I hope everybody spent some quality relaxing time camping with family and friends over the Memorial Day weekend. I come to realize that while all of you get the holiday weekends off, it usually means I'm off to work. After two phone calls and a service call to deal with the same problem this past month, I feel it is necessary that we discuss your R.V. refrigerator.

Unlike the refrigerator in your house which works by the use of freon and a compressor, your camper refrigerator is an ammonia absorption type refrigerator. These refrigerators function by boiling the ammonia hydroxide solution. This is accomplished utilizing heat produced by the gas burner or the electric heating element. There is no compressor, so there is no noise made by a properly running R.V. refrigerator. A compressor in a home refrigerator circulates the coolant whether it is level or not. A camper refrigerator is designed with a natural angle to the pipe work so as to keep the ammonia solution circulating, thus causing your fridg to continually cool. When you change the angle of the pipe work by running your refrigerator when your camper is not level, you risk vapor-locking the cooling unit. This stops the circulation and your refrigerator quits working!

Most of the time this occurs at home, when the night before you leave to go camping you turn on the refrigerator while your camper is so out of level you can hardly get in the door. Or, you are parked at a restaurant, visiting, waiting for the campground to open or my favorite -- the four hour dead stopped traffic jam on the interstate.

To determine if your refrigerator is vapor locked, you first have to make sure it is actually on -- not just that the lights are on. Remember, all R.V. refrigerators require heat to function, so to determine if your fridg is on, you need to feel heat on the back side, above the burner area. Gently touch the metal housing (it will be HOT so be careful) to see if the burner is lit or the electric heating element is producing heat. If it is hot and your refrigerator is not functioning and your camper was out of level, turn off the fridg for 24 hours to let it cool and to let the air bubble that is causing the vapor lock to disperse. A full day is usually enough time to accomplish this, although under certain circumstances more time may be needed. You can speed up this process. After the unit is cold on the back side, you can take your camper for a ride down a curvy, bumpy road to help dislodge the air bubble!

A quick lesson on cooling unit failure or ammonia leak failure: if you hear a bubbling or boiling sound from the back side of the refrigerator, the cooling unit is no longer under pressure and your refrigerator will no longer function. Cooling units can be repaired and recharged; they can be replaced with a new cooling unit; or complete refrigerator replacement may be necessary. All are expensive and carry different warrant options, so consult your R.V. professional to determine the best option for you.

While traveling down the highway, the constant movement will prevent vapor locking so don't be afraid to run the refrigerator while you are in motion. Always keep the RV level when your refrigerator on and try these problem solving tips before you replace your refrigerator.

Be safe, have fun, and go camping! If you have a question or topic of interest that you feel we need to address please feel free to call us with your suggestions. We are here for you.