Problem with RV refrigerator

[skipper194242]

i had my awning replaced on 2003 cardinal 5th wheel, 35ft. power not on at dealer. battery ran down refrigerator hot with check light on. got home plugged back into power and it appears the upper part ,freezer getting cold but i can not tell anytemperature drop in bottom refrigerator section. its been about 3 hours. i am not knowlegeable on ammonia systems. about how long should it take to start cooling bottom? thanks.

 

[Herk7769]

i had my awning replaced on 2003 cardinal 5th wheel, 35ft. power not on at dealer. battery ran down refrigerator hot with check light on. got home plugged back into power and it appears the upper part ,freezer getting cold but i can not tell anytemperature drop in bottom refrigerator section. its been about 3 hours. i am not knowlegeable on ammonia systems. about how long should it take to start cooling bottom? thanks.

Couple things going on here.

The check light "on" means no AC and no propane fire.
12 VDC is required for "propane fire" so if your battery died you might have enough DC to turn on an LED but not run the control board.

It can take 6-8 hours to cool down from "warm".

 

[skipper194242]

thanks for information. i notice it getting cold in freezer section but not in refrigeration section yet. is that normal? its been a little over 3 hours.

 

[LadyWindrider]

Takes 6~12 hours, best way to tell is put a thermometer in side, and walk away for at least two hours. Opening the door to check it is not helping.

 

[donn]

I usually figure 24 hours to cool down completely.

 

[skipper194242]

it appears that the freezer has to get down to temerature before the ammonia solution starts dropping the temperature in refrigerator section. it would be interesting to learn how to work on them. after 24 hours it seems to be working well. thanks for all the help.