Residential Fridge Quit Cooling

[Alphamonk]

Okay, this was a weird one. We are staying in Missouri for the holidays and my fridge stopped cooling. First I noticed the ice cream was getting soft. Then the fridge side started getting warmer. I thought it wouldn't hurt to look online for trouble shooting. The first thing that popped up was are you using the unit in temperature less than 60 degrees? Well yeah, it is 19 degrees outside. I stuck a real small space heater inside the access panel outside and Bingo Fridge works again. Did anyone else run into this? It was news to me.

[dstock50]

Would think it has to do with the type of refrigerant in use, as with butane that won't vaporize at low temps. No pressure no flow.

[crasster]

Venting a resi fridge to the outside is an error. Most people keep a "beer fridge" who have them outside, but nothing that would require serious cooling.

[Mile_High]

Is this for Residential fridge, or gas absorption fridge? I haven't seen any residential fridges vented to the outside.

[chuckftboy]

That's quite normal. Your air conditioned won't cool either when its that cold outside. If the condenser is too cool, the refrigerant won't meter properly through the evaporator.

[ScottG]

Yes, it's common problem for those who use them in their garages, shops, etc.

[Bill_Satellite]

I sealed up the external vent on my RV leaving the roof vent open. This keeps the temps in and around the fridge reasonable (keeps the ice maker line from freezing) but still allows heat to escape above rather than back into the coach. Over the Winter, the heat coming back into the coach is not a bad thing so you could really seal up all outside vents as long as there are gaps at the top of the fridge for the air to recirculate back into the coach.