Bad Refer? Or Just Too Hot to Be Cool? Help!

[mstephens]

I picked up the trailer from storage and it was about 105F, so I assume it was at least that inside the trailer. We closed up the fridge, set it for "LP" and motored on up to Tehachapi 3 hours away. When we got here, the indicator on fridge was still "60" and it didn't appear to be cooling. It is now 5 PM and still on 60.

2012 unit, Dometic, LP & 120V model.
-All fuses seem ok. Everything else works
-LED control lights for fridge are on
-Set for coldest operation
-The external fan is running
-Plenty of propane (tested with the stove)
-Oddly I can't hear a burner going though.
-No visible loose wires in the access hatch
-Worked fine last time out
-Current temp outside is 88F.

Assuming the air in the fridge was 105F when I closed the door, how long would it take to cool below 60 so that the gauge would start to read like 59, or the usual 40?

We used to live in a cool climate where it was 40 at night. We'd plug the fridge into house current the night before leaving and never had an issue. Now, the trailer is stored away from home, so I can't pre-condition the fridge.

Do you think it is working, but taking a long time to get below 60? Any way for me to know if the LP burner is on?
Thanks

[sandlapper]

On the back of the frig, inside the rear vent, take the sheet metal cover off the burner assembly area. If the burner is working you will see it burning, with a nice blue flame. Even with the cover in place you should be able to hear it burning.

105* is hard on everything. It may take a while to cool down.

John

[Wazbro]

It's been said that it takes 24 hours for an RV fridge to get down to temp, of course it depends on the starting temp.

[robert claus]

If you can't pre-cool the fridge before leaving, you might want to load the freezer with ice when you pick it up, then give it a day to stabilize temps.
Give it more time to cool before deciding if it's working. You may need to pack a cooler and rely on that for a day or so before loading the fridge. On our last trip, I forgot to turn on the fridge the night before, and it was only around 75 or so. It took a full day to get down to operating temp, and I threw in a couple of ice packs in the freezer.

[TouringDan]

I can't here my fridge run at all. Stick your hand in the fridge and feel the aluminum fins. They should be very cold.

Is there food in the fridge? It will take a lot longer to cool down loaded with food than if it is empty.

I would put a bag of ice in the fridge to help it cool down. I always freeze a gallon jug of water the night before and then put it in the fridge when we leave. Also make sure that the food that you put in the rv fridge is cold.

I used to have problems keeping my old fridge below 40 in hot weather. When I installed my new fridge, I took great pains to make sure I had baffles in place and proper sealing in accordance with the installation instructions. There is a thread in the fridge section FYI. I keep my fridge on setting 2 and it stays 34-37 degrees. Even when it was in the high 80's it was never over 38 degrees.

Good luck, Dan

[Aage]

Not sure if your model has it, but ours has an LP gas petcock on the bottom of the trailer directly under the refer.

If you have one of those, be sure that the arm is in-line with the tubing. If it is at a right angle to it, then it is off.

[dkottum]

If the fridge is on the sunny side of the trailer it will cool even slower.

doug

[mstephens]

Originally Posted by sandlapper

On the back of the frig, inside the rear vent, take the sheet metal cover off the burner assembly area. If the burner is working you will see it burning, with a nice blue flame. Even with the cover in place you should be able to hear it burning.

105* is hard on everything. It may take a while to cool down.

John

Yes. I turned the external fan off, and when I listen I can hear the burner. So, it IS working, but really taking a long time to get cool. Now that I know it is on, I can relax a bit. We're done for the day anyway.

Lotsa good tips about pre-conditioning with ice - thanks everyone. After I posted this, we ran out to town and picked up some ice to put in the freezer.

All good. Sunset is nice, the desert is cooling down beautifully. The windows are open, a breeze is blowing, we got some cold drinks, we are the only ones in the CG, the stars are coming out. Man o' live - it's good to be in an Airstream!

[cwf]

Here in Texas we are at 101 and higher. I fired up a day early and it took over 24 hours to get close to safe in fridge, but freezer was at Zero.

We put water and it froze in 10 hours. Stayed frozen even on our trip to camp. Been keeping up with Grandkids opening all day!

This is with our addition of dual fans.

So far so good .....

[Jim & Susan]

I'll betcha it's just a time thing--the fridge just hasn't been on long enough in all that heat.

I do have a question, tho. A couple of you have mentioned "fans". Where are these fans? On the back of the fridge blowing over the coils? The reason I ask is that I've got fridge wows of my own (new cooling unit on the way).

Jim

[sandlapper]

I mounted 3 of those 12v pancake fans near the top of the "chimmney", just under the top vent, to help exhaust the heat. I also constructed a baffle back there to close up the space. There is some good reading on here about frig problems and some cures.

Due to the nature of the Airstream design there is way more space behind the the frig that it needs to exhaust properly. Baffles and fans help to get the heat out.

John

[dkottum]

If you have the front dinette 25' as we have, there are two ventilation doors for the fridge compartment (there is a conv/microwave over the fridge so no vent chimney in the roof).

When hot outside I prop open the upper door, or both doors, and that definitely helps the cooling air move through the compartment. I use a couple of those large bendable cable ties for props, the center under the compartment latch and the ends propped just inside the door frame. Close the doors for rain or high wind, or travel.

doug

[mstephens]

I prop open the doors too. Fan runs less. I am going to do what Sand did - replace fans with better, larger, quieter unit.

The fridge is down to 39 this morning. Yahoo! Everything was normal, just taking a long time.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by cwf

This is with our addition of dual fans.

Did you discuss this here or post photos? I'm about to add fans and I'd love to see your installation..?

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by sandlapper

I mounted 3 of those 12v pancake fans near the top of the "chimmney", just under the top vent, to help exhaust the heat. I also constructed a baffle back there to close up the space. There is some good reading on here about frig problems and some cures.

Due to the nature of the Airstream design there is way more space behind the the frig that it needs to exhaust properly. Baffles and fans help to get the heat out.

John

John

I could not agree more. The shape of the Airstream with the curved walls behind the fridge requires the installation of baffles to get the best performance from the fridge. The reason that it is important is not to get the heat out, but to increase the heat transfer from the hot air behind the fridge to the coils and the condenser. The baffles direct the air flow through the coils and fins, not allowing the air flow to bypass around them. The baffles and fans also increase the velocity of the air flow which increases the heat transfer to the coils and condenser fins.

The use of baffles and fans improves the performance of the fridge in two different ways. First, it lowers the temperature of the fridge for a given setting. For example, I have my fridge set on two and the fridge temperature varies from 34-38 throughout the day. Without the installation of these baffles, the fridge temperatures would be much higher like maybe 44-48, I don't really know because I did not ever operate the fridge on setting two before I installed it with the baffles. The second advantage is that it takes less energy to operate to maintain a certain temperature. For example, I used to run my old fridge on the max setting to keep it under 40. This meant that it was running all the time. With my new fridge and the installation of baffles, I set it on two, 34-38 is maintained in the fridge, and it operates the heater element only 60% of the time. This saves 40% of the fridge energy bill. Details of this test are in a separate thread.

I am curious how much baffling Airstream installs behind the fridge in recent models. My 66 Tradewind did not have any.

Could you please provide a photo of your two fans in the plenum? I may install some to see how this affects my fridge performance and efficiency.

Thanks, Dan

[sandlapper]

I pulled the frig out to mount my fans. Not hard but but a 2 person job to get it out, move it out of the way.

Mounted the fans on a board that went across the width of the chimmney, under the top vent. Wired them together, hooked in to the 12v on the terminal block on the back of the frig. I used a switch, located inside the rear vent compartment, instead of a thermostat. Works well. Sorry I didn't take any pix.

Another option is to simply put a regular 10-12 inch household fan inside the compartment, lying on it's back, pointing up. The 110 is already there in the compartment where the frig plugs in. Mine has a double receptacle there. Won't work for boondocking of course but sure is a easy, quick fix, and that fan puts off a bunch of air.

John

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by sandlapper

Another option is to simply put a regular 10-12 inch household fan inside the compartment, lying on it's back, pointing up. The 110 is already there in the compartment where the frig plugs in. Mine has a double receptacle there. Won't work for boondocking of course but sure is a easy, quick fix, and that fan puts off a bunch of air.

John

If there is adequate room, 13.5" x 13.5", you could use an endless breeze fan by Fantastic that operates on 12v. That way you could use it while boondocking without the need for an inverter.

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by sandlapper

Mounted the fans on a board that went across the width of the chimmney, under the top vent. Wired them together, hooked in to the 12v on the terminal block on the back of the frig. I used a switch, located inside the rear vent compartment, instead of a thermostat. Works well. Sorry I didn't take any pix.


John

John

Installing 3 computer fans to help the airflow sounds like a good idea. I think that I am going to try installing 3 fans in the inlet to the fridge vent area that is accessible from the bottom of the belly pan. This should help my fridge operate even more efficiently. We will see. I just ordered 8 of them off Amazon for $25 including shipping. Here is the link in case anybody is interested:

Amazon.com: Cooler Master 120mm Silent Case Fan 4-in-1 Value Pack - (R4-S2S-124K-GP): Electronics

I just may take the extra computer fans and make a "window fan" to install in one of the side windows to provide some economical cooling at night.

Dan

[Aage]

Two other places popular with the fan crowd:

1. Under the top horizontal row of cooling plates on the back, fans blowing up and through them.
2. Inside the refer in the lower section, clipped to the fins. The purpose is to move the air around inside the refer to give max cooling.

Here is a link to one of the cooling unit refurb companies that has a neat solution for the inside ones.

I want to try all of them, but it's tough to get my DW to loosen her grip on the existing refer so that I can experiment with mounting the four fans I want behind the refer, and the two inside.

[cwf]

Originally Posted by Aage

Did you discuss this here or post photos? I'm about to add fans and I'd love to see your installation..?

Look here:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f425...ns-109193.html

Of course fused. I picked up 12v from 12v power at fridge access door.

Edit... Got proper and stable temp after 24 hours.. Took 36-48 hours before fans.