Newbies with some questions

Swingshift · May 2015

Hi all you experienced, full of wisdomness and helpfulness:)
     We took the T@B out for the first time this week and had a great time. We have a few hiccups that we would appreciate advice on. I am sure we did something that could have been done differently.
    NorCold first-It seems that all the discussion threads had the fridge not working or freezing things. Our situation was opposite. Here's the scoop. We had the unit on shore power at home to cool the unit for a day before we left. When we got to the campsite we transferred our cold things into the refridge and lit the propane. Yea-it lit fine. I noticed after the first day (daytime temps near 82), the temp in the fridge seemed a bit warm for my liking. We turned the cold setting to the coldest. We went and got a thermometer at the local store and read the temp as 48. The next morning it was back to 38. The second day we came back from being gone since breakfast on a long hike, I went to get out the dinner meat and the fridge temp said 51 (daytime temps were in the mid 70's) and I was a little worried about the meat quality then. That night the fridge cooled back down to 38. What are thoughts on this?
    Hot Water-Love that the Aldi makes hot water very fast. I made some dish water the first day and, when done with the hot water, shut off the propane and water switches. As expected, no more hot water. The second day, I did the same thing, but after we returned from that long hike the hot water was extremely hot (after being shut off since breakfast.) I flipped the switches on and off again and the water did not seem to be hot when checked a few hours later (as we would expect.) Has anyone had mystery hot water?
     Thanks for your advice to this newbie:)

Nomad · May 2015

Fridge - Don't know the answer but, are you sure the door was totally shut and sealed? If you have stuff inside protruding towards the front, it can hit the rack rail on the inside of the fridge door and not close tightly. If I have the fridge loaded, I pin the door shut - Especially when I'm gone.

jkjenn · May 2015

PXLated said:

Fridge - Don't know the answer but, are you sure the door was totally shut and sealed? If you have stuff inside protruding towards the front, it can hit the rack rail on the inside of the fridge door and not close tightly. If I have the fridge loaded, I pin the door shut - Especially when I'm gone.

I have noticed that it opens, easily, too.

mawebb · May 2015

The fridge is working to drop the internal (fridge) temperature, in relation to the external temperature (T@B interior). If you are away, close all the windows and vents, it gets really hot inside the T@B. This will raise the internal temperature of the fridge, as it cannot move the heat from inside the fridge to outside the fridge. The excess heat ends up inside the T@B. The external vents are for products of combustion, not so much for dissipating heat. The vent in the floor, in the narrow cupboard bellow the fridge is to assist with allowing cooler, outside air inside the T@B to help dissipate the unwanted heat. Also propane will be the most efficient, as the way the fridge works, is the internal coolant needs to be heated to the point where is vaporizes. When the gas re condenses, it absorbs heat. Simply put, the more energy that is input into the process, the more effective the result.

In terms of efficiency / effectiveness:
1. Propane
2. 110 V A/C (Shore power)
3. 12 Volts

The fridge does have a fan, which attempts to move the heat away from the condenser, but if it's hot inside, the T@B, there is nowhere for the heat to go.

A two way electric fridge would be more effective, using an efficient swing motor compressor, such as the ARB, however, we have three way fridges, which allow us to camp off the grid, but are less efficient.

Swingshift · May 2015

Thanks everyone. You are most helpful!
    Refridge door was sealed and shut. As we did some more reading, what you said Mawebb about the inside temp, was probably the culprit. As we were off the grid in bear country, there was no way to keep it cooler while gone. Guess this may be the case out in the desert also, so we'll have to keep the cooler going for meat especially.
    Any ideas of why the hot water remained hot when the Aldi was not on? Shall we blame that on the outside temps too?

ChanW · May 2015

The Alde hot water heating system actually holds around 2 gallons in its internal heating 'coils', so you may have had some left from the previous heating.

The fridge system can be made to push that excess heat out of the Tab interior a little better by installing some small fans in the exhaust vent next to the door (behind the door when it's open). There's a mod that has been documented for these fans somewhere online, maybe the Yahoo Tab forum.

Keep in mind also, that when the door is propped open, it blocks the exhaust vent, and makes the fridge work less efficiently.

breakaway · May 2015

Go to the Technical Area for the owner's manual. Most questions answered.

mawebb · May 2015

As stated the Alde has several gallon contained in the hot water tank portion. The hot water is wrapped by the glycol system for heat, as such it is well insulated, keeping water hot for hours.

Swingshift · May 2015

Thanks again for all of your time answering the questions arising from my inexperience!!!

Swingshift · May 2015

And now a new newbie question. When we arrived home from camping the first time, we removed the 20 amp fuse at the battery (as instructed to conserve the battery). I then plugged into shore (house) power hoping to charge the battery. After a day and a half, it recharged a little but I wasn't happy with the progress. So, I replaced the battery fuse, thinking it had to be in to recharge the battery more effectively. When I plugged in the fuse, the fan in the electric control center came on. Is this normal, and will it stay on or just stay on until it reverts to trickle charging? Questions, questions!! Thanks for your help.

Mouseketab · May 2015

You are correct. If you are plugged into Shore Power, then you need the converter to charge the battery. The fan will run until you get to full charge and to trickle charge mode. Also, if it is fully charged, then you turn on a light or two, then the fan may come on for a few minutes to compensate for the draw from the lights.

Swingshift · May 2015

Thanks Mouseketab for your time to help us figure all of this out!

mawebb · June 2015

With the 30 amp fuse removed from the holder by the battery, the converter powered up by shore power cannot charge the battery at all.

The converter fan will run when in quick charge mode and will turn off when in trickle or maintenance mode.

Note that even when not plugged into shore power, applying 12 volt power (inserting fuse) will cause the fan to turn on for a few seconds. The green light on the CO2 detector will confirm the T@B is powered up.

ChanW · June 2015

And don't be confused by the CO detector light flashing for a few minutes, when you first power it up (been there, done that). It's normal, while it does a startup self-check.

Newbies with some questions

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