fridge temp fluctuations

[TommyC83]

Just had our first outing in our new trailer. All seems well with the exception of our fridge temps. Turned the fridge on electric the day before we left. By morning it was at 35*. Switched to propane for the ride (about 5 hours) and were at 40* by the time we got to the campground. Back on electric temps came back down. The next day the temps slowly climbed up to 44* (low 80's ambient temp) overnight temp went back down to 33* then climbed again while on propane for the trip home.

I know the fridge works on propane as ive run it from full warm to cold in the driveway. Im more concerned with the rise while plugged in. Is this normal operation or something I should look into? I dont know the model number off the top of my head but it is a standard dometic 2-way.

[RJCorazza]

The air temp in RV refrigerators will wildly vary. Try placing your thermometer in a glass of water, or seal it up in a small bottle of water. As Bob213 states, a small fan moving air up the stack goes a long way in improving cooling.

[dougrainer]

TommyC83 wrote:
How about noise. My parents have a class c and you cant hear the fridge run. Mine is on the verge of obnoxious while its running. Maybe its just a lower end fridge? I have very little to compare things to.

IF you have NOISE, that means you have a refer that is probably in a slide room. Is the refer in a slide room? That is because they use a 12 volt fan to push the rear convection air out the top side vent, because a slide room cannot have a roof vent. The do install 12 volt fan on non slide models depending on the refer cabinet parameters. Do you still hear that noise?. If not, then the rear fan may not be operating as it should and that would cause your temprise. Also, if your LP burner is dirty OR the LP pressure is slightly low, that will cause low cooling on LP. Doug

[dougrainer]

camperpaul wrote:
I had temperature cycling with my Norcold.

Drove me crazy for a couple of weeks until I read the manual and found out it was the "auto defrost" cycle.

The Auto defrost is just a 2 hour shutdown every 48 to 54 hours IF RUN CONTINOUSLY AND NEVER SHUT OFF. THAT will not cause any noticeable temp rise. UNLESS you happen to open the lower door numerous times when it is shut down for that 2 hours. To STOP that auto defrost, you just turn the refer ON and OFF once a day for 10 seconds. Then it will NEVER auto defrost. This is a Norcold only feature. It ONLY defrosts the Evap fins, nothing else. Doug

[robsouth]

TommyC83 wrote:
How about noise. My parents have a class c and you cant hear the fridge run. Mine is on the verge of obnoxious while its running. Maybe its just a lower end fridge? I have very little to compare things to.

Unless you have installed a fan or something, you should not hear your fridge "run" as absorption fridges have no moving parts to make noise. Do you have a "home type" refrigerator instead of the normal Dometic or Norcold absorption fridge?

[bob213]

These refrigerators are not real good at staying cold in warmer temps. (like anything over 85*). Correct venting is the main issue. A pancake computer fan behind the refrig will help and one of these inside will move the air better.
Fridge fan
You can find them cheaper, make one yourself, but this one has easy electrical connections and it's ready to go.

[TommyC83]

How about noise. My parents have a class c and you cant hear the fridge run. Mine is on the verge of obnoxious while its running. Maybe its just a lower end fridge? I have very little to compare things to.

[TommyC83]

Guess ill have to crack open the manual and see if it has any input haha.

[Gene_Ginny]

I have a wireless thermometer in my fridge that also shows me the high and low. I normally see a high/low range of 33 to 38 F in the box. I believe that a variation is normal. That absorbtion cycle takes some time to start removing heat once the thermostat/controll board recognizes the box needs cooling.

I did have a problem last year with the box getting to 44 to 46 F while on LP. It also took a long time to cool from a warm start. After doing all the required jet cleaning, burner cleaning, flue cleaning I found the problem was low gas pressure and a slightly lower that normal flame. I made a homemade manometer and with some clear plastic tubing and found the pressure was 8 inches WC when it should be 11 inches WC. I replaced the regulator and now the box cools better on LP than electric.

.... just some things to think about.

[jfkmk]

I can adjust the temp on mine, and it's always a challenge to keep it above freezing but below the 40s. I have a three way a and find it cools best on electric. These aren't the most efficient so you will see the fluctuations. Because I can adjust the temp, I put a remote thermometer in the trailer with the sending unit in the fridge. This way I can make adjustments without continually opening the door.

[camperpaul]

I had temperature cycling with my Norcold.

Drove me crazy for a couple of weeks until I read the manual and found out it was the "auto defrost" cycle.

[Halmfamily]

Ours averages from 37 to 40° on electric. Never ran it on propane as we camp within an hour of home. Our dealer did ad a fan to back of fridge to help dissipate the heat and that seemed to help with cooling above 80°. I might ad a second fan this year.