fridge question

Update, it sat in 80 degree weather for two days straight with having the door opened a few seconds twice, after getting home from work today, it was 60+ degrees in the fridge! I've noticed on the back of it there is a valve where it would seem like you could "charge" it.......the local RV shop tells me you can't get that done ANYWHERE around here.......and they have em rebuilt.........Does ANYONE know if they can be "recharged" with liquid ammonia? Yes, it is level, tho need to put the level in the freezer just to make sure............but pretty sure that's not it....and yes, I do know RV fridge's suck for the most part.......but not that bad.........anyone with any advice on this subject?

Happytrails

If I read this and your previous posts correctly;

works well on 120v, very cold though, you might need  to adjust the thermostat.

does not work on 12v, could be burnt out heating strip on the 12v circuit or low voltage at refer for what ever reason (corrosion, bad battery draw down, converter)

You never stated how well it cooled on propane.

If it cools well on any of the 3, it should not need to be charged. Propane should cool the best followed by 120v and then the 12v.

If memory serves me, the 120v heating element is 120 watt and the 12v element is 100 watt. The 12v circuit will draw close to 10 amps with line losses and if the converter is loaded elswhere the refer could not be getting the full current/voltage needed. Corroded terminals or wires could cause a significant voltage drop and thus a reduction in efficiency. Check the element with an ohm meter to see that it is good and then you may want to check the 12v circuit for current when power is applied. Sometimes corrosion will only show up under load.

Hope this helps

Thermostat is set to max. I didn't check the temp inside the tm this morning, but the temp of the fridge, not the freezer, was 31 degrees, but it was a little cool this morning. I just now checked it. TM inside room temp, 88.5, reefer 55.9 degrees. I put a level inside the freezer, and it was "slightly" off level, well, the bubble was against one line instead of exactly in between them....maybe that makes a difference, I'll wait and see what happens. I'm not too concerned about the 12v thing as it's probably an old battery, and going to replace it anyway. I was supprised the durned thing even took a charge, but it did after sitting for 4 years or so. But thanks a lot for the info about the propane cooling it better. I'm gonna try that as well and see what happens! Does anyone know how long you can get off the two bottles on a 3023 if you just use it for the reefer? Just curious. I'll probably cook everything outside in mine for the most part while camping, and due to hot weather, I won't be running the furnace. The hot water heater isn't working right now till I get a kit on it.....depends on how stubborn it'll be......lol I guess there'd be a few people who could tell me through normal use how many days you can get outta two cylinders for running everything? Just wondering........

Side note, my dad said something about cleaning the reefer's "chimney"......does anyone know what he's talking about? Just curious.....lol, he was walking around all day at work grumpy as hell, and wouldn't say much more............... :-/

Refer not getting cold should probably have been a new post....

I am no refer expert but another owner showed me how he installed a baffle in the back of the refrigerator, accessed from the outside, to direct the air past the coils. The way the refer is installed at the factory, much of the air can bypass the coils and not participate in the cooling.
I did not install a baffle but used a piece of foam rubber and wedged it into the space just inside the door to the outside of the RV; and glued it in. It acts the same as the baffle and was much easier to install.
I can send pictures if you contact me directly at [email protected].
We run our refer at 3 1/2 because it got too cold on 4, either on 120 VAC or 12 VDC. We do not run it on propane since we always use a campground with 120 available.
This may not be the cause of the problem but it is a good idea to add this modification no matter what the cause.
Dick_B

Yeah, I may still do that with the baffle thing. What I did was to take the door off the freezer section, seems to be getting cold now, but I have no frozen stuff.....then again, if we're camping, we can just buy ice if we need it.

Happytrails........

Superfly -- The short answer is "yes" you'd need to open the trailer to switch the reefer from DC to Propane.   One other note, the reefer cooling fan and the reefer together are big battery hogs.   I found my TM battery to half power a few times when I got to the camp site.  Kinda annoying.

Happytrails -- I'm inclined to agree with Brian.  You likely don't need a recharge, just need to check the DC heating circuit (somehow).  Obvious one, how's the fuse?

I dramaticly improved the cooling capabilities of my fridge by adding a cooling fan on the outside coils.  The fan is designed to enhance the cooling of the convective cooling system.  It turns on and off automatically at a preset temperature (95F ?).

I forget how much current it draws, but it isn't much.  I have a solar panel that keeps up with the load pretty well.  

They sell the fans in RV camping catalogs, and they are not too difficult to install if you are handy.  

Other factors to consider are sunlight (heating the condenser coils, blocked or dirty condeser or evap coils, and if equipped the interior cooling fan.  If the fridge doesn't have an interior cooling fan, you can order one of thos too and improve the efficiency.

These fridges are using a very delicate ammonia equilibrium system that doesn't take much to disrupt.  Just a hair off level or not enough air flow and you've got warm milk....

Hope this helps.

Oh well.....guess it doesn't matter now. Just got home from work expecting the reefer sitting around 70 or so, it was running 115 degrees inside..........and I smelled ammonia from outside the trailer............. :'(


"Not so" Happytrails...........  

Well, as you guys know, my fridge died on me, smell of amonnia all around. :-/ However, a solution? I happened to get a 26" tall (dorm type) 120v fridge to replace it out for father's day. After the frustration of leaving it running all night hoping the 3 way would be cold by morning, it was pretty good to find my new fridge sitting on 37 degrees after only 45 mins of being plugged in on a hot afternoon! ;D My dad dry camps a lot, and says if I just run the generator for 30 mins every morning, and 30 mins in the evening, and don't open it a lot, it'll keep cool just fine. On a side note, it's 2.7 cu feet, draws 1.5amps, 185 watts, and can be run on a 700w inverter....(for driving down the road). Plus now I got room to put in a 2.5"x21.5" drawer right above it. ;D I'm thinking if I can find some kinda ac source switch, and a battery isolator, I can switch it over to 12v before driving down the road. Of course if I cool it down the night before, and put some blue ice in it the morning we leave for anywhere, it should be fine anyway........any thoughts?

Happytrails.........