# Refrigerator Operation



## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

I know that our PDI guy covered this during our walk thru, but can someone please tell me how the fridge works? (and no wise cracks)









For example, when at home do you just plug into shore power and turn it on to cool it down?

#2, when you get where you're going and you're dry camping, what are the steps to get this thing running on propane? I know it has to be level, but that's all I know.

#3 How does it know how to switch from propane to shore power and back automatically?

Sorry for the dumb questions, our first trip is on Sunday and I just want to be prepared...

Thanks! Dawn shy


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## prevish gang (Mar 19, 2006)

You can run an extension cord from the house and turn it on a day or so prior to the trip or either turn on the propane and turn it on. From everything I know (which isn't that much) it will continue to run on propane until plugged in and then it runs on electric. I have noticed that whenever we are towing and we have to turn off the propane to go through a tunnel that the Check light is on. All I have to do it have it either plugged in or have the propane on and then turn it off and then back on and it resets. I really don't think it is any more complicated than that. Some say to turn it on several days prior, but I leave mine plugged in most of the time during the season (especially now that it is hurricane season in case I have to make a fast getaway) so I don't know how long it needs to be plugged in to actually cool. I have read that by putting frozen ice packs in the freezer and refrigerator that this helps it cool down quicker. I'm sure some of the others will correct me if I have misspoken. If all else fails, read the owners manual for the fridge.







I know; it's easier to just ask than to read.








Darlene


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## BullwinkleMoose (May 22, 2006)

Dawn;

When you are hooked up to shore power just turn the frig on and set to auto. The frig will work off electrical power. When you unhook from shore power and set up dry camping turn it on and select gas. make sure you have the propane turned on so it will operate on gas. There should be a row of buttons on the face frame of the frig just above the top door. on/off auto, gas, and a check light. The check light would come on if you were running off electric, unpluged and forgot to turn the gas on. Hope this helps.


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

We leave ours plugged 24/7 as soon as the season starts
#2 as long as you are not hook up to the shore line it will run on propane
#3 the electronics inside will tell the fridge to run on either of the 2 sources
which is nice if the power goes out then the fridge will stay running on gas
There are never Dumb question
You may how ever get silly answers every now and then
Have a great first trip out hope everything goes smoothly for you

Don


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## 7heaven (Jun 4, 2005)

Before you try to run the fridge on gas, make sure the propane tank is turned on and then light the stove top burner to get gas flowing through the lines. There is often a lot of air in the lines and that could prevent the fridge from firing up.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Thanks you guys








I know that I should read the owners manual, but I just wanted simplified answers from those of you who know best. I think I've got it and will practice starting it up before we leave.

Dawn


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Open the propane tank and purge the gas lines by lighting the stove.

Plug in the Trailer.

Set the fridge to Auto. It will pick AC since you are plugged in.

When you unplug to go camping the fridge will switch to Propane and if you lose power it will also switch on its own.

We leave our fridge loaded to go camping so we leave it plugged in 24/7 once the season starts.


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

You may need a certain extension cord if you need to reach the outlet when plugging in at home. I don't think standard ones handle the 30 amp (on edit)system well. Others can probably explain better (CamperAndy?).


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

campmg said:


> You may need a certain extension cord if you need to reach the outlet when plugging in at home. I don't think standard ones handle the 30volt system well. Others can probably explain better (CamperAndy?).
> [snapback]122317[/snapback]​


I think you mean 30 amp. This is only needed to run the higher load items in the trailer. The fridge only draws 3 amps of 120 vac. So any regular extension cord will work as long as you have the adapter to the RV plug..


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

campmg said:


> You may need a certain extension cord if you need to reach the outlet when plugging in at home. I don't think standard ones handle the 30volt system well. Others can probably explain better (CamperAndy?).
> [snapback]122317[/snapback]​


You're right. Normal cords are not advised. Go to Lowes/Home Depot and you'll find an extention cord for this. Bring your Visa...they don't give them away.


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## Heather (Jun 2, 2006)

7heaven said:


> Before you try to run the fridge on gas, make sure the propane tank is turned on and then light the stove top burner to get gas flowing through the lines. There is often a lot of air in the lines and that could prevent the fridge from firing up.
> [snapback]122211[/snapback]​


I second THAT! With our first outting we were sure that we got a bum deal. The thing would NOT run on propane the whole time. (luckily that was a full hookup trip) Called the dealer, told us to light the stove and !voila! it did exactly what it was supposed to









Heather


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Oregon_Camper said:


> campmg said:
> 
> 
> > You may need a certain extension cord if you need to reach the outlet when plugging in at home.Â I don't think standard ones handle the 30volt system well.Â Others can probably explain better (CamperAndy?).
> ...


That's for sure
Nothing is cheap any more

Don


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

As a foot note to this thread. I always run the fridge on gas for a short while to make sure it works and hopefully keep ithe burner flue clear of debris. When you first turn it to gas it take a little while to fire up but you can hear the spark ignition trying. When it fails and it will the check light comes on so you turn the fridge off then on again so it can try again. Eventually the will be enough gas to sustain the flame.

I do the same with my water heater for the same reason.

David


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

I'm going to throw this into the mix also......

Keep your OB as level as possible when running the fridge...even sitting at home.

The way the fridge works, it needs to be level or it won't work properly, or possibly die alltogether.

They are not cheap to replace either.....more than your home fridge.

Steve


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

It's me again









I turned on the LP, lit the stove and then turned the fridge to On and in Auto position. The check light came on for just a second and then went off. I never heard any kind of ignition clicking. The TT is now plugged in with LP on and in Auto position...auto light is on, check light is off...is this correct? does it just take awhile to notice cold happening? it's been about 30 minutes. I'm not being impatient, I just want to make sure this thing works before we take off on sunday morning.

Thanks!
Dawn


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

skippershe said:


> It's me again
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It sounds like everything is okay. Assuming you are not plugged in it will be running on propane.

You can check the outside compartment to see if the flue is hot and you can also take a peek in the fire box to see the flame.

The fridge will take up to 12 hours to cool it down but dont keep opening and closing the door to check or it may never get cold. Let it run over night and check it in the morning.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> skippershe said:
> 
> 
> > It's me againÂ
> ...


I have both on, lp and electric and switched on to Auto...I'll check the flue for heat...where would the firebox be? duh








Thanks for your help...I'll holler if it's still not working in the am...better than that, the dealer is open tomorrow which is a good thing








Dawn


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Update...It's cooling just fine now, Thank you all for your help









Dawn


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

skippershe said:


> Update...It's cooling just fine now, Thank you all for your help
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If you have both AC and Propane on and in Auto it is running on AC.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Just a note, it is important to keep the refrige level because the tank is full of Ammonia and water when this is heated up the ammonia boils off at a lower temp then the water it goes through a chamber then to a condenser and turns back to liquid the water goes a different direction. In the evaporator the ammonia and water mix again sense ammonia has a affinity for water the reaction caused it to assorb heat. The weak mixture using gravity will end up in the tank again repeating the cycle. Now all this works good when the system is level but if it is not level after a while the ammonia ends up get in the wrong places and the water does the same. you will have less ammonia/water in the tank and the system will run less efficiently. If it ever get to the point were you need to replace the refridge and you don't have any leaks in the system you can take the refridge out and turn it upside down for 24 hours then turn it back right side up and it a lot of cases it will work as good as new. The trapped liquid will return back to the tank and sense you were going to replace it anyway it can't hurt to try this. NOTE this only works with ammonia absorbtion refrigerators don't try this with a compressure type refrigerator it wont help a bit and will make matters worse.


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

Verstelle said:


> Just a note, it is important to keep the refrige level because the tank is full of Ammonia and water when this is heated up the ammonia boils off at a lower temp then the water it goes through a chamber then to a condenser and turns back to liquid the water goes a different direction. In the evaporator the ammonia and water mix again sense ammonia has a affinity for water the reaction caused it to assorb heat. The weak mixture using gravity will end up in the tank again repeating the cycle. Now all this works good when the system is level but if it is not level after a while the ammonia ends up get in the wrong places and the water does the same. you will have less ammonia/water in the tank and the system will run less efficiently. If it ever get to the point were you need to replace the refridge and you don't have any leaks in the system you can take the refridge out and turn it upside down for 24 hours then turn it back right side up and it a lot of cases it will work as good as new. The trapped liquid will return back to the tank and sense you were going to replace it anyway it can't hurt to try this. NOTE this only works with ammonia absorbtion refrigerators don't try this with a compressure type refrigerator it wont help a bit and will make matters worse.
> [snapback]123468[/snapback]​


I was aware of how the absorbtion fridge worked but was not aware of its sensitivity to level and separation of the working fluid inside the system. I have 2 questions that probably have been answered somewhere else but this seems a good time to ask.

1) How level does it have to be and how do you measure that? If it is grossly off level then thats not a big issue but if its a degree or 2 then thats hard to adjust side to side. Front and aft is easy with the tongue jack but I kep the nose up a bit to channel water to the back if it rains.
2) Is there any maintenance that would help reduce this separation such as parking on a steep hill or sideways over night to let gravity do its thing? Does driving impact this in any way?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

OutbackPM said:


> Verstelle said:
> 
> 
> > Just a note, it is important to keep the refrige level because the tank is full of Ammonia and water when this is heated up the ammonia boils off at a lower temp then the water it goes through a chamber then to a condenser and turns back to liquid the water goes a different direction. In the evaporator the ammonia and water mix again sense ammonia has a affinity for water the reaction caused it to assorb heat. The weak mixture using gravity will end up in the tank again repeating the cycle. Now all this works good when the system is level but if it is not level after a while the ammonia ends up get in the wrong places and the water does the same. you will have less ammonia/water in the tank and the system will run less efficiently.Â If it ever get to the point were you need to replace the refridge and you don't have any leaks in the system you can take the refridge out and turn it upside down for 24 hours then turn it back right side up and it a lot of cases it will work as good as new. The trapped liquid will return back to the tank and sense you were going to replace it anyway it can't hurt to try this.Â NOTE this only works with ammonia absorbtion refrigeratorsÂ don't try this with a compressure type refrigerator it wont help a bit and will make matters worse.
> ...


The critical direction for level is fore and aft, side to side have very little effect. The basic requirement is that it be leveled to be comfortable. So if it feels like you are walking up or down hill or you think you are going to roll out of the queen bed slide then it is not level enough. I leveled mine with a level in the freezer, once it was perfect I then placed a stick on level on the outside of the fridge to match. I level the trailer with a half bubble high in the front for roof drainage and the fridge works just fine. If you have to park the trailer with a significant slope then you should turn the fridge off.

Driving there is no real concern as even if you are going up and down hills the agitation of the trailer moving keeps the fluids moving back to the boiler.

The problem with separation is that with long term use in an un level condition the ammonia will crystallize and will not easily return to solution.


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

CamperAndy said:


> Driving there is no real concern as even if you are going up and down hills the agitation of the trailer moving keeps the fluids moving back to the boiler.
> 
> The problem with separation is that with long term use in an un level condition the ammonia will crystallize and will not easily return to solution.
> [snapback]123712[/snapback]​


So it looks like maintenece is to keep driving







and not sit in one spot for too long sunny . Good reason to keep camping right!

I also set up to about 1/2 bubble nose up but near the hitch. I will check the fridge next time to see if it is the same.

Thanks for the input.


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