Refrigerator Tips-Flagstaff MAC 176

[MoreSmoresPlease]

We just moved up from Tent to pop-up and we are thrilled to have a small refer. Looking for a few tips and lessons learned on using the 3-way refer in a Flaggstaff MAC 176 LTD.

The Plan is:
1. Plug in the pop up to shore power two or so days before departing and cool down the refer....load it up.

2. While hooked up to the car (with the car running), throw on the Red 12v switch and keep the refer cool while underway.

3. Upon arrival, Secure the Red 12v switch and immediately go to propane.

Any one have tips or lessons learned for using the refer as above?

Thank you for any input!

[5picker]

Sounds like a good plan.
You can also run on 120v at destination if you have shore power available.

[bikendan]

That's the right procedure.

[wbell]

I'm new to all this. That being said, my nephew (avid RV enthusiast) recommended putting a sacrificial bag of ice in freezer while the reefer is coming up in temperature. He said the battery takes extreme long time to get there on its own. I had a friend suggest let the fridge come to temperature using LP while traveling. Quickest way to bring to temperature. Any thoughts/comments? 😎


All the Best,
Wade & Pam

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by wbell

I'm new to all this. That being said, my nephew (avid RV enthusiast) recommended putting a sacrificial bag of ice in freezer while the reefer is coming up in temperature. He said the battery takes extreme long time to get there on its own. I had a friend suggest let the fridge come to temperature using LP while traveling. Quickest way to bring to temperature. Any thoughts/comments? 😎


All the Best,
Wade & Pam

Most popups don't have a freezer, just a place for an ice tray. Not sure how your nephew fit a bag of ice in such a small area.

They have 3-way fridges, not 2-way like most RVs.

[wbell]

Guess I missed the discussion was about pop ups. I was talking about the fridge in my class C RV. The freezer should be able to hold a 10 lb bag of ice, maybe in a Tupperware container. 😎


All the Best,
Wade & Pam

[MoreSmoresPlease]

Hi Wade and Pam- We only have a small 4cu type refer. No freezer. Ice tip sounds good though!

[MoreSmoresPlease]

Wade- On another note, I don't think you are allowed to travel with the LP unit on.
Pilot light lit, plus accident with tank rupture, might mean Hollywood type of explosion.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by MoreSmoresPlease

Wade- On another note, I don't think you are allowed to travel with the LP unit on.
Pilot light lit, plus accident with tank rupture, might mean Hollywood type of explosion.

Not true!
The majority of RVers travel with the fridge on propane.
If you don't believe me, do a search on any RV forum.

[gloryracing]

We fill empty plastic milk jugs with water from the tap and freeze them. Place them in freezer and fridge when bringing up to temp. Helps considerably! Also allows cool drinking water once at location.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by glory rcing

We fill empty plastic milk jugs with water from the tap and freeze them. Place them in freezer and fridge when bringing up to temp. Helps considerably! Also allows cool drinking water once at location.

Where do you put the Food stuff if you are putting Milk jugs in the freezer and main area? These are Little Refers! Youroo!!

[Santabobswife]

Originally Posted by glory rcing

We fill empty plastic milk jugs with water from the tap and freeze them. Place them in freezer and fridge when bringing up to temp. Helps considerably! Also allows cool drinking water once at location.

We used to do this all the time, even when we were tent camping. The ice is a large block and as it melts it doesn't drown everything.

[gloryracing]

Originally Posted by youroo

Where do you put the Food stuff if you are putting Milk jugs in the freezer and main area? These are Little Refers! Youroo!!

We have room for gallon milk jugs. You could use half gallon, quart, 16 oz Gatorade bottle...whatever you have room for.

[pgandw]

I copied this post from one I made in the A-frame section (we use similar fridges). I turned my fridge on last night at 7PM, camper in the garage which was 76 degrees. Using AC, dial at "4". This morning, fridge was at 33 degrees. The fan is a wonderful thing.

See I'm liking my A-frame fridge to understand what I went through and details of my "fixes".

My experiences were wildly inconsistent fridge performance in all 3 modes. Sometimes it would cool great, sometimes not at all. On longer trips, the plywood dividing the fridge compartment from the sink actually got hot. I realized the hot air from the heat source was not getting out of the camper.

My first step was to insulate the compartment with Reflectix. I curved the Reflectix to guide the hot air out the top vent. In studying the top vent, I realized they were actually part of a Dometic installation kit for the 4223 fridge. The engineer at Dometic who approved or designed those vents should be fired or worse. They make it very difficult for the needed air flow to set up and cool the fridge coils.

Anyway, the insulation and air guides still did not consistently set up the convection flow (cool air in bottom vent, hot air out top vent) the fridge needs to operate correctly. Like you, I got a remote temp gauge to try to figure things out - mine will work in the minivan while towing.

It turned out that installing a computer case fan to blow air out the top vent was the fix. A couple of others led the way in the linked thread. I found a 120mm/12V/0.07A/440CFM/1200RPM ball bearing computer case fan at Best Buy for $10. I tie-wrapped it to the 2 bottom slots in the top grill on the aft side of center.

Unbelievable results:
- on DC (I use DC mode when towing), air flow of the moving A-frame is sufficient, fan is off, and the fridge will easily pull below freezing at highway speeds for more than a couple of hours. I use pit stops with the fan still off to let the fridge warm back up to prevent freezing contents. There is no way to regulate the DC power to the fridge.
- on AC, I use the fan. Normally have to set fridge at 3-4 (7 point scale) to keep it from freezing. Temps are generally good at 32 - 36 degrees, even in 90+ outside temps. I will start initial cool down with dial set at 7, takes 3-4 hours to pull down below 40 from 82 degree summer temps in my garage.
- on propane, I use the fan. Dial is set from 1.5 to 3 (5 point scale) to keep it from freezing.

While the insulation and ducting helps, the fan is the key to getting the necessary air flow going through those pitiful excuses for vents. With the right air flow, the fridge is a great way to keep food.

Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time
last trip - Black Hills, Custer State Park
next trip - Utah 5 National Parks (Capital Reef, Zion, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Arches)

[Slyhuntr]

Originally Posted by glory rcing

We have room for gallon milk jugs. You could use half gallon, quart, 16 oz Gatorade bottle...whatever you have room for.

We use the soda pop two liters, we throw a couple in our Yeti ice chest and it will stay cold for days, they don't leak.

[325BH]

Originally Posted by wbell

Guess I missed the discussion was about pop ups. I was talking about the fridge in my class C RV. The freezer should be able to hold a 10 lb bag of ice, maybe in a Tupperware container. [emoji41]


All the Best,
Wade & Pam

Post #1.

[Hoglou]

What make and model of frig are we talk'en about?

[GlennW]

When I had my Rockwood 1640 LTD with a 3 way fridge I used an Inverter in the tow vehicle to run the fridge on 110V. I wired an extension from the fridge area with an extension long enough to reach the 400W inverter inside the vehicle. Why? becaiuse the wire for 12V had to be too big for the amount of current required. As well, the thermostat does not work on 12V, only 110 so if you travel in cold weather, the fridge might cool too much. The propane section had no thermostat, just low, medium and high flame levels. The fridge was a Dometic RM 2193. This setup worked very well.

GlennW