How long should my RV fridge last?

We will use a Servel refrigerator to demonstrate the endurance of an RV fridge, and how they should be able to face hardship and the stress while traveling.


Servel Fridge Endurance.

Our first image is one of the original Servel advertisements from the 1920s. Servel was in business from 1922 until 1956 when Servel was the only American manufacturer of gas refrigerators. The name Servel was derived from "Serving Electricity", is it not a coincidence that service was their slogan?

What do we know about Servel and Service?

How does one know if a product has the quality to withstanding hardship or stress? The answer is easy, time tests products for quality and the root causes of failure. We own 2 Servel refrigerators which were both made in 1937. Both of these refrigerators have run faithfully for 80 years! In this statement lies the the reason that the Fridge Defend by ARP was built.


Our Servel Door Tag

About Our Servel

This next photo shows the door tag ID for our fridge. Because the Servel fridge operates on the same principles as an RV refrigerator, I had to ask myself why is this fridge so reliable? Why is the endurance of this fridge so great that the fridge is preserved for over 80 years?

RV Fridge Endurance

After much contemplation I determined 3 factors that differ between an RV fridge and this Servel:

1) The Servel is always level.
Click here for why level operation is important.
Click here for video of fridge stop cooling.
Click here for off-level failure mode.

2) The Servel is inside a cabin where air currents cannot prevent the fridge from rejecting heat.
Click here to see why wind can result in the boiler overheating.
Click here to see why side-vents like in slide-outs are troublesome.

3) The Servel has quality construction.
Click here to see why with 350psi pressure the quality of construction is critical.


How the ARP Control Addresses Each Issue

You cannot prevent your RV fridge from operating off-level if you use it while driving ( Click here for more on driving damage ). If the ARP Control is monitoring your boiler temperature, you should not experience damage from driving or parking temperately off-level.

The Fridge Defend + Fan Control senses when the cooling unit cannot reject its heat and uses fans to help ventilate the excess heat. Please note, even when there are fans in the cooling unit compartment, the boiler can and will overheat without an ARP Control. This is because the boiler temperature is independent of the cooling unit compartment temperature.

Finally, nothing can correct a poorly manufactured cooling unit. The Fridge Defend prevents damage to the cooling unit internally only if the cooling unit was made with the proper amounts of fluids, corrosion inhibitor, and quality welds on quality materials.

Click here to get your ARP Control!