Is our fridge still working correctly?

[James86004]

I need a sanity check on our refrigerator. We have a Norcold/Engle 45 we bought used off eBay 5 years ago and have been very happy with it, up until this past weekend. We ended up camping where the daytime temperatures reached 95F and the lows were around 60 (Sunny Flat campground in southeast Arizona). When I pulled the fridge out of the Dormobile, I noticed a plastic bag a fallen over the vented end where the condenser coils are, and that end of the refrigerator was very hot. The beverages inside were cool but not cold.

We ran it outside the truck all evening, but since we saw a bear crossing the road 1/4 mile before we reached the campground, we unplugged it and put it in the bear box for the night. In the morning we plugged it back in and with a setting of "3" the compressor ran constantly all day in the 95 degree heat. We made sure it stayed in the shade. At 9 pm the things inside were still cool, not cold. Maybe 50F, although we didn't have a thermometer with us.

Is this typical or is out freon getting low or compressor wearing out? We have it in the house tonight running on 120VAC with some water bottles and a thermometer inside, so we will see how it does when the ambient is in the 70s.

 

[Scoutn79]

Have to wait and see what your test results are after this next test. It doesn't sound right tho. My Engal 45 will stay right at freezing (that is the setting I have it at and it only varies about 2-3 degrees) easily in my Scout in 90+ deg. heat.

Are you cooling fins and vents all clear? Heavy dust, dog hair and plastic bags will block airflow.

Darrell

 

[James86004]

Running on 120VAC in the house it holds 38F easily.

I am going to put it on the porch and run it off a battery next. It is 103 out so that should be a good test.

 

[Scoutn79]

What setting are you on? Is this an actual Engel fridge?

Darrell

 

[James86004]

It is on "3". We put it on 2.5 if we have lettuce inside, and 3 if we want our drinks ice cold. It has been like that since we got it.

It is a Norcold Tek II, which according to the Engel folks I talked to at the Overland Expo is a rebranded Engel from a few years ago.

 

[Scoutn79]

Here is what mine has at specific settings for reference.
Cool (highest setting) 50 deg F
5.0 (lowest setting) -6 deg F
2.5 = 20 deg F
3.0 = 12 deg F

I set mine at 1.5 and that is freezing (32 deg F)

Darrell

 

[James86004]

Thanks, that is great info. Our has been like that since we got it 5 years ago, but it is much older than that. How old is yours?

After a couple of hours the temp inside rose to 42F, and has held steady there for quite a while. Of course, the sun also went down.

 

[Scoutn79]

Mine isn't near as old as yours I bought mine 2005. One thing I like about mine is when I bought it it was supposedly easily serviced by any refrigeration type service shop so you might take yours to one of those places and have them take a look at it might just need a recharge.

WOW SIRI sure boogered that up, had to correct a bunch of it...hope it makes more sense now.

Darrell

 

[James86004]

Our refrigerator definitely needs love. It was 68 inside after running all night out on the porch at "3".

 

[Ramjet]

Have you tried just shutting it off for a day or so. Maybe the bag over the vent made it work harder and it froze the line on the condenser coil. Maybe shutting it off for a day will getting back working again. I don't know. Hope that helps. Good luck. I really don't know what I would do of mine stopped working.

 

[unseenone]

I did some testing with power usage, and temps.

In the shade, garage in TX, my engel 32 is running about 36f, on about #2 on the dial. That's with a transit bag.

2nd fridge NL72DD at -18 and -1C respectively 0F with transit bag. Due to the design, there's a strap around it, to keep the bag tight to the fridge, so exhausted warm air can't go between the bag and the fridge.

Test was performed with both units around 80% full. Full, but not stuffed.

They seem to run about the same amount, 21 out of 24 hours in this heat. About 70 amp hours a day total. The Engel is drawing about 2.5 amps. The National Luna sips about 3.0 - 3.5 amps. When they're both running together they draw about 6 to 6.5 amps depending on how hard they're working.

If you can test it and see what it's using for power, that may give an indication. It will also help to precool it on AC for a couple of days prior to deploying it on an outing.

Hopefully you are somewhere in those parameters, and that others have provided. Of course the fuller it is, the more efficient it is. These things are power efficient but slow slow slow at cool down or recovery.

 

[James86004]

Thanks for all the responses.

I read on an Australian forum the insulation in these older Engels breaks down, which means they have to work a lot hard. I will try and add some insulation to the outside and see how much that helps.

Does anyone know what kind of insulation is in the transit bag? I am wondering if we should buy one or make one instead.

 

[Scoutn79]

I am not sure what kind of insulation is in the transit bag but at 3/8" compared to 2" in the walls of the fridge I would look into re-insulating the fridge itself. Can you check the temp of the outer skin of the fridge? A infrared thermometer works well if you have/can get one. If you can do that I can set mine up and check the temp differential and we can compare them.
Darrell

 

[Scoutn79]

I just looked at mine. Looks like you could just remove a bunch of screws on the bottom of the fridge and the outer skin will come off. The insulation looks to be a expandable polyurethane. I can see where it was sprayed in on the bottom of the fridge. If yours is similar it might be tough to remove the skin as the urethane insulation acts like glue to hold the skin on.
Good luck.
Darrell

 

[highdesertranger]

never done the thermometer test but i have to keep my engels under 2 or they freeze my beer. 12v or 120v doesn't matter. highdesertranger