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08-17-2019, 05:31 PM
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#1
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Established Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Martinez
Posts: 30
M.O.C. #23940
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Need quick refrigerator advice
Hi everyone. We have a Montana 3810MS. Leaving tomorrow from Las Vegas for Yellowstone. Very excited....... BUT
Freezer is very cold but refrigerator doesn't seem to be getting cold enough to keep food in it.
Caviats:
1. It is 108 degrees here today outside.
2. Refrigerator was turned on by the facility that we store it at two days ago, however, I found out that the propane tank it was running on was at or below 5% (according to my Tank app and sensors). I don't have automatic switchover so I switched tanks about 6 hours ago. Sensors are only approximate so it's possible the tank was empty.
But the freezer feels completely normal. I turned up the temperature on the refrigerator but so far no change. I just a few minutes ago put a thermometer into the fridge to see what its really at.
Looking for advice since I am very scared about leaving for 11 days on the road with an 'iffy' fridge.
Rob
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08-17-2019, 06:45 PM
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#2
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Site Team
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Omaha
Posts: 6,754
M.O.C. #7560
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Rob, since your frig/freezer was turn on two or three days ago and your tank was empty it would not have cooled either the frig or freezer. It takes a while to cool that unit down. If it was turned on only 6 hours ago it has not had time to cool down especially if your outside temps are in the 100's. I would make sure you have the board set at the highest number possible (0-9) and make sure your getting propane to the refrig by bleeding the line by lighting a burner on the stove and letting it burn for 10 seconds or so to make sure any air is out of the line. It will take at least another 5-7 hours to get your unit cooled. Your best bet is to store any food in a good cooler and purchase any sensitive items up around Yellowstone. If you put some bottles of water in the refrig and the freezer it will work to cool better also. It just has to have something to cool to make it easier to cool. Why? Don't ask me but it does. Good luck and let us know if it starts to cool down for you. You should be able to feel the freezer starting to cool just by placing your hand on the side of the freezer and the left side seems to cool first and fastest if you have a 4 door refrig.
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08-17-2019, 07:18 PM
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#3
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Established Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Martinez
Posts: 30
M.O.C. #23940
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Nothing happening in the fridge. Temperature going up not down. Freezer cold but nowhere near as cold as it should be.
Reset everything. I can hear the gas burning from the outside compartment but the process that is supposed to get things cold doesn't appear to be happening.
This is a bit of a disaster. We have been planning this 11 day trip to Yellowstone for months. I don't know what to do now on a Sunday.
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08-17-2019, 07:46 PM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Lake Gaston
Posts: 8,773
M.O.C. #12156
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One option to salvage your trip is to get a bar frig and install in your outside storage compartment. We put one in unit when our frig crapped out, and it was a good alternative. We still use, travel with basics, and for short trips of 2-3 days often don’t even turn the rig frig on. Stays cold for hours when traveling. Yes, pain to have to step outside to get food, no ice, and trips to the grocery more often, but an option. You did not indicate your rig year, but sure sounds the same as when ours failed, bad cooling unit. And our bar frig does have a small freezer. Got ours at Home Depot. Measure your height and get the biggest one that fits. My standards may be low, having spent quite a few years in the field sleeping in the mud and eating out of tin cans, but the wife finds it a viable solution and likes the extra frig space as well when needed.
__________________
Mike and Lorraine
2002 3655 FL, 2005 3650RK
2010 3665RE, 2015 3910FB
F350 crew cab dually 6.7
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08-17-2019, 08:09 PM
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#5
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Site Team
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Carmichael - CA
Posts: 7,400
M.O.C. #4831
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Opening the door to check the coldness will cause the refer temp to rise unless it is already loaded with cold foods. As others said it takes a while (24 hours or more) to cool down when empty. I would load my food into a cooler until such time as the refer and the freezer have reached operating temperatures. Try to load frozen food into the freezer and cold food into the refer. The unit isn't good at cooling large portions of warm foods.
P.S. Enabling the auto-switch-over capability would have avoided this problem.
__________________
Carl (n Susan)
There is more to life than fuel mileage.
2012 Montana 3700RL Big Sky Package towed by a 2015 Ford F350 6.7L PSD 4WD CC LWB
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08-17-2019, 08:52 PM
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#6
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Established Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Martinez
Posts: 30
M.O.C. #23940
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Someone helping me wants to know where my converter is located? Can anyone help? 3810MS.
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08-17-2019, 11:51 PM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: STAYTON
Posts: 1,118
M.O.C. #18157
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Should be under your stairs, remove your basement wall and it should be there.
__________________
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
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08-18-2019, 05:22 AM
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#8
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: West Melbourne
Posts: 310
M.O.C. #18980
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As others have said, leave the door closed, don’t open it to check the temperature, get a remote thermometer to check it without opening the door. It takes a long time to get cold.
Was the unit level when the fridge was running for those two days? I suggest installing an ARP unit to make sure the fridge does not overheat. https://www.arprv.com/
__________________
Butch and Kathy
2016 3160RL Legacy, Sailun S637, Centramatic Balancers, 2-T105s, Amish Refrigeration, ARPrv, SoftStartRV, FlexArmor roof
2016 F350 6.7L SRW
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08-18-2019, 05:34 AM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Northport
Posts: 624
M.O.C. #12724
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Is your camper plugged into shore power? If not, putting frig on auto will not help. Did you check the temperature in middle of day at 108 degrees. Was side of camper with frig have full sun. Feel your evaporator fins. Are they cold. Put hand on floor of freezer. It feel really cold. What about condenser tubes in back. Should be hot. Frig may be doing all it can do. With vent cover off place fan to blow on condenser coils to see if that helps.
Good luck and hope trip to Yellowstone works out. Been twice and DW would go back today.
__________________
Paul Northport,AL W4XH
2013 358 RLT Mountaineer
2008 Silverado Duramax
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08-18-2019, 05:44 AM
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#10
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Montana Master
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Hixson
Posts: 3,436
M.O.C. #11397
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ebds2019
Someone helping me wants to know where my converter is located? Can anyone help? 3810MS.
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Your converter is in the main breaker/electrical panel. It's been several years since Montana put them under the stairs. Not sure what this has to do with the reefer problem though.
__________________
2018.5 Montana 3791RD
Full Timers 9/1/2010 through 1/16/2020.
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08-18-2019, 07:02 AM
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#11
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Mesa az
Posts: 2,962
M.O.C. #5651
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I left Phoenix when it was over 100. Freezer cooled in 8-10 hours, but frig took almost 36 hours. Also it doesn't cool as well if it isn't pretty level.
__________________
Tom and Gail
2013 Mountaineer 362
2012 Silverado 2500
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08-25-2019, 08:08 PM
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#12
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Pahrump
Posts: 65
M.O.C. #24555
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Refrigerator
Do you have a power cool on the fridge?
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08-25-2019, 09:05 PM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Mesa az
Posts: 2,962
M.O.C. #5651
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ejerni, if you are asking me, I do not.
__________________
Tom and Gail
2013 Mountaineer 362
2012 Silverado 2500
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08-25-2019, 09:42 PM
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#14
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: 1000 oaks
Posts: 955
M.O.C. #19630
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install a battery powered refer fan in the refer part to get the air circulating to the fins and not relying on convection.
If as you said the freezer is very cold you just need the air to circulate in the refer part.
__________________
2011 2955RL Gen-Y Executive Kingpin
2022 GMC 2500HD Duramax/Alison
4X4 Crew Cab/Standard bed.
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08-29-2019, 06:57 AM
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#15
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: El Cajon
Posts: 87
M.O.C. #23160
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We experienced a similar issue. The freezer was fine but not the refrigerator. We found the bar that closes the gap between the refrigerator doors was not properly settling into position. Close the one door with the bar, and manually make sure it is completely set before closing the other door.
__________________
2019 3120RL
Chevy 2500HD Crew Diesel
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08-31-2019, 12:45 AM
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#16
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Established Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Martinez
Posts: 30
M.O.C. #23940
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reset19
We experienced a similar issue. The freezer was fine but not the refrigerator. We found the bar that closes the gap between the refrigerator doors was not properly settling into position. Close the one door with the bar, and manually make sure it is completely set before closing the other door.
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I found that his was also true with our refrigerator. Was hopeful I had found our problem. However, after several hours of additional cooling the temps in the frig had not dropped one degree.
Can someone tell me how the outside vent fans operate. I turned on my frig and looked in the lower and upper compartments and neither of the fans was turning. However I do not know when they are supposed to turn. Is it all the time? Hopefully someone can explain to me how the fans operate so I can determine if they are operating correctly.
Thanks folks.
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08-31-2019, 06:11 AM
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#17
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Northport
Posts: 624
M.O.C. #12724
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Fans do not run all the time. At least on mine they don't. There is a thermistor mounted on the condenser coil that senses temperature. When it gets hot it starts fans. I have no trouble knowing when fans are running as they are rather loud.
__________________
Paul Northport,AL W4XH
2013 358 RLT Mountaineer
2008 Silverado Duramax
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