Refer not maintaining temp.

[southjk]

Did you ever get this cooling issue resolved. I have the same problem on my 2015 Grand Tour. Also live in Texas. Its over 100 down her recently. Freezer works fine but the fridge won't cool below 50. Dealer told me that Airtstream has a fan kit to help vent the unit.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by southjk

Did you ever get this cooling issue resolved. I have the same problem on my 2015 Grand Tour. Also live in Texas. Its over 100 down her recently. Freezer works fine but the fridge won't cool below 50. Dealer told me that Airtstream has a fan kit to help vent the unit.

This problem is unique to the Grand Tour models that have separate refrigerator and freezer, and if you have one of the early Grand Tours from before they started adding the fan kit at the factory, you definitely need to get the kit.

[curmugeon]

I also have a 2015 Grand Tour refrigerator that did not cool. I had the fan kit installed by my dealer last fall. The process involved replacing the blank wood access port (under the freezer) to the water pump with a louvered access port. Louvers (with fans) were installed above the fridge. Also there appears to be a second vent on the roof above the refrigerator area that looks like the bathroom vent. I don't recall seeing that vent before. All of this is to increase air flow over the freezer and refrigerator coils. Apparently the factory installation of the refrigerator and freezer did not allow enough ventilation to properly carry away the heat generated on a hot day which kept the refrigerator from cooling down to the proper temperature,

I have not had the Interstate out this year on a hot day to confirm the improvement but I am confident my problem is solved.

BTW this was a warranty repair.

[gghayes]

I am back home and have been in touch with camping world. They installed the new fan kit recommended by airstream, made the vents larger and replaced my refrigerator last October. The refrigerator works as long as the ambient air does not go above 60 degrees. My refrigerator temp went to 60 degrees while I was in Texas. I kept things cool with frozen bottles of ice and a bowl of ice. Camping world sent a message to airstream and I will follow up tomorrow with a phone call. I would love to hear from anyone with this problem, so I can show airstream that this is not an isolated issue

[InterBlog]

I hope they get this sorted out for you because that is definitely not right. I'm in Texas and my old-tech propane Dometic has a bad habit of freezing solid the contents of my refrigerator.

I don't think anyone stated the make and model of the fridge in question. My husband and I are always coveting those separate fridge-and-freezer models, so if there's a particular model that is prone to issues, I'd like to know which one.

[CraigL]

Most likely the thermostat. I had the same issue on my 2015 and called Nova Kool. Nice gentleman answered the phone and shipped me a free replacement part in three days. I swapped it out myself, not the easiest thing Iv ever done but fixed it.

[tlundell]

Curmugeon -- I really appreciate hearing from you that the refrigerator cooling fan kit for the 2015 Grand Tour is an Airstream warranty retrofit. I immediately contacted my dealer to inquire about the retrofit for my AI, and it is being promptly shipped out from the factory for installation within the next few weeks.
Tim

[gghayes]

Tim, please let me know if the retrofit works, as I had all that done and a new refrigerator put in last October and the unit still does not cool in hot weather

[JayP]

Can anyone with this warranty fix measure or read the amp draw from the fan/fans. Is it one or two fans? I had an issue with refrigerator temps as well during my last trip out. Refer and freezer are by far my largest power drains. Have 400 watts of solar but have not increased storage capacity yet, so one day without sun and I need to use engine or generator.

[InterBlog]

I'm wondering if these posters ever got their issues sorted out with those fridges. I thought of this thread again today because (long story omitted) I've had to use our Interstate locally even though it's mid-July and on track to be Houston's hottest average-temp July in recorded history (mostly because overnight temps are not dropping to anywhere near normal values).

Typically I do not have to run my much-maligned propane fridge in Houston in July, but this is what it looked like at noon today. We installed our own thermometer which is why you see it penetrating the faceplate printing here (there was no other installation space available). I didn't want to have to open our fridge just to see the temp... kinda defeats the purpose. So the lead extends inside and the digital read-out is on the outside.

As an adjunct, you can also see that with the addition of Reflectix as well as the HeatShield commercial cab window coverings and the solar system which allows me to crank the Fantastic without limitation, my inside temp is 97 - just four degrees above ambient. Last year before I had the solar or the extra reflective material, my inside temp would consistently be around 107 degrees in similar conditions.

I suspect that the solar panels themselves are actually responsible for a bit of that gain because they stop a big patch of incident energy from hitting the roof directly.

[curmugeon]

Originally Posted by curmugeon

I have not had the Interstate out this year on a hot day to confirm the improvement but I am confident my problem is solved.

Re: 2015 Interstate GT.

I recently tested my refrigerator (in my driveway) after having the fan kit and ventilation upgrade installed. The refrigerator was empty and the controller was set on #6. Temperatures inside the RV ranged from about 70 to about 95 as the day progressed. Temperature of the air coming out of the new vent was around 110 when the RV interior was 95. In in the mornings the refrigerator temperature was 30-35. In the afternoon the refrigerator temperature rose to around 50-55 with the RV interior temperature at about 95. Normally I would have used the air conditioner to bring the inside RV temperature down to am more livable 75-80. I believe my refrigerator will keep a temperature of around 40 if I do my part in keeping the RV interior at a more livable temperature. Note: the refrigerator is using inside RV air to cool the heat exchanger. Using 95 degree air does not leave much for the heat exchanger to use.

Also the refrigerator was empty which is asking a lot from the refrigerator to keep a proper temperature. Filling the refrigerator with food etc. will provide a large heat sink to maintain stable/cooler refrigerator temperatures if the RV interior ranged from cool to hot while you were on a day trip and left the coach AC off.

On a related topic, I read that some Interstate owners are experiencing problems with their freezers; they cool on AC but don't seem to work on DC (e.g., while driving). I had the same problem and the dealer mechanic discovered that the DC electric cables were not hooked up. Once the DC cables were hooked up, the freezer works fine on AC and DC.

[southjk]

I'm getting the mod as we speak in ft worth. It's 93 here and 102 in midland where I live. I'm so anxious to see if this works.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by curmugeon

Note: the refrigerator is using inside RV air to cool the heat exchanger. Using 95 degree air does not leave much for the heat exchanger to use.

Actually all the condenser has to do is just that, convert the high temp. gas into a high temp. liquid which goes to the evaporator and expands to a low pressure gas absorbing heat in the process. As long as it does that, the frig should cool to setpoint.

Your residential A/C works w/ hi amb temps outside.

[southjk]

I had the mod performed in ft worth last week. Still won't cool below 46 f when coach temp above 85. With the ac running and coach temp at 75 f the fridge will cool to 36f on max cool setting. I pulled fridge out of enclosure to test and it worked fine. I relocated the fan to point up at around 120 degrees to help airflow. Currently waiting on 1500 ohm resistor to speed up compressor. Currently they installed a 500 ohm resistor with the current mod. Additionally I lined the enclosure with reflectix to improve aerodynamics a bit. In getting closer and hoping that the higher resistor does the trick.

[southjk]

I made these additional mods to improve cooling efficiency of the nova kool 3102

[gghayes]

I don't know how many ohm's my new resistor has, but am looking forward to hearing if the 1500 ohm resistor does anything as I still am having problems with my refrigerator not cooling.
Gloria

[Dalwyn]

Appreciate everyone's comments. I just returned from a trip at Cane Creek State Park in southeast Arkansas. Day temps were in mid-90's and fridge could not keep temp below 43 or 44 and this was with a "blue freezer" pack in the bottom to help with the cooling and the dial set all way to 7. I will be calling the dealer today and see about getting the kit. My unit is a 2015 Grand Tour.

[southjk]

Keep in mind, I've had the mod and it did not help. You might let them know that . I'm waiting on a 1500 ohm resistor to speed up the compressor. The original mod uses a 500 ohm . I hope it works,

[gghayes]

Originally Posted by Dalwyn

Appreciate everyone's comments. I just returned from a trip at Cane Creek State Park in southeast Arkansas. Day temps were in mid-90's and fridge could not keep temp below 43 or 44 and this was with a "blue freezer" pack in the bottom to help with the cooling and the dial set all way to 7. I will be calling the dealer today and see about getting the kit. My unit is a 2015 Grand Tour.

I not only have the kit, and a new refrigerator and new resistors and my refrigerator still does not cool
Gloria

[Brucet45410]

Originally Posted by southjk

Keep in mind, I've had the mod and it did not help. You might let them know that . I'm waiting on a 1500 ohm resistor to speed up the compressor. The original mod uses a 500 ohm . I hope it works,

Southjk, could you provide more details on your fridge mod? Materials and procedures, for instance?

Thanks


2014 Airstream Interstate
Round trip VA to ID longest trip so far.