Most RV refrigerators work on the absorption principle, there is no compressor, for that matter, no moving parts! The unit in my AXXESS is a Dometic, runs on LP or AC. Dometic says that AC is the more efficient mode. Another critical design difference is that the fridge needs good ventilation at the rear of the unit. Most LivinLites I've seen have two plastic vents on the exterior wall. Air must enter the bottom vent, rise and flow over the cooling coils and exit the top vent. Inadequate airflow will limit the fridge cooling capacity.
We just returned from a 3-day trip in central FLA ( 90+ degrees). After running the unit on AC for almost a full day prior to leaving, we started out at 35 degrees, loaded cold food, all was well the first day. Next day however, the unit got so warm ( running on AC shore power) my wife was afraid to keep meat inside, so we used an ice chest. After returning home, fired up the fridge on AC; sure enough, after about 20 hrs. temp was down to 35 degrees. After digging into the Dometic manuals, discovered that, for my particular model, when installed using upper and lower side vents, Dometic recommends installing a vent fan in the rear to help air flow in removing heat from the cooling coils. Not all fridges need one, but evidently LL either didn't know or chose not to install a vent fan in my AXXESS.
Putting a fan inside will help circulate the internal compartment air, but all the heat load is discharged through the rear cooling coils, especially the finned tubes in back of the freezer. Having the fridge perfectly level is not as important as it was on previous generation units. As long as moving around in the trailer is not impaired by the amount of off-level, the newer fridges will work fine.
We just returned from a 3-day trip in central FLA ( 90+ degrees). After running the unit on AC for almost a full day prior to leaving, we started out at 35 degrees, loaded cold food, all was well the first day. Next day however, the unit got so warm ( running on AC shore power) my wife was afraid to keep meat inside, so we used an ice chest. After returning home, fired up the fridge on AC; sure enough, after about 20 hrs. temp was down to 35 degrees. After digging into the Dometic manuals, discovered that, for my particular model, when installed using upper and lower side vents, Dometic recommends installing a vent fan in the rear to help air flow in removing heat from the cooling coils. Not all fridges need one, but evidently LL either didn't know or chose not to install a vent fan in my AXXESS.
Putting a fan inside will help circulate the internal compartment air, but all the heat load is discharged through the rear cooling coils, especially the finned tubes in back of the freezer. Having the fridge perfectly level is not as important as it was on previous generation units. As long as moving around in the trailer is not impaired by the amount of off-level, the newer fridges will work fine.
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