I have ac power available where I store the fiver. I keep the Dometic running all during camping season on ac power. Only shut it down when winterized.I know there are no moving parts but looking for knowledgeable opinions about whether this is the best way or is running it continuously, reducing the life of the unit? There are periods during the camping season that it runs for a month or more while not in use.

We do the same put we store it along side the house, so we use it as a extra fridge.

Ours is ten years old and has been on and off dozens of times each year it seems like. It is off unless we are camping. Sometimes it gets run on 120 other times (more often) on propane.No way to compare a "what-if" for if we had left it on the whole time. So far so good anyway.

Ours was on for two years. No problem.

I have one that is in my garage that has been running for ten years straight without being shut off, except for about 8 months ago when I defrosted it for the first time. I took it out of my rebuild project and it is still out.I think it does better running than shut off for LONG periods of time. They are prone to rust in the flue and other places. Running them keeps them free of moisture in areas prone to rust.

Yaj wrote:We do the same put we store it along side the house, so we use it as a extra fridge.RV fridges are less energy efficient and cost a heck of a lot to replace when they die. To use one as a "extra fridge" is not really a good idea. Yeah I know, folks will come along and disagree but consider this, your RV fridge uses a 300W electric heating element to keep 2-12 cu ft fridge "cold". Replacement cost runs $1500-$2500 depending on size and not including removal of old and installment of new labor.If you want or need a "extra fridge" at home you can buy a 10 cu ft apartment sized fridge for $300 and it sips the power at about 90W.One will argue since it has no "moving" parts that a RV fridge simply will not "wear out" if used all the time. That simply is not true at all, the heating element often goes bad, you have a $250 control board which can go bad and worst of all is the $600 cooling unit which as long as there is heat applied to the boiler can crack or plug while in operation.My bet is if you want the fridge to last as long as the trailer then perhaps it is better to turn it off while not camping.Since there is no moving parts (in a RV fridge) that can't be ruined by lack of use or rust, stick and the boiler can not crack, over heat and the tubing can't clog it really makes MORE sense to turn it off when not needed.

Best to keep absorption fridge running or shut down

31 Replies

mikestock
Explorer
Oct 15, 2013
dclark1946 wrote:
If you leave the unit on all the time what do you do about frost accumulation on the cooling fins? There is much more accumulation on ours after a 2 week camping trip compared to a short weekend trip. I can't imagine what that looks like if you leave it on all the time.

Richard

If the door stays closed there is little moisture introduced into the box to form ice. I see very little after leaving it on and unopened for a couple of weeks.
mlts22
Explorer II
Oct 15, 2013
If leaving it off, just make sure to store it with the doors ajar. Norcolds have a lever on the handle to latch them ajar. Dometics require airing position cards.

Another caveat is if the refrigerator fails, mildew can form inside quite quickly. Just a week can cause issues.

Were it up to me, if I had the rig in my driveway, I'd leave the fridge on with ice packs in the freezer, because it would be checked fairly frequently. If I had the rig in storage, I'd leave the refrigerator off, ajar, perhaps with a container of Damp-Rid (I put the container in a secondary tub/bucket to prevent leaks, as the chemical is caustic.)
DryCamper11
Explorer
Oct 15, 2013
dclark1946 wrote:
If you leave the unit on all the time what do you do about frost accumulation on the cooling fins?

I don't get much frost if it's not in use and we're not constantly opening the door. When we use it, we just defrost it. We've gotten quite good and fast at that job.

We pull everything out and put it into an empty ice chest. We use a hair dryer (carefully) and warm until the ice drops off the fins. There is a sliding plastic catchplate that steers melting water out of the refer into the overflow in the refer back. We pull that out slightly and position a big bowl below the fins and below the overflow opening of the catchplate to catch the melting water (instead of sending that water out the back of the refer, where it's hard to clean). A large sponge catches the rest of the water. The system is still quite cold by the time we're done defrosting and we're repacking the refrigerator contents.
Learjet
Explorer
Oct 15, 2013
I turn my frig off between trips of more than 1-2 weeks between them. If not, it will drip water between the comparments with the humidity down here and the Air Cond. off.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Oct 15, 2013
dclark1946 wrote:
If you leave the unit on all the time what do you do about frost accumulation on the cooling fins? There is much more accumulation on ours after a 2 week camping trip compared to a short weekend trip. I can't imagine what that looks like if you leave it on all the time.

Richard

You defrost it :B

We FT....ours is ON except for a couple hours 4X a yr. to defrost the freezer section.

IF you are getting heavy frost on cooling fins (food section) then you are opening door Frequently, leaving door open and food grazing or your door seals leak.
camperdave
Explorer
Oct 15, 2013
My fridge gets turned on the day before I leave, and shut off when I get home. It's 15 years old, and working great. (quickly knocks on wood... :B )
dclark1946
Explorer
Oct 15, 2013
If you leave the unit on all the time what do you do about frost accumulation on the cooling fins? There is much more accumulation on ours after a 2 week camping trip compared to a short weekend trip. I can't imagine what that looks like if you leave it on all the time.

Richard
DryCamper11
Explorer
Oct 14, 2013
My RV is 40 years old. 17 years ago I had to replace the first LP fridge because the repair facility I left it with moved the RV to a non-level spot (after promising not to move it). The 17 year old replacement is still going strong. It gets turned off after nearly every trip, but it's also been left on for whole seasons (spring through fall) when we were using it heavily. I can't see that it makes any difference whether you leave it on or off, other than the cost of the gas or AC to power it. I leave it on when it's too much effort to empty it.
Camper_Ken
Explorer
Oct 13, 2013
I worked at a major RV dealer - service facility for several years and a master RV technician I trust has always said it is best to leave an RV fridge running all the time. His reasoning is that the ammonia based liquid in the cooling unit has an anti-corrosion additive which if left "on" and circulating prolongs the life of the cooling unit. When I worked there as a service adviser I saw a few cooling units that had corroded through requiring replacement.

It seems the advice on this subject is split between leave "on" and turn "off" when not in use. Don't really know if one was is really better than the other.
mikestock
Explorer
Oct 07, 2013
Oh well.

Thanks for all of the responses. Too hard to keep score.