Altitude Effects on Fridge?
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?
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?
