How To Keep Your Motor Home Refrigerator Running

Posted on: 22 August 2018

The refrigerator that you have in your motor home is not the same as the refrigerator that you have in your house. The maintenance steps that you must take for your motor home refrigerator are completely different and if you are not careful, your refrigerator might stop functioning.

Check the Burners

It may seem counter-intuitive, but absorption refrigerators generate cold from heat. The burners in your motor home refrigerator might need attention. Dust can accumulate within these burners. Also, they might become rusty. To determine if the burner is functioning properly, you will want to examine it while the flame is lit. You can do this by opening up the access door. The flame should not be orange or yellow. If it is, this is a sign that it needs to be cleaned out.

Inspect the Refrigerator Annually

Refrigerators at home remain stationary. However, a refrigerator found in a motor home is routinely subjected to vibrations. Also, a motor home refrigerator is exposed to higher ambient temperatures. For this reason, you will need to service your motor home refrigerator annually. 

Prepare the Fridge for a Trip

When you begin operating your refrigerator, it will be warm and will require about 8 hours to cool before it will be able to adequately cool your food. For this reason, you should prepare your refrigerator hours before you go on your trip. One way to reduce the risk of your food and beverages being too warm is to freeze them the night before placing them in the motor home refrigerator. By taking these steps, your refrigerator will not have to work as hard.

Don't Let the Cooling Fins Ice Up

Pay attention to the cooling fins. These may ice up and your refrigerator might become less efficient at cooling your food. They will sometimes ice up because moisture is allowed to enter your refrigerator. This may be the result of a gasket that is not properly sealing your refrigerator.

Defrost the Freezer

Your refrigerator will operate more effectively if you defrost the freezer periodically. The absorption refrigerators defrost automatically, but they will not always effectively remove all frost, so you may need to defrost it yourself.

Air Out the Refrigerator

Do not carry too much food in your refrigerator. There may come a time where you need to empty it out completely to air out ammonia when you notice that smell. If you do not vent out your refrigerator and turn it off, the ammonia can cause damage to metal shelves. But when you care for your refrigerator, your trip will be much better. For more information, contact a company like RV Service Center of Santa Cruz.

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