Refrigerator won't cool down

The light inside refrig is 12 volt , the refig is 110 , shore power .

I was the OP. We had enough food to feed my wife and I for 2 days. I.e. pack of dogs, dozen eggs, two large gatorades, and a bag of sliced apples. This was just a case of a blown fuse that kept the charger from keeping our 12v system peaked when plugged in to the shoreline. :)

As I read it, the OP is referring to the PORCH light being dim.

My small gem of knowledge learned by experience.....don't pack the trailer frig or freezer full to the brim. It needs air circulation to work effectively. I had the great idea on a longer trip a few years ago to try to get 1 full weeks worth of food in the frig and freezer so we didn't have to think about shopping until we were at our longest stop. Bad idea. We thought we had a problem since nothing seemed as cold as it should.....until we started working through the mass of food and problem resolved itself. Even with just 2 of us, I don't pack more than about 4 - 5 days MAX, usually more like 4. If you have more in your family, you may have to shop more often depending on the bulkiness of what you're getting. Happy Camping!

Yes it does. The light in the fridge worked fine when the battery was better charged but once the voltage in the battery dipped low enough it kicked off the fridge - another indicator to me that told me we were having charging problems.

Quadna71 wrote:
...But finally: it was an electrical problem. ... Checked across the lugs at the panel with my meter (battery disconnected) and then found another 40a fuse that is somewhat hidden - blown! Swapped it from my spares, hooked the battery back up, plugged back in to the 30a shoreline, and boom we were in business. This morning the freezer is 12° and the fridge is 35° - thanks everyone.

Does the fridge have a light and if so was it still working while the 40A fuse was blown? Separate circuit?

I ask this because my level fridge is also taking a long time to cool down (days now) and it has been on gas an electric ever since. The freezer is making ice though. The thermistor is in the coldest setting but the fridge compartment is not getting cold. Granted my wife has the fridge packed but there is a fan in the compartment and the fins are not dry.

Okay - I'll try to hit most of the replies. The trailer was/level so that wasn't the culprit. Propane was turned of intentionally - I only mentioned that fact as I didn't know if maybe the pilot light needed to be lit in order for it to correctly transition cooling control from gas to electric. I'm in Delaware. It's typically stupid humid here but the past week has been surprisingly dry.

But finally: it was an electrical problem. I got home late last night, fridge was still only slightly cool, and had to hook up and head out anyways and just faced the fact we would be stocking the cooler with ice. About two hours into the night at the campsite I noticed the porch light was "dim". I started checking everything again and finally learned the charger wasn't working. Checked across the lugs at the panel with my meter (battery disconnected) and then found another 40a fuse that is somewhat hidden - blown! Swapped it from my spares, hooked the battery back up, plugged back in to the 30a shoreline, and boom we were in business. This morning the freezer is 12° and the fridge is 35° - thanks everyone.

I will be looking in to why it blew in the first place. We just purchased it used (2011 model year) from a private party so maybe they crossed leads at some point?

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Absorption fridges need to be reasonably level to function properly.
Off level operation will disrupt the gravity flow of coolant which will cause overheating of coolant which will cause the anti-rust inhibitor to crystallize and plate out on inside of cooling tubes. It is accumulative and permanent damage.

Absorption fridges require time to initially cool down. Freezer cools down first then food section.

Agree with all of the above. The OP didn't say whether it was a new or used unit, but if the latter, older fridges require more time to cool down than if they are new, and if the TT has been used off level in the past this also lowers the efficiency of your fridge - permanently.

Like others have said, we also start up the fridge a day or two before, and any food or beverages we put in are already pre-chilled. Extremely hot climates (deep South, Southwest) are a challenge to RV refrigerators.

And finally, try to limit how often and for how long the fridge door is open. One RV tech I know tells his customers that for every one minute the door is open, the fridge requires an hour to re-establish the temperature. Good luck!

Quadna71 wrote:
We bought this travel trailer about a month ago, this weekend was to be our first trip trying it out. It's a Crossroads Slingshot 23CK and has a refrigerator with a separate freezer door. It was working great up until last week. I had unplugged from the house and then plugged it in last night and now it doesn't work. The battery had been a little bit low so I disconnected everything and hooked up my regular automotive battery charger to the deep cycle until it was charged using the two amp setting.

Here's where I'm at:
The battery is fully charged up, connected, and the camper is plugged in to our power in the garage. All the lights and the power and the air conditioning in the camper work great, except the refrigerator will not seem to cool down. The light inside turns on when you open the door, and I think I have the switches on top of the refrigerator in the correct positions. First button is pushed in so the refrigerator is turned On and the second button's pushed in so that the refrigerator is in Auto - not gas.

The camper is perfectly level, I have two full bottles of propane, and they are connected but both valve turned off. Am I missing something???

ummm. . .

Both valves are turned off? Really? And you are expecting the PROPANE refrigerator to cool at all? Go home at lunch time, and rturn on both bottles, then start the water heater. Run the water heater for a max of about 1 minute to clear the propane lines of any air, then try the refrigerator on gas. This will start the cooling process, and you will need to wait another 6 hours for it to get cold. If it had been running on electric, then it might have changed from 70F to 50 F overnight, but not really gotten cold, unless it is in the 50's where you live.

The 2 amp charge setting is not nearly high enough to fully charge a RV battery in one week. Set it on 10 amps or higher if you got it. (do not use the 'start' setting, it is not designed for charging a battery, but instead applies full capacity beyond the charger's ability to run more than 30 seconds). You are really better off with the RV's 45 amp + charger running things. I wonder why it is not charging the battery - a bad fuse or circuit breaker not resetting? You probably have a 85 amp hour group 24 battery, or better would be the group 27 battery with 105 amp hour capacity. Notice that it would take a minimum of 40 hours to recharge either battery, yet if the lights are on inside the RV, that can consume much more than the 2 amp charger can put out in 24 hours. . . Just the CO meter and propane leak detector can use 35 amp hours per day, and discharge a full battery in 3 days.

Check for power at the RV battery charger's receptacle. Check for tripped GFI or something. . .

Once you have the battery meter inside the RV reading "Full" and then turn on the refrigerator for a while, say 24 hours minimum, then let me know if the freezer is starting to cool. Yes it can take that long to cool off, especially when it is warm out.

Run it on gas, not electric, as the gas burner is 2,200 Btu's while electric is only about 900 Btu's. When in a campground, at night, you can run it on electric, but during a warm day (above 80F) then change to gas, and it will cool better.

Fred.

Quadna71 wrote:
Wow, thanks for all the fast replies - this forum is awesome!

I am at work now and hope it will keep cooling down throughout the day. I guess I may have been expecting it to cool faster but it's good to know that it may take longer than my house fridge. I do have the thermistor up about 75-80% of the way up that last fin and will adjust accordingly once things cool down.

Thanks again for all the fast replies and I'll post up once I have a chance to check the temps again.

Moving the thermistor will only affect cooling IF you have a fridge that does NOT have an adjustable temp control on upper panel.
Moving it will only cause a 4*-6*F change in overall temps.

Is RV LEVEL?
Absorption fridges need to be reasonably level to function properly.
Off level operation will disrupt the gravity flow of coolant which will cause overheating of coolant which will cause the anti-rust inhibitor to crystallize and plate out on inside of cooling tubes. It is accumulative and permanent damage.

Absorption fridges require time to initially cool down. Freezer cools down first then food section.

Just curious where you are located? I'm in FL where the heat and humidity are brutal right now. If you're not also running the AC in the camper and have hot conditions inside/outside, then the fridge will take longer than 12 hours to cool. Try more like 24 hours. Open the door for a few seconds and that sets you back a bunch if its not good and cold already. Patience ;-)