Jayco refrigerator

[Terry62]

I hooked up the electric to my 2005 Jayco Series Model 1206 camper about 9am and turned the fridge to A/C expecting it to be cold enough when we got to our campsite about 6pm the same day. When we left home about 5pm, I switched the fridge to battery. When we set up the camper and I got inside to start putting food in the fridge, it was not even beginning to get cold. I need to add that we did not set up the camper, it was in the travel mode until we got to the campsite. I did check the vent on the outside of the camper before we left home and it felt like it was venting out hot air. According to the people at the RV place where we bought it, we did not have to put up the camper in order to get the fridge cold. All we had to do was turn on the electric several hours before we left. It was about 90 degrees that day. Were the RV people wrong in telling us that we could do this? After we got to the campsite and got the electric hooked up about 6pm, it only took about 4 hours before the fridge was cold enough. My question is: do we have to have the camper up to turn on the fridge before it gets cold?

[mike4947]

No, in fact you don't even have to drag out the shore power cord. There is a outlet behind most fridges that the fridge 120 volt cord plugs into. You just plug the fridge cord into an extension cord.
Was the trailer level at home? Severely out of level will keep a fridge from functioning porperly, not to mention startin the process of crystalization that can ruin a fridge over time.

[Terry62]

No, in fact you don't even have to drag out the shore power cord. There is a outlet behind most fridges that the fridge 120 volt cord plugs into. You just plug the fridge cord into an extension cord.
Was the trailer level at home? Severely out of level will keep a fridge from functioning porperly, not to mention startin the process of crystalization that can ruin a fridge over time.

The camper was level but it was completely closed up. Would the heat inside of it being closed up prevent the fridge from operating properly. It seems to me whether I use the shore line or the extension cord as you mention to get electric to it wouldn't make any difference.

[mike4947]

The fridge has external venting on the side of the trailer so it makes no difference up or down. Using an extension cord instead of the shore power cord is smilply for convienence of not having to haul out and push back in the heavy cord.

[pershingd]

I know that sounds insanely simple, but it has caught me off guard a time or two...

Are you sure you had 110 v at the pup? The outlet I use for my shore power has a touchy GFCI breaker on it and will pop at the slightest surge. When I first got my pup, the breaker had popped and I didn't notice. I had turned the fridge on and nothing happened. I was sure that there was something wrong until my wife plugged in a small fan and it didn't work either.  :yikes:

I then slapped myself and reset the breaker and "fixed" the problem.  

David