Frig not keeping temp

Question

I have a Pleasure Way van, 2001. I'm on the road working and the last two days, the frig is really struggling. Before the trip, I had it plugged into AC at my house , and it made it to 29 degrees overnight. Overnight temp was in the 60's. During the day, it's parked in a parking lot, 90 degrees on propane. I wasn't really surprised that it didn't keep cool, but then at the campground overnight, again on AC it didn't recover, showing in the 60's in the frig in the morning. The overnight temp was humid and in the 70's. We even had some cooling rain. So the question is, is it just that it takes a long time to recover or does it sound like I have a problem? In the mean time, I do have two new house batteries, do you think that might give me a better result during the day in the parking lot versus the propane?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
Mar

2oldman · Answer

Mar-d-mar wrote:I have a Pleasure Way van, 2001.... During the day, it's parked in a parking lot, 90 degrees...  is it just that it takes a long time to recover or does it sound like I have a problem?  In the mean time, I do have two new house batteries, do you think that might give me a better result during the day in the parking lot versus the propane?If the refer is oem it's probably failing.  Check the coils (in back) for yellow or green dust.If you can park so the refer is on the shade side, that's better. A 12v refer will flatten 2 batteries very quickly.

mar-d-mar · Answer

Thanks. I'll check for dust on the coils and won't use the batts.

old-biscuit · Answer

If cooling unit is functioning it doesn't matter which energy source is used.....electric heat element or propane. BTUs used in the heating process is the same.

Are your leveling your rig when parking?
Off level operation will disrupt the cooling flow cycle.....causes insufficient cooling, causes accumulative damage to cooling unit (overheats coolant and causes plating out) which is permanent.

How is the freezer section cooling? If it is cold (0-10*F) and food section temps are fluctuating up/down.....cooling unit has blockage.

mar-d-mar · Answer

Parking has consistently been very level, both during the day, at night and in storage.
The freezer seems to freeze things, although not rock hard. It makes sense about the blockage and I'll look into that. Thank you!

scottg · Answer

There are lots of things that can effect its performance;

Check the top vent for obstructions, either animal nests or excess roof material that wasn't trimmed away correctly. (Mine was 50% blocked with rubber roof material!)

While the top vent is off make sure the top fins of the fridge are clean and there's no debris (leaves, nests, etc) sitting on them.

Remove the spiral device from the flue and clean the tube and burner area's of rust.

Check the fridges installation. It should come within 3/4" to 1/2" of the back wall. In back, make sure there's a smooth, clear transition between the top of the fridge and the roof or wall vent.

Vacuum out the entire compartment.

Clean the orifice and burner area with some automotive carburetor cleaner. It will melt all carbon and promote efficiency.

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Frig not keeping temp

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