Hot Fridge

[rabbithawk]

My wife and I are camp hosts at Judith Landing in Central Montana, we have been experiencing very hot weather triple digits just about every day, Our fridge seems to to working except I don't think it is cold enough.

The fridge sits st an angle in our 3150 RL Montana, there is a lot of space in the rear access area, I was thinking of putting a fan in there to help with the air flow. Is this a good idea? Also the top of the rear compartment there is a piece of paneling screwed to the top making the open space around the back side of the fridge only about one inch wide should I remove it, it looks like an add-on

[waynemoore]

I added a fan to the bottom of the frig in the back. Bought a clicker on Amazon set to 100F so it will comes on at that temp. Clicker was placed at the top of the rear frig opening (hottest point) works great. Fan only comes on when needed. Simple, cheep and easy.

[Razrbk]

Originally Posted by rabbithawk

My wife and I are camp hosts at Judith Landing in Central Montana, we have been experiencing very hot weather triple digits just about every day, Our fridge seems to to working except I don't think it is cold enough.

The fridge sits st an angle in our 3150 RL Montana, there is a lot of space in the rear access area, I was thinking of putting a fan in there to help with the air flow. Is this a good idea? Also the top of the rear compartment there is a piece of paneling screwed to the top making the open space around the back side of the fridge only about one inch wide should I remove it, it looks like an add-on

I added the ARP compressor control and additional fans at the bottom and top. Refrig needs to be level (within 2-3 degrees, I think) when in operation. Improvements have helped my refrigerator cool better and decreased operational stress on it.

[1retired06]

I run a 4inch AC fan at the bottom outside vent directed straight up to push hot air out. Makes a big difference.

[rabbithawk]

Thanks for your input. Ok here is what I did. The compartment behind the fridge is fairly large because the fridge sits at an angle. I removed the piece of paneling that was blocking the hole that goes to the top of the fridge. The paneling was mounted in the top of the access space leaving a 1 inch wide gap for the air flow behind the back of the fridge. I put a 120 volt fan in the space having it blow straight up; I left it there all day. The outside temp 99 degrees. My thermometer in the fridge didn't drop below 44 degrees.I shut the fan off and replaced the piece of paneling, no change, any other ideas.
Thanks

[rohrmann]

Do not remove that baffle that is near the top of your fridge. That baffle is designed to force air flow to completely flow past the fins at the top of the fridge. Yes, it looks like a cheap add-on, which it is, but it is necessary for the operation of your fridge.

[Butch & Kathy]

What type/model fridge do you have, mine is a Norcold 2118. Adding additional fans to suck air in the bottom vent and out the top vent will help. Also remember that opening the door really slows the cooling process, I added a thermometer with a remote sensor so I can read the temp without opening the door. On the double door fridge there is a center flap that provides the seal between the doors, check to make sure it is not dragging on the fridge floor and not allowing a good seal.

[1retired06]

And, when I was referencing an ac fan pointed up, the placement is outside the rig behind the bottom vent, not inside the rig directly behind the frig. Heat from the cooling unit goes out thru the outside vents, less heat venting out means hotter frig operation. You likely have fans installed at the top vent, double check to make sure they are running, four on our domestic and loud when they kick in.

[rabbithawk]

Hi I have a Norcold it's a single door I like you idea of a remote sensor.

[rabbithawk]

Thanks I'll check it out, I looked up the hole with a mirror but didn't see anything exciting.

[jcurtis934]

You should have gotten an installation manual when you bought the rig. If you read this install document, it will tell you exactly how the TWO baffles at the top vent need to be. They also need to be the full width of the fridge cavity and the top curved one needs to be at the very back of the fridge top edge with insulation behind it. The wonderful install folks at the factory violated every bit of the install manual on my norcold 12 cu ft and after re-doing the baffles in aluminum sheet, it has worked flawlessly.

[rabbithawk]

Thanks for the info. I do think I may have solved the problem, my wife moved the setting to cold, #1 I was looking at it this morning I moved it toward the coldest #3 coldest maybe that was the problem it goes up to #5. I will check out the install manual just to make sure its up to par.