Fridge - Cold Weather Use

[Ctgriffi]

On our way to FL but still a few days out and temps are below freezing outside; seems like our original Norcold is much less effective right now!

 

If anybody has some insights or quick tips to improve the situation (to save us from tossing more food!), I’d love to hear them. Thank you 🙏🏼

[linda s]

Kind of the opposite of cold weather refrigerator response. It is cold outside though. Anywhere you can strap a bin filled with your food outside. Maybe a large exterior storage bin? Are you sure the pilot is lit. Buy as you go is also something that would help. No stocking up- for now. My fridge didn't work when I bought my camper. I used a plastic dish pan and block ice in bottom of fridge. Kept food good for 4 days.

Linda S

[Ctgriffi]

Thanks, Linda! I actually found a decent solution via Google:

 

So, turns out that ammonia absorption fridges don’t typically work well in super cold conditions, especially when flying down the interstate. I believe the heating coil on the backside can’t stay warm enough (seems counterintuitive but coil needs to be quite hot for fridge to stay cold). The fix seemed to be removing the fridge vent cover and stuffing a small blanket in there around everything (I just need to be sure to remove when temps are back up, well above freezing). Fridge started working much better after we tried this. 
 

(NOTE: This approach applies to using the fridge on electric, which is the only way we run the fridge anymore—I would NOT recommend this if using propane-burner mode!)

[Ssunrader]

I was a little disappointed that the fridge in ours didn’t have a drain for using block ice like our old VW bus.

[linda s]

The early VW campers came with an ice box, hence the need for a drain. Your Sunrader has a refrigerator. Different ball game.

Linda S