Hot weather and the frig July 11, 2014, 08:40:39 am Yahoo Message Number: 147297I can set my frig to the coolest setting but when it gets in the 90's it moves up into the 50 plus degree range. I have an internal fan moving the air around and do my best to shade the frig side of my 95TK. It matters not whether it's on gas or AC power. It cools back down quickly as the ambient air cools. The freezer status frozen. Just wondering if this is normal or a sign of impending issues.
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #1 – July 11, 2014, 10:30:13 am Yahoo Message Number: 147298I can set my frig to the coolest setting but when it gets in the 90's it moves up into the 50 plus degree range. I have an internal fan moving the air around and do my best to shade the frig side of my 95TK. It matters not whether it's on gas or AC power. It cools back down quickly as the ambient air cools. The freezer status frozen. Just wondering if this is normal or a sign of impending issues. I do not know where your fan is located but I also had a fan setting over the light. It did a fair job but not what the new fan does.http://www.ebay.com/itm/181208057633?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 I bought this fan right before the 4th holiday and got it installed for use last week. I got the deluxe fan which cost $17.50 w/free shipping. It really worked great. With the old fan I could get the temp down to 40 at best and in the day it would go up to mid 45. With the new fan I had as low as 29 to 33 on the indoor out door thermometer after several day. For some reason the temps would drop more each day. Install takes about 15 minuets at most. Since the outing last week 3 in the group have ordered the fan. The fan lays tight against the cooling cools and did not take up any floor space in the frig. The 2 fans are to draw .14 amps each and when I tested them they drew .26 amps total. I left the fans run 24/7 In fact he also sells the Eternabond tape to repair our roofs at the best price I have seen. As I recall it was $50 for 4"x50 foot w/free shipping visit his store on line. His shipping is supper fast had it in 3 days
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #2 – July 11, 2014, 11:39:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 147299The refrigerator is probably not functioning well, rather than things like shade or internal air movement. We've had three different RVs, and have had no trouble maintaining 37-40 degrees in any of the refrigerators, even with outside temperatures above 105F, a middle temp setting, and no fans. If it's the original refrigerator, I'd guess it's failing at it's ripe old age of 30 years! I suggest replacing it, as new refrigerators work better than the old ones, due to better insulation and design. One of our previous refrigerators had a flue that dropped rust scale onto the burner, which had to be cleaned periodically to operate well, but that's not likely your problem, as the AC operation is the same as on propane.Eric Greenwell [lifewithalazydazerv] wrote, On 7/11/2014 5:40 AM:
Fw: [LD] Hot weather and the frig Reply #3 – July 11, 2014, 12:52:36 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147300"Removing heat from the coils on the back of the fridge will improve internal cooling. Two ways to cool the coils, 1. install a 12 volt muffin fan down low to suck in air or 2, Install a similar fan above the coils to force air out the vent. If the fan were installed on the chimney with no internal ducting, it would tend to pull air from the open edges of the chimney cap. So an internal pipe (duct) should be as large as the fan diameter and should extend down to the top of the coils"The above is from a blog, kokoandpelli back in 2011."The Silver Fox" Ian & Jean - Seattle
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #4 – July 11, 2014, 08:34:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147302Since the freezer seems to be OK ("freezer status frozen," according to Ted's original post), the refrigerator's cooling mechanism is probably working fine.Try this: look at the metal fins toward the upper back of the refrigerator compartment. Look for a white plastic clip on one of the metal fins (usually located toward the right side of the ridge). This clip contains a temperature sensor. To make the refrigerator colder relative to the freezer, slide the clip upward. Hopefully that will help.Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #5 – July 12, 2014, 01:07:36 am Yahoo Message Number: 147304I tried moving the plastic slider on the side of the fins. And I did gain a few degrees. I also added my own fan over the light and that helped. But the new fan lowered the temp more than 10 degrees. And if there is one thing that I like it is my beer below 40. And the 30 has made me real happy. I could lower the freg one notch but I like my beer C O L D.
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #6 – July 12, 2014, 04:29:21 am Yahoo Message Number: 147305I have installed a small muffin fan inside the fridge, wired across the door light switch. The fan is on rubber stand offs to help keep it quiet.On the roof, I'm using a small solar powered vent with flue pipe extending down to the top of the coils. That helps some I'm sure.What *really* made a difference was installing a small 20 watt solar panel on the roof to power two muffin fans to pull air into the outside fridge vent door. I made a sheet aluminum plenum to mount the fans and also to maximize the area of the door they would pull air in through. Most of the time when it's hot I set the fridge on 2 or 3 for 40* fridge and 5* freezer. Prior to using the solar panel powered fans, we'd get much more of a swing in fridge temperatures from day to night, over cooling at night and having to run the fridge on 5 with temps still pushing 45*F or so. Now it's fairly stable from day to night as the outside coil fans shut off "automatically".bumper
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #7 – July 12, 2014, 08:23:03 am Yahoo Message Number: 147306Does this problem occur while the LD is moving or stationery or both?John A Wozniak
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #8 – July 12, 2014, 08:28:51 am Yahoo Message Number: 147307I'll try that Andy but the frig does fluctuate alot on the same setting. Is that fluctuation that concerns me.
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #9 – July 12, 2014, 08:33:50 am Yahoo Message Number: 147308I suspect age is playing a role here Eric thanks. It has no problem getting cold. On an average temp day it will hover around 33 on the middle setting. The problem arises when it gets in the high 80's and 90's.
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #10 – July 12, 2014, 09:13:31 am Yahoo Message Number: 147309From: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com [mailto:lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com] Sent: Friday, July 11, 2014 10:08 PM To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [LD] Hot weather and the frigI tried moving the plastic slider on the side of the fins. And I did gain a few degrees. I also added my own fan over the light and that helped. But the new fan lowered the temp more than 10 degrees. And if there is one thing that I like it is my beer below 40. And the 30 has made me real happy. I could lower the freg one notch but I like my beer C O L D.[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #11 – July 12, 2014, 12:32:53 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147310"the frig does fluctuate a lot on the same setting."Make sure it's well loaded. A full refrigerator will be much more temperature-stable than a half-empty one. The contents act as a "thermal flywheel," smoothing out fluctuations and helping to keep things cold.Andy BairdTravels with Andy 1 Likes
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #12 – July 13, 2014, 11:09:44 am Yahoo Message Number: 147316Great question John. I will keep better track of this. I'm not sure. If it stays cooler moving then I assume it's an air flow issue? 1 Likes
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #13 – July 14, 2014, 09:53:32 am Yahoo Message Number: 147347If it stays cooler moving then I assume it's an air flow issue? Possibly. I continue to have issues with ours. Hot humid days are a problem when driving. I've tried several things with no real success yet. A Dometic tech thought it was negative pressure inside the LD pulling on the door. I've installed a new thermistor inside the reefer; a dinosaur board; I blow air against the cooling fins; installed extra weatherstripping on the reefer door-so far still issues. My next step is to use an extension shower curtain rod to "push" the reefer door shut while moving. Reefer is 3 yrs old. Old unit had a Norcold. Loved it but Norcold doesn't make a unit that would fit the rough opening when our original dometic died.John A Wozniak Sent from iPhone Please excuse any typos 1 Likes
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #14 – July 14, 2014, 11:38:55 am Yahoo Message Number: 147351"Old unit had a Norcold. Loved it but Norcold doesn't make a unit that would fit the rough opening when our original dometic died."I don't remember which LD you have, John, but I've had Norcold N641 refrigerators in a 1985 twin/king and a 2003 midbath. In the T/K, the opening had to be very slightly enlarged; in the midbath, the fit was fine. In the latter case, I was even able to install the original "golden pecan" door panels in the new fridge, after a little trimming. They're just slightly too narrow, but it isn't noticeable.Andy BairdTravels with Andy 1 Likes
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #15 – July 14, 2014, 01:54:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147352Andy;I don't remember which LD you have, John, but I've had Norcold N641 refrigerators in a 1985 twin/king and a 2003 midbath. In the T/K, the opening had to be very slightly enlarged; in the midbath, the fit was fine. In the latter case, I was even able to install the original "golden pecan" door panels in the new fridge, after a little trimming. They're just slightly too narrow, but it isn't noticeable.We have a 1994 TK now, but had a 1989 with one couch and two barrel chairs in the rear [can't remember what that's called]. Your 1985 [Gertie] and our 1989 [Big Red] had the wardrobe on the left and the reefer on the right when one is in the kitchen looking at them. Big Red had a Norcold. Somewhere between 1989 and our current 1994 TK [Chug], LD switched the position of the wardrobe and the reefer so that the reefer is now on the left and the wardrobe on the right when you're looking at them. Now you wouldn't think swapping the position of these two would make a difference, but it does. Remember that where the wardrobe used to be on the old 22 footers was "next to" the ceiling A/C unit. On a wardrobe, it doesn't matter that much, just slice a bit more off the doors. But on a reefer that has to fit a rough opening, it does. I even called the Norcold factory direct before buying the Dometic and asked if there was any possible way to get things to fit that rough opening, and was told no. The smallest Norcold that would fit the width was 3" higher than the Dometic. So when LD made the switch, in that type unit, they essentially sole sourced the Dometic reefer as the only replacement, unless one wanted to try and gain the 3 inches needed by somehow eliminating the drawer underneath the reefer.Than N641 sounds familiar. I bet that's the Norcold we had in our 1994.John
Re: Hot weather and the frig Reply #16 – July 14, 2014, 02:41:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147354Don't know if it helps but our 1991 TK has the dometc refrigerator on the left. It might help determine the year of the switchover...-Bill
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