How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

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How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

July 22, 2014, 11:45:03 pm

Well folks here is another rookie question. I've got my generator running so I can turn on the fridge using AC. I don't have propane at the moment. So how long does it take for this beast to cool. Thanks you in advance. By the way the freezer is cooling down nicely. Ambient temp is 70 degrees outside.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #1 – July 23, 2014, 12:00:11 am

I used to leave it on overnite for it to cool down before a trip
JohnH

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #2 – July 23, 2014, 12:04:40 am

Thanks John. Diesel at 4.19 a gallon on the genny.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #3 – July 23, 2014, 12:11:50 am

I would suggest plugging it in for 120v.
Johnh

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #4 – July 23, 2014, 12:15:32 am

Propane would be faster than ac and cheaper than running the generator.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #5 – July 23, 2014, 12:37:06 am

John,
I've got 120 from the garage but on a 50ft extension. Would it be enough by the time it get to the frig?

Tom,
I'm going to pick up propane on this trip.Thanks

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #6 – July 23, 2014, 01:45:46 am

120 through the extension cord will be fine if most every other 120 volt device is off.

On my rig, I would throttle the charger way down and have everything else off. Don't forget the water heater and heat pump thermostats, aqua hot too if you have it.

I can throttle back the charger on mine because I swapped out the control panel, but having the batteries already charged and most 12v loads off will also work.

I would also use my kill-a-watt meter to monitor the voltage.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #7 – July 23, 2014, 05:45:37 am

Mine will usually take 24 hours to cool the fridge side down. As others have said turn off all 120V loads and plug in the ext cord. The fridge doesn't draw much.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #8 – July 23, 2014, 06:56:56 am

Oh and don't forget to open the propane tank valve very slowly or you can damage the regulator.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #9 – July 23, 2014, 08:20:18 am

To get to 40 degrees in my refrigerator takes 24 to 36 hours. I also put in two small refer fans I picked up at camping world which run on batteries and then I have fans on the coils inside hooked to the light. Dan

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #10 – July 23, 2014, 09:04:04 am

Greg;
You should also have a stay-a-while connector on the propane tank. If you turn off the propane valve to the main tank you can hook up any propane tank to the stay-a-while with the proper hose. This is what we do when boon docking. The easy way so you do not have to break camp to refill the propane.

Jason

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #11 – July 23, 2014, 10:16:34 am

Jason,

I thought that was for a grill? Good to know, thanks

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #12 – July 23, 2014, 12:27:10 pm

John;
It can also be used for that by letting the valve open. I have used the stay-a-while valve to operate our grill and it works well.

Jason

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #13 – July 23, 2014, 02:11:59 pm

Get a little fridge thermometer. When it gets below 40° you are good to go. I allow 2 days before we leave at 4 and try to load most of the fridge and freezer then night before we leave. The doors are open for a while during loading and this allows an overnight on AC for the temps to stabilize before we leave. Temp setting at 3 on the road seems fine unless it is really hot out. Make sure your 50ft cord is rated for 20 amps. That way voltage drop won't be an issue.

Don't forget to shut the refrigerator off when fueling and back on when done. There is a drip collector under the fins in ours that will freeze up after a few days and then drips drip on the next shelf down. Empty any ice every few days as needed.

Roger

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #14 – July 23, 2014, 02:51:35 pm

Love this thing.

Amazon.com: ACU_RITE Refrigerator/Freezer Wireless Digital Thermometer 00986:

Lets you know exactly when your fins need to be defrosted as the temp in your fridge will start to rise.

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #15 – July 23, 2014, 10:58:38 pm

Quote from: rsihnhold – July 23, 2014, 02:51:35 pm

Love this thing.

Amazon.com: ACU_RITE Refrigerator/Freezer Wireless Digital Thermometer 00986:

Lets you know exactly when your fins need to be defrosted as the temp in your fridge will start to rise.

You just cost me thirty dollars

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #16 – July 23, 2014, 11:07:21 pm

I have three of these and use two in the motorhome for the refrigerator and the also for the unit in the storage bay. Have one at home on my refrigerator and freezer. Be careful if you think the temps are too high or too low install new batteries and push a paper clip into the reset hole. After a while they need to be reset. They are great but if they seem off then double ck. DAN

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #17 – July 23, 2014, 11:21:00 pm

We keep some small jugs of frozen water (like quart milk jugs) in the freezer at home. When it's time to turn on the rv fridge, put a couple in the freezer and a couple in the fridge part. Speeds up the cool down time by a bunch.
If the fridge air is 75 or 80 it will cool down to 35 or so in 3 or 4 hours !.......~JL~

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #18 – July 24, 2014, 01:59:40 am

"I allow 2 days before we leave at 4 and try to load most of the fridge and freezer then night before we leave. The doors are open for a while during loading and this allows an overnight on AC for the temps to stabilize before we leave. "

This is pretty much my procedure ( but I don't leave at anything like 4AM!!! ) and I like to have a fridge thermometer in place all the time. We have extra fans to pull the hot air up towards the roof from behind the fridge, and they help.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #19 – July 24, 2014, 09:06:11 am

Oh Carol, we never leave at 4. I meant to say we leave the refrig at 4 while initially cooling it down and then go to 3. I have a small fan in the fridge and should add one in the vent. Susan is talking Samsung. It looks inviting.

Roger

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #20 – July 24, 2014, 10:30:20 am

Quote from: Caflashbob – July 23, 2014, 10:58:38 pm

You just cost me thirty dollars

You'll thank me later for money well spent.

The lithium ion batteries I put in my sensors are approaching one year of continuous use so I would personally use those.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #21 – July 24, 2014, 10:43:21 am

Spot on Johnnie..

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #22 – July 24, 2014, 11:04:25 am

Hi Bob,

I have purchased two of Â these thermostat systems from Amazon for my refrigerator/freezers. They work quite well - alone. But I found that if you try to use two systems in the same vicinity they will cross communicate. The manufacturer has confirmed that they all work on the same/single pair of frequencies. And battery life is only about 2-3 months unit so you might check them frequently.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #23 – August 13, 2014, 04:24:12 pm

I recently replaced my cooling unit in my RM7832 side by side refrigerator. I read this thread back in July but had not timed how long it took too cool down. I recently used the RV and I turned the unit on at 10 am and by 2pm a water bottle had frozen to a slush. Of course I have an ice maker that cools the freezer to 0F. The refrigerator side was starting to cool but took several more hours. A trick I use is to put bottles in the freezer and then move them to the refrigerator to speed the cool down.

Re: How long for a Dometic Fridge to cool for food storage?

Reply #24 – August 13, 2014, 04:36:10 pm

Thank you everyone for your replies. I found that it took about 12 hours for it to cool all the way down. The freezer did cool a lot faster. This forum is fantastic!

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