It’s getting warm and I see more and on the social websites about complaints or issues about RV refrigerator performance. There are some things that one can do without voiding warranties or spending serious cash.
What type of refrigerator? Some of the newer rigs have 120VAC compressor refrigerators (residential models) with big batteries and a large inverter (12VDC in/120VAC out) to power the refrigerator when trekking down the road and off of 120VAC shore power. Our 5th wheel (HB#3) has such an arrangement. The TT (HB#2) has a larger absorptive refrigerator with separate freezer and refrigerator compartments. We don’t trek in it so it runs on 120VAC.
Our Roadtrek (RV #1)) also has an absorptive refrigerator. It’s a single door model 5 cu. ft. We do trek in it and so we do run it under a variety of temperature extremes, and on 120VAC as well as propane/12VDC battery. It’s a good size but not as large as the one in the TT. We use the Roadtrek refrigerator to transport initial food to the summer camp (HB#2) and of course when on our treks (longest to date was 110 days). The refrigerator has performed well, but we decided to make some modifications to help it out under high ambient temperature conditions. This post is primarily a consequence of our experiences in the Roadtrek with treks from 2 weeks to 110 days.
There are some things to know about the absorptive type of refrigerator. Adapting to what we’ve learned makes our treks better. ‘Better” as in more successful or easier. I suspect some of our lessons learned would be helpful with any style or model refrigerator.
IMHO having a good time means learning to live within limitations. That might be our financial means, our time constraints, or the limits of the available technology. One can resist or one can adapt. It’s all a matter of choice. I prefer successful treks and so I learn and adapt.
1. The absorptive type of refrigerator is slow to cool. That means turn it on and give it some time to reach 45F. If the refrigerator is 90F when you turn it on, don’t expect instant frost. Sounds simple, but you would be surprised what people expect. It also means put cold things in it to give it a boost. Put warm things in a warm refrigerator and one can expect soured milk. What can we do to avoid this? Start up the refrigerator several hours before first use. How early? The warmer the refrigerator is when you start it up, the longer it will take to chill. Use common sense. As an aid we also put a large, frozen ice pack in the freezer when we pack it for a trek. That works very well. See the photo.
2. On hot days don’t park with the sun striking the side of the RV that the refrigerator is on. The additional heat from the sun is sure to create efficiency problems for absorptive refrigerators. We travel with a triangular sun sail to shield the RT from the hot sun.
3. Do what one can to help the refrigerator. We load it up with fully chilled goods before we trek, and that large ice pack.
4. Once on the road we minimize the bulk addition of warm items, and prefer to add these only in the evening when the ambient temperatures are falling. For example, we only add 2-4 cans of warm soda or sparkling water at a time. When we shop, we put the coldest things in a small cooler, to keep them cold. When we introduce them into the refrigerator there is less “heat shock.”
5. Use an interior fan. There are battery operated ones, and fairly inexpensive wired 12VDC fans. We opted for the battery powered simply because our refrigerator doesn’t have an interior light, or some easy means to get to 12VDC power.
6. If you are planning on travelling in elevated temperature areas, add exterior, supplemental fans to draw air into the compartment behind the refrigerator. This we decided upon when we experienced the consequences of daytime temperatures consistently above 100F.
Here's the sun sail mounted to shield the front of the vehicle. if the sun was on the refrigerator side, we'd position it to provide shade on that side.
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