Refrigerator not working in cold weather

DentRover wrote:
Do any of you have suggestions on how to keep my Norcold N81 refrigerator working when the temp goes below freezing? This is our first cold weather camping experience and we discovered the freezer has thawed.

:(

If you run it on gas it will work fine. The flame puts just enough heat out so it will work. I found that out at 15degrees one year. When I got home I mounted permently a single light fixture with a 60watt light bulb inside the bottom vent cover. When it gets to cold I just plug the light in . It puts out enough heat so the ice box 110ac heating element works fine.

The cold does not allow the refrigerant to boil which it needs to do to work. Try putting some cardboard over the outside vent cover. Leaving a bit of it exposed for venting.

DentRover wrote:
Do any of you have suggestions on how to keep my Norcold N81 refrigerator working when the temp goes below freezing? This is our first cold weather camping experience and we discovered the freezer has thawed.

:(

I bought a cold weather kit for mine but haven't installed it yet. The kit warms the tubing on the back of the fridge to help keep it operating correctly. Most RV places sell them.

Hi,

Norcold sells a cold weather kit.

If fridge gets too cold, thermostat will keep cooling unit from turning on, and freezer will not cool. Leave heat on, open frige door till frige temp is up to about 40 or so, and it will work.

Here is a video where I think; if I remember correctly; they talk about how to keep the fridge working in cold weather.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5RGlcLSrM4

thecooling unit is freezing a light and partial blockage on the cover will help it

I have noticed this too, fridge is too cold, freezer is too warm. For me, it's a sign that it is time to decommission the fridge for the season :)

Echoing what others have said, you need to raise the temperature around the fridge. I've been keeping my trailer at about 40F inside and that's enough to make the unit happy. I'm holding out for one or two more camping trips before decommissioning for the winter. Now I have to wait for the trigger happy 'hunters' to finish their gun season before I head into the woods again.

One suggested solution is to put a 100 watt light bulb inside the lower refrigerator vent.

What do you keep the temp set at in the camper (furnace). I have found that if you let it get too cold it messes with the fridge or more specifically the freezer. I have the same issue with my fridge/freezer in the garage. In the winter the freezer just is not effective. So I put everything in the deep freeze in the winter.