Refrigerator Question

Just took our 2nd camping trip with our Trailmanor (the first one was just overnight)...everything went well and worked well....no problems!! When we got home last night, we put the refrigerator on AC and plugged into the house and I noticed this morning that things were not as cold as when we were camping! While we were hooked up at the campsite, the refrigerator worked great....as a matter of fact, we set up in the driveway the day before we left and plugged in the refrigerator and ice cube tray and the next day we had ice cubes and it worked great...the only thing I can think of is that we didn't level last night when we got home...also noticed some water on the floor under the sink this morning...I am assuming it came from the refrigerator because the ice cubes were beginning to melt this morning....any suggestions? We haven't tried the refrigerator using gas yet...maybe we should?? Thanks for your help! Also, there was another Trailmanor in the park where we camped! I understand that's quite unusual!

[Bill]

Eleanor -

You say you haven't tried operating on propane yet. (Actually, propane is the best of the three sources in terms of cooling power). But the refrig worked in your driveway before you left. And it worked when you were in the campground.

In your driveway before, and in the campground, what was the refrig set for? AC or DC? What was different from the situation when you got back? Did you use DC in the earlier situations, and then AC when you got home? If so, try switching to DC at home, and see if the situation improves. Let us know.

Two possibilities suggest themselves to me. Firtst, water on the floor sounds to me like the door was open a tiny bit. I have done this by mis-setting the travel latch - it is not hard to do. This sets up a constant flow of warm moist air into the refrig. The humidity (plenty of that in Flordia!) hits the chiller, condenses into water, and runs onto the floor.

Assuming the door was closed, we're back to levelling, as suggested by T_C. Early absorption refrigerators (the refrig in the TM is an absorption refrig) had to be VERY LEVEL as T_C describes, or they wouldn't work at all. As I recall the FAQ for these things, more modern units need to be "visibly level". In other words, if they look level to the eye, that's good enough - you don't need a 6-foot level or a calibrated tiltmeter to get them to work. [I'll try to find the reference for that, and post it.] However, if you didn't level the TM when you got home last night, at least by eyeball, then most likely that was the problem. How far off level was the TM?

Bill

Thanks for your imput guys....my gut feeling is that the door might have been left open a little and I didn't realize it....our driveway is very level, so I really don't think it was that....it was on the same driveway before our trip and the refrigerator worked fine....I did notice during our trip that once in awhile I'd go to go into the refrigerator and the door was slightly ajar and I'd have to push it to make sure it was closed all the way....we were tired when we got in last night and turned it to AC, turned off the fan, plugged it in and went to bed....again, thanks for the quick responses....love this Website and told the couple we me with the Trailmanor about it....

TC, doesn't your refer have a locking device on the top of the door? I haven't had our door open while travelling. But have noticed that the door has opened while camping. Hate to say it but now I lock it all the time.

ColoradoCop 8)

[Bill]

Hey, I remember the bracket and pin arrangment on the refrig in my folk's Airstream! It worked well, largely because it was very visible. As I recall, it was simply a couple triangular pieces of sheet metal. One was screwed to the top of the refrig door with one point sticking out. The other was screwed to the refrig frame just above the door (or was it the underside of the counter?), with a point sticking out. When the door was closed, the points of the triangles lined up, a hole in each point lined up, and a pin (thoughtfully captive on a short flexible wire) could be dropped through the pair of holes.

Since we, too, have ended up with food on the floor a couple times, I've been thinking of cutting some sheet metal triangles myself, to duplicate that old system. If I get it done, I'll post a picture. But you could use screws eyes, installed in the same locations, just as well. I don't know about you, but I would be certain to misplace a bungee cord.

Bill

[Denny_A]

[quote author=Texas_Camper link=board=18;threadid=1835;start=msg13086#msg1308 6 date=1082137854]
Colorado Cop:
I have been toying with the idea of installing two gold colored screw eyes that would allow the door to be secured with a bungee cord while in transit.
Has anyone actually done this or something similar?
[/quote]
T_C,

Guess I'm lazy - or maybe it's my version of the KISS principal. Just before closing the unit for travel I apply DUCT TAPE over the latch so that it won't jostle open. Never had a problem since the first inadvertent opening some time ago.

Denny_A

Occam's Razor(my version, anyway) - if there are two or more equally effective solutions to a problem; choose the simplest.

[Bill]

T_C -

Your thoughts are good. Yes, a hole in the flashing / door frame would be good, especially if we could find a shouldered plastic sleeve to line it for appearance purposes. Let me see what I can find. Using a nail as a pin is a good idea. My guess would be something on the order of a 3" (10-penny?) nail, with the pointed end cut off to leave about 1-1/2" length.

Upon further reflection, it would seem that only a single triangle might be necessary - the one that is screwed to the underside of the countertop. Place it so that when you drop a pin through it, the pin drops just in front of the door, rather than into a hole in the door frame.

Yes, having the triangle stick out would be an invitation to a snag at that level. To minimize that, the protruding point of the triangle should be very rounded and smoothed, and need not stick out more than 1/2" or 3/4".

The pin doesn't get lost, because it is captive on the end of a short length of string or wire. Most of the time, it just hangs there, looking out of place. But when you are closing up, and scanning the interior for the last time, it used to attract attention in the old Airstream.

I will have my TM open within the next couple days. Let me put some thought into it, and report back to the group.

Bill

[Denny_A]

[quote author=Texas_Camper link=board=18;threadid=1835;start=msg13089#msg1308 9 date=1082150883]
Duct tape would work, but would it leave a sticky residue?
[/quote]

It's on only during transit, and just a small enough strip to do the job. The stickum doesn't seem to get real cozy with the hardware in that time.

But, if I see a residue develop, I'm prepared to move heaven and earth to de-residue the latch and door! 8)

Denny_A (kudus to Occam)

I don't work and I leave sticky residue! Besides my grand daughter says you can fix anything with Duct Tape. KISS seems right on.