Updates from Redwood - Page 3

ksaltman · 07-18-2014, 05:39 AM

Rob_fla I'd love to see how you added fans to your refer. We noticed that above the norcold fridge was very hot and want to figure out how to vent that.

Please advise.....

**piper guy** · 07-18-2014, 12:37 PM

An RV fridge is most efficient on propane. I start mine on propane, switch to electric at about 18 hours or so. By 24 hours the fridge is at 34-37 degrees and the freezer at about 5-10. I don't use the ice maker

I've added the fridge fans, will probably add the external fans next.

JohnEileen · 07-18-2014, 02:14 PM

We were discussing the refrigerator last night before I saw this discussion. I was concerned because after putting our slides in again we found water around and under the Norcold frig. I also find water inside the frig during our travel and frost is building up on the inside. We are on our way to Maine and pulling our rig over several hundred miles. We were concerned that things were warmer than when plugged into electric. We have plenty of ice but it starts to melt as we travel with it on gas. Why does this happen if it supposed to run on both? Yes I would really worry about this if it were on the propane mode for more than 10 hours. We were looking to see where that drain was and can't find that.

Beverages are barely cold in the refrigerator when we arrive at our destination to set up. I can't imagine relying on the Gas end for cooling for long. I thought there was something wrong with our propane until reading these posts. I unit has almost every extra on it that you can have on these rigs too.

**hoosierguy** · 07-18-2014, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLRAKOWITZ

Bit the propane side of norcold just pre cools the fridge while you are on the road but it doesn't actually keep items frozen or drinks ice cold in the fridge

We have a double door Dometic without icemaker and, when running on LP mode while traveling, it keeps the refrigerator temperature in the 34* to 40* range and the freezer keeps everything frozen at around 10*. I like the fact that we have the LP mode as an automatic backup when/if the main power goes down. We just use a couple of small silicon flexible ice trays. We just don't normally need a lot of ice. It has worked quite well for us for 3 years.

0nTheRoad · 07-18-2014, 03:31 PM

I agree that eliminating the option to have an RV refer would be a show-stopper, at least for us.

Having said that, I would much prefer to have a residential fridge BUT not until they figure a way to run it for more than a few hours when off the grid. We don't boondock, at least not to any extent but without a very expensive solar solution I see no way of powering the fridge for any length of time with just the current inverter/battery solution.

With the RV refer once you get it cooled down with 120v you can keep it cold with gas for a long period, not so with the residential option...that is a showstopper for us!!

DLRAKOWITZ · 07-18-2014, 03:43 PM

for us we use our propane a lot for other things..on our other 5ver the fridge sucked down the propane when we ran the fridge off of it and it didn't really get it cold enough to use. that's why I was saying the electric way would be better to go towards if and only if they are willing to improve the use of it such as batteries, solor, ect...

atom ant · 07-18-2014, 03:57 PM

I can only guess you had something wrong with your Norcold, or it was installed improperly. We have none of the deficiencies you discuss. I start mine on LP with I get it out of storage after work and by morning it is making ice. I have a fridge thermometer in there and at times I have even had to turn it down to keep it from freezing the below compartments. On a 100 degree day I have it set on 5. It fills the ice tray each day, at least as fast as both of our residential fridges at home.

In short, you shouldn't experience much of a difference in performance between a residential or RV fridge, unless something is wrong. Want to cool it quick, throw in a bag of ice in the freezer when you start it, it will be cold enough to add food within an hour, then you can dump the ice. It takes more effort to cool an empty fridge than a full one.

When it's Miller time, I look to the Kodiak!

0nTheRoad · 07-18-2014, 04:03 PM

To elaborate...we live in our Redwood fulltime...I never touch the control panel on our Norcold, its set on AUTO. When we're parked it runs on 120v, when towing it runs on propane.

Other than one overtemp error code alarm after getting too much water in the vents when washing I have had no issues with ours. Too small...yes, too slow to make ice...yes, would I prefer a residential...well Ruth would say YES!!!!! But overall happy with what we have...yes.

DLRAKOWITZ · 07-18-2014, 04:08 PM

ok...im listening...but how much propane would you normally go thru if your fridge is working "normal" and I am interested in the fan thing as well...how do you set something like that up???

atom ant · 07-18-2014, 04:19 PM

Nobody is trying to talk you into one, just kind of harsh statements you made about Redwood offering them so thought I would defend it.

Get what works best for you - options are the best way to widen a market and keep everyone happy.

DLRAKOWITZ · 07-18-2014, 04:24 PM

no twisting of arms...I have always had a norcold in the past 5 trailers we owned ... some of which worked like a champ...as in the old ones and others which have taken a while to cool down. I also have one in our redwood as I mentioned earlier because we couldn't find one in our floorplan and dealer wouldn't take on the challenge. so that's why I am interested in listening to see if its something I am doing wrong for it not chilling down enough and what some do to get it were it needs to be quicker.

DLRAKOWITZ · 07-18-2014, 04:40 PM

but I gotta try the bag of ice next time...sounds so simple I cant see why I didn't think of that before

brenkco · 07-18-2014, 05:26 PM

Options are what makes the world go round! When we bought our 38GK, they had 2 on the lot, one with the residential refer and one with the Norcold. We went with the residential and YES, we boondock. We came to a completely different conclusion regarding the propane use as mentioned before in this post.

One of the reasons is, that we attended a fire demonstration at Quartzsite by "Mac the fire guy". His conclusion was that the leading cause of rv fires was the lp refer. His suggestion was either, purchase a fire suppression system (self serving) or turn your refer off at night. We chose the latter when boon docking. Refer contents stay just fine overnight with refer off and we felt much safer.

Our experience with the residential refer is that it runs just fine overnight using little battery draw (I use 4 -6 volt batteries). We have had it on during 9+ hour tows in 100 degree heat with no issues.

Glad Redwood gives us choices.....it makes us all happy!!

Ken

**Dave&Ginny** · 07-18-2014, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnEileen

We were discussing the refrigerator last night before I saw this discussion. I was concerned because after putting our slides in again we found water around and under the Norcold frig. I also find water inside the frig during our travel and frost is building up on the inside. We are on our way to Maine and pulling our rig over several hundred miles. We were concerned that things were warmer than when plugged into electric. We have plenty of ice but it starts to melt as we travel with it on gas. Why does this happen if it supposed to run on both? Yes I would really worry about this if it were on the propane mode for more than 10 hours. We were looking to see where that drain was and can't find that.

Beverages are barely cold in the refrigerator when we arrive at our destination to set up. I can't imagine relying on the Gas end for cooling for long. I thought there was something wrong with our propane until reading these posts. I unit has almost every extra on it that you can have on these rigs too.

I would have it checked out. Because we haven't had any of those issues. Our works as good on the road as it does while set up. My only problem is that it makes ice while I travel and it over fills the bucket so the ice goes everywhere

travelin' texans · 07-18-2014, 07:41 PM

Ours has worked flawlessly for over 18 months, parked & traveling. Also really like the ice maker it makes more than we can use. We did have a problem when parked with frog facing west & the heat, but nothing serious.

travelin' texans · 07-18-2014, 07:42 PM

Damn auto correct, we have a frig, not a frog.

atom ant · 07-18-2014, 07:50 PM

hahaha - I was trying to figure out how the direction a frog faces affects the ice!

**piper guy** · 07-19-2014, 03:35 AM

I started my Norcold yesterday morning on propane about 0800. By midnight it was down to 37 inq the fridge and 9 in the freezer. At that point I a switched it over to electric and turned on the Fridge Fix fans and now as I write this, about 30 hours after initial start, I just turned it from 6 down to 5 because the fridge temp is 30 degrees. Freezer is 2 degrees

DLRAKOWITZ · 07-19-2014, 03:49 AM

Ok what r you using and how do you set up the fridge fan fix???

**piper guy** · 07-19-2014, 04:01 AM

Go to www.smartrvproducts.com. They make fans that go inside the fridge to circulate air. The RV fridge is most efficient on propane. If yours isn't, get it checked as there is a problem some where. I start mine on propane WITHOUT the fans on and then switch to electric after about 18-24 hours. Propane use should be minimal. At that time, go to electric or if on the road, leave on propane but in any case that is when fans are turned on. I start unit at 7-8 and then turn down to 5-6.
Bag of ice helps and also interior temp of unit is a factor. Cooler interior temp will cool down fridge faster.

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