rv refrigerators

[jnof]

I just recently bought a '05 Itasca Winnebago to use full time traveling. The refrigerator does not seem to get cold very fast. Now I kow that starting from dead heat in July in AZ is tough but it took over 24 hours just to get the frig cool, not cold. The freezer got cool then cold faster and will make ice but it does not freez water in a plastic bag or bottle after 1 1/2 days. Is this right. The RV dealer doesn't see to agree with me...
Any help is appreciated.
Jean

[Echo]

I'm here in TN and it took my fridge a little over 2 days to cool back down to where it belonged. Freezer took about 2 days too before it would freeze solid again. Now the blasted thing is not working again. ~sigh~ Haven't had a fridge in at least a week this time. So much for the groceries that I had bought!

[Sandersmr]

They are slow to cool down. I always try to start mine up the night before and mine's small - 3 cu. ft.

[OregonLuvr]

I also start mine the night before and I find it cools down faster on gas than electric. Once it gets cold no problem with the electric.

karen

[jnof]

Thanks all! That at least makes me feel better.
Jeab

[Acadianmom]

It takes at least 24 hours for the refrigerator to cool down. And if it is very hot where you are it's probably not going to work as well as it would in cooler weather. I keep a refrigerator thermometer in the frig and the freezer. I can tell at a glance if they are cold enough. Try to put food in that is already frozen or cold. If it's really hot outside try to park where the side with the refrigerator will be in the shade in the afternoon.

Martha

[retiredhappy]

Also having frig problems. The frig is 13 years old. Worked fine at home. Took about 24 hours to cool down but was really cold when done. Left on our trip and the frig stopped cooling enough. I use a frig thermometer and it wouldn't get out of the danger zone. Had to use our ice chesk for the drive here to South Dakota. Got an rv guy to check it out and yep, need a new one. Oh, the joys of RVing. If it isn't one thing its another.

[JudyJB]

Mine is new and 6 cubic feet. I does take a long time to get things cold, at least overnight, but once things are cold, it will freeze small ice cubes overnight or at least within 18 hours. I keep refilling one ice tray that has very small cubes and then dumping them in a small freezer bag.

I love my water ice cold, so I also keep bottles of water in the freezer, and it will freeze them usually overnight. I put several bottles in the refrigerated section and then transfer them one or two at a time to the freezer.

I found out that one key is being very careful about not opening the doors to either the refrig or the freezer more often than absolutely necessary. I have been on the road through 100 degree weather for the past three weeks, and it is keeping food frozen and very cold.

[Nasoosie]

As I wrote in some other post somewhere, the secret to keeping an RV refrigerator cold when running on propane is to put a litle battery-run fan in there that is designed for such a use. I think I got mine in Camping World, or perhaps Walmart----can't remember----but it will run on two D batteries for several months. It dramatically cools within just a few hours. An old RVer gave me the trick while camping at my first bluegrass festival in my old trailer years ago. I now use it all the time, whether on electricity or propane. I just got back from a field where the temperatures were at or over 100 degrees in the daylight hours, and my food was very cold in my refrigerator running on propane. It's amazing.

[Dawn309]

Just put on my list. I did not know that.

[jnof]

Great suggestions! I'll try all next weekend.
Thanks!