Many of us store our RV in places that do not have electricity for us to keep the fridge plugged in and working all the time or even a few hours before we take off for a fun filled and safe camping adventure.
So let's talk about the care and feeding of an RV refrigerator.
1. I hope you do not keep the fridge sealed as tight as a drum during storage. You need to leave the door cracked open just a bit, so that air can move in and out of your fridge. This helps keep the inside of the fridge dry and reduce mold build up. Did you ever wonder what that slide button on the fridge door is used for? Well to lock the door during travel to be sure but, if you slide the button so that you are locking the fridge door while the door is being held open the slide lock can be used to keep the fridge door from closing during storage. Be sure your fridge is as clean as possible before you close the door on the RV. Making sure the fridge is clean will help stop the growth of mold inside of the unit. Also if possible you should use a Naturally Activated Charcoal Odor Absorber like this one; RV Activated Charcoal
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RV Activated Charcoal |
This little odor eater
would hang from a shelf at the back of the fridge to help keep odors
out. You can also use box of baking soda but that can spill going down
the road and make quite a mess.
2.
What can you do to get the fridge colder quicker once you get to the
camp ground or on the way? You could buy a bag of ice and put it on the
top shelf of the fridge next to the silver fins at the back. You could
buy some cheap cold packs That look like this;
Freeze them (usually three) and use them in place of the ice. Very little if any water to clean up. Or you could get some Zip Lock Heavy Duty Freezer Bags and put ice cubes from your home freezer in them and use them in place of the bought ice. Another idea for an ice pack is to partially fill a strong zip-type sandwich bag with Dawn dishwashing liquid, close and freeze. The liquid soap stays cold much longer and it can be refrozen many times. The frozen Dawn will conform to the place you need an ice pack. Maybe a bit more water to clean up than you would like.
The Nu-Ice Freezer Pack is a chemical freezer pack capable of maintaining a sub-zero temperature by putting the pack into an insulated environment for up to 96 hours. This is accomplished by first freezing the special pack to initiate the simple chemical reaction within the pack.
But you could do even better and help the ice or cold pack by adding a RV fridge fan like this one; RV Fridge Fan .
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Cheap Cold Packs |
Freeze them (usually three) and use them in place of the ice. Very little if any water to clean up. Or you could get some Zip Lock Heavy Duty Freezer Bags and put ice cubes from your home freezer in them and use them in place of the bought ice. Another idea for an ice pack is to partially fill a strong zip-type sandwich bag with Dawn dishwashing liquid, close and freeze. The liquid soap stays cold much longer and it can be refrozen many times. The frozen Dawn will conform to the place you need an ice pack. Maybe a bit more water to clean up than you would like.
The Nu-Ice Freezer Pack is a chemical freezer pack capable of maintaining a sub-zero temperature by putting the pack into an insulated environment for up to 96 hours. This is accomplished by first freezing the special pack to initiate the simple chemical reaction within the pack.
But you could do even better and help the ice or cold pack by adding a RV fridge fan like this one; RV Fridge Fan .
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RV Fridge Fan |
It uses 2 D cell
batteries (be sure to use alkaline type) and will give you 30 days of
use before the batteries need to be changed. It will reduce your fridge
cool down time by half. I use one in my TT and it does work. (just be
sure to turn it off before storing the rig).
I
know some of you are a bit more high tech than a simple battery
operated fan inside the fridge, and would like something a bit more. I
reference you here; High Tech RV Fridge Fan .
CAUTION: Do not run your RV Fridge on GAS while going down the road. Guys this is very dangerous for a lot of reasons and not recommended by anyone in the know that I have talk to. I
am sure someone will tell you that they have done it for years with no
problems. But it only take one time, of a fire or explosion or both.
3.
What else could you do to help your RV fridge? You could put a fan on
the backside of the fridge inside the outside fridge compartment. I am
talking about the outside compartment in back of the fridge. There are
several type of this kind of fan. One type uses a thermostat to sense
when there is too much heat, inside the outside compartment, thus
slowing down cooling, and turns on the fan. Or there is the DIY system
that uses a 12 volt computer fan that comes on when ever power is turned
on to the rig (this is what I use). Let's look at them both, first the
thermostat controlled fridge compartment fan; RV Fridge Outside Compartment Fan
There
is some DIY here as well but a lot less that the system that I use.
Follow the link and read some of the user comments to better understand
how this system works.
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RV Fridge Outside Compartment Fan |
This is a completely
DIY project so please remember that. I found a convenient place on the
inside of the outside refrigerator compartment's grated grill cover
and mounted the fan with some zip ties. I ran the power wire from the
fan to the rigs 12 volt power line, that I found inside the refrigerator
compartment. My 12 volt lines were the same color as the fan's wiring.
The fan blows air across the fins on the outside of the fridge located
inside the fridge compartment. The power draw is so small I did not
worry about it and the fan runs whenever the rigs 12 volt system is on.
The fan is designed to be used in a computer so is whisper quiet. Boy
does it work.
4. So we have the fridge
getting cold but how cold is it and when can I put in some food? Well
if you do not have a thermometer to measure the temperature then how do
you know? There are two kinds of thermometers one is digital and one is
analog. Let's look at them both.
Digital RV Thermometer Digital RV Thermometer
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Digital RV Thermometer |
The unit has two sensors one for the freezer and
one for the fridge. The unit runs off batteries and can tell you at a
glance from the outside of the refrigerator unit what is going on inside
and when you unit is cold enough for food.
Analog RV Thermometer; Analog RV Thermometer
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Analog RV Thermometer |
This simple unit hangs from one of the shelves
in the fridge and tells you when it is safe to put in your food. The
negative thing is that you have to open the fridge to tell if it is
ready, letting in more hot air and letting the cold air out. I am
saving for the digital version.
Well we've got your RV refrigerator humming along but, it is time to go home and park the rig until the next time.
How can you get it cleaned out and dried out fast? One of these guys should help; Inexpensive Hair Dryer
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Inexpensive Hair Dryer |
Because I do not dry camp I have the power
needed to use this, to dry out the fridge and freezer fast and get going
home. Darn the ice cream is going to melt again.
Find us on Facebook At "Weekend RVers"
Until next time.