Fridge struggling

Hi in france in 30 d of heat and the fridge  is struggling  to stay cold.  Is this normal  or  a more serious  issue. We do only have 10 amp on the electrical  hook  up

Are you reasonably level? This can affect fridge performance.

They will struggle particularly if sun is shining on that side of van. Fit a fan to extract the heat through the vents but meanwhile remove the vent grills completely to open up the available area for heat to dissipate and turn van so fridge isn't in direct sun.

I remember reading on forums years ago that a Motorhome fridge can only reduce the temperature within the fridge by a set amount, and that a different model of fridge was marketed for use in consistently higher temperature zones.

You may help it stay cooler if you can park with the fridge vents on the shaded side of the van. We sometimes use the awning to create shade over the vents.

Longer term, some install computer fans behind the vents to improve air circulation.

Another option is to buy bags of ice from a supermarket and put in the fridge.

Also check that you have not got too much in the fridge. This can reduce the circulation of air and expect the fridge to do more work than it was designed for.

In hot weather we tend to buy food on a daily basis which also helps keep the fridge contents smaller in quantity.

Davy

In France some 27 years ago I fitted a 12v PC fan to help the airflow through the vents, it worked well
You can now buy a thing I think is called called a fridge helper which is a bit more soffisticated than just a fan but basicall does the same thing

Found this on ebay 
BRUNNER VENTO NEXT GEN adjustable FRIDGE FAN for Motorhome Caravan campervan

Thanks for the replies.  Van is level but the canopy  is on the opposite  side to the fridge. Also may have been overloaded  with food. Temperature  not as high today and it does seem to be cooler. So hopefully  it is not a damaged  fridge  and just been the weather  conditions.

You could try running the fridge on gas and once it gets down to the correct temperature switch over to electricity.

Will try that now for an hour

To help you now remove the grills as Paul said 
If you can stop the sun shining on the fridge side area
I have fitted 2 fans above the cooling fins to draw the heat of the fins and a temperature controller unit

Modern absorber fridges work a lot better than they used to.We just spent three weeks in southern France with temperatures around 33 deg. and the Dometic fridge stayed cool. The Thetford in our previous Broadway was slightly better if anything. Have experimented with 12 volt fans in a caravan but didn’t find them a lot of help.
Although it sounds counter-intuitive, I have heard it said that decreasing the temperature control can result in better cooling.
It should work better on gas but you will use a lot of LPG so be cautious. On the other hand, every service station on the autoroutes has an LPG pump although you will need an adapter.

BornAgain wrote:Modern absorber fridges work a lot better than they used to.We just spent three weeks in southern France with temperatures around 33 deg. and the Dometic fridge stayed cool. The Thetford in our previous Broadway was slightly better if anything. Have experimented with 12 volt fans in a caravan but didn’t find them a lot of help.
Although it sounds counter-intuitive, I have heard it said that decreasing the temperature control can result in better cooling.
It should work better on gas but you will use a lot of LPG so be cautious. On the other hand, every service station on the autoroutes has an LPG pump although you will need an adapter.

fans will be a great help but only if fitted correctly and in the correct place

Fan position is not critical IMHO. Several years ago I fitted a single computer can about 10cm from the left side of the top vent (so well away from combustion gases). I picked up an adjustable thermostat with a remote sensor from eBay for about £2 and wired it to the interior step light supply through an extra fuse. The stat has multiple settings and you can also adjust the temperature differential between on and off. I suspended the sensor in the coils behind the fridge using garen wire. It works superbly coming on for about 30 seconds at a time, when needed. It has also alerted me to forgetting to remove the winter vent covers by cutting in when the weather is not scorching.

I have the genuine Dometic fan fitted, it is fastened on the coils and blows upwards to the cooling fins and not through the grill. We struggled on a rally at Cambridge during the record temps recorded there 2/3 years ago, had the fan fitted when we got home and never had problem since, although we haven't  had those temps since, the fan cuts in and out all by itself with the temp sensor pushed into the fins.

Paulmold wrote:I have the genuine Dometic fan fitted, it is fastened on the coils and blows upwards to the cooling fins and not through the grill. We struggled on a rally at Cambridge during the record temps recorded there 2/3 years ago, had the fan fitted when we got home and never had problem since, although we haven't  had those temps since, the fan cuts in and out all by itself with the temp sensor pushed into the fins.

Had the same fitted  … not the cheapest option but it works very well. I had my installation slightly modified so I can manually override the sensor if I choose.

Mids wrote:Thanks for the replies.  Van is level but the canopy  is on the opposite  side to the fridge. Also may have been overloaded  with food. Temperature  not as high today and it does seem to be cooler. So hopefully  it is not a damaged  fridge  and just been the weather  conditions.

Very unlikely to be damaged … more a general issue with absorption fridges in high temps

Suppersready wrote:

Paulmold wrote:I have the genuine Dometic fan fitted, it is fastened on the coils and blows upwards to the cooling fins and not through the grill. We struggled on a rally at Cambridge during the record temps recorded there 2/3 years ago, had the fan fitted when we got home and never had problem since, although we haven't  had those temps since, the fan cuts in and out all by itself with the temp sensor pushed into the fins.

Had the same fitted  … not the cheapest option but it works very well. I had my installation slightly modified so I can manually override the sensor if I choose.

Yes, not cheap (if you buy in uk). I got mine through ebay from USA, less than half UK price even with shipping, took a couple of weeks to arrive. The genuine Thetford is cheap by comparison but doesn't look great quality.

Paul 
I asked and you posted the picture again on another post.     
the Dometic kit did look a very good fit and puts the air flow from below up to the cooling fins and to the position best to cool the operation  of the Dometic fridge
The thetford kit also puts the fan below the fins putting the air flow from the fan at a set place to best cool the fins 
Ron When you use a hair dryer to dry your hair you position it to the area that needs drying so to get the best performance from the fan it position is critical as to the best operation .yes putting a fan on the vent grill will help yes I said help .Dometic and thetford would not say to fit the fan in a set position in there was no gain and no reason

here are the photos again for anyone  who hasn't seen them before...

Thanks for all the input about this topic. Have been I cotact  with our dealer back home and they stock the ventilation  kit for the thetford  fridge.so have it booked in our return. Not confedent  to make changes  to a newish  van myself

Thetford  genuine fan kit fitted bellow cooling fins
thanks for posting the picture again Paul .when running the fridge on gas most of the time with the cooling fan is saving gas and when I have been out for the day walking or in my sea kayak the fridge has stayed cool and every thing has stayed fresh in the fridge .i am sure your kit Paul has been working to help cut down the running time the fridge needs to run to stay cold

glyne lock wrote:Paul 
I asked and you posted the picture again on another post.     
the Dometic kit did look a very good fit and puts the air flow from below up to the cooling fins and to the position best to cool the operation  of the Dometic fridge
The thetford kit also puts the fan below the fins putting the air flow from the fan at a set place to best cool the fins 
Ron When you use a hair dryer to dry your hair you position it to the area that needs drying so to get the best performance from the fan it position is critical as to the best operation .yes putting a fan on the vent grill will help yes I said help .Dometic and thetford would not say to fit the fan in a set position in there was no gain and no reason

Thank you for your advice Glyne. However, having a thermostat allows me to monitor how much the fan is working and in 30C plus in Cordoba a few years ago it worked extremely well, only operating intermittently and we had a fully cold fridge. That's all I need so I'm very happy with my cheap DIY accessory. It's an effective extractor and it's mounting does not impede air flow around the fins.