RE: RV Refrigerators

[Tim5055]

 
I thought I would post some information for all to use.  Please add to this as you see fit...
 
 Most pop up trailers use refrigerators based on ammonia systems.  An ammonia absorption cooling unit is the set of cooling coils in any refrigerator that uses heat (such as propane) to operate.   Hard to believe, but yes - heat makes it cold.
 
 For those units which are multi powered, i.e. LP Gas, 12v Dc electric or 110v AC electric all they do is use a different heat source to heat the ammonia.
 
 Some things to keep in mind when using on of these refrigerators:
 
 
 [ul]
 

• You must pre cool the refrigerator.  it may take up to 24 hours to get down to it s working temperature.
• Try to load it with pre cooled items.  Placing something like a warm 6 pack of soda will delay cooling of everything inside.
• Thes refrigerators want to stay level!  As a matter of fact if you use them too far off level you can damage the refrigerator.  As a rule of thumb, if you are comfortable with the level of the trailer the refrigerator will be comfortable.
• These refrigerators are prone to warm and cold areas.  A small battery fan placed inside teh refrigerator box helps to move air around and keep a constant temperature in the entire box.
• If camping in very warm areas, you may need to add a fan to the rear of the refrigerator to cool the " heat sink"  fins on the rear of the unit.
[/ul]
 
 
 For more information, check out the web sites of the two most common units:
 
 
 [link=

http://www.norcold.com/norcold_home.cfm]Norcold[/link]
 
 [link=http://www.dometic.com/]Dometic[/link]

[SheBantam]

 tim5055
I have found that even though I do have a frdige, I also use a cooler.
 
 What I do to cool the fridge faster is to take the blue Ice out of the house freezer, put them in the little freezer compartment, a day or two before taking off, It helps cool down the fridge, then once camping and the ice is gone, there are frozen, blue Ice packs to put in the cooler and exchange the not so icy blue Ice in the freezer.
 
 I found battery fans in cute children s designs that I am going to use on the outside. Have a battery charger so I will not have to buy batterys.
 
 Also have a Colemant thermo-electric, I plug it up a couple of days ahead and put my Sodas in it, in the back room, to cool off before I put them in the trailer fridge.

[AustinBoston]

 tim5055

ORIGINAL:  tim5055
 These refrigerators want to stay level!  As a matter of fact if you use them too far off level you can damage the refrigerator.  As a rule of thumb, if you are comfortable with the level of the trailer the refrigerator will be comfortable.
 

 The damage from using them out of level is cumulative and can t be repaired.  That means even if the unit is out of level for only a short time, there is a small amount of damage done.  If repeated often enough, it will result in diminished capacity and eventual failure.
 
 Using them while driving is not a concern, even though they may be far out of level.  The reason is the motion of driving, including things like hills, bumps, starts & stops, and curves, causes the materials that would end up isolated in a normal out-of-level situation to be splashed/sloshed/whatever back into the proper sections of the refrigerator.
 
 Austin