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Topic: No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!? (Read 1 time) previous topic - next topic
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No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!?
Yahoo Message Number: 103266
Hello all,

I was reading Tioga George blog and came across this:
 "Looking online for clues, we found a Norcold page which recommended switching to electricity from propane when at elevations above 5,500 feet"
 http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/2009/06/mr-dometic-overheats.html

Basically, George had to switch to electricity at 7,000ft because his Norcold fridge was overheating.
 I really don't understand this.  Can anyone shed some light?  Thanks.

Sam
Re: No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!?
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103269
Quote
Hello all,

I was reading Tioga George blog and came across this:
 "Looking online for clues, we found a Norcold page which recommended switching to electricity from propane when at elevations above 5,500 feet"
 http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/2009/06/mr-dometic-overheats.html

Basically, George had to switch to electricity at 7,000ft because his Norcold fridge was overheating.
 I really don't understand this.  Can anyone shed some light?  Thanks.
Sam
Gas combustion is less efficient at altitude, due to lowered oxygen concentration, and it is possible some fridges may have an O2 sensor shutoff, though hard to believe with their external combustion process. Our Dometic fridge has never had a problem at over 9500' (above which I won't take our anemic 4bbl).

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit
Re: No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!?
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103276
Quote
I really don't understand this.  Can anyone shed some light?

 There must be something wrong with his refrigerator...we have a Norcold refer and have been boondocking at up to 10,000' elevation with no problems.

Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
Linda Hylton
Re: No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!?
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103279
Linda,
 George's refer was still working, just a lot harder than at lower altitude, thus "overheating" as he described it.
 I also found the same recommendation on Thetford website (switch over to electricity above 5,500ft).
 I think Steve nailed the reason.  Insufficient oxygen for optimal operation.

Sam
Re: No propane for refrigerator above 5,500 ft altitude!?
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103281
Quote
I also found the same recommendation on Thetford website (switch over to electricity above 5,500ft).

 We spent most of the spring, summer, and into fall dry camping at the northern New Mexico state parks in 2007...all were over 5,500'.  I don't know how we would have accomplished running our refer on electricity (unless we'd started up our generators and run them 24/7).
 At any rate, at no time did we ever have a problem with our Norcold refer.

Linda Hylton http://map.datastormusers.com/user1.cfm?user=1167 http://earl-linda.blogspot.com/
Linda Hylton