Is it normal....

[Safari Tim]

We just got back from a 4 night trip with the trailer. It was our third time out since much of the restoration.

I have some questions about some of the operations.

It was 100 degrees outside and the new Dometic 2510 fridge had to be set to max temp setting on gas to keep it cool. At first I thought the a/c portion did not work but it may have been that I had it set too low on the thermostat. I just kept it on gas/max since it started working.

Is it normal to have to adjust the fridge thermostat depending on the outside temp?

As a side note, the fridge door kept falling off all week. There is a nut on the bottom hinge that moves everytime the door is opened until it falls off!

The new atwood gas, pilot model blew out three times and needed relighting. Is this normal? It was breezy in the afternoons.

The new Penguin A/C kept the trailer at 80 degrees on the 100+ outside temp days running full time on max. I thought that was pretty good. Should it be better?


All in all we had a good time despite the little problems. I would like to expect the appliances to work a lot better given the amount I paid for them!

[j54mark]

I would consider that amout of a/c cooling in those conditions to be little short of amazing. The door falling of is, of course, not in any way "normal." I'd contact Dometic. It might be that the solution is as simple as Loctite.

I've never noticed the need to vary the refrigerator thermostat with outside temperatures, but then I have never used the coach when the heat was that extreme.

Mark

[JPAIRSTREAM]

Referigerator, if you have installed a new one and the outside has no holes it may be the couse. the newer fridges need more air to keep coils from getting to hot.

A/c not bad,


Water heater blowing out. Hummm is your door up tight or was you in very very high winds.

[moporolo]

To me, everything seems normal in your operation (except the Frig door falling off)

In my unit in hot temps I have to keep the AC on high and lower it only at night.

Same for the refrigerator. I try to park so the sun side is not on the refrigerator and that helps when I can do it. One of those little fans you can purchase (battery operated) helps a lot too in keeping the temps down.

I think you are OK, sounds familiar (except for the door thing)

[Dbraw]

The pilot light on our new Atwood water heater that I just installed on our '71 Safari also blows out in windy conditions. I just relight and don't worry.
Dan

[jcanavera]

Your A/C performance is good. My first trip out with my brand new 2001 Safari trailer was in full sun 100 degree weather. We were between 85-87 degrees inside during the hottest part of the day. To say the least I wasn't a happy camper. Further checking showed that the A/C unit was performing to specs. Night time was no problem. Once the sun set even though it was well into the upper 90's the temps came down. It just seemed to be insufficent to handle the heat gain on the Safari, when the sun was beating down on us.

I'm a big proponet of the new 15,000 BTU Penguin. If you are ordering new and your unit is 28' or larger take the 15K option rather than the 13.5. The other option is find a shady spot.

Jack

[Pahaska]

We have the 13,500 unit in the International and I have never run it except on the low setting, even in 100-degree weather. It will practically blow you out of the trailer if you turn it any higher. As it is, on low setting, I have to direct the vanes away from the bed since my side is in direct line with the outlet.

[Silvertwinkie]

Ditto what Jack said. I feel if you are over 22ft, that the 15k A/C is the best way to go. In my 19' it appears that the 11k unit is not a bad match, but I could very easily see the 13.5k unit falling short on the larger units suggesting that any increase in BTU would be a good idea.

For those that say the 11k unit is not much larger in BTU to the 13.5k unit, keep in mind that there is a night an day difference between the 11 and 13k units as there also could be between the 13k and 15k units. Every little bit helps!

Eric

[Don in E Texas]

We've installed a Carrier 15,000 BTU air unit in our trailer. Would recommend this brand over others that I've had. MANY features - and it does cool just fine in the heat of the day.

My $.02 worth

[john hd]

my door on my fridge had the same problem when the trailer was new, got a longer bottom hinge pin from dometic via ace fogdall in iowa.

problem was solved by this, duct taping the door shut in transit seemed a little tacky. (literally!)

john