silverback Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 hi all, is it worth installing fans at the back of fridges? would be just using it in normal weather, but you never know if we go some where hot next summer, do these fans work effectively, and why don't dometic fit them as standard? regards Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 I fitted a old fan salvaged from a computer at the rear of my fridge easy fitting used zip clips just switch it on when needed I'm sure it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted November 1, 2017 Share Posted November 1, 2017 Fitted on a few years ago, very usefull in spain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 I fitted one when we were traveling in France a few years ago as the temperature was in the high 30s and the fridge was struggling. Just had the fan running during the day and the fridge /freezer was back to normal. Never found much need for it in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tourope Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 We had two fitted this year before a trip to Italy. We found you have to leave them on all day (turned off at night) in very hot weather, but they are effective. Also worth stocking up the fridge last thing at night with any drinks you need the next day, likewise ice tray in freezer compartment. We also found running the fridge off gas is much better than electricity in very hot weather, and as a result creates more heat so the fans become all the more essential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 I have 2 x 120mm fans behind the top grill controller by a temperature controller in the van, they make a big difference to the fridge performance when its above 25 deg. I also have fitted an internal fan with controller that makes a huge difference to the internal temp as without it the top of the fridge is cold but bottom is too warm for the beer or safe food storage. Dometic to offer a fan kit but it's a bit naff and very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 silverback - 2017-11-01 8:07 PM hi all, is it worth installing fans at the back of fridges? would be just using it in normal weather, but you never know if we go some where hot next summer, do these fans work effectively, and why don't dometic fit them as standard? regards Jonathan It will depend, in part, on how well the fridge has been installed in your van. If the manufacturer of your motorhome has followed Dometic's instructions to the letter, the fridge should be fine in all but extreme (i.e. 30C/90F +) conditions. If the fridge is not correctly installed (seemingly not that uncommon), or you expect to be in hotter areas, adding a power vent kit will be beneficial but, if you can park the van in shade, and keep the fridge side out of the sun altogether (under the awning, or facing north), it will give it a far better chance with, or without, a vent kit. I'm assuming here that you increase the cooling power of the fridge in hotter weather, and monitor it's performance with a fridge thermometer, so that you know when it's beginning to struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 thanks everyone for the suggestions think i will fit one or too just for emergency use and have a controller/switch inside, there is nothing worse than warm beer...not bothered about the food that can go off (lol) will do abit of research on bits and fittings Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Jonathan, You can buy a kit from the likes of CAK Tanks... http://www.caktanks.co.uk/files/cak_catalogue_2012/2012_CAK_Fridges.pdf But I'm not sure of the price. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 thanks Keith i will have a look Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinvee Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Just picking up on Brian Kirby's comment regarding parking out of the shade or putting your awning out to shade the fridge. In case this isn't an option try the following. I bought one of those shiny car windscreen protectors and hang it on suckers lengthwise between the upper and lower vents of our fridge/freezer unit. Fold each of the shaped ends in as far as you need to make it fit between your vents then make a hole near each corner and push one of the cam operated type suction cups with a hook on it through each one. The hook stops the screen falling off the cup. The temperature of the bodywork behind this was lower than the rest of the MH so I assume it is doing some good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinvee Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Just to be clear, you trap the screen between the cam on the hook and the point it pushes down on the cup moulding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Keithl - 2017-11-06 5:33 PM Jonathan, You can buy a kit from the likes of CAK Tanks... http://www.caktanks.co.uk/files/cak_catalogue_2012/2012_CAK_Fridges.pdf But I'm not sure of the price. Keith. Prices for CAK single and twin fridge fans are given here http://leisurelines.net/single-thermostatic-12v-fridge-fan-1797-p.asp http://leisurelines.net/twin-thermostatic-12v-fridge-fan-1798-p.asp There are alternatives https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brunner-Fridge-fan-Vento-Electronic/dp/B001CUY03K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 Derek Uzzell - 2017-11-09 6:43 PM Keithl - 2017-11-06 5:33 PM Jonathan, You can buy a kit from the likes of CAK Tanks... http://www.caktanks.co.uk/files/cak_catalogue_2012/2012_CAK_Fridges.pdf But I'm not sure of the price. Keith. Prices for CAK single and twin fridge fans are given here http://leisurelines.net/single-thermostatic-12v-fridge-fan-1797-p.asp http://leisurelines.net/twin-thermostatic-12v-fridge-fan-1798-p.asp There are alternatives https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brunner-Fridge-fan-Vento-Electronic/dp/B001CUY03K So £30 Single fan or £46 Twin, probably easier than trying to re-invent the wheel! And the Brunner from Amazon doesn't do very well on reviews! I would not buy one based on the reviews, Caveat Emptor comes to mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 CBE also markets fridge-fan kits Will probably cost more than the CAK-marketed versions (I assume the CAK advert prices are current...) but you do get a proper control-panel. http://www.cbe.it/en/refrigerator-fans/ http://fourgonamateur.free.fr/ressources/manuels_utilisation/CBE_Ventilateur_Electronique_V12-E_P292_Notice.pdf https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/fitting-cbe-fridge-fans.156720/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave R1664232361 Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Bought and fitted the Vento double fan from Rainbow Conversions. The fan lasted less than a week before the electronics went duff and a further month to get my money back (minus return postage!) Replaced it with the double fan from Outdoor Bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 Thanks for the input guys, will go through it all, the brunner seem to be a pile of rubbish, might go down the computer fan route and a switch like the guy did on amazon, anyway took the vents off just for a look and found a drainage box with a pipe going into it and it had an inch of water in it! what is the point in that ? as you drive along it will spill out, so first job is to fix a drain pipe to it and poke it through the vent. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 silverback - 2017-11-11 10:11 PM .. took the vents off just for a look and found a drainage box with a pipe going into it and it had an inch of water in it! what is the point in that ? as you drive along it will spill out, so first job is to fix a drain pipe to it and poke it through the vent. Jonathan Hi Jonathan, I added a drain to ours tears ago! I found that every time we turned the fridge off the catch tank filled from the fridge drain and then festered and went black and horrible so I drilled a hole in the bottom of it and added a small drain tube down through the gas vent. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 11, 2017 Author Share Posted November 11, 2017 Keith, why didn't you tell me that years ago! (lol) will have a better look later but i can't recall seeing a gas vent on the floor, good idea tho cheers jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 We regularly travel in 30C+ temps often with high humidity thus the drain tank on ours is often in need of emptying. Our AT is fitted with a "tropic" version of the Dometic 2 door frig. We have found that if we completely fill the freezer section with frozen food on leaving home the frig seems to cope better. We also load up the bottom section as well and so far we have not had any melt downs. The unit normally runs overnight on EHU. We also try to avoid opening the frig door often, this also seems to help. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 silverback - 2017-11-11 10:49 PM Keith, why didn't you tell me that years ago! (lol) will have a better look later but i can't recall seeing a gas vent on the floor, good idea tho cheers jonathan Keith mentioned his modification about a year ago http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Thetford-Fridge-Freezer-Water-spillage/45222/ I’ve done something similar with my Thetford N3000 fridge-freezer. Rather than modify the plastic water-catchment ’cup’ to take a drain-tube I found a piece of plastic tubing with the same internal diameter as the external diameter of the tube that leads into the cup. I then removed the cup, slid the piece of plastic tubing over the the tube that leads into the cup and directed the other end of the plastic tubing through the floor. Like Keith’s Auto-Trail my Rapido motorhome has a convenient vent in the floor through which the tubing can go, but when this type of modification has been mentioned in past years, if there’s no handy floor-hole, people have run the additional drain-tube out though the fridge’s lower exterior ventilation-grille. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 hi all i sorted the water cup, i have no floor vent to go through so put a pipe from the outlet of the fridge through the bottom vent as suggested, plus the cup had become brittle probably through heat and when i took it off it broke 8-) anyway sorted now, just got to order my fans and a switch now, also is it worth putting an in line fuse on the + wire when assembling this? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 When adding a 12V ‘accessory’, as a rule-of-thumb it will be worthwhile providing fuse-protection for the power-supply. I don’t know how you will be powering the fridge-fans, but if it’s from a 12V source that currently powers something else (eg. the fridge), if there were a problem with the fan-unit and the unit’s 12V supply were not individually fused, the problem might well impact on the fridge. Fit an in-line fuse - I can’t see it doing any harm and it might do some good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Thanks Derek, the supply is coming from a cable block on top of the fridge that has permanant 12v supply when on hook up or battery there is another connection which is not on all the time so i think that is for when the engine is on and travelling with fridge on 12v, i will stick a fuse in like you say it won't do any harm, was thinking a 3 amp or maybe even smaller to be safer maybe 1.25amp, what you think? Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 The fuse-rating needs to be appropriate for the amperage of the fans. On-line adverts suggest that a twin-fan unit will draw no more than 0.5A, so a 1A fuse should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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