newbie with a fridge question - dometic rm1350

[jeffz]

We just picked up our first RV yesterday - 2014 Fleetwood Bounder 33C. It has a Dometic RM1350 propane/electric fridge.

Looks like the fridge was switched off for our delivery, so now that we have the rig parked here at home we were trying to get it fired back up this morning. I've turned the fridge on and put the mode to AUTO and the dot indicates it's now running off my home shore power (just 15A electric for now).

The freezer is immediately starting to cool, but I'm not feeling any cooling going on in the main fridge compartment. The display on the fridge says "60" which per the manual I downloaded means it's actually still too warm to be really measurable.

It's been about 30 minutes. Has it not been long enough or is this a sign of a cooling issue?

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[Alfa38User]

Welcome!!

30 minutes?? heh heh....

An RV fridge is not like the home fridges you are used to. There are no moving parts like a compressor and it can take anywhere from 8-24 hours to cool down properly. You can help this along by using a couple of ice packs or frozen food in the refrigerator part. The vehicle has to be more or less level as well. High outside air temperatures also slow down the process so be aware of the sun's  location vis-a-vis the fridge. Some install muffin fans in the rear of the fridge to help move the air a bit better from bottom to top and over the tubes.

The good news is you have detected the cooling in the freezer section. In an RV fridge, the freezer is cooled first and the"left over" coolant then cools the lower part resulting in a much longer than normally expected cool down time. Both mine usually take 4-5 hours to cool down with the help of already cold stuff inside. Remember not to stuff it too full as the air has be able to circulate around those cooling fins on the back wall.

 

[Rene T]

Also when loading the fridge, try to put in food which has been previously chilled. This will help dramatically.

 

[jeffz]

Thanks for the replies. It cooled down with no issues; just took a long time because I started it empty and the fridge side of the RV was facing the sun.