A mystery & a question

[Lorraine Pittsburgh]

I picked up my new 5.0 in the fall, but for various reasons am just now getting to spend time with it & figure out all the systems. This is my first trailer, so it's a steep learning curve.

The mystery: Hooked up to power last week, the refrigerator ran well. This week, it ran well on propane. However, on battery power, the freezer gets cold, but the refrigerator compartment does not cool at all. It's a Norcold model N7LX3L. Any ideas?

The question: The MaxFan only opens a couple of inches. I'm assuming that it should open to at least a 45* angle, Is this correct? The fan runs fine. Here's a picture of it opens far as it will go.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Ron in BC]

The 12V operation would be a moot point for most folks. Uses lots of battery power. I feel that even the 110V use isn't quite as effective as propane.

That hatch opening looks perfectly normal.

Ron

[brroberts]

12V can work, but it takes a lot of amp hours to run it very long. I’ve never tried to cool a fridge on 12V. Get it cold first, and then go to 12V if needed.

[Iowa Dave]

Like others we haven’t ever tried the run the Dometic on 12 volt. Can’t say for the other models of refrigerators.

Our Maxfan doesn’t open up to a 45 for sure. Maybe 30 degrees or a couple inches off the roof.
We run our Engle cooler/freezer on 12 volt all the time. Turned up it will act as a freezer, on 2 out 5 on the dial it will stay at 34 degrees F indefinitely with the 190 solar panel charging the 2 flooded 6 volt batteries. We precool the refrigerator in the freezer for about a day and a half before we leave. Load it with already cold or frozen food
This is done on shore power at home. Then we tow with the propane running and when we get to where we’re going switch back to shore power if available. If it’s just overnight we usually stay in propane, it uses very little.
Good Luck. Hope to meet you on the road
Iowa Dave

[Mike G]

I'm going to guesstimate that the opening angle is less than 30 degrees on mine. Maybe around 20 or 25 degrees. Seems to be normal.


Try your fridge on 120V and see how it does. Results should be roughly the same as on LP, or at least that's my impression. 12V operation would drag the battery voltage down considerably, and I'm not sure if that would reduce cooling effectiveness or not. 12V really is only for very short usage times (like a half hour maybe?) anyway because it uses so much juice.


Best way to compare is probably to have a wireless thermometer inside the fridge (with monitor outside for taking readings) and keep the door closed, hopefully with weather and sun conditions staying the same. In other words, hard to be exact but you can get some idea how it compares on different power sources.

[Lorraine Pittsburgh]

Thanks all for the thoughts & info. Glad that the MaxFan is opening normally - not sure why I thought that it should open more. Will test the fridge on battery power again at some point, mostly as a curiosity.

May you all have a wonderful camping season!

[Fender]

I might have dreamed this but didn't Escape announce that 3 way fridges are no longer available? Only 2 way 120V/propane?

[Lorraine Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Fender

I might have dreamed this but didn't Escape announce that 3 way fridges are no longer available? Only 2 way 120V/propane?

That sounds right to me. My 5.0 was hatched in October, so maybe I got one of the last 3-ways? Even though running it on battery isn't often useful, having more options is always appealing to me, so I'm happy to have the 3-way.

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Lorraine Pittsburgh

That sounds right to me. My 5.0 was hatched in October, so maybe I got one of the last 3-ways? Even though running it on battery isn't often useful, having more options is always appealing to me, so I'm happy to have the 3-way.

Our 5.0 was built about the same time as yours. We have a 3-way as well. Personally I wouldn't camp without a 3-way. As others have said, the MaxFan opening is normal. It will still push/pull plenty of air.

Enjoy that 5.0!

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by Lorraine Pittsburgh

I picked up my new 5.0 in the fall, but for various reasons am just now getting to spend time with it & figure out all the systems. This is my first trailer, so it's a steep learning curve.

The mystery: Hooked up to power last week, the refrigerator ran well. This week, it ran well on propane. However, on battery power, the freezer gets cold, but the refrigerator compartment does not cool at all. It's a Norcold model N7LX3L. Any ideas?

Originally Posted by Lorraine Pittsburgh

The question: The MaxFan only opens a couple of inches. I'm assuming that it should open to at least a 45* angle, Is this correct? The fan runs fine. Here's a picture of it opens far as it will go.

That looks normal. You should open it until it stops. The fan has a built in rain guard so it might not look fully open to you.