Keeping fridge cool in high 90s temps

[Nicodemus]

Currently in Waterflow NM and the temps are hovering in the mid to upper 90s. My Norcold 2118X isn't happy. There's no room for a fan to circulate the air. Any ideas for shade? I was thinking, as a temp measure, taping a piece of cardboard to provide shade. It won't look pretty but since so far I've had to replace the board inside and had to have the computer reset I'm not concerned with pretty.

[2012Coleman]

Sounds like you have the fridge packed. An RV fridge needs interior air circulation especially around the fins. Is it on the highest cooling setting? Is it in the slide, or is it vented through the roof?

Get a battery powered recirculating fan, then get some blue ice blocks and put them in the bottom. Read the manual to ensure you have it on the coolest setting.

[RAS43]

We use a small ice chest on every trip with drinks on ice. On longer trips I put a large cooler in the basement also filled with drinks/ice. We have an ice maker to replenish the ice. This all works well for us. And ice cream stays hard enough in our Domestic freezer but still scoopable. Fridge has worked well for us- knock on wood!

[Super_Dave]

When it is really, really hot we use an ice chest for drinks to minimize frig door opening.

[wantabe351]

living in NJ and traveling a few of the area Nascar tracks your in the open field and the afternoon sun always was on my Frig side... So I ordered 2x 3" computer fans and 2x 4" computer fans..and the reflective bubble stuff for windows from camping world, I install one of the 4" fans inside the lower panel outside the RV,pushing air up..the 2nd fan pulling the air up and out the upper vent..all connected to the 12v power feed to the frig by the lower vent with a switch coming out of the lower vent to control the 2x-4"fans..then using the reflective bubble stuff made and panel that when between the upper and lower vents and attached it with small S-hooks from a hardware store....The 3" Fans I installed inside my frig and you need to get power from the back of the frig in the lower vent panel and feed the wires to the inside by way of the inside drain tube from the coils inside the frig..With a switch inside the Frig to control the 3" fans, one was pointed to the cooling coils and the other on the upper shelf pointed down to move the cool air...Taking your time about 3hrs..once done I now have Rock hard ice cream and a 40* frig Temp..On a trip out west we experienced 100* temps and frig stayed cold...the wires used can be a 18awg or even smaller for fans only draw .33amps@12v each...My wife just loves it now nothing spoils our beers are ice cold..

[SidecarFlip]

I do know one thing for certain, this winter during the off season, my ammonia fridge (Dometic) is coming out out of the truck camper and a Dometic Cool Box is going in, in it's place.

No more propane or 110 volt heating elements for me. Just a 40 watt (at maximum duty cycle) 12 / 110 volt Waeco Compressor fridge.

The ammonia fridge is 2 years old and it's never worked for beans despite me adding extra insulation (almost a full roll of unfaced around the fridge, fabbing up a deflector plate for the top and added 2 computer fans to circulate the air. Tired of fiddling with it. It's going on Craigs list and being replaced with a real fridge. Might work for the Amish but for this gentile, a compressor fridge is the only way to cool.

I'm done.

[Old-Biscuit]

Few questions...
*are the INTERNAL Fans operating (1/freezer & 1/food compartment)
DC power from P4 2 pin connector (pin 1) far bottom right on circuit board

*are the EXTERNAL FANS running (P1 10 pin connector -- pin 5) DC goes to t-stat then to the Fans


Suggestion:
Unplug thermistor leads (temp sensor on 2nd fin in food comaprtment) and let fridge run W/O temp control (set tp MAX temp setting ---then if food comaprtment gets to cold you can lower the temp setting ----operates on Backup Operating Suystem which is 'timed base' vs temp based

[185EZ]

Just get a bag o ice.
I don't even turn the fridge on before we go camping for the weekend.
We freeze water bottles
They not only cool the fridge quickly but I also don't have to turn the fridge past #4.
I also have one of those mini fans by the coils
I have a 4 door and if it's a short weekend I have a sheet of styrofoam cutout to block off the lower part of the fridge.
Biggest thing I've found is plan ahead and try not to open the door too much.

[pcm1959]

Allworth wrote:
I got a rectangular "shade sail" at Harbor Freight and rigged one edge to attach to the top edge of the slide and pull the opposite edge out at an angle to attach to tent pegs. The shade on the side of the trailer helps the fridge a lot.

I also try whenever possible to set up so the kitchen side is facing East or North; away from the afternoon sun.

My neighbors here in FL have done the same thing. First time I have ever seen such but it must work.
Proper installation of RV refrigerators is paramount in the performance of them. Often times, the proper clearances, etc., have not been followed which will result in poor performance.

Personally, I was so disgusted with my Norcold I ditched it for residential over 5 years ago. Never once have I regretted it.

[Nicodemus]

Thanks, all. I'd turn the rig if I could, but the little park we're in only has sites set up so that one side is to the east and the fridge slide out is to the west, so it gets the worst of the temps and sun. I'll go check Harbor Freight for one of those shade sails. It's got to be better than a piece of cardboard! The fridge was installed - I didn't do anything to modify it - and the door is one large piece with 3 rows of venting openings. But I'll speak to the tech guy in the AO and see if there's a fix he can recommend. Started putting the fridge on propane too, but as I said the compartment is too shallow to accommodate a fan. Thanks all!

[Happytraveler]

When it's hot I usually run the fridge on propane. I have two little battery operated fans one for inside the fridge and the other one for the outside compartment. I also turn the temperature up to eight.
This is our second Norcold refrigerator. The first one last 8 months. Norcold ended up replacing the cooling system. I ended up getting a 4 year warranty.

[HadEnough]

Typically, this means a Norcold is installed wrong.

There are very specific installation instructions on how big the vents need to be as well as how big and what geometry the "chimney" is.

Unfortunately, if you don't follow those to a T, the Norcold can under perform.

I've had all my Norcolds over the years in well over 100F temps keeping ice cream frozen and foods cold.

You may have to fix the bad install to get the proper performance.

[Allworth]

I got a rectangular "shade sail" at Harbor Freight and rigged one edge to attach to the top edge of the slide and pull the opposite edge out at an angle to attach to tent pegs. The shade on the side of the trailer helps the fridge a lot.

I also try whenever possible to set up so the kitchen side is facing East or North; away from the afternoon sun.

[bdpreece]

Is your frig in a slide? If so you will probably have two access doors so you can remove the lower one when parked to get a little more air flow. Next if in a slide do you have a slide topper? If not get a small tarp and cover the top of the slide and slope it down to shade the side of the RV. Best your going to get short of getting a box fan and putting it so it blows into the bottom access area.

[Lwiddis]

My methods are positioning the TT to avoid afternoon sun, battery operated fan inside the fridge, making sure the chimney is clear and adding a fan to pull air out the chimney.