on a road trip thru northern utah...outside temps are mid 90's during day...fridge seems to be struggling on 110v at parks..will drop inside temp at max setting to 40F at night..but is much higher in afternoon..I installed an exhaust fan in outside fridge compartment to help. This is a 14 year old fridge and I'm curious if a recharge might be needed or some other repair that might help. Guess I'm not sure what normal inside temps should be...also freezer section seems fine. thanks

How does it do on propane? I never had much luck above 90 on electricity with any RV fridge. Propane consumption is almost negligable.

Our Norcold stays in the high thirties on propane. We have to it up from max cool at night to avoid freezing. We have a battery fan inside and a house battery fan up top in the outside compartment.

It also helps to keep the sun off the skin in the fridge area. We have a snap-on cover made of light-colored 90% shade cloth for hot sunny days if the awning is not out.

thanks for the info...I relocated outside exhaust fan and now fridge is staying in high 30's with awning out and still on 110v. outside temp is in mid 90's during day and we use propane when on the road. I think its doing its best.

Also check the thermistor on the fins inside the reefer - bending it away from the fins will allow the reefer to get colder.

My Norcold kept the reefer at 35 and the freezer at zero in 106°F weather in Nebraska, whether on electric or LPG.

What's the conventional wisdom on keeping the refer going on propane while running down the road? I've heard both sides but no explanation other than the feeling that the people had.

It may keep the reefer cold, but after we blew a rear tire and cut a 3/8" propane line half into and blew propane all over the exhaust, I keep the propane turned off when the coach is moving.
Nick

quote:

Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
What's the conventional wisdom on keeping the refer going on propane while running down the road?

We use 12 volts from the chassis battery driving down the road. The ignition closes a Bosch relay and the alternator takes the load easily.

Nick said it better than I could on why not gas. To add to it, a steel belt makes sparks.

I can't figure out bill h's solution ( I guess his runs on 12VDC, as that's the capacity of the usual Bosch relays), but the prior owner of my coach installed an inverter and two Radio Shack relays, as the reefer isn't three-way.

The first, in series with the power switch of the inverter, turns it on when shore power is disconnected.

The second, also powered by shore power, transfers 120VAC from shore power to the inverter.

Like Nick, I don't run with even the LPG valve open.

Parked, boondocking, the reefer goes LPG, and I use the reefer inverter to power the satellite and TV.

Rusty, my Norcold is three-way. The 12 volt element is powered by the chassis battery through the relay, and the 12 volt control circuit board is powered by the coach batteries.

Before I installed the relay, I just paralleled the coach and chassis batteries and let the alternator power them all as we drove.

Actually, I think the relay might be over-engineering. I will probably go back to either letting the solar panels take care of it or paralleling the battery banks for driving. The situation will resolve itself pretty soon, anyway, as my 8+ year old pair of golf cart batts are soon to be replaced with four new ones that will do both chassis and coach duties, due to restricted battery drawer space.