refrigerator - not too cold

[JourneytoRet]

With a Camco fridge fan, the fridge temp is about 45 degrees. Any ideas on how to get the temp more down to around 38 degrees? Aside from yelling at the kids to keep the door shut and stop window shopping!

[Protagonist]

Quick and dirty, if you're not in the shade, make some shade for the side of your trailer where the fridge is. There is a maximum temperature differential that your fridge can handle, so if the air outside the fridge is cooler, the air inside the fridge will be cooler, too.

[airdreamers]

There are many threads dealing with the temp of the frig. You will find, I think the majority of times it stems from the lack of air circulation at the rear compartment behind the frig. As example my 1985 AS had no fan, I added a solar fan a top of the roof vent, solved the problem. Sometime an obstruction in the passage way from the rear side vent to the roof vent. Be sure there is no air escaping into the trailer cabin from the rear of the frig, due to faulty installation. The hotter the weather the tougher the frig has to work the circulate the ammonia through the coils. Search the threads they is a wealth of knowledge,
ripe for the picking. Good Luck!

[LFC]

There is a little plastic cover over a sensor inside the fridge...slide it up or down exposing more of the sensor to change the temp.

[TouringDan]

I had similar problems with my old fridge. When I went to install the new fridge I realized that there was no baffling at the back of the fridge to force the airflow through the condenser fins and the area behind the fridge was not sealed to keep hot air and exhaust products out of the living area. I am a happy camper now. My fridge stays at 38 degrees even in 90 degree heat and my fridge is set on 2. No fans either. You may want to look at my thread in the fridge section-one on baffling and sealing, the other on monitoring fridge temperature.

Good luck.

Dan

[StreamRollin]

I have a 99'. Will mine have one of these sensors inside to?

Thanks Jim

[LFC]

I'm sure it does.

[AldeanFan]

The old Dometic in my '77 Safari is not happy unless it is perfectly level both front to back and side to side. Last weekend at the Nascar race one side of the trailer sank in to the soft ground and our beer got warm a 2x6 under the street side wheels solved the problem.

I 've heard the newer fridges are less sensitive, but I don't know what "newer" means!

[Chatooga11]

Does the fridge have to be level to run properly in electric mode? My 62 safari has a Dometic 2 way fridge. It makes noises when I plug it in a turn it on, but it doesn't cool at all.

[nickmeloy]

Originally Posted by LFC

There is a little plastic cover over a sensor inside the fridge...slide it up or down exposing more of the sensor to change the temp.

Can you be more specific on the direction of movement and what this does to the temperature?

[Aage]

Originally Posted by Chatooga11

Does the fridge have to be level to run properly in electric mode? My 62 safari has a Dometic 2 way fridge. It makes noises when I plug it in a turn it on, but it doesn't cool at all.

Yes, regardless of mode of operation (120V or LP gas) it needs to be level for the coolant to circulate properly.

Assuming you have no connections broken, the problem could be that the old original heating element is defective. It's easy to remove if the refer is out of the trailer, but it may be possible to get at it from the hatch opening too.

Remove the element and apply 120V to the leads (after you have removed them from the connections on the refer). It will heat up immediately if it is in good operating condition, so be very careful how you do this test.

The element is only about $40 to buy new.

[Fly at Night]

Experienced same during 100F. day at a campsite with no shade. Fridge temp. would creep up to 41 - 42 during hottest part of the day.

The funny thing is that the freezer still worked well - food was not defrosting.

So, worked around this by alternating the dairy/protein foodstuffs between freezer and fridge - not until they froze - but until they were extremely cold, then would put back into fridge on frozen ice packs. It worked well. Also tried not to overload the fridge - took things like fruit out.

Any foodstuff containing protein has a pathogenic risk due to improper temp. storage. Must be kept at 40F or below.