Community Forums

DrOcean · 08-29-2012, 02:41 PM

Why does it take so long to cool?

gripper · 08-29-2012, 02:58 PM

You can shorten the time, by stocking it with cold things, like frozen bottles of water, frozen meats, drinks, etc. but the Norcold (or Dometic) refrigerator, is an "absorption type" That means it absorbs the heat out of the items in the refrigerator, to cool it down. A regular home refrigerator, uses freon gas, to do the cooling.

Dr4Film · 08-29-2012, 03:00 PM

Because it is an absorption fridge that requires heat to be absorbed from the inside of the freezer and fridge compartments then transfer it to the cooling fins on the rear. Then the heat needs to be removed quickly from the rear otherwise it cannot absorb anymore.

My Norcold aka NotSoCold is now gone and I have a Samsung residential which uses a standard compressor type cooling system that is absolutely delightful to have.

Cold beer and frozen ice cubes and ice cream, HOORAY!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

**CLIFFTALL** · 08-29-2012, 03:00 PM

Also try not to open the door to often or to long and don't stuff it as it needs to circulate air between items.

Midniteoyl · 08-29-2012, 03:01 PM

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/wirin...ns-128166.html

TXiceman · 08-29-2012, 04:51 PM

The absorption frig is a very small capacity when compared to an electric compression unit. With a lower cooling capacity, it will take longer to cool and longer to recover when the door is opened.

Ken

historyljc · 08-29-2012, 09:29 PM

It's like that to keep you from dying of low blood pressure. It also expands your vocabulary, not necessarily in a good way.

H. Miller · 08-30-2012, 06:09 AM

The whole thing operates from a flame the size of a "kitchen match". (or electric heat of approx the same BTU's) There are no moving mechanical parts! The original intent and design was a unit that operated using very little power for boondocking or early RV parks with little or no electric....
Then they got bigger with more and larger doors with obvious results.

HD4Mark · 08-30-2012, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by historyljc

It's like that to keep you from dying of low blood pressure. It also expands your vocabulary, not necessarily in a good way.

I'll go along with that! Since replacing ours with a residential I have had to find other items in the RV to keep my pressure up and vocabulary expanded. There always seems to be something.

DrOcean · 09-01-2012, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gripper

You can shorten the time, by stocking it with cold things, like frozen bottles of water, frozen meats, drinks, etc. but the Norcold (or Dometic) refrigerator, is an "absorption type" That means it absorbs the heat out of the items in the refrigerator, to cool it down. A regular home refrigerator, uses freon gas, to do the cooling.

Thanks for this tip. I froze some water in some plastic containers. When we got to the CG I placed that in the freezer and a bag of ice inside a trash bag up against the coils. It took a couple of hours. But the fridge is working great. Thanks to everyone for your hints.

mikf · 09-01-2012, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrOcean

Thanks for this tip. I froze some water in some plastic containers. When we got to the CG I placed that in the freezer and a bag of ice inside a trash bag up against the coils. It took a couple of hours. But the fridge is working great. Thanks to everyone for your hints.

do you wait untill you get parked to turn your frig on? we always turn on the night before. even if you do not want to run it going down ( which we do ) if you get it cold and keep the door shut it will stay cold for quite awhile.

DrOcean · 09-01-2012, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikf

do you wait untill you get parked to turn your frig on? we always turn on the night before. even if you do not want to run it going down ( which we do ) if you get it cold and keep the door shut it will stay cold for quite awhile.

Do I run it from the battery or from the propane tanks? I was told not to run from propane when in tow. Also, when your fridge is on Auto setting, how do you know which method it is using?

mikf · 09-01-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrOcean

Do I run it from the battery or from the propane tanks? I was told not to run from propane when in tow. Also, when your fridge is on Auto setting, how do you know which method it is using?

ours does not run on battery, 110 volt or propane. so on the road it runs on propane. we just make sure we turn it off when refueling. propane frig's are made to run when traveling. I am not sure how the auto feature works on 3 way frig. are you sure you have a 3 way?

Muddypaws · 09-01-2012, 06:41 PM

I don't know who told you not to use it while moving. I think virtually everybody who has an absorption refrigerator runs them on propane while moving. There's some that have 3-way power, battery, gas, and 110v but I think they are kinda rare. I've seen 2 in 40+ years of RV'ing.

You're supposed to turn off all open flames while fueling.