Suggestions - how do we stop our lettuce from freezing??
NWescapee said
05:19 AM Aug 11, 2012
We have a Dometic fridge in our travel trailer that does not have temperature controls. We'd love to figure out to install a control if anyone has suggestions.
We are also perplexed by the fact that our lettuce, in the very bottom of the fridge seems to keep freezing and then becomes wilted and inedible. We really enjoy our salads with whatever the grilled meal of the evening is but really don't want to be going to the grocery store every 2-3 days because of this issue. It seems to be worse when we are experiencing outdoor temperatures above 80, however, it has also occurred during spring / fall trips as well. We currently spend about 20-25% of our time traveling and this is becoming a nuisance.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Terry and Jo said
06:04 AM Aug 11, 2012
Take a look inside your refrigerator on the fins that are inside and at the back. With some of the refrigerators, there is a "thermister" that can be slid up and down on the fin to which it is attached. With those kinds of controls, you have to experiment with the setting of that thermister to find a place on the fin that will lower your temperature enough without freezing or getting too warm. Keep in mind that the lower portion of a refrigerator will have the coldest temperature since heat rises, even within the unit.
Terry
The Bear II said
05:05 PM Aug 14, 2012
I've never seen a refrigerator that didn't have some sort of temperature adjustment.
Ours does and we have experienced the lettuce and other stuff freeze problem. At some RV supply stores they sell a battery operated fan that you can set inside the refrigerator to help get better circulation. This helped.
We put our lettuce just above the bottom rack...second rack up. That seems to be the best placed to keep it from freezing.
Another thing to remember these RV refrigerators aren't designed to be full. They work best when there is airflow between items. The little fan can help with the airflow when the refrig is full.
NWescapee said
12:50 AM Aug 16, 2012
So, no thermister on the fins. We have a sensor that can be placed and we try to make sure it's in the middle of the fridge. There truly is no way we can adjust the temperature.
We do have the battery operated fan for circulation and try not to overfill the fridge, that's easier said than done when we first leave for a trip.
I will try placing our lettuce somewhere other than the veggie drawer in the bottom. Thanks for the suggestion.
TXRVr said
05:46 PM Aug 17, 2012
We don't use the 'iceburg' type instead prefer to buy some sort of leaf lettuce which is less compact and less subseptible to cold. Also put that and other items in the Greenbags. I don't know if that will help with the frozen issue, but even if not, they help preserve products that are placed in them.
TiredMomDad57 said
07:12 PM Sep 1, 2013
You should do an online search for your make/model fridge. You should be able to find a manual to help you with this problem...
laears said
12:29 AM Sep 8, 2013
Yep I'm guessing you will just not be able to keep it in the drawer, if you find it does this to other things too, I would get rid of the drawer so you can use the space for other things and put some kind of a bin on a shelf for vegs in spot that does not do this. Or maybe the drawer will work for bin someplace else and open the space up to stack other things.
adeline and ed said
09:36 PM Sep 11, 2013
We always wash ours then dry and roll in a towel. stays a long time wilt free
Bill and Linda said
12:34 AM Sep 14, 2013
Dale and Ruth:
I acknowledge this will be a generic answer because your fridge doesn’t have a temperature control.That is a bit strange.Nonetheless . . .
Here is a suggestion that works for us and we use specifically to “keep the lettuce from freezing.”At least that is what caused us to try this procedure and discover – it works.
We put a fridge thermometer in the freezer.We set the temperature adjustment for the freezer to be zero. We don’t change the setting on the fridge. As long as the freezer temp hovers around -2 to +2 F we don’t change the setting. (Going from 100 degrees outside to 60 degrees outside day temps does require a minor adjustment over a few days.)This method has worked for us for a good long time.Lettuce doesn’t freeze, milk stays good and the ice cream is solid.No fans in the fridge by the way.
I think sometimes people are adjusting the fridge, chasing the temperature in the main compartment, which varies greatly when the doors have been opened, and that is causing some of the issues experienced by some.
Just a suggestion as it works for us.
Bill
NWescapee said
04:32 AM Sep 17, 2013
Just noticed this post was getting a few more replies (Original post was more than a year ago), thought I would update this with the fact that we no longer have the TT with the fridge that caused this problem. We've upgraded rigs and are now FT.
However, I'm sure some of the responses might be useful for someone else in the future. Instead of the lettuce freezing we've had an entirely new set of fridge problems that I've posted about in the RV Maint. section of the forum.
We have a Dometic fridge in our travel trailer that does not have temperature controls. We'd love to figure out to install a control if anyone has suggestions.
We are also perplexed by the fact that our lettuce, in the very bottom of the fridge seems to keep freezing and then becomes wilted and inedible. We really enjoy our salads with whatever the grilled meal of the evening is but really don't want to be going to the grocery store every 2-3 days because of this issue. It seems to be worse when we are experiencing outdoor temperatures above 80, however, it has also occurred during spring / fall trips as well. We currently spend about 20-25% of our time traveling and this is becoming a nuisance.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Take a look inside your refrigerator on the fins that are inside and at the back. With some of the refrigerators, there is a "thermister" that can be slid up and down on the fin to which it is attached. With those kinds of controls, you have to experiment with the setting of that thermister to find a place on the fin that will lower your temperature enough without freezing or getting too warm. Keep in mind that the lower portion of a refrigerator will have the coldest temperature since heat rises, even within the unit.
Terry
Ours does and we have experienced the lettuce and other stuff freeze problem. At some RV supply stores they sell a battery operated fan that you can set inside the refrigerator to help get better circulation. This helped.
We put our lettuce just above the bottom rack...second rack up. That seems to be the best placed to keep it from freezing.
Another thing to remember these RV refrigerators aren't designed to be full. They work best when there is airflow between items. The little fan can help with the airflow when the refrig is full.
We do have the battery operated fan for circulation and try not to overfill the fridge, that's easier said than done when we first leave for a trip.
I will try placing our lettuce somewhere other than the veggie drawer in the bottom. Thanks for the suggestion.
We don't use the 'iceburg' type instead prefer to buy some sort of leaf lettuce which is less compact and less subseptible to cold. Also put that and other items in the Greenbags. I don't know if that will help with the frozen issue, but even if not, they help preserve products that are placed in them.
Yep I'm guessing you will just not be able to keep it in the drawer, if you find it does this to other things too, I would get rid of the drawer so you can use the space for other things and put some kind of a bin on a shelf for vegs in spot that does not do this. Or maybe the drawer will work for bin someplace else and open the space up to stack other things.
Dale and Ruth:
I acknowledge this will be a generic answer because your fridge doesn’t have a temperature control. That is a bit strange. Nonetheless . . .
Here is a suggestion that works for us and we use specifically to “keep the lettuce from freezing.” At least that is what caused us to try this procedure and discover – it works.
We put a fridge thermometer in the freezer. We set the temperature adjustment for the freezer to be zero. We don’t change the setting on the fridge. As long as the freezer temp hovers around -2 to +2 F we don’t change the setting. (Going from 100 degrees outside to 60 degrees outside day temps does require a minor adjustment over a few days.) This method has worked for us for a good long time. Lettuce doesn’t freeze, milk stays good and the ice cream is solid. No fans in the fridge by the way.
I think sometimes people are adjusting the fridge, chasing the temperature in the main compartment, which varies greatly when the doors have been opened, and that is causing some of the issues experienced by some.
Just a suggestion as it works for us.
Bill
However, I'm sure some of the responses might be useful for someone else in the future. Instead of the lettuce freezing we've had an entirely new set of fridge problems that I've posted about in the RV Maint. section of the forum.