailer was 94 degrees. Air coming out of top vent was 109 degrees. Ceiling of 14' garage was 96 degrees.

The fridge has been turned on shore power for several hours now and the freezer is at 15 and fridge at 51 - so it's working just fine. Whew.

 

[twinster2]

According to the Health department, a safe temperature for a refrigerator should be 40 F or less. Not sure what ours gets down too, but I will need to check it.

 

[M Wilkie]

We use a hanging thermometer in both the freezer and fridge compartments. That way we can monitor the temp constantly.

 

[Dakota 1120]

According to the Health department, a safe temperature for a refrigerator should be 40 F or less. Not sure what ours gets down too, but I will need to check it.

I have a thermometer hanging in my frig and the constant temp when operating is 36 degrees F.

 

[M Wilkie]

40 degrees or below for fridge and 0 degrees for freezer.