Refrigerator and A/C issues

jsands72 · 05-13-2018, 08:37 AM

2017 Winnie Sunstar 32YE with dual door RV Fridge and Dual A/C units on the roof. Just recently purchased January 2018. This is our first summer in the rig. Its been cold up til now so we're not sure what to expect.

Question: The Fridge is struggling we think?? It didn't get down below 50 deg F. yesterday. (90 degrees outside and A/C units on in rig). All winter/spring it has been doing fine and getting down to low 30's. This morning it is down to 33, but seems to be rising slightly as the day and temps rise. What temps should we expect in the fridge during the summer? freezer is down to 31 btw when fridge is stuck at 50??

We tried to turn the unit off and let it reset for 30 minutes yesterday (w/o opening the doors). No real change. We started the unit on LP as we were getting ready for our trip, switched to A/C as soon as we got to the site and as of 9:30pm it was still near 50? It had need on over 9 hrs at that point.

Thanks in advance for any advice or thoughts...
Jim

rk911 · 05-13-2018, 08:55 AM

50 is way too warm. be sure tge cooling find are clear of ice....remember, life begins at 40. consider adding external exhaust fans to the rear of the frudge and/or to the chimney. also don’t over-pack the interior of the fridge. we struggled the same wsy with an RV fridge for years and then gave up. our current RV has a residential fridge.

Mike Owens · 05-13-2018, 08:59 AM

Not sure of the specific frig you are using. But if the sme temp inside on lp and electric the only things they have in common is the temp setting control inside and the ability to draft reat. An absorption ref need proper draft and level for this drafting to create the refrigeration cycle need by the fridge.

A little light reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator

jsands72 · 05-13-2018, 10:16 AM

Fridge is mostly empty so it’s definitely not packed. It’s back down to 33 ish now 10:15 am but it’s nice out with decent breeze. Not sure what’s going on unless starting it out on LP and then switching over had something to do with it. Read another post about that issue.

So with the residential fridge you need to have your generator on at anytime not hooked up to AC correct?

rk911 · 05-13-2018, 11:05 AM

no. resi fridge operates off the inverter/battery bank. boondocking or off grid is possible but genny and/or solar needed to recharge batteries. not a perfect solution but i was fed up stressing abt the fridge. you might also speak with dometic or norcold about adjusting the thermistor location. the thermistor is the little device attached to one of the cooling fins. it needs to be attached to a specific fin and moving it up and down on that fin adjusts the cooling temp.

**creativepart** · 05-13-2018, 03:43 PM

Sounds like a problem with your fridge. I can’t tell from your initial post but you should be aware that an RV fridge generally needs a full 20+ hours to get fully cooled down when you first turn it on after it’s been in storage before you try to load it with food.

That’s one of the many advantages of a residential fridge - they cool down very quickly.

We had a 4-door RV fridge in our Class C and we’d always start it on A/C the day before loading it. But once cool it “generally” stayed cool. Except on days over 98 degrees when there was a lot of new food added to the fridge.