Fridge problems?? Or maybe normal

[Lemur]

Hello
I am new to airstreams and right now I am on our maiden voyage. I have not found my question answered on forum so please forgive me if this is posted already.

How long does it take for fridge to cool? It is staying at 46.
Everytime I put power setting to 5 and then hit set/temp to check power setting it says 1.

We have a 2014 sterling.

The trailer is level and we ate hooked up to power. Any fridge information will be helpful!

Thanks so much

[idroba]

It takes 4 to 24 hours to stabilize the temp in an RV refrigerator. Don't open it any more than you have to, and understand that doing things like making ice cubes, freezing warm items and so on in the freezer takes capacity from the refrigerator section, and will warm up the main box. RV units have far less capacity than home units so learning conservation techniques helps keep them cool and cold.

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by Lemur

How long does it take for fridge to cool? It is staying at 46.
Everytime I put power setting to 5 and then hit set/temp to check power setting it says 1.

Set at "5," your fridge should be able to stabilize in the mid to low 30's unless the ambient temperatures are in the high 80's to low 90's and your fridge's exterior wall is exposed to the hot sun, but in any event, you should be able to get into the high 30's.

If your controller resets itself to "1" after you set it to "5" you most likely have a problem with the control board.

Take this unit to your dealer (especially if you are still under warranty) or a factory authorized Dometic service center. If you are not under warranty and a Airstream dealer is not convenient to you, any competent Dometic technician should be able to fix this.

[Lemur]

Ok thanks
Should I try to run off propane instead??
Do i just hit the set/temp to hit 5 and it should stay there?

Thanks so much

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by Lemur

Ok thanks
Should I try to run off propane instead??
Do i just hit the set/temp to hit 5 and it should stay there?

Thanks so much

You could try propane but if your temperature setting does not stay at "5" when you put it there, that will not likely make much difference and may be why the fridge temperature is not getting cold enough. You want it to work properly on both electric and LP so I would plan on a trip to an Airstream dealer if still under warranty or any Dometic service center if not under warranty.

[aftermath]

What Bob said.

I would switch over to propane if only to see how that side works. It has been my experience that my fridge actually works better (faster) when on propane. When preparing for a trip I plug in the trailer a day or two before we leave. I also will turn on the fridge a day before we leave and have used the electrical side to cool it down. I have also used the propane and I do believe the propane cools faster.

[spclkaz]

I agree with Aftermath above... I still have the OEM fridge in my 94 Excella... I find that it will initially cool down faster when started on propane... once cool, I then switch over to AC... going down the road I leave the propane on so everything is still cool when I arrive at my destination.

One last fridge tip. On your departure checklist, make a box to to check to ensure that both fridge doors are securely latched. I failed to do that once and arrived to find my botton fridge door had opened and snapped off... I was able to put it back on to close, but it was a real pain on that trip to take the door off every time I needed to get in the fridge. Find the replacement part was hard so I fashioned a superglue/super putty sort of fix with the help of my biomed engineer son in law. But I am still paranoid about the door and now put my back up cooler in front of the door every time I travel...

[Kingsmen 33]

Takes about 8 hours to go from room temp to cool settings. There is no temp settings, just 5 levels of cold with 5 the coldest and 1 the lest cold. I think your issue is that you are actually resetting the fridge to 1 when you push the button while already on 5.
When i set fridge to the 3 coolness level my fridge settles at 39F.
When I set fridge to 4 coolness it goes to 37F.
Big issue is the heat dispersing fan located outside on the top access panel. If this fan stops working the fridge will not cool well. My 2013 Fyling Cloud fan failed almost upon delivery and i found the defective fan before losing the contents of fridge. Airstream blew me off when i e mailed them the problem. I have since gotten a much better fan and installed it myself in 20 minutes.

[Lemur]

Thanks everyone. I will have airstream look at it for warranty work when done with trip. Thanks for input everyone!!!