ARB fridge temperature issues. (1 Viewer)

[REKCUT]

For Xmass I picked up a second ARB 50 qt fridge. I purchased my original one 8 years ago and have never had a issue with it. I set it on 29 and it will hold at that temp consistently without changing unless you add a large amount of warm items at which point it will go up 10 deg or so and slowly bring everything down to 29 deg.

The new one i plugged in (both 12v and 110v) and set it at 27. The temp in the fridge on the display will go down to 17 deg before the compressor shuts off. It will then stay off till the temp gets to 34 deg. 17 deg swing.

I discussed this with ARB and they switched it out with a new one I picked up on the way to big bend last friday. This one set on 27 will do a 23 to 31 swing. I have my old one plugged in next to it and it hold temp without changing.

I am curious if anyone else fridge acts this way and if I need to go back to arb and try again. Maybe that ran a bad batch of electronics or did i just get lucky with my first one.


I have tried empty/ half full / and full with no change.

 

[Rick Bidgood]

For Xmass I picked up a second ARB 50 qt fridge. I purchased my original one 8 years ago and have never had a issue with it. I set it on 29 and it will hold at that temp consistently without changing unless you add a large amount of warm items at which point it will go up 10 deg or so and slowly bring everything down to 29 deg.

The new one i plugged in (both 12v and 110v) and set it at 27. The temp in the fridge on the display will go down to 17 deg before the compressor shuts off. It will then stay off till the temp gets to 34 deg. 17 deg swing.

I discussed this with ARB and they switched it out with a new one I picked up on the way to big bend last friday. This one set on 27 will do a 23 to 31 swing. I have my old one plugged in next to it and it hold temp without changing.

I am curious if anyone else fridge acts this way and if I need to go back to arb and try again. Maybe that ran a bad batch of electronics or did i just get lucky with my first one.


I have tried empty/ half full / and full with no change.

I keep mine set at 37 and it sometimes swings down to 32, but never and more than that. This is my second ARB 50, and my first one had even less of a swing.

 

[mrburlingame]

Mine swings about 15 degrees. I just assumed as it's been my only fridge that's how these things worked. If I set it to 24, I'll get it around 39, with stuff in there. Closest I've come to accurate is within 10 degrees.

 

[NMBruce]

Mine swings about 5-8 degs on either side of the set temp

 

[Cruiserdrew]

That's a lot of swing. My Engel is just a few degrees. It does matter if you're fully loaded.

But I will say, that if you set it for 35F, you do risk freezing your cilantro and carrots, both of which seem particularly susceptible to freezing. I've used a temp prob to calibrate at 37F, and that seems to keep everything happy.

 

[e9999]

OP, you don't want a huge swing obviously, but it's not because the air temperature is below freezing that bigger items will necessarily freeze. Small stuff like herbs, sure, they might. More importantly, some bigger mass items like likely won't if it doesn't stay at that low temp for too long. There is thermal inertia of course.

 

[NyNomad]

i don't trust the digital display on my frig. I use an old school mechanical refrigerator thermometer. just something to think about. when set at 36-37deg, mine cycles at a low of 33 to 38.. high enough to where it keeps food from growing bacteria and just low enough so my eggs and milk don't freeze

 

[Dissent]

I have mine set to 35 with a few degree offset (can't recall if it's 3 or 4 degrees) and I see a 3-4 degree range bouncing from 30-34, averaging 32. This is measured with a SensorPush bluetooth thermometer.

 

[C6H12O6]

My ARB 50 has a nearly unacceptably large swing when it isn't full, but is great when loaded up. I've also gotten better at packing it. Remember that these 12V fridges are "cold wall" refrigerators. They aren't circulating cold air around the food; they are simply getting cold along the outer walls. Stuff in the middle won't be as cold until everything else gets cold. Anything that is a food safety issue if it doesn't stay cold should be along the wall. Produce that will freeze can usually hang out on the interior without getting too cold and freezing, even if the edges are dipping below 32°F for a bit. Also, the ARB 50 has that plastic section at the back that doesn't have a cold wall at all. It will get as cold as the ambient air temps in the fridge after a while, but won't cool as quickly or as low as the main fridge space.