Fridge issue

[SLB]

We have a 2015 itasca Sunova 33C
The last time out when the rear ac unit shut down the fridge when give a error message that we had no hydro.
I would switch to propane and five minutes later we could switch back to hydro.
What would cause this and how do we repair it.
Also the fridge does not recognize when we are running the generator.
We have to keep it on propane.
Any suggestions or ideas on how to solve these issues.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I have no idea what hydro Is in this context.

This is My opinion:

Using a 2 or 3 way fridge is the most power hungry way of operation. If you're plugged in to power that's not on a meter then use it. But if you're paying the bill use propane.

 

[rvkev]

I have no idea what hydro Is in this context.

Me either. Thought I was the only one. When you (SLB) are talking to 33,000 people you have to consider some of us are not as smart as you the rest of the world. Kevin D Pem is right about power draw on a RV frige.

 

[rjshiflet49]

Not sure where "SLB" is located, but if Canadian...perhaps this is the answer according to "AI".

"In parts of Canada and off-grid communities, "hydro" is short for hydroelectricity. If someone asks if your RV fridge can run on "hydro," they simply mean shore power / 120V AC electricity rather than propane gas."

Thank goodness AI knows how to translate things into "Texan-ese" that I understand.

 

[T’sOVR&Explore]

Now that the "hydro" mystery has be sorted, let's try to get SLB's malfunction thought out.
1. Fridge won't operate on genset power.
2. Fridge can operate on shore power, but loses shore power when the air conditioner cycles off.

That could be a loose wire termination in the AC power delivery wire path that the fridge is on, but "never works on genset power" suggests that this is not the defect, as there should be some up time running of the fridge on the genset feed, not "never"..

But there is one aspect of the absorbtion cycle fridge logic to consider: when the logic board acts up, the old Dometic absorbtion cycle fridge that we had was supposed to have a crude, non tstat-managed mode, that continued to kinda run, on propane.

My thoights are leaning toward a fridge control board problem as the diagnosis.

And man alive, Kevin is correct on the excessive power consumption of those absorbtion cycle fridges. I left ours turned on in the HR MH on a metered farm property power pole in a location that we made every other weekend stays at.

That boiler in that fridge that made the absorbtion cycle work took massive kilowatt hours when you compared the before and after meter readings arriving and departing the farm site.

Glad to be away from that now, 12v compressor fridge, LiFePo4 battery, solar, no more fridge anxiety, plus gies cooler, not limited to the max pulldown range from ambient that absorbtion is able to do.