Fridge quit cooling in the deep cold

[erniecarpet@...]

Ryan, I wonder if you put a trouble light in there if that would heat the compartment up and make the fridge "think" it needs to cool. I used that method last winter with my house type refer in Montana

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40 Wanderlodge
Weatherford, Texas

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[Ryan Wright]

Temperatures have been running between 0 and 20 degrees this past
week, and I noticed my fridge quit cooling. In fact, the freezer
warmed up and thawed everything out. At least I only had some cookies
and a quarter cube of butter in there to throw away.

I've been running it on AC power. I cleaned it all up and flipped it
over to gas just now, thinking maybe the 120 volt heater does not have
enough oomph to keep it going when it's this cold outside? Any
thoughts?

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

[timvasqz]

boiler cant make enough heat to gas off the ammonia, prob spending
too much of its heat overcomming the ambient temps??????. This is the
opposit principle they use to construct those solar refers. The sun
heats the boiler and sends Einstines patent proven process in motion.

if the fan is not on a thermostat you may want to turn it off. could
also be a cold draft making its way in the vent. boiler is at bottom
and the vent needs to be lower than the floor to let out leaking
(heavier than air)lpg gas. a piece of flashing loose on the inside
between vent and boiler may help??????
GregoryO'Connor ofTim&Greg
94ptCa

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Temperatures have been running between 0 and 20 degrees this past
> week, and I noticed my fridge quit cooling. In fact, the freezer
> warmed up and thawed everything out. At least I only had some cookies
> and a quarter cube of butter in there to throw away.
>
> I've been running it on AC power. I cleaned it all up and flipped it
> over to gas just now, thinking maybe the 120 volt heater does not
have
> enough oomph to keep it going when it's this cold outside? Any
> thoughts?
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

[freewill2008]

While living in the cold north, we heard that freezers act strange when
the air outside the freezer gets as cold as the inside. Standard
practice was to keep the freezer in the house rather than an unheated
porch or garage. I don't know refrigeration well enough to understand
why, but expect you are seeing an example of this because the backside
of our RV fridges are exposed to outdoor temps.

Bob Griesel '84 fC31 WLII WA

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Temperatures have been running between 0 and 20 degrees this past
> week, and I noticed my fridge quit cooling. In fact, the freezer
> warmed up and thawed everything out. At least I only had some cookies
> and a quarter cube of butter in there to throw away.
>
> I've been running it on AC power. I cleaned it all up and flipped it
> over to gas just now, thinking maybe the 120 volt heater does not have
> enough oomph to keep it going when it's this cold outside? Any
> thoughts?
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>

[Gardner Yeaw]

Refrigerators do not work well in the cold. I put one in a cabin in
New York State and the label said it wouldn't operate well below 35
degrees.

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "freewill2008"
wrote:
>
> While living in the cold north, we heard that freezers act strange
when
> the air outside the freezer gets as cold as the inside. Standard
> practice was to keep the freezer in the house rather than an
unheated
> porch or garage. I don't know refrigeration well enough to
understand
> why, but expect you are seeing an example of this because the
backside
> of our RV fridges are exposed to outdoor temps.
>
> Bob Griesel '84 fC31 WLII WA
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
> wrote:
> >
> > Temperatures have been running between 0 and 20 degrees this past
> > week, and I noticed my fridge quit cooling. In fact, the freezer
> > warmed up and thawed everything out. At least I only had some
cookies
> > and a quarter cube of butter in there to throw away.
> >
> > I've been running it on AC power. I cleaned it all up and flipped
it
> > over to gas just now, thinking maybe the 120 volt heater does not
have
> > enough oomph to keep it going when it's this cold outside? Any
> > thoughts?
> >
> > -Ryan
> > '86 PT-40 8V92
> >
>

[Gardner Yeaw]

Sorry, I forgot my signature line.

But after thinking more I believe the problem is that the
refrigerant condenses more quickly in the extreme cold. That makes it
tougher for the compressor to build pressure in the system, which
results in lower temperatures created in the condenser. It in effect
acts like the refirgerant charge is incorrect resulting in poor
operation.

Gardner
83FC35


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "freewill2008"
wrote:
>
> While living in the cold north, we heard that freezers act strange
when
> the air outside the freezer gets as cold as the inside. Standard
> practice was to keep the freezer in the house rather than an
unheated
> porch or garage. I don't know refrigeration well enough to
understand
> why, but expect you are seeing an example of this because the
backside
> of our RV fridges are exposed to outdoor temps.
>
> Bob Griesel '84 fC31 WLII WA
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
> wrote:
> >
> > Temperatures have been running between 0 and 20 degrees this past
> > week, and I noticed my fridge quit cooling. In fact, the freezer
> > warmed up and thawed everything out. At least I only had some
cookies
> > and a quarter cube of butter in there to throw away.
> >
> > I've been running it on AC power. I cleaned it all up and flipped
it
> > over to gas just now, thinking maybe the 120 volt heater does not
have
> > enough oomph to keep it going when it's this cold outside? Any
> > thoughts?
> >
> > -Ryan
> > '86 PT-40 8V92
> >
>

[Ryan Wright]

On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 3:56 PM, timvasqz wrote:
> boiler cant make enough heat to gas off the ammonia, prob spending
> too much of its heat overcomming the ambient temps??????.

Sounds like what I was thinking, Greg. Curious if anyone else has the
same problem under prolonged 0 degree temps? Want to make sure it
isn't just me.

I tried gas operation with no luck. Now the thing says "check" when I
turn it on in any mode. I'm assuming that's because it thinks it's too
warm inside... hope it's not indicative of more serious trouble. I may
try the trouble light in the back as Ernie suggested, see if that
doesn't warm it up enough to restart. These darn gas ammonia refers
sure are finicky. I'm going to consider buying an all-electric coach
with a big house-type fridge next time around.

While I'm here I might as well ask, how does the refrigerator alarm
circuit work in our coaches? Mine seems useless. I'd like some warning
the next time the fridge approaches temps that are going to spoil my
food.... My fridge has been replaced before, though, so the circuit
may have just been disconnected entirely... I'd like to figure out how
to reconnect it once I get this fridge running again.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

[freewill2008]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 3:56 PM, timvasqz wrote:
> > boiler cant make enough heat to gas off the ammonia, prob spending
> > too much of its heat overcomming the ambient temps??????.
>
> Sounds like what I was thinking, Greg. Curious if anyone else has the
> same problem under prolonged 0 degree temps? Want to make sure it
> isn't just me.
>

I checked on our running Dometic today after several nights of temps in
the low teens. The freezer had water where there should have been ice
cubes.

Bob Griesel '84 FC31 WLII WA

[erniecarpet@...]

Ryan, I have replaced the refer with an apartment size house unit in 3 coaches. All worked fine, since we never dry camp.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40 Wanderlodge
Weatherford, Texas

---

One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now.

[sfedeli3]

Ryan (and others)- Have you checked the performance of the gas
regulator? I was attempting to fire up my smoker yesterday and could
not get the flame to come up very high- turns out that the regulator
was not working "as well" in colder temps and was freezing up.
Replaced it with a new regulator and everything was fine. If your
coach has the original gas regulator(s) in the refer compartment and
on the tank- that "could" be your problem.

Shane Fedeli
85PT40
Hershey, PA

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 3:56 PM, timvasqz wrote:
> > boiler cant make enough heat to gas off the ammonia, prob spending
> > too much of its heat overcomming the ambient temps??????.
>
> Sounds like what I was thinking, Greg. Curious if anyone else has the
> same problem under prolonged 0 degree temps? Want to make sure it
> isn't just me.
>
> I tried gas operation with no luck. Now the thing says "check" when I
> turn it on in any mode. I'm assuming that's because it thinks it's too
> warm inside... hope it's not indicative of more serious trouble. I may
> try the trouble light in the back as Ernie suggested, see if that
> doesn't warm it up enough to restart. These darn gas ammonia refers
> sure are finicky. I'm going to consider buying an all-electric coach
> with a big house-type fridge next time around.
>
> While I'm here I might as well ask, how does the refrigerator alarm
> circuit work in our coaches? Mine seems useless. I'd like some warning
> the next time the fridge approaches temps that are going to spoil my
> food.... My fridge has been replaced before, though, so the circuit
> may have just been disconnected entirely... I'd like to figure out how
> to reconnect it once I get this fridge running again.
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
>