Residential Refrigerator User Guide

[SButler83]

We just bought our Landmark Key West a few weeks ago. The refrigerator is beautiful, if only it worked. The dealership and frigidair are having trouble finding a repair shop that will work on them in an RV. Any suggestions ?
The power is on lights and panel go on, but will not get cold. Has anyone had this problem? Is it something I can do myself?

G_S

Hi G_S, I was wondering if you happened to have resolved this issue. I have a Frigidaire in my 2016 Gateway, and mine now won't get cold either, however it had been functioning for over a year. Mine's past warranty, but I'm licensed for HVAC repairs. Just wondering what specifically went out in your unit if you have that info available.

Thanks,
STeve

 

[G_S]

Hi G_S, I was wondering if you happened to have resolved this issue. I have a Frigidaire in my 2016 Gateway, and mine now won't get cold either, however it had been functioning for over a year. Mine's past warranty, but I'm licensed for HVAC repairs. Just wondering what specifically went out in your unit if you have that info available.

Thanks,
STeve

They never did repair it, Fridgidair replaced it. It only took me three plus months.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Floridanative]

I am in the market to replace my Bighorn with a new one that has a residential refrigerator. My problem is I do not have access to electric power where I will store the 5th. wheel. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a residential refrigerator to a reasonable cool temp when towing without first running it on shore power first?

Thank you for your help.

 

[danemayer]

I am in the market to replace my Bighorn with a new one that has a residential refrigerator. My problem is I do not have access to electric power where I will store the 5th. wheel. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a residential refrigerator to a reasonable cool temp when towing without first running it on shore power first?

Thank you for your help.

Hi Floridanative,

One of the Frigidaire manuals says to allow 24 hours. But let's say it takes 12. That's 12 hours where the compressor will run constantly, probably drawing at least 6 amps at 120V AC, and maybe more.

The bottom line is that you probably won't be able to start the day with a warm refrigerator and arrive at your destination with a cold refrigerator. And you may cause yourself battery problems by trying.

Here's why:

Your 2 batteries by themselves probably have a combined capability of delivering 220 amp hours. But it's not good for most batteries to draw more than about 1/2 of that capacity. So you can probably use about 110 amp hours at 12V DC.

A refrigerator drawing 6 amps at 120V AC converts to 60 amps at 12V DC. If you tow for 6 hours, the refrigerator will consume 360 amps while trying to get to 37 degrees. And that doesn't consider the normal loss of efficiency in the inverter.

I don't think your batteries, even combined with power from the truck, by way of the umbilical cord, would deliver this much power. As your batteries get depleted, the inverter will be unable to deliver enough power. It'll throw an error code and shut down. And when you arrive at your destination with depleted batteries, you may have problems operating the auto-leveling and slides because they need quite a bit of battery power for the short time they are operating.

This scenario is different from the normal towing scenario where you're starting with a cold refrigerator, and the compressor only has to run occasionally to maintain temperature. So it draws way less power.

I think you may have to use a good ice chest the first day and give the refrigerator the evening and overnight on shore power to cool down.

 

[boatto5er]

Dan has some very valid points. We stage our rig at a local campground the night before we go on a trip, to get the fridge cold, make sure everything else is working, and to load up supplies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk