What is the normal fridge temp? I thought mine was running a little warm so I checked it 40*

 

40F is about right. 38 would be a bit better.

Steve

 

Would ambient temp make a difference? After how long before you have to see 40? Does it matter if it is running on gas or electric?

 

Is there anyway to adjust the fridge temp? I would like mine to be colder as well.

 

Household refrigerators are 'forced air' - pretty much like your AC unit. There is a compressor that chills a condenser and a fan that blows that coldness in to the Refrigerator/Freezer.

RV refrigerators work off of ammonia. Weather gas or electric - a source heats a 'holding tank' of ammonia and once hot enough, produces a 'cold gas' that rises up thru some steel conduit. The conduit passes around the unit (freezer first) and warms back up by absorbing the warmth in the fridge/freezer, it re-condenses back to a liquid and drops back in to the holding tank. The theory is, when there is an absence of heat there is cold. There is no fan or moving parts - at all.

Now with the process in mind...
Gas vs electric - not really any difference in working capacity. Some believe that gas will cool it down faster because the flame heats the ammonia faster than the electric element. BTW - although I've never measured it, I was told the amount of gas used to operate the fridge was the equivalent of a BIC lighter flame.

Would ambient temps make a difference? Yep - they sure would (and I think you can see why).
Another big factor is how much stuff is in the fridge. Air space between items allows the absorption process to work; if stuff is packed tightly it's like adding 'heat insulation'.

Also - the more the fridge is opened/closed is a huge impact. Your mom probably said 'Close the fridge, you're letting out the cold', with an RV fridge, you're letting heat in. Remember, this is a 'heat absorber'!

One thing that can improve the efficiency is a fan. Camping World and other retailers sell a battery operated fan that helps circulate air inside the fridge.

I hope this helps...

 

Some can be manually adjusted by just going to a colder setting. It all depends on the manufacturer/model you have. Mine has just a light indicator and you set it from 1 to 5 with 5 being the coldest. And yes you can freeze food in the frig part.

 

Thanks for the information on RV Refrigerators, very informative. Reps sents.

 

Thanks all, I will try the fan.

 

Mel,
If you have a dometic Americana you will see a plastic flat piece on the right side of he coolinf fins inside the fridge. To adjust the temp you slide it up or down. Can't remember which way for what.

 

Jim, I do have the plactic peice on the right side. Right now it is covering the fin. I will side it down and see what happens.
Thanks

 

A friend took this pic at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. I think this is probably the best explanation/illustration of how a RV refrigerator works. Sorry for the large size, but it was the best size to read it...

 

One thing that's a concern with these is that there needs to be good airflow up the back of the refrigerator for it to work well. The fans are usually used to ensure this flow, even when outside air is already hot.

THAT means it's a good idea to make sure the exterior compartment isn't filled with debris of any kind - especially bug nests or mud/dust/etc in the slots of the access door(s). Check for leaves or debris around the roof vent, and if you see any signs of a small bird nesting in or around the cover it has to GO!

This kind of cooling system relies heavily on vertical convection of heat. If heat is trapped in the back of the unit's compartment the efficiency of it is significantly affected. It is also theoretically possible that if that side of the coach is in full direct sunlight it will contribute additional heat to the back of the fridge compartment. How much that can affect it I never did try to measure, but it seems reasonable that they would perform better with that side of the coach in shade.

There isn't much EXTERIOR insulation behind an RV reefer. I've pulled a few out for repairs - and the insulation is between the back compartment and the INSIDE of the coach (typically around the sides of the compartment, and includes weather sealing).

FWIW

 

Maybe off-topic, but what would cause the electric setting to take a LONG time to cool off the refrig compared to the gas setting?

I've worked on this fridge (my brother-in-law's) and had to replace a diode on the +12VDC side of the circuit board to get it working again. Been over it, and over it.

Gas works great, electric much MUCH slower.

Normal?

Or is there something wrong with the 120VAC heating element?

 

The driving force is the heat and if elelctric is way slower than gas then there is less heat. Might check the amperage going into the heater and see how that matches the manufacture specs.

Bill

 

Another thought is that if the wrong element is installed (or done badly) it may not reach all the way down to where the heat needs to be applied at.