Refrigerator won't cool, venting problem

[sammut321]

Sent: 7/18/2003

just bought a 1975 brave and the fridge is not getting cold. the freezer works great. found that the vent had been covered up with a new roof, we uncovered that and put a pipe in the hole. do we have to have a vent pipe coming up from the back of fridge to the hole in the top? thanks for any info

[mightybooboo]

Sent: 7/18/2003

Welcome to the board.Let it cool for 24 hours and see if refer cools,maybe even 48 hours,they take a long time to cool refer section.Then get back to us with the result.Lots of refer threads here.
BooBoo

[Boat Nut]

Sent: 7/19/2003

I'm afraid that with just a pipe, you won't get enough flow, and the rain will come in, and rust the back of the fridge and rot the shelf it sits on. The refer vent needs to get rid of the heat behind the fridge in order for it to work. There was originally a pretty large rectangular hole in the roof covered by a rectangular refer vent cover. That cover can be bought from any camping supply store. Be sure to install it with some good caulking to prevent roof leaks.

Chuck

[Lefty]

Sent: 7/21/2003

If your MH is set up like mine,(and most others I've seen) there is a louvered door on the outside of the coach behind the fridge. this is to allow access for maintenance or repairs. the louvers are designed to allow cool air in and since warm air rises, the vent on the roof expels the air that has captured heat from the condenser fins,and is therefore warmed, without the vent on the roof significant reduction in cooling efficiency will result since the natural airflow over the cooling fins will not occur. hope this helps. --lefty