Every refrigerator has a drain line to allow condensation and defrosting deposits to be funneled out of the food storage area to the outside of the coach or camper. We all know that these drain lines need to empty out of the coach or into a drain pan of some kind so that the water doesn’t rot out the platform and wall underneath and behind the refrigerator. However, there is a little known fact about these drain tubes that you should be aware of.
There is typically a stopper or cap installed at the end of these drain lines and many times the owners remove them to allow more water to flow out of the line when defrosting. Unfortunately the caps don’t get put back and problems can ensue. These caps are not only in place to keep those lovely Dirt-Dobber wasps and spiders from making a home in the drain line but is also there as an anti-syphon device.
The syphoning that occurs on these lines causes cold air from your food storage and/or freezer to be siphoned to the outside when you are travelling down the road or in sustained winds across the access panel.
Many times we’ve found a faulty refrigerator to be in good working order except when in these conditions and the replacement of the end cap on the drain line is the fix.
So, if you take off… keep up with it long enough to put it back… unless you enjoy room temperature food of course.
