Author Topic: Absorption Fridge in the heat  (Read 2221 times)

Jason Worman

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Absorption Fridge in the heat
« on: November 07, 2020, 04:17:47 PM »
Hi everybody,

Life brings changes and we are considering moving fulltime to Southern Utah to be by family, St. George in fact. My big concern are the summers and whether our absorption fridge could handle the heat. My guess is we would need a traditional residential fridge. The park we are looking at offers shaded lots. Thoughts?

Thank you
Jason Worman

Bill Sprague

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2020, 04:33:59 PM »
We full timed for 2.5 years, half timed for another 6 or so and kept our '04 Monterey 12 years.   The two door fridge that came with it worked fine wherever we went, hot or cold.  Somewhere around year 8 I replaced the circuit board with a "Dinosaur" branded version.   My choice in RV fridges continues to be propane powered for camping without hookups. 

Jason Worman

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2020, 04:48:46 PM »
Bill,

Did you spend any length of time in the months with Temps over 100?  St. George can have weeks on end with triple digit heat. Thanks

Jason

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2020, 04:55:48 PM »
Jason,
Jun – Aug can avg 100-105 for highs so the absorption unit may struggle. The Rh should be low so that will help. It will probably make it but you won’t have hard ice cream. A residential unit will handle the summer with no issues. However consider the added costs. The unit plus install will probably run in the range of $2500-$3000+. You may need to replace your inverter as the current Samsung units (and I assume others) need a pure sine wave inverter. You may want to increase your battery capacity by adding 2 more. However, this will only be an issue when boondocking.
IMHO, I’d try the absorption for a year unless you are planning to keep the coach for an extended period. If it can’t handle the heat you can always replace it in St George.
Steve
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Bill Lampkin

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2020, 05:01:40 PM »
Your fridge will only remove a certain amount of heat. As outside temp goes up (say beginning at 90f) your fridge temp will follow. So if your fridge is 45f when its 90f out, it will be around 55f at 100f outside temp. One may argue and say 'mine does this or that at 100f, and that's fine, many things, like shading the coach on the side with the fridge, may affect fridge temps. And, Absorption fridge will take 2 days or more to cool down after being off for the winter. Residential fridges do a much better job of keeping your food at 40f (recommended) and your freezer at 0f (recommended). And a residential fridge installed in your coach exists in an inside, climate controlled environment, thus keeping temps more stable. Since an Absorption fridge works on propane, the whole fridge compartment must be vented, essentially its 'outside' and subject to high ambient temps. Our 4 door Norcold worked as designed, but it never worked as well as the residential fridge that took its place.
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Carl Boger

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2020, 11:47:00 PM »
I really think that absorption refrigerators are a crap shoot.  Some work better than others for unknown reasons.  Mine is 22 years old and while I have never full timed, it will keep the fridge section in the mid to upper 30's and the freezer in the teens when the temperature is in the higher 90's with lots of humidity.  I have thought about doing a 12 volt compressor conversion, but I think I will see how long this one lives for now.

If your refrigerator is working well why not try it out and see how it does?  Or maybe buy one of the 12 Volt models that can fit in the basement to keep things a little colder than the absorption can for a month or two.
Carl

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Fred Brooks

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2020, 01:49:48 PM »
     Jason,
 I think Steve and Carl have the best suggestion. While the difference between the 2 choices have their advantages, I would give it a try for a year and then evaluate the performance. My only caution to you if the refrigerator is over 15 years old is the nature of the contents inside the cooling unit. Hydrogen and ammonia are very caustic and are constantly under pressure as they perform the heat transfer from the inside of the refer to the outside of the cooling unit. The real danger is if they develop a leak any where near an ignition source such as the burner. For those folks who really like the freedom of dry camping, there is an aftermarket fire suppression system that is installed in the exterior vent compartment to handle such an unlikely event.
   Hope you like Utah, one of my favorite destinations. We usually stay in Kanab and visit Zion, Bryce, and the North rim. Moab is another fun  filled adventure with Canyon lands national park. Happy Trails, Fred
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Eric Maclean

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2020, 03:51:59 PM »
Jason
As Fred stated there is a fire risk with these fridges and it does happen usually on propane and older fridges where the rust and fatigue have taken there toll.
On my 23 year old fridge I installed an ARP fridge defender it monitors the boiler tube temperature and has a fan setup which it will turn on to help cool the condensor tubing to increase the cooling efficiency. If the temp continues to raise the ARP unit will shut the fridge down temperately to let it cool and restart latter this helps defend against over heating and the damage to the cooling unit that results ( IE running the fridge off level causes the boiler to run dry which will allow the excess heat to cook the zinc chromate (yellow powdered rust inhibitor) in the system turning it into crystals which plug the orfice rendering the fridge useless).
Fires are unlikely on electric but are a possibility on propane.

Check out there web site at www.arprv.com
Hope this helps
Eric

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Jason Worman

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Re: Absorption Fridge in the heat
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2020, 05:40:18 PM »
Hi Everybody,

Thank you all for your suggestions, we are considering our options. We are in our early 50's and now looking at our two kids getting married and starting families and becoming grandparents in the not too distant future! We are thinking if we move now will be in the "off season" so to speak for that region. Will see how the fridge does once the heat comes. I do want to install ARP device and fans regardless if we move or not.

Warmly,
Jason
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