How Cold Does Fridge Get?

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   Being new to the whole camper thing and to be honest I didn't even know a propane / electric refrigerator was a real thing.
I have read some post that  say the fridge needs to be turned on a few days in advance. 

  I have left my Pod connected to my 110 house current for a couple of weeks now since my first test weekend.   The fridge is cool enough I think to keep food but the freezer is not  frozen by any means.

Is this normal.? 

  Does the freezer actually freeze on 30 amp service? 
 or on Propane?

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TearlessTom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Spanish Fort AL Online Status: Offline Posts: 85	Topic: How Cold Does Fridge Get? Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 6:29pm
	Being new to the whole camper thing and to be honest I didn't even know a propane / electric refrigerator was a real thing. I have read some post that say the fridge needs to be turned on a few days in advance. I have left my Pod connected to my 110 house current for a couple of weeks now since my first test weekend. The fridge is cool enough I think to keep food but the freezer is not frozen by any means. Is this normal.? Does the freezer actually freeze on 30 amp service? or on Propane?
	Tearless Tom 2017 R-Pod 180 2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 6:39pm
	It should get cold enough on 120Vac or propane to freeze in the freezer section particularly this time of yeat. On 12V maybe not. You can try adjusting the temp colder and see if that helps. Or switch it to propane and see if that changes the temp by the next day. It doesn't take several days for an RV fridge to get cold unless you fill it with warm liquids and expect it to be able to cool all that down at once. Best is to pre-cool drinks in your home fridge before putting them in.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Jholler Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 13 Jul 2018 Location: Arkansas Online Status: Offline Posts: 99	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 7:52pm
	Put a couple of water bottles in there. Thermal mass helps.
	2015 rpod 179 2014 Ram ecoDiesel HFE 2009-ish Chihuahua

TearlessTom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Spanish Fort AL Online Status: Offline Posts: 85	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 8:06pm
	I have several cokes in the door and had some frozen foods in the freezer compartment. The drinks are cold enough but the frozen section items are cold but not frozen. I did find a push button on the inside rear wall that I pushed but have no idea what it does. Anyone out their know? I also turned on the propane and will recheck it tomorrow night when I get in. Anyone know what the push button switch does on the inner back wall. I was looking for the reset switch as their is a sticker on the door in German about reset switch but the picture looks nothing like anything I can find on fridge.
	Tearless Tom 2017 R-Pod 180 2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0

Happy Tripping Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 473	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 8:10pm
	Other people on this forum know a lot more than I do about refers. First, put a thermometer inside and see what the actual temperature reading is. 24 hours is more than enuf time, except maybe on hot summer days, to get to working temperatures. Then if it is not at least about 40 degrees, adjust the temperature setting down and see if the refer temperature reacts. If it doesn't improve, I'm afraid you've got a problem. The technology in travel trailer refers is not the same as in our home refers and in my experience it is, unfortunately, sometimes very temperamental (spider webs, wasps nest, ?phase of the moon?).

jato Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3220	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 8:24pm
	The refer should be able to keep things frozen for quite a long time. In our 8+ years of owning our 177 we have had frozen meat (pre-frozen when put in freezer) stay frozen for 4 days with no sign of thawing out. The only reason we haven't done longer is that we eat a lot of meat and that is the longest we can go w/o shopping and purchasing more. Another possibility is that maybe the two muffin fans on the rear side of your refer are not working. We had this problem years ago when we noticed the refer was not very cold. My brother, an electrical engineer, and RV expert in these matters isolated our problems within 5 minutes. Problem was the di-electric switch was located way too low on the coils, by repositioning it near the top, pretty close to the exhaust pipe for the propane, the fans turned on almost immediately. I told my brother, "I never heard that sound before." He only laughed and told me he had seen this same thing on many other refers. We precool only 1 day in advance before heading out, this is plenty of time for the refer to cool down, especially if you put in a few frozen items like an ice block or something similar during the process.
	God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

Pod People Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Location: Chapel Hill,NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 1067	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 8:46pm
	If you have manually turned the temperature down as far as possible and still not cold enough there is another option--try adjusting your thermister. Look it up in the search function or google. It is a small module in the interior of the fridge, at the back and probably up high on the fins. there is a bulb on the lower end and a wire coming from the top. It is held onto the fins by a clip. Try gently moving the thermister up higher on the fin and this will also change the temperature. the freezer will definitely get cold enough to keep pre-frozen items frozen. We have used the freezer for ice cream and meats without defrosting. I would not expect it to freeze items that were not already frozen. Vann
	Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179

lostagain Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2587	Posted: 04 Apr 2019 at 8:59pm
	Tom, did you adjust the temperature control to the coldest setting? Look in your owner's manual to see how to do it on your particular model. If you don't have an owner's manual, you can get one from the internet by going to the Dometic web site. Your freezer should freeze stuff if the temperature is set to the coldest or near coldest settings. On our fridge, there is a little bar graph on the control panel above the door where you adjust the cold setting. There are buttons at the coldest and warmest ends of the lighted bar graph to raise or lower the temperature. If you are running it on 110 ac you should be able to get it cold enough to freeze unless you are in extraordinarily hot weather. If it isn't freezing, then there may be an issue with the unit that you will want to have a refrigeration tech look at. You should have about 40℉ in the fridge, and about 0℉ in the freezer. Check with a thermometer. You may also want to fire up the gas system in the fridge. If you haven't used your propane system in a while, you may need to bleed the air out. Just light the stove until you can sustain a flame then turn it off. Then turn on the fridge and choose gas operation on the control panel. It may give you an error a couple times if there is air in the line, but once it lights, then leave it over night and check the temperatures in your fridge and freezer. If it's still not cold, then you may have an issue in the burner unit that you'll need to have a tech look at.
	Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

TearlessTom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 25 Jan 2019 Location: Spanish Fort AL Online Status: Offline Posts: 85	Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 9:55am
	I don't have an owners manual as I bought the Pod used. I checked the temp with a lazar type thermometer and both and read about 40F degrees. I think I may have found the problem (maybe) I did go to Domestic's website but couldn't find a model that looked like mine and I don't have the model # available. (at work) but I did read about the warmer/colder = smaller / larger thermometer icon. I was reading it backwards so I actually had it set on the warmest setting not the coldest so about 40F should be about right for the warmest. I've always had problems with thermostat directions. I think it stems back to one of the ex's who was Mexican and as we know Spanish speaking people do not put their words in the same order as English speaking people. She was always telling me to "Turn the Chill down" I could never under stand if she wanted it colder or warmer. Anyway. I will recheck the temp when I get home tonight and change the setting on the thermostat. Also I could never get the propane to turn on last night. It may still be air in the lines or it may be my bottle of propane is empty. I will refill and try again. Thanks for the help.
	Tearless Tom 2017 R-Pod 180 2014 Ford F-150 XLT 2WD 5.0

GlueGuy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2629	Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 10:05am
	We had one camping trip where the the OAT was around 97° or 98° F. We had some breakfast sausage we had put in the freezer (unfrozen) when we left home. It took all of a day (and maybe a bit more) to freeze that sausage. It works, but is not the coldest fridge in the world. Our home freezer will freeze a package of sausage in an hour or two.
	bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost