Alpine 3535 Owners

[Bakogirl]

Hi all. We just took delivery of our new Alpine 3535. Pre delivery inspection went great. However...we spent the night in it and when we were buttoning it up discovered an issue. In the refrigerator we discovered a handy little plastic piece that fits over the closing latches for the fridge/freezer. Apparently this is to keep the doors SLIGHTLY open yet latched when storing/towing. Here's the issue, when you put the slide in it won't completely close as the fridge butts up against the center island when closed with the plastic piece on. Could Keystone have been off when placing the center island in our rig? I know I should call our dealer (and will) but wanted to know if anyone else has had this issue. I thought the design on this little plastic piece was genius and was looking forward to using it as we don't tow our RV but leave it stored at the beach and don't have the ability to just leave the fridge doors open to air out.

[Festus2]

One way around this is to leave your slide out just enough so that you can use the plastic door inserts and keep your fridge door open slightly when in storage. We don't use those plastic inserts when towing -- we like the fridge door closed tightly - not wiggling around while on the road. Besides, when towing, we almost always have items in the fridge and need the door to be closed.

Living in Bakersfield, you won't see hardly any rain so leaving the slide out just a bit won't be a problem. If the slide seals are working as they should, there shouldn't be any water intrusion anyway with the slides out a fraction.

That is a very, very tight fit - not a lot of space between the fridge and the center island with the slide in.

[Bakogirl]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, we don't actually tow the trailer ourselves. We store it at Pismo and Pismo Coast Village Storage moves it to our site and then back to storage when we are done. We don't have any access to it once it is towed off (only goes a couple of miles to storage). Doesn't sound like I will be able to air the fridge out between use :confused:

[JRTJH]

You're going to have to "air the fridge out" if it's not plugged in. As with a home refrigerator, unless it is ABSOLUTELY DRY AND CLEAN it will start to mold and smell in a day or two. So, you've either got to use those "blue thingies", keep the door open another way or leave the reefer turned on. If you're storing it at a commerical site, I'd recommend not leaving the refrigerator turned on. If you do, on propane, you'll run your batteries down in about 4 or 5 days, if you leave it plugged in to shore power and run on AC, any interrupted power will also cause the reefer to smell terrible.

Is there a way to open the reefer door, then close the slide? Possibly that would be a "work around" until you get the dealer to address it.

The RV is designed (or should have been) so the reefer can be left open during storage. If the center island is too close, then the dealer should do whatever is necessary to remedy the situation. You simply can't walk away from a reefer after using it for a few days and expect it to be dry enough to not mold !!!!!