Fridge question - how long for initial cool-down?

How do I know if my fridge is working (first time I have turned it on)? It's been on for a couple of hours (AC) and no cooling. How long generally does anyone think it should take to cool (no food inside)? Thank you!

In two hours the finns should be cool or cold to touch. What setting do you have it on, I believe 5 is coldest.
Also, are you using gas, 110 volt or 12 volt. 12 volt is very slow compared to 110 or gas.

Another check is for heat coming out of the top vent,

Describe your settings please.

I'm on 110 volt and the setting is at 5. The finns are insidethe fridge? I haven't touched those.

I do feel heat outside so think it is venting, just no cooling inside. I touched the element inside (probably the finns) and they are not cool.

[ShrimpBurrito]

The fact that you feel heat on the outside is a good thing. It is an absorption fridge, with no moving parts, and requires a heat source to get things going. The fact that you feel heat means the heater is working, which is the first step.

The fins RodgerR refers to are the metal fins on the back wall of the fridge just beneath the freezer. Depending on the ambient temperature outside, these should feel relatively cool, but not "frozen" within several hours. I'd let it run over night, and check it after 24 hours. Check the freezer first -- it gets cool before the fridge compartment. If the freezer isn't cold to touch within 24 hours with the fridge on AC, you've got a problem.

Dave

Thank you. The finns do feel cool now. Here's hoping the morning brings a cold fridge.

FWIW When I am getting ready to leave on a Friday night, I load the fridge with non perishable items (soda etc.) the weekend before and leave the TM closed, fridge set to 5 on 12 volts, fridge fan on, no shore power and batteries disconnected.

Wednesday evening I connect the batteries and plug in to shore power.

When I arrive in camp Friday evening the fridge and its contents are cold and the pair of group 24 RV/Marine batteries are fully charged.

[wbmiller3]

The hot air from the outside vents is my first clue that it's working. We let it run overnight and that is good enough. If the food you put in is already cold, that helps too.

We try to pre-chill the refrigerator before leaving on 110 volt and then switch over to 12 volt when we close up. Enroute if we have a long stop we unplug the TM from the TV so as to not deplete the TV battery. We also stick several of those plastic "blue ice" blocks in the freezer compartment. This has worked well for us. We always travel with a cooler in the TV so every day we swap the blue ice blocks from the cooler for the ones in the TM freezer and never have to buy ice enroute. - camp2canoe

[Wavery]

It's very hard to tell when an empty fridge is "Cold" because as soon as you open the door, the cold air exits from the bottom of the fridge and that draws room temp air in the top of the fridge. Every time that you do that, the fridge has to re-cool all that air space.

If you want a good test, put a soda can in the bottom of the fridge. In about 4 hours, that can should be cool and in 8 hours it should be cold.

Like others, we pre-cool the fridge (on 110v) the night before leaving. Load it with cold and frozen food. It does an excellent job of cooling, even in temps of 105+.