Fridge Question on 2014.5 Interstate

[ATE123]

Another rookie question: We have turned off the fridge and the battery disconnect while our Interstate has been parked in our driveway, but are getting ready to hit the road this weekend. I'm slightly embarrassed to ask this, but what exactly do I need to in order to get the fridge cold starting tomorrow? I think it has to do with turning the switch back on along with the battery disconnect and possibly the inverter...but not sure. Your help is appreciated!

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by ATE123

Another rookie question: We have turned off the fridge and the battery disconnect while our Interstate has been parked in our driveway, but are getting ready to hit the road this weekend. I'm slightly embarrassed to ask this, but what exactly do I need to in order to get the fridge cold starting tomorrow? I think it has to do with turning the switch back on along with the battery disconnect and possibly the inverter...but not sure. Your help is appreciated!

I just did this minutes ago for tomorrow's trip. The fridge works in either 12vDC or 120vAC mode. To pre-cool the fridge, turn the house battery disconnect to "on." Turn on the fridge at the thermostat, and set it in between "3" and "4." That's all you need to do.

BUT, the fridge will cool down better if it's not empty. Fill the fridge with canned soft drinks or something, especially if they're already cold from your home fridge. If the soft drinks are already cold, the Interstate's fridge won't have to cool them, but the canned drinks will provide more thermal mass than would an empty fridge so once it gets cold, it will stay cold with less effort.

Do not turn on the inverter to run the fridge. That's a waste of amp-hours, since the inverter will use power in addition to the fridge using power.

[ATE123]

You're pretty much 'the man', Protagonist. Thanks!

[73shark]

Another little tidbit about the refrigerator is that if 120 VAC is available, it down-converts it to 12 VDC which is a true energy waster if you are running on the house batteries and have the inverter on.

IIRC, at least one poster rewired his to eliminate this problem.

Also on mine, I had to add a spacer to the inside of the outer door to keep the freezer compartment door from swinging open even w/ the outer door closed. Not sure why the freezer door didn't have some kind of catch/latch.

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by 73shark

Also on mine, I had to add a spacer to the inside of the outer door to keep the freezer compartment door from swinging open even w/ the outer door closed. Not sure why the freezer door didn't have some kind of catch/latch.

On mine (Nova Kool R3100), the freezer door is just held in place with gravity so there might be a tendency for it to swing open on sharp left turns but I find that ice build-up inside stops the contents from sliding around.

[russ240]

Originally Posted by 73shark

IIRC, at least one poster rewired his to eliminate this problem.

Actually it does not even require rewiring. Just pull the 110v plug out of the outlet and it will run on 12v regardless of wether their is 110v available (via shore power or the inverter) or not. I was able to reach mine through the "drawer" under the sink on my '12 Lounge model.