Hot August Days mean more RV refrigerator problems - what to do?

When the temperatures reach the August highs, your refrigerator is working to capacity. Any additional help you can give it will ease its load.

1. Keep the door closed as much as possible. Decide what you need to take out or put in beforehand, do it quickly and close that door.
2. If you find you are opening the fridge door often for beverages or cold water, consider using a separate ice-filled cooler to store these items.
3. Allow for air currents to move around inside the food storage compartment – proper air circulation is a must for adequate cooling. One hint that a reader suggested is to open both ends of a soda can and insert these at strategic spots to aid in air circulation. Small battery-operated fans can also be placed in the compartment.
4. A fan can be installed in the rear compartment to assist the flow of air up and through the condenser fins at the top of the cooling unit. These fans are thermostatically controlled and available with solar power options.
5. If you can arrange it, park with the refrigerator side of your RV in the shade.
6. Check the seal on the door by inserting a dollar bill between the door and the refrigerator cabinet and close the door on it. Canadians will have to use a five-dollar bill, since this test will not work with coins! There should be a slight resistance felt when you pull the bill out and repeat this test all the way around the door opening. If there are any places where the bill is loose or simply falls out then the seal should be replaced, as it is also leaking out cold air.
7. Start the refrigerator the day before you will be using it to let it get cold while it is empty. Pre-cool all foods in your home refrigerator before loading the RV refrigerator. Allow all hot or warm food to cool to room temperature before putting it away. Any assistance that you can give your overworked cooling unit will help during the heat waves.
8. Place an ice cube in a plastic glass and place it in your freezer compartment. If the freezer happens to defrost and then refreeze, the ice cube will have lost its shape and you can then check the food contents for contamination.

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See also:

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• Norcold Refrigerator Repair

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• Dometic Refrigerator Repair

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