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BillHoughton's avatar
BillHoughton
Explorer II
Feb 14, 2017

Idea: keeping fridge doors propped open during storage

I try to get my Class C within two degrees of level both ways when it's in storage, but, because of how our yard slants, it's most often nose down within that range.

Our fridge has little catches on the fridge and freezer door that keep the doors very slightly open to foster air circulation, but it's not much, and I worry about mold development; so I prefer to keep the doors wide open. Trouble is, when Madame Itasca is nose down, the doors tend to close.

There's a pantry cabinet just aft of the fridge in our rig, so I took a couple of small plastic bottles (mine were left over from chemicals for our hot tub, about 3/4" diameter and 2" long, soft plastic); drilled a hole in the caps to accept what the hardware store calls "tactical cord," basically heavy duty twine; filled the bottles with some metal scrap; and I had a door retainer.

I open the pantry door, put one bottle in the pantry with the cord over the top of the door, then close the door. I then open the freezer and fridge doors and run the line over them (down in front of them, in other words), leaving the other bottle hanging below the two doors. It works quite well.

20 Replies

  • In between trips I shut off the fridge and open the doors. AZ is dry enough that there is never a problem with this method.
  • scbwr wrote:
    I use the small plastic tabs for keeping the doors slightly ajar and I've never had a mold problem. But, we don't live in a hot and humid area such as the deep south where mold issues are more likely.


    Same here, but my fridge is on from April/May or sooner til November winterizing.

    Ken
  • Sounds nice and easy, plus it works well for your particular situation. We simply use the door clips provided by Dometic, but we have very low humidity in our region of the country and only require door to be slightly ajar to prohibit mold growth. Our yard is also slanted where we store our rig but never worry about level unless we are actually running the unit. There were a few times over a decade ago that my wife would forget to install door clips when cleaning out the fridge after extended trips, it would be a few weeks before I would notice and install clips, thankfully no mold ever developed.
  • mgirardo wrote:
    We keep a broom in our MH. At our previous storage lot we had a similar issue. The slant was barely noticeable, but the fridge doors and cabinet does did notice it. When we first unpack, we would put the fridge near the door hinges and that would keep the doors open. The force of the slant put enough pressure on the broom stick to keep it in place.

    You really only need to worry about it until it dries out. Once it is dry, mold/mildew can't form.

    -Michael


    Agree. After it dries, you can just shut the door. I do.
  • I use the small plastic tabs for keeping the doors slightly ajar and I've never had a mold problem. But, we don't live in a hot and humid area such as the deep south where mold issues are more likely.
  • We keep a broom in our MH. At our previous storage lot we had a similar issue. The slant was barely noticeable, but the fridge doors and cabinet does did notice it. When we first unpack, we would put the fridge near the door hinges and that would keep the doors open. The force of the slant put enough pressure on the broom stick to keep it in place.

    You really only need to worry about it until it dries out. Once it is dry, mold/mildew can't form.

    -Michael
  • I just drape a towel over the fridge door and the freezer door.
  • I use a 6" x 6" block of packaging foam to keep the freezer compartment door open. The freezer compartment door keeps the fridge door open in turn.
    Nice, efficient, lightweight, easily replacable solution.
  • My freezer door stays open, and I just prop a box (for zip lock bags/aluminum foil) in the opening between the door and frig body.
  • I use one box of baking soda to keep main fridge door open and another box to keep the freezer open when trailer is being stored. Baking soda simplu gets pushed to back when in use.