I have been camping in northern California for the last two years with my 2001 Bigfoot camper. I have a Dometic fridge that I assume is from the same time frame (I bought the camper about two years ago).On a previous Lance camper I noticed that the coils on the back of the fridge would get very cold to the touch. On my current camper however the coils are only moderately cold to the touch.Performance wise the fridge has mostly worked fine, I would see internal fridge temps of 32 degrees and the freezer would freeze well. It would take at least a full day to chill down once turned on and would rise in temp a bit when stocked with food. For the last year all of my trips have been at lower elevations. This week I've been on a trip to Tahoe (6500ft) and I've noticed the fridge struggling to stay cold, hovering in the 40s (freezer is still fine). I thought it was because we were just in and out of it a lot but this morning I checked it first thing in the morning and it was reading 40 degrees when it would usually be 32 degree. It was 50 degrees last night and day time temps are in the mid to high 70s.My question is whether it's possible that the fridge could be low on the ammonia gas just enough that it works okay in lower elevations but at higher elevations it's not working quite as well. I am leaning this direction just because the coils on my fridge are not cold like they were with my other camper. Any thoughts?

Are you running it on propane or electricity?

Each fridge is different, but commonly the RV sets with dual door do suffer from fridge section staying too warm. Never noticed fridge being affected by elevation and I did camp at 10,000'I would not worry about it too much after one day checking. Recheck it later and come to the conclusion. 40F is good temperature for fridge.

Cooling unit is SEALED and under high pressure (300# Plus)NO..altitude does not affect fridge as in 'low ammonia' etc.Low ammonia means LEAK and then there is NO ammonia/hydrogen gas etcAltitude does have affect on fridge cooling......thinner air----fuel rich...cooler flame for heating What's a person to do?Well there isn't a 'high altitude kit', there isn't an 'air shutter' to adjust air ....fridge has fixed air inlet based on propane gas flow/pressure.Need to check that burner flame is strong,steady, blue.If yellowish/lazy then need to get more air to burner.Remove lower vent cover and see if flame improves.

We're at 8,000 ft and the fridge is working fine running on electric. Dometic 2852 set on 2 shady side of the trailer freezer 0-5 fridge 39-42. Days 70-80 nights low 30s to low 40s. Worked as well in AZ but had to set on 3.

stickdog wrote:We're at 8,000 ft and the fridge is working fine running on electric. Dometic 2852 set on 2 shady side of the trailer freezer 0-5 fridge 39-42. Days 70-80 nights low 30s to low 40s. Worked as well in AZ but had to set on 3.It should you are on 'electric' Altitude has no affect.Propane....altitude CAN effect flame temp

Altitude Effects on Fridge? | Good Sam Community

pianotuna
Nomad III
Jul 02, 2017
Are you running it on propane or electricity?
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jul 02, 2017
Each fridge is different, but commonly the RV sets with dual door do suffer from fridge section staying too warm.
Never noticed fridge being affected by elevation and I did camp at 10,000'
I would not worry about it too much after one day checking. Recheck it later and come to the conclusion.
40F is good temperature for fridge.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jul 02, 2017
Cooling unit is SEALED and under high pressure (300# Plus)
NO..altitude does not affect fridge as in 'low ammonia' etc.

Low ammonia means LEAK and then there is NO ammonia/hydrogen gas etc

Altitude does have affect on fridge cooling......thinner air----fuel rich...cooler flame for heating

What's a person to do?
Well there isn't a 'high altitude kit', there isn't an 'air shutter' to adjust air ....fridge has fixed air inlet based on propane gas flow/pressure.

Need to check that burner flame is strong,steady, blue.
If yellowish/lazy then need to get more air to burner.

Remove lower vent cover and see if flame improves.
stickdog
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
We're at 8,000 ft and the fridge is working fine running on electric. Dometic 2852 set on 2 shady side of the trailer freezer 0-5 fridge 39-42. Days 70-80 nights low 30s to low 40s. Worked as well in AZ but had to set on 3.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jul 02, 2017
stickdog wrote:
We're at 8,000 ft and the fridge is working fine running on electric. Dometic 2852 set on 2 shady side of the trailer freezer 0-5 fridge 39-42. Days 70-80 nights low 30s to low 40s. Worked as well in AZ but had to set on 3.

It should you are on 'electric'
Altitude has no affect.

Propane....altitude CAN effect flame temp
adamis
Nomad II
Jul 02, 2017
Thanks for the comments so far. I have it running on propane. It seems that my setup is working normally. Maybe we just had it a bit overloaded and it's struggled to catch up. I think I'll look into adding a fan to the back to get some more airflow.
Photomike
Explorer III
Jul 02, 2017
There could be many factors that is effecting it:

1) At altitude it could be cooler at night allowing it to catch up / stay cooler
2) Could have more wind to cool down the back of the unit at altitude
3) Parking in the shade at one place and not at the other
4) Different use pattern (doors open more when down lower)
5) More or less food

It could also be that the unit is slowly dying and it is not able to cool as well now as it could before.

With the fridge in my TCer I was able to see over the years that it was having a harder time cooling till one day I could not get it to cool at all. Replaced the cooling unit and it was good again.

With the class C I have now (a lot newer of a fridge) I can see how this one outperforms the one in the TCer. On the class C if I plug it in the freezer feels cold in about an hour, on the TCer would take 12 hours on the best day. The fridge is still not that much faster in cooling but it does seems to keep up better once cold.
portscanner
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
You might need to add a fan to the rear coils of the the refrigerator. The installation of the refrigerator on some RV's do not provide for proper airflow across the rear coils for the most efficient operation of the refrigerator. I had to install a fan on all three of my RV's.

You can
- buy a new roof vent for the refrigerator that has a solar powered fan (however it does not work in the shade or at night - on the other hand there is no electrical wiring involved in the install)
- Buy a kit that contains all the parts for a thermostatic controlled 12v fan
- build your own. You will need an old fan out of a computer, a thermostat from Amazon (the one I selected was $14), a fuse holder and some wire.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jul 02, 2017
Fridge airator
When you have freezer working well and refrigerator on warm side, you need inside fan.
Here is one with charcoal filter, but battery operated. Don't see those with 12V
jimh406
Explorer III
Jul 02, 2017
I have a Dometic. It works fine at Yellowstone at about 8000 ft on propane. We've only had hookups one time.

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