Keeping the fridge cooler

[The Gritz Carlton]

Another item...you can buy a small battery operated fan to go inside the fridge. It circulates air better, keeps temps more even and keeps the milk from freezing while the eggs are hatching.

[USA in a Chevrolet]

For those of you who have the 4 door Dometic gas/electric refrigerator like we have, there is a company called National RV Refrigeration in Shipshewana, Indiana that can make your refrigerator work better & be less likely to ever start a fire. This company is owned by an Amish gentleman. The fix is as follows. He fabricated a sheet metal baffle installed at the behind the refrigerator which directs air over the coils of the refrigerator. He also replaces the noisy fans with two quiet squirrel cage fans. One goes behind the bottom access panel to pull air in & one at the top to push the hot air out of the top access panel. Last of all he installs an ARP control which is programmable to turn these cooling fans on when needed. The unit comes with a sensor to mount on the coils. The ARP control also has a safety device which shuts your boiler for the refrigerator off if the temp gets too high. This can happen if your refrigerator is running for a long time when the trailer is way off level. Since my unit has been installed the refrigerator usually maintains 33 to 34 degrees. One last thing you need to do is make sure that your refrigerator is first powered up between noon & 3 pm. The first defrost is 60 hours after start up & every 48 hours afterwards. This way your refrigerator defrosts in the very early morning hours when you aren’t opening the doors & outside temps are cooler. To reset the refrigerator remove 12 volt power for a few minutes between noon & 3 pm. This last info comes from Dometic.

[ewacowboy]

Originally Posted by clev

I posted on SOITC last year a fix to help the fridge keep cooler. I’m getting ready for a Vegas trip and it will be well above 100 degrees. So, I added 2 additional fans to assist the cooling process evev more.

We had the dealer re-construct the cabinet above the fridge and they did a pretty good job. Fridge runs much cooler now and on the #4 setting usually runs between 34 and 36 degrees. We did however find that while traveling in 100+ temperatures the unit will overheat and shut down....but while stopped it runs fine. How did your extra fans work for you on your trip?

[USA in a Chevrolet]

Originally Posted by ewacowboy

We had the dealer re-construct the cabinet above the fridge and they did a pretty good job. Fridge runs much cooler now and on the #4 setting usually runs between 34 and 36 degrees. We did however find that while traveling in 100+ temperatures the unit will overheat and shut down....but while stopped it runs fine. How did your extra fans work for you on your trip?

We found that the fans worked well. Did you install the ARP control? It helps prevent overheating of the boiler.

[clev]

On this last trip, the fridge worked great. I kept it at 36~37 on a setting of 3.