ARB fridge - Is this thing working right?

Photomom

Question for those with ARB fridge freezers. The 50L ARB I ordered finally came in. Of course I wanted to make sure it works correctly so I plugged it in the house and put the remote digital refrigerator thermometer I use in the T@B in it and set the target temperature to 37F. After a couple of hours the readout indicated that it was 37F but the thermometer display said 48F.

Google found a procedure for calibrating the temperature on a 4x4 forum (nothing in the user manual.) So I did the procedure but found you can only adjust the temperature +/- 8F. I let the fridge stabilize overnight. The internal temp is within a couple degrees of the temperature shown on the thermometer display. BUT the thermometer records the highest and lowest temperature and said the highest was 50F and the lowest was 32F. I reset that and within an hour the range was already 40F to 35F. This is indoors with a steady temperature of 66F.

So, my question is, is this the best I can expect? Temps above 40F are unacceptable as I'm very concerned with food safety especially when we travel. If the one I got isn't working right I can call the warranty dept. but if this is just the way these things work it's going to get returned to REI. This thing was expensive, and I'm very disappointed.

Verna

@Photomom, contact the warranty department. I don’t have the ARB remote display, but I have an indoor/outdoor sensor. I have never seen more than a 2* variance on my 4 yr old ARB. Have you tried putting some bottles of water in the ARB to give it more mass to cool and to keep the temps steady?  I know mine goes quickly from say, 65* to 29* when I first put it in my truck for a trip.

Check the bottom of the lid for some operating instructions. Either I got the instructions for calibrating the temps from there or from someone on the former LG Teardrop forum. My temp was either 2* or 4* difference between my sensor and the display.  I’ve only had to calibrate the temps once, when it was new. 

4ncar

Not sure if this would apply or not, but....you're supposed to let the unit sit in the "normal" position(lid on top) for 24 hours prior to operation.  This allows the gases to get where they need to be after shipment...

irvingj

Ditto Verna:  "... give it more mass to cool and to keep the temps steady.."  Try that and see if you get better results.