Warm fridge

[Hilldweller]

sigh

The saga of the brand new Aliner continues.

I ran the fridge on 12 volt all the way to the campground at level 5 and it maintained temperature just fine. At the campground I switched to propane and was pleased to find that I could drop down to level 3 and still maintain 35 to 36°. That lasted until today when I opened up the fridge and it was at 40° so I bumped it up to level 4. Then I found it at 50°, so I bumped it up to level five. It's now at level 5 and sitting at 53°. The freezer is doing fine and food inside is 18 to 19°.

Any ideas?

 

[generok]

IF the unit is staying lit and it's not cooling well in the fridge area, try one of these fridge fans that run on batteries:

Might help. Also, what's the outside temp? If it is in the 90s, 53 might not be too bad for it.

 

[Hilldweller]

59 outside and 68 inside the trailer. It totally should be cool.
I've had 3 compressor fridges in trailers and all I ever had to do with them was set the temperature on the thermostat. They were 12/110 volt though.

 

[LilRed]

Have you installed a fan mod on the outside coils? Ambient outside temp should be within range, but if you have airflow issues (and the heat isn't exiting, like you'd see when travelling the highway) it could be a problem. Both the lower and upper vents clear of obstructions, and inside open too?

 

[WrkrBee]

Assuming you have the manuals with you. Does it give any help for those conditions?

 

[kitphantom]

What type/brand is it? With the Dometic 110/LP fridge in our TT, there is a slider (thermistor) on the fins, which is how the temp is adjusted. The wire fell out (after many, many miles of all sorts of roads), and it was difficult for me to see, given the location and my progressive lenses. The strange this was the freezer stayed OK, not the fridge. Once we put the wire back in place, all was fine.
In our hot weather recently, the max/min thermometer was reading a bit high in the refrigerator section, although still is safe range. I finally figured out that the battery fan had stopped. New batteries, temps right back where they need to be.

 

[Hilldweller]

I don't have enough bandwidth at my campsite to post the picture but there is a dinky little computer fan mounted over the coils and the positive wire was broken going to it.
I had to sacrifice three squirrels to Thor and nine tanna leaves to the mummy of Tutankhamun but I made the wires reach.
The fan is now engaged and the unit is cooling properly.

Again, brand new trailer and everything breaks upon its first use.

 

[Hilldweller]

 

[LilRed]

Glad you found the issue. Thor was kind to you, mere mortal!

 

[DiamondGirl]

Be sure to take note of the location (up or down) for the thermistor posted by @kitphantom. It can be moved by accident and cause chaos. Unfortunately I no longer have my notes kept for DiamondGirl. I passed them to the new owner.

DH installed additional fans to help with cooling down the coils. He bought a double fan kit online. It barely lasted five years and was expensive. It is cheaper to install computer fans cause you can select bigger fans.

Happy Camping…

 

[Hilldweller]

The computer fan is fairly loud.
I came in from the fire and DW said "the new neighbors are running their generator after-hours; I'm going to go tell the campground host."
"That's our fridge fan," sez I. "It's never been on before."
"Oh..,"

 

[neighbormike]

Dang! Shouldn’t be that noisy... I wouldn’t think anyway... I don’t have a fan in mine.

 

[WrkrBee]

Does it use Cyclopentane, instead of Ammonia, for the heat transfer medium?

 

[DiamondGirl]

Once my added fans started going out, they got loud and stopped. In the end, only the original continued to work.

Happy Camping…

 

[Tait]

I was able to replace my single noisy fan with two quieter fans, for a net increase in airflow, decrease in amperage, and they are so quiet you can barely hear them. One of my favorite mods so far!

The only downside is that they are so quiet, it is possible to forget they are on (not that I have personal experience with doing that or anything).

 

[Econ]

The computer fan is fairly loud.

Warning my head is full of codeine today so I may speak the truth. My pharmacist has already advised the State. <GG>

Would that be the world famous Rodale 108 computer fan that drinks a .5 amp at 12 VDC?
(TIC) The noisy fan that Aliner got a deal on and bought an inventory of a million because no one else wanted them? (TIC)

Where is yours mounted? Mine was mounted inset in the upper vent cutout. It hangs vertically directly screwed in a lower countertop frame part that allows the sound to be transmitted to the countertop that acts like a soundboard.

I no longer use the fan as I discovered a superior method that I no longer share. Morons ignorant in fluid dynamics used to ridicule me for attacking their fan religion with logic .

 

[Hilldweller]

Warning my head is full of codeine today so I may speak the truth. My pharmacist has already advised the State. <GG>

Would that be the world famous Rodale 108 computer fan that drinks a .5 amp at 12 VDC?
(TIC) The noisy fan that Aliner got a deal on and bought an inventory of a million because no one else wanted them? (TIC)

Where is yours mounted? Mine was mounted inset in the upper vent cutout. It hangs vertically directly screwed in a lower countertop frame part that allows the sound to be transmitted to the countertop that acts like a soundboard.

I no longer use the fan as I discovered a superior method that I no longer share. Morons ignorant in fluid dynamics used to ridicule me for attacking their fan religion with logic .

Yate Loon Electronics .8 amp mounted directly to the back of the fridge.
Share your wisdom with me; I vow that I'll only ridicule you directly to your face, fireside, over adult beverages.

 

[S4nsc]

The factory original fan that was in our 2005 Classic was extremely noisy. Bought our Ranger and sold the Classic before I got around to replacing it. Ranger doesn’t come with fans, I installed 2 computer fans and they are virtually silent. It is an upgrade worth doing if @Econ won’t share his black magic.

 

[bruce wayne]

my ranger 12 does not have reefer fans. it is the smaller one w/o the freezer. would it benefit me to add a fan? how would you suggest wiring, so i don't forget to turn it off? thanks.

 

[Steveo4090]

Again, brand new trailer and everything breaks upon its first use.

Indeed...I feel your pain.

Anyway, you can always leave the outside fridge opening cover off to get more air circulation as long as it's not raining. I mounted 2 fans over the outside fins to pull the hot air away from them and put a manual switch in line. They had blue LED lights on them, but that's what I got for free so I used them. Anyway, IMO that's the single best mod you can do for a new camper with a gas absorption fridge. Makes a so-so fridge into a freezer even on the hottest days.

@bruce wayne- I ran my power to the fans directly from the fridge wires where they went into the wiring block for the 12v power. You can get a thermostat that mounts right to the fins so it comes on automatically and/or just put a toggle switch in line. I turned mine on when I turned the fridge on, and off at the end of the trip...but we usually camp with power and not off grid so power consumption isn't an issue for us.