12 h progress of cooling after switching from propane to 120 v (Dometic RM 2310)

[RT1997]

How long does it take during 12 h cooling period (according to Dometic) for at least minimal ice layer to develop in the freezer when switching from propane to 120 v ?
It probably also depends on outside temp.
70°-80 ° ?

[GallenH]

Do you mean a frosty sheen as opposed to a layer? I've found that switching from propane to 120v has a bit of a lag for the 120v heating element to warm completely up. Other way around is fine since the burner is immediately heating at capacity on LP.

[RT1997]

Yes,frosty sheen.
It looks like switching to 120 v and ( eventually )back to propane only makes sense with no or little food before and after I asked about the time because I needed to check if my fridge is working on 120 v at all after the capillar tube issue.

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by RT1997

Yes,frosty sheen.
It looks like switching to 120 v and ( eventually )back to propane only makes sense with no or little food before and after I asked about the time because I needed to check if my fridge is working on 120 v at all after the capillar tube issue.

In my experience, the fridge will start cooling again quickly, within an hour or two -- though it might take time to get back to full cool temps. I switch all the time between propane and 120 volt (and 12 volt) with food in the fridge with no problems at all.

I suggest that you get a remote temperature gauge and put the probe inside the freezer (not inside the fridge but inside the freezer). That way you can tell right away if it is cooling or not. This will also help you to get a sense of how level it has to be to work well because if it stops cooling you don't have to wait several hours (or keep opening the fridge) to know.

My propane firdge it is 25 years old and still works great -- it takes a bit of experimenting to know how to use it effectively, but nothing too hard. Having real time feedback with a temperature gauge is most helpful.

[GallenH]

RT-NY is correct on the temperature monitoring. I bought a SensorPush which is very accurate but expensive. It was the only one that looked reliable when I bought it years ago but there are others, much cheaper, that are available now. I can quickly see if the fridge temp is dropping or rising.

[RT1997]

Thank you for the recommendations.
SensorPush looks good and for the many functions the price is not that much.
A long time ago I invested about $ 200 in Vectron battery meter and it saved me years of battery usage.I am using current Lifeline battery 3 times longer than the previous one.And it is still in good shape.
RT-NY, can you specify the name and brand of the device you recommended?

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by RT1997

RT-NY, can you specify the name and brand of the device you recommended?

I just got a cheap digital thermometer with a wired probe like this. There are a lot of options for wireless ones with various features on Amazon, but I don't know which is best. I like to keep things simple!

[Doneworking]

We have used this little wireless indoor/outdoor model for years with good success. We stuck the receiver to the dash in front of the passenger seat so my wife could be aware of the temps as we traveled down the road.

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00782...%2C110&sr=8-30

[RT1997]

Thank you, RT-NY and Doneworking.
I will definitely visit Amazon.

[booster]

I have long been a supporter of having an internal temp reading method for your frig as it is just good safety sense and also an indicator of some kind of failure happening. I will also say, though, that the thermometers can cause you to over react to stuff regularly.

We have had compressor frigs for many years now so have a very consistent setup. I prefer the mechanical thermostats that control on or near the freezer box a it gives us a good balance of frig and freezer control and with a wide enough hysteresis to not over cycle.
What we have found over the years is that any temp issue we have in frig is generally not related to the frig itself and the frig is doing just what it should be. Many/most of us do our initial testing without food in the frig and it either empty of some heat "ballast" like a six pack or gallon jug of liquid in it.

Then problems show up after a while on the road, with the temp rising somewhat. We commonly see sudden jumps to 42-47* in our frig sometimes which is about 10* higher than our normal temp.

The first instinct is to mess with the thermostat, but that is often inconsistent in results for us. The problem is inevitably that the food has bounced around a bit and is shielding the temp reading (not controlling) sensor in the frig. Move a bag of cheese or whatever 1" and the temp quickly returns to normal.

When we put in a new frig a couple of years ago it had an electronic control that sensed in the frig with the sensor on the rear wall and it had the same issue, but on steroids because it was controlling the cooling. We constantly had horrible temp swings in the frig. We do have a couple of little fans in ours to direct air around inside the box, but they aren't a total cure all if you have a bunch of stuff in the frig.

So, I think the bottom line is to do your testing empty or ballasted and if it comes out good don't over react to the reading from an add on sensor. Rearrange the food first, especially if the increase comes on quickly or after driving or shopping for groceries. Many of us over pack our frigs and make all of the issues worse because of it.

[RT1997]

Thank you, booster.
Good point on overloading fridge and testing empty.

So going back to original question :
how long after switching from propane to 120 v inside the freezer shows some frost sheen or whatever you call it?

P.S. I didn't have much response on that particular subject because I asked about 2310.Later models data might be helpful.

[RT-NY]

Originally Posted by RT1997

So going back to original question :
how long after switching from propane to 120 v inside the freezer shows some frost sheen or whatever you call it?

I don't understand the question. If you are on propane, then the freezer will be very cold, way below freezing, so there will probably be some ice or frost forming there. If you switch to 120v, it will take a bit of time to start cooling properly again but not long enougjh to melt that ice or warm up the fridge too much.

[RT1997]

The ice did melt and I removed it.No ice after 12 hours though it was cold inside the freezer.It took a few hours after switching back to propane for ice to show.

I believe that GallenH wrote in another thread that "during the transition period" ( switching mods) a fridge is essentially OFF.

P.S.The "test" was not done right: during 12 h I often open the fridge to do some cleahing.I thought even 8 hours shoud show some ice at the end.

It looks like that damaged capillary tube made electric mode almost not working.
On propane though it is working better now.
Sometimes even ice cream semifrozen.

[GallenH]

Well actually, although it is off to start with, the factor here is how fast the AC heating element goes from cold to its maximum heat. My guess is that we're talking minutes here and not hours. Since the fridge and its contents are already cold, having been on LP, the issue is probably not that great. We usually give the transition 5-10 minutes before we begin opening the fridge to take out food or drinks. It's more common for us to be coming off of 12v after getting to a campground and switching to LP. As I mentioned, there's not the wait for an element to heat up in that situation: the LP flame is already going full blast.

[RT1997]

Thank you, GallenH.
It looks like the capillar tube issue caused significant damage.Though it has been 5 years after that accident ...
So I need to be grateful for any extra time the fridge will be useful.
And thank you,everyone for response.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by RT1997

Thank you, GallenH.
It looks like the capillar tube issue caused significant damage.Though it has been 5 years after that accident ...
So I need to be grateful for any extra time the fridge will be useful.
And thank you,everyone for response.

Are you relating to the thermostat capilary, how did it cause the damage?

[RT1997]

I believe that capillary tube is from thermostat.
I described the incident in this thread:

https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...7-a-14446.html

Similar thing I found in old thread on another forum ,posted my story but no one responded.

https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...l-17757-2.html

P.S . RT77 was my mistyped ID ( I meant 97).The moderator did not respond to my immediate request to correct it.Not that it matters )):

[GallenH]

Again: The capillary tube is an integral part of the thermostat. You can't, to my knowledge, replace just the tube. Instructions for installing a new thermostat warn to be careful with the tube because if you damage it, you need to get a whole new thermostat.

I'm afraid that if the capillary tube is broken you're going to have to go the route of replacing the thermostat to get proper performance.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by RT1997

I believe that capillary tube is from thermostat.
I described the incident in this thread:
https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...7-a-14446.html
Similar thing I found in old thread on another forum ,posted my story but no one responded.
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...l-17757-2.html
P.S . RT77 was my mistyped ID ( I meant 97).The moderator did not respond to my immediate request to correct it.Not that it matters )):

Sorry, I got lost in the linked thread. Broken capillary tube results with inoperative thermostat. Without a thermostat any fridge will not work correctly, just replace a thermostat with either an original capillary electromechanical thermostat or a $10 generic version one or an electronic thermostat. https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-50-300...5563420&sr=8-5,

Originally Posted by GallenH

Again: The capillary tube is an integral part of the thermostat. You can't, to my knowledge, replace just the tube. Instructions for installing a new thermostat warn to be careful with the tube because if you damage it, you need to get a whole new thermostat.

I'm afraid that if the capillary tube is broken you're going to have to go the route of replacing the thermostat to get proper performance.

Yes, capillary tube is an integral part of capillary thermostat, can not be replaced.

[RT1997]

Thank you, GallenH.
You' ve been so helpful .I admire your skills but I do not have any of the kind. So have to use professionals or semiprofessionals.
RV repair place people I used for propane tank installation said that replacing thermostat takes even more hours than to replace the fridge.
And since the fridge is very old and I probably did some damage with not levelling ( though the RV was never extremely unlevelled) it makes sense to replace the whole fridge.
Still looking for dimentions and pictures of the "guts" after 2310 taken out to see if the job can be done by someone I know.
( less clearing the way for installation).

https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f...0-a-14872.html