I was out at Lake Mead Tempter 115 my refrigerator would not get cold the freezer would stay cold. Would this be because of the tempter outside or should the Refrigerator stay cold regardless of the tempter and if it is then what should I check for on the refrigerator.
If you were running on propane I think the refrigerator might have problems staying cold once the temps move past 100 or so. If you were plugged in and running on electricity the refrigerator should be ok. I can see all kinds of trouble though being out in the desert with no shade on the rig. I would probably try to keep the refrigerator shaded. They are usually on the awning side.
When we were getting ready to travel north, I had taken the mh out of winterization and turned the fridge on to get it cold prior to putting food in it.
The first morning after turning it on, the temps inside were normal (around 36 degrees) and stayed that way until afternoon when the outside temperature (not tempter, by the way) rose to about 105. At that time, I checked the fridge and it was 42 degrees. I switched the fridge over to LP (it was on 120v), and the next afternoon, it did the same thing.
So yes, the outside temps are definitely to be taken into account for the fridge's operation.
Hope this helps
Ron
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FWIW, in their service manual, Dometic claims the cooling unit should be able to maintain an internal temp in the refrigerator of 45F in up to 113F (basically it can do up to 68F drop).
If it's any consolation, I'm having the same issues where I only see about 30-40F drop (i.e. as long as it's not more than 70F, things are ok but if it goes higher, fridge can't keep up). Unfortunately, I'm a wuss and don't really want to camp if it's not going to be above 70F!
When it's that hot out these things struggle to keep up. For now, putting any fan you have in the outside vent blowing in and up will help. "the freezer would stay cold" does not tell us much. The freezer needs to be at 15 degrees or lower (measured on the back wall at the bottom) for the fins in the refer section to get below 32. Those fins need to get cold enough to have frost on them so the rest of the refer section will get below 40.
Most of us have added a fan on a switch to aid in getting rid of the excess heat when it's too hot out. Something like this $10 fan from Radio Shack helps. Two is even better. If your unit is in a slide then there's even more you need to do.
This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
michelb wrote: FWIW, in their service manual, Dometic claims the cooling unit should be able to maintain an internal temp in the refrigerator of 45F in up to 113F (basically it can do up to 68F drop).
If it's any consolation, I'm having the same issues where I only see about 30-40F drop (i.e. as long as it's not more than 70F, things are ok but if it goes higher, fridge can't keep up). Unfortunately, I'm a wuss and don't really want to camp if it's not going to be above 70F!
Michelb
I think next time I’m going to the mountains instead of the lake not only was it hot ass H**L out there we had to walk a mile to the lake from where the camp ground was NOT FUN. Thanks for the advice.
Ivylog wrote: When it's that hot out these things struggle to keep up. For now, putting any fan you have in the outside vent blowing in and up will help. "the freezer would stay cold" does not tell us much. The freezer needs to be at 15 degrees or lower (measured on the back wall at the bottom) for the fins in the refer section to get below 32. Those fins need to get cold enough to have frost on them so the rest of the refer section will get below 40.
Most of us have added a fan on a switch to aid in getting rid of the excess heat when it's too hot out. Something like this $10 fan from Radio Shack helps. Two is even better. If your unit is in a slide then there's even more you need to do.
Ivylog
Now that looks like a good idea I think I will try that next time I get eventer is to go out to the lake again at a 115 degree heat which I don’t see happening any time soon or until the lake level rises closer to the camp ground which also won’t happen any time soon, But thanks for the good advice I will most likely put the fans on just to give it more help.
lanerd wrote: When we were getting ready to travel north, I had taken the mh out of winterization and turned the fridge on to get it cold prior to putting food in it.
The first morning after turning it on, the temps inside were normal (around 36 degrees) and stayed that way until afternoon when the outside temperature (not tempter, by the way) rose to about 105. At that time, I checked the fridge and it was 42 degrees. I switched the fridge over to LP (it was on 120v), and the next afternoon, it did the same thing.
So yes, the outside temps are definitely to be taken into account for the fridge's operation.
Hope this helps
Ron
Ron
I think I’m going to agree with you on this one it worked just fine till we used it in tempters that the sun can't match but I think I’m going to try what Ivylog did with the fans and see if it will help.
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