Temperature drop notification service
PFCMCL
2 years ago
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cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
2 years agoChris
2 years agoRelated Discussions
fridge temperature fluctuation normal?
Comments (23)Wow! Thank you for your generosity and interesting discussion. (1) My fridge is a ABB2227. The manual does not say anything about the "normal" variation. "If the fridge is too warm, set the control down; if it is too cold, set it up"... Dah... (2) I typed my model number on the Web. I did not know there was a Amana community that has as a hobby the periodic thawing of our fridge... how fun... (3) A precision: I remove from my readings all the meal time since my vegetables and nuts are in there (the service guy told me that a fridge cannot hold a normal temperature if it is empty). No kids in the house to screw up my readings. My readings' variations cannot be explained by the door opening. This I am sure. (4) The board and sensor were changed when the fridge once again went up over 50 degrees last week. I got fed up and instead of doing the thawing routine all over again, I called the service guy. This is where our opinions go into different directions; he says that my fridge is now normal, but I think that something is still wrong because of the large temperature variation (but one good thing though, the temperature never went back to 50 degrees with the new board; the problem is that I don't have anymore the readings before the last problematic episode... this is where I kick myself; I should have kept them). Since the new board, the highest reading I got is around 45 degrees. (5) Tonight I opened the door and put an instant 3-sec thermometer in everything liquid that had spent a couple of days in the fridge and was not in the door (yes I also have one of those... I know; I may sound like a crazy thermometer woman by now...). The cup of water I put in yesterday night, the water the radishes were in, the 1-liter of milk, the water the celery was in... were all showing 40 degree readings. (6) I went through the study that was linked to. Very informative. They seem to think that 5 degrees is an acceptable upper limit and 5 C is 41 F. So maybe my stuff showing 40 degrees is all right despite the very large air temp variation. (I will go on and calculate my average and median over several days... I think that the median is more telling than the average... my stat husband reminded me that on average everybody is normal...). Where do I go from here: - Tonight before going to bed, I will put the control to 5 to see the impact it will impact. (I am just a bit afraid it will freeze my tender vegetables; I have periodic readings between 31 and 32 F, so I hope that it will get the upper limit down, but not the lower limit). - Since there is nothing in the manual, tomorrow I will call Amana and ask them what they consider a normal variation (but I have to admit that my hopes for a meaningful answer are not high). - In the next weeks (we do not live in the same city), I will go to my sister's home and test her "perfectly functioning" fridge, just to see if she has the same variation as I now have. It may just show that this fridge has never been able to keep a stable temperature. Thanks again, Lynn This post was edited by l_mtl on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 22:05...See MoreRefrigerator temperature ranges vs settings
Comments (9)dadoes, thanks for the hint! I do have an instant-read thermometer (probe type, that I normally use to check cooked meats) and so I put a plastic cup of water in the fridge last night, on the center of the lowest shelf. (I decided to use a plastic cup instead of glass, because I wanted to get the reading closest to that of the "air") Just checked it now, 12 hrs later, and the instant-read says 37.7 degrees (I set the fridge temp last night to 36). The Taylor thermometer, which is the metal/dial type, right next to the cup, says 42F, btw. Hmmm. Out of curiosity I then used the instant-read probe to check the actual internal temperatures of several foods in the fridge. These are the results: Plastic container of canned peas in water, on center shelf: 43F Container of vanilla yogurt (on top shelf): 40F Spreadable butter in plastic tub, on second-highest shelf: 42F Glass container of homemade hummus, bottom shelf: 45F Interesting. gigelus, I too always assumed that since cold air sinks, the coldest part of the fridge would be the lowest shelf. However this article in Cooks Illustrated talked about microclimates in refrigerators, and it said that the coldest spot in the fridge is always the back half of the TOP shelf (which is where the sensor is on the Samsung model). www.rifoodcouncil.org/sites/default/files/Cooks-Illustrated-Produce-Storage.pdf Then again, this one from Saveur cites the front of the top shelf as the coldest spot. http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Know-Your-Fridge And just to confuse things, part of this page cites the "center of the middle shelf" as the best place to put a temperature sensor/thermometer. http://www.temperaturealert.com/blog.aspx?CntTagID=4f900350-7677-4060-9b65-0c8ce66e8d64 I'm now curious about how much the fullness or emptiness of a fridge affects the temperature inside it. Does a fridge stay cooler "better" if it's 50% or more full? (like a freezer does) As a single person I don't store much in my fridge but my freezer is always filled to capacity or almost, LOL. So there's more empty space in my fridge compartment than not. I may do an experiment by placing (unfrozen) sheets of Blue Ice in the fridge to simulate additional food items being there, and see whether that affects the temperature readings on both the Taylor dial therm and the probe-in-water method......See MoreOven temperature fluctuations - how can this be?
Comments (4)I would keep a written log of temp readings and times for this test and while cooking. This is a little time consuming and might require more patience than your repair tech has but when they come to test the oven, bring it to 250F and watch the variation in temperature. You should be able to see the upper and lower temperature. Bring it to 350F and watch the variation. Open the door for 10 or even 15 seconds and then note how much the temperature drops and how quickly it recovers. It would be normal to drop at least 50-100F degrees when you open the door. When it recovers, bring it to 450F and observe it. The generally acceptable variation in temperature from the set temperature is considered to be 25F, so if set at 350F, it will be between 325F and 375F. Many newer ovens have a much lower variation so ask them what it should be for your oven before you start your test. My oven after it is well preheated takes about 60 seconds to come up 50F. Note how long it takes to change temperature. Did you use all three of your thermometers at once and did they agree with each other? Thermometers have lag time after the oven changes temperature. You might use yours along with the tech's for comparison. One thing that will help stabilize your oven is to have it well preheated. When the oven preheats to 350F and turns off, it needs to run additional time so that the sides and bulk of the oven fully heat. I am curious if your previous ovens had open elements on the bottom as the covered elements can cause things to bake differently....See MoreWhat is your record high/low temperature?
Comments (45)Rob333, at that point in time I had several things making me wonder that, and I was contemplating packing up and moving back! But all in all, Columbus is a very good place to live and winters (or summers) in general are not that severe. We usually have one bad winter weather event (like an ice storm or very heavy snowfall or temps well below zero) each winter though, and lately it seems one damaging summer storm. This year has been unusually hot and/or muggy for the years I've lived here. You know the old saying, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity". That is true for me. I don't mind 90+ if the RH is less than about 45% -- find it quite comfortable. I remember one visit to Phoenix in the summer, I was walking all over the area near my conference hotel, and enjoying the lovely weather. Got back to find it was actually 110F that day. Of course I was drinking lots of water....See MoreMamaham_NC_Zone7
2 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years agosocks
2 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
2 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agoPFCMCL
2 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agoMamaham_NC_Zone7
2 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agomxk3 z5b_MI
2 years agoperen.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
2 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
2 years agoperen.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
2 years ago
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