Heating frig coils and cold weather questions

I am not sure what you read, but fridge and create more heat does not make sense to me, but then I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer.
We have been RV'ing for many years and have never added heat to the fridge.
Don't see why that would be a good thing.

Path,

According the manufacture of my RV refrigerator (Norcold), RV refrigerators can be damaged by cold weather operation.
Some people put a low wattage light bulb as a heat source in the back of their refrigerator.
I used the "Cold Weather Kit" that Norcold sells for their refrigerators as it uses very little power. It is a low wattage DC heating element that wraps around some of the tubing so the heat is exactly where it is needed. Installation can be seen in the Winter Camping thread of the Full Time Forum.
I have no idea if this is why you have had to replace your refrigerator(s), but it is curious isn't it.

Steve

Hi path1,

1. Yes

2. No, if the fridge is off there is no need to protect it.

Here is a thread that discusses this and other winter camping issues.

path1 wrote:
I thought I read that some people are putting a light (as a heat source) on their frig coils when freezing to prevent damage.

Here are my questions:

1) Is this for the frig when RVing in cold weather?

2) Is this to prevent damage to frig when RVing in cold weather or parked at home, with frig on or off?

Never seen anybody with a heat source in frig. But have not looked very closely either. Have I been missing something? We never protected the coils from freezing in any of our RV’s since our first trailer in 1986. Is this something maybe I should start doing? I have bought 2 frig/freezers over the years and don't like the price they sell for. And anything to prolong buying another would suite me fine.
Thanks for reading

This is from the 'sticky' Winter RV Camping in the Full Timers sub-forum....LINK

5) Gas Refrigerator: The refrigerant in a propane/electric refrigerator is a mixture of distilled water, ammonia, sodium carbonate and hydrogen gas, all at 200 psi pressure. When the temperature drops below 20 degrees this liquid can turn to a gel and may permanently plug the coils of the refrigeration system.

To help prevent this from happening, remove the outside refrigerator access cover and use duct tape to cover the top two (out of three) vent slots. Applying the tape to the inside of the cover will prevent leaving marks when removing the tape. Alternately, and easier to do, is to use round half inch pipe insulation to plug the top two slots from the outside.

It is also necessary to put a 100 watt light bulb behind the access cover near the base of the coils. Don’t lean the bulb on any flammable material.


Here are other posts concerning fridge & cold outside temps

See 'camperpaul' post

See 'pianotuna' post

See 'ins1505' post


RV fridges need to exchange the heat to outside air in order to cool inside of fridge....but when outside temps drop low enough the cooling medium (ammonia, water, hydrogen, and an anti-corrosive agent) can gel (water) so it needs to retain some heat in order to flow properly. Restricting the amount of air flow will decrease the amount of heat transfer. Adding a small wattage bulb can provide additional heat.

We have been in -14*F temps and below 0*F temps (several occasions) and I didn't have to resort to these tactics.
Neighbors did...light bulb.

IF I had problems will fridge temps rising I probably would have done it also.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
This is from the 'sticky' Winter RV Camping in the Full Timers sub-forum....LINK

It is also necessary to put a 100 watt light bulb behind the access cover near the base of the coils..

100 watt bulbs. Couldn't get one thanks to EPA??? Still able to get 75 watt and stocked up. They are on way out also I understand.

Thanks everybody. Couldn't remember where I read it.

SteveAE wrote:
Path,

According the manufacture of my RV refrigerator (Norcold), RV refrigerators can be damaged by cold weather operation.
Some people put a low wattage light bulb as a heat source in the back of their refrigerator.
I used the "Cold Weather Kit" that Norcold sells for their refrigerators as it uses very little power. It is a low wattage DC heating element that wraps around some of the tubing so the heat is exactly where it is needed. Installation can be seen in the Winter Camping thread of the Full Time Forum.
I have no idea if this is why you have had to replace your refrigerator(s), but it is curious isn't it.

Steve

Can someone please provide me a link from NORCOLD that discusses this potential low temperature damage. To my knowledge I have never seen that warning.

Larry

LarryJM wrote:

SteveAE wrote:
Path,

According the manufacture of my RV refrigerator (Norcold), RV refrigerators can be damaged by cold weather operation.
Some people put a low wattage light bulb as a heat source in the back of their refrigerator.
I used the "Cold Weather Kit" that Norcold sells for their refrigerators as it uses very little power. It is a low wattage DC heating element that wraps around some of the tubing so the heat is exactly where it is needed. Installation can be seen in the Winter Camping thread of the Full Time Forum.
I have no idea if this is why you have had to replace your refrigerator(s), but it is curious isn't it.

Steve

Can someone please provide me a link from NORCOLD that discusses this potential low temperature damage. To my knowledge I have never seen that warning.

Larry

Larry,

Just call Norcold.

Steve