cooling the fridge

[pianotuna]

Hi,

So what, other than adding fans, can be done to increase cooling speed in an absorption fridge?

[just_me]

vermilye wrote:
While it depends on your trailer manufacture's installation, I found that the greatest improvement in cooling for mine was to read & follow the Dometic Vent Installation Instructions in Chris Bryant's on-line PDF. The correct spacing and baffles as described in the document provided far more improvements than just adding a fan.

I am in the process of doing this one. Never gave it much thought, but my thermister is at the top, and 36-40* in the bottom of the fridge. Would like a few degrees colder than the 40. so will see how it works with the baffle and "sqweeze" the cooling air over the tubing.

[christopherglen]

I pop 2 blue ice blocks in the freezer, and 2 more in the fridge. They normaly live in my chest freezer at home (-10) and cool the boxes faster then the cooling unit can. When traveling in hot weather I rotate 2 of the blocks out of the 110v minifridge freezer in the garage into the main fridge at lunch stops. This keeps the fridge in the low 30's even over 100 outside.

[sc3283]

precool and prefreeze all foods

open and close the doors quickly

reduce as much heat in flue and inside the camper as much as possible

keep it level...mine seems to really dislike a bit off level, even tho the coach is fine to walk in. I use a level in the freezer for setting the coach level.

my dometic will run neg 10 in freezer and 34-36 in fridge with 100 degree outside temps, parked in full sun all day...with the flue fans running and the coach AC on

[azpete]

if you have a no cold, good luck. mine just will not get cold enough in hot weather.
im fixing this lemon by replacing the cooling unit with an amish cooling unit.
no more recalls. if they cant fix it after six recalls, it cant be fixed, and they have NO idea how to fix it. what a piece of junk.

[vermilye]

While it depends on your trailer manufacture's installation, I found that the greatest improvement in cooling for mine was to read & follow the Dometic Vent Installation Instructions in Chris Bryant's on-line PDF. The correct spacing and baffles as described in the document provided far more improvements than just adding a fan.

[Gjac]

I did the dollar bill test on my 16 year old Norcold and found the seal a little loose on the latch side, the hinge side seemed tight. I removed the latch which is plastic and ground off about .060 off of the base where it attaches with 2 screws. It made a noticeable difference in cooling. I also have added a "fan in a can" exhaust fan from a boat to the outside coils, but so far have not had to use it this year.

[Chris_Bryant]

Cooling *faster*, fans are about the only thing. Cooling better- more insulation would help a lot, pay attention to the door gaskets- always drive to cool weather :).

[RoyB]

We usually don't stock our small fridge until we get to sites. I will turn mine on 12VDC a couple hours out from the site.

I use our 5-day ice chest probably more than the small fridge...

Roy Ken

[JiminDenver]

We keep a few gallon and half gallon jugs in the freezer at home for those last minute trips. I start the fridge and put 1 or 2 half gallon jugs in the freezer and the rest in the fridge, then we go shopping. Even if the fridge isn't cold by the time we get back, the ice jugs make it like a cooler until it catches up so the food stays cold.

[Argosy24]

Years ago when I got my 1990 motor home I was ready to scrap a bunch of stuff and start new, I figured it had been used up. The frig was one but they are expensive and I'd just nailed the bank account pretty good anyway.

So I went through it, cleaned the burner and flue. Cleaned the flue behind the refrigerator, they work on convection flow which isn't much movement and easy to disrupt. Pieces of insulation hanging out, spider webs, anything to disturb the air flow should be addressed.

I put a 105 degree click switch at the top of the flue that controls 2 small fans below the coils. I just replaced the fans this summer, one died and the other was getting noisy. The fans are 15 CFM each, you're only trying to help convection flow, bigger isn't always better. I put another small fan in the refrigerator. It's band clipped below the bottom shelf blowing up.

My 23 year old absorption refrigerator works great, it cools down nearly as quickly as a home refrigerator. The refrigerator is on the east side of the motor home when it's parked at home. Full sun, 90+ degree days, it's 37 in the frig and it's not turned all the way down, I haven't touched the thermostat since I originally set it.

[TechWriter]

If you have a Dometic with a fixed thermistor, you can add Dinosaur's Adjustable Thermistor or a Snip-the-Tip thermistor. They work pretty good.

[Big_Katuna]

Putting frozen items in the bottom is what we do. Try to make a casserole and freeze ahead and or some blue ice pack put them in the fridge when I turn it on. Don't put in warm cans or bottled water.

[schlep1967]

If you have the freezer space at the house you can freeze a few gallon jugs and put them in the freezer and fridge when you turn it on. Also when you go grocery shopping before the big camping trip, if it takes a while to get the food to the house, take the cold stuff into the house refer to recool it. Then transfer it out to the rv fridge. Puting a bunch of "warm" food in one of those things makes it work harder.

[dan-nickie]

I think the most effective is patience 🙂