Please help me get new fridge cooling better...

[DHart]

We just picked up our 2016 30' Airstream Serenity with 8 cu ft Dometic Gas/AC fridge.



The coach is parked outside our home while I am doing the test of the new fridge operation.

Here is the scenario:

-Outside temp is around 100 degrees daytime, down to 85 or so at night.
-Temp in the parked trailer (all windows open) is around 100 degrees daytime, 85 night tme.
-Fridge is empty
-Cooling setting is on HIGH (Coldest)

Empty fridge has been running on GAS, on HIGH, for 24 hours. Freezer temp is 16 degrees. Seems good to me! Fridge temp is 45 degrees in mid morning. Not so great.

So, early afternoon I switched over to running it on AC. Now, freezer temp is still 16 degrees, but fridge is at 52 degrees. (During the afternoon, the dropping sun has been beating on the fridge side of the trailer.)

The fridge side of the trailer is facing west, with hot western sun hitting that side of the coach all afternoon.

Obviously, we are not occupying the trailer. It is parked beside the house. And the heat of the environment and temps inside the trailer cannot be helping the fridge do its job at all. And the fact that the fridge is empty... may be a factor as well?

Considering all this, does it sound like our fridge is doing its job as best as can be expected, or should it be cooling the refrigerator section a LOT better than it is?

Freezer performance looks great. Fridge performance is really causing us some concern, but we're not sure how much the environmental factors are influencing the performance.

What should/can I do to improve the cooling of the fridge. Would just filling the fridge with pre-cooled stuff and running the AC in the coach to lower the inside temps in the coach make all the difference to bring the fridge temp down to mid 30's?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Heh heh heh. Take an egg salad sandwich to the dealer service dept. Offer it to the service manager. Tell him what the refrigerator temps are and see if he eats it.

These guys make thousands upon tens of thousands of dollars to provide a suitable product. Your refrigerator is unsuitable. This is THEIR problem, not yours. Let them resolve it.

[CJW8]

otrfun wrote:

CJW8 wrote:
It isn't a real world test of the unit until you cool the camper down to livable temperatures. Start your Air Conditioners while the unit is at 85 so it has a chance to catch up and set your thermostats at a reasonable temperature. Then check your fridge/freezer temps after a few hours.

Agree, CJW8, frig temps should improve with lower temps inside the TT. However, IMO DHart's frig should be cooling down to at least 40 degrees, even with 100 degree temps inside and outside his TT.

We were camping in the NW Phoenix area last week with temps around 111. The day before departure we pre-cooled the frig with the same ambient temps as the OP (85-100 deg). On the morning of departure, the frig was at 32 degrees (empty frig). Temps at our campsite (and inside the TT) were approaching 110 degrees when we arrived 4 hours later around 1pm. The frig (on propane, full of pre-cooled food) was at 36 degrees. Frig temps did drop slightly to 34 degrees after the rooftop a/c had been running 3-4 hours non-stop (eventually dropping the TT's inside temps to 79 degrees).

FWIW, we were also getting similar excessive temps as the OP (10 freezer, 45-55 frig) when we first purchased our TT new. Read the Dometic install instructions and noticed way too much space between the rear coils and the rear baffle. Reduced the space (<1") and installed two, 3-speed computer fans in the upper vent--noticed an immediate 10-15 degree reduction in frig temps.

DHart, awesome pic of your new rig, BTW!

I agree with you too. It's just my troubleshooting technique after 40 years in process control instrumentation. Do the easiest thing first, note the results then move on to the next thing. Usually do one thing at a time. Pretty simple to cool the rig down and note the results.

FWIW, I have a brand new Raptor in my driveway I have not even used yet. It's fridge has been on electric for a month with AC off and temps are acceptable. No temp gauge but it had one beer and it tested to be ice cold and ice trays were frozen. My fridge is a 12 CF Norcold, quad door. The last couple of days I have been keeping it 73 inside the camper and added a temp gauge to the fridge. Inside temps are 0F and 30F. A little cold for the fridge section but I was running it on "9" which is the highest setting.

[Bird_Freak]

Listen to Doug! He is a certified Airstream tech. Others here just give opinions and there is nothing wrong with that but I would listen to the Pro.

[otrfun]

CJW8 wrote:
It isn't a real world test of the unit until you cool the camper down to livable temperatures. Start your Air Conditioners while the unit is at 85 so it has a chance to catch up and set your thermostats at a reasonable temperature. Then check your fridge/freezer temps after a few hours.

Agree, CJW8, frig temps should improve with lower temps inside the TT. However, IMO DHart's frig should be cooling down to at least 40 degrees, even with 100 degree temps inside and outside his TT.

We were camping in the NW Phoenix area last week with temps around 111. The day before departure we pre-cooled the frig with the same ambient temps as the OP (85-100 deg). On the morning of departure, the frig was at 32 degrees (empty frig). Temps at our campsite (and inside the TT) were approaching 110 degrees when we arrived 4 hours later around 1pm. The frig (on propane, full of pre-cooled food) was at 36 degrees. Frig temps did drop slightly to 34 degrees after the rooftop a/c had been running 3-4 hours non-stop (eventually dropping the TT's inside temps to 79 degrees).

FWIW, we were also getting similar excessive temps as the OP (10 freezer, 45-55 frig) when we first purchased our TT new. Read the Dometic install instructions and noticed way too much space between the rear coils and the rear baffle. Reduced the space (<1") and installed two, 3-speed computer fans in the upper vent--noticed an immediate 10-15 degree reduction in frig temps.

DHart, awesome pic of your new rig, BTW!

[bob_nestor]

That hot western sun on the refrigerator side of the trailer is certainly heating up the air space where the outside cooling coils are. This reduces the temperature difference between the coils and the ambient air making it more difficult to exchange the heat from the coils to the outside air. When outside temps (or the temp of the air near the coils) goes above about 85 degrees the efficiency of the refrigerator starts to drop off quite a bit. Getting better airflow over the coils with fans and restricting the air space to Dometic specs certainly helps. Also reducing ambient air temps can help too if possible but about the only thing we can do there short of moving to cooler parts of the country is to provide as much shade on the coil side as possible.

[familyof3]

Being new you shouldn't have to do anything to make it work.
It doesn't have to be cool in rv for fridge to work right. I added two 4" 120 volt fans from walmart installed them at the rear of fridge and made sure the top vent was vented properly. Mine had a big openning at the top and the air just stayed there and wouldn't go out vent in slide out. But i think yours should probley just go right put the top of the roof. I got the air flowing through the back and my cooling fans hardley come on during the day.
Outside temps were 100 deg and fridge is 34, freezer is -10 setting is 6 and inside camper is 85-100 deg when im not there. The fans made a wonderfull improvement on mine.

[CJW8]

It isn't a real world test of the unit until you cool the camper down to livable temperatures. Start your Air Conditioners while the unit is at 85 so it has a chance to catch up and set your thermostats at a reasonable temperature. Then check your fridge/freezer temps after a few hours.

[GMandJM]

Agree with Chris: 16 in the freezer is NOT good. You're shooting for zero.

Nice Airstream. Thanks for the pic. Congrats and happy travels!

[Chris_Bryant]

He shouldn't have to do anything. Airstream is one of the few manufacturers to use the environmental chamber that Dometic has- they put the rigs in very high temperatures to see how the installation is. While they often look like bad installs, for some reason they work.
I would, however, check the venting for obstruction, and make sure light goes out when you close the door. Otherwise I think it's service time- those temps are nowhere near good enough.

[dougrainer]

As a Tech for an A/S dealer, I will bet the rear cooling fan is inop. A/S has Dometic add the rear 12 volt fan in their installs due to the way the roof curves and the fact of the aluminum sidewalls. To test, just open the rear outside door and install a 120 volt small fan blowing upwards for 24 hours. Then measure the temp again. You should also HEAR that fan if it is running. One of the biggest complaints we get from A/S owners is the sound of that fan running. They do not understand why they hear a fan. Doug

[camp-n-family]

You need to draw the heat out better from the vent stack. Add a fan. Type "fridge fan" into the search box and you'll see a bunch of posts on how/what to do. Nice rig!

[WyoTraveler]

Pretty hot temps where you are. I would add a 12v fan to your fridge vent stack. RV dealers sell them or just use a 12v muffin fan in the stack. Cooling the inside of the TT down would help some. I've camped in the CA & AZ desert for a lot of years. It is a problem. Years ago dry camping in the summer desert with my TC I had to add 2 stack fans. Check out the 12v computer muffin fans.

[Ivylog]

OP, you need to decrease the width of your picture to 600.

Normally I'd recommend that you replace the roof vent with a solar powered one BUT not on one that looks that nice. You need to increase the airflow over the coils on the rear. On my 31' there is too big a gap between the coils and the inside wall BUT I'm not in an area that HOT so mine works OK. If there is more than a 1" gap to the wall, a baffle needs to be added Plus 12V computer fans need to be added at the top and bottom to increase the air flow. You could power it with something like this mounted on your roof behind the vent and out of site.
The freezer sections needs to be close to 0 before the refer section will get cold enough.

I would find the Dometic installation instructions which will have info on how big a gap and if it's more than that, I'd make Airstream install your refer properly. I think you will find a big gap at the bottom, getting a little better at the top of the coils.

[Chris_Bryant]

An empty fridge is very hard to measure, I would put a couple of gallons of water in it, at least , and put a thermometer in a glass of water to see what it is actually doing.
That said, 16 is not good in the freezer, either, it should be zero, and the fresh food should be in the 30's.

BTW, very nice rig!