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rear fridge vents


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I've just bought a 2006 Swift Lifestyle 530LP, with a Dometic fridge.

 

At the rear of the van are two vents, with grills, from the fridge, and I have been told that when travelling, there should be vent covers fixed to these vents to prevent dirt etc. being pulled up into the vents. Has anybody else had these fitted, or should they have been delivered with the van?

 

I am fully aware that the vent to the Truma fire should have its cover removed before running the fire on gas, and wonder if this is the same for the fridge.

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Brambles - 2008-09-14 2:18 AM

 

I always thought the Fridge vent covers where for winter use so you do not get too large a flow of cold air which can upset the fridge working correctly.

Jon

Yes - the attachment shows what the manual for our fridge says.

 

BTW, Dometic and Electrolux are interchangeable in this instance.

 

Graham

fr02.jpg.13d99415c7db59da12e178605c19c646.jpg

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Brambles - 2008-09-14 2:18 AM

 

I always thought the Fridge vent covers where for winter use so you do not get too large a flow of cold air which can upset the fridge working correctly.

Jon

 

Thats what i do/thought, but never just for traveling. My fridge is on the side wall though, and have looked several times behind the fridge and its clean

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If you do find that dirt and grime build up on the rear of the van when driving through heavy mucky rain, more so than say some designs of vans then it may well be prudent to fit the covers and remove them when on site and you need to light up the fridge. chas
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spud - 2008-09-13 9:43 PM

 

I've just bought a 2006 Swift Lifestyle 530LP, with a Dometic fridge.

 

At the rear of the van are two vents, with grills, from the fridge, and I have been told that when travelling, there should be vent covers fixed to these vents to prevent dirt etc. being pulled up into the vents. Has anybody else had these fitted, or should they have been delivered with the van?

 

I am fully aware that the vent to the Truma fire should have its cover removed before running the fire on gas, and wonder if this is the same for the fridge.

 

My Swift has rear vents but no covers supplied. The manual, although a differant make, gives same advice as Grahams. Only fit them if temperatures drop below zero and when van is laid up. I could not fit them for travel anyway without turning the fridge off as immediately I turn engine off fridge switches automatically to gas.

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A partial vacuum follows a van which is filled with all sorts of flying muck as seen on the backs of many commercial vans, often with ( clean me ) written in the muck. My Holdsworth Ranger had fridge vents in the back, if I ever forgot to fit them the fridge would get muck pulled in. But the fridge always worked fine with covers on when 'under way'.
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The vacuum which sucks muck onto the back of the van depends very much on the van design.

 

From my experience the Swift Kontiki 2003 was quite good at resisting the muck on the back.

Hymer 584 2004 was very bad and quickly built up a thick layer.

Knaus 2007 Sun TI is very resistant.

Non on these vans had/have rear mounted fridges.

 

Suggest that you see what the dirt build up is like before travelling with covers on. Believe these should only be used during very cold weather.

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Hi

We have fridge vents on the rear of our vehicle, muck there is some muck on the back after wet roads etc. I have never found a need for the covers other than in the winter to stop the gale blowing in the vents. As for muck entering the vents it dos'nt appear to be a problem, I have often wondered about the water going in when cleaning the back of the vehicle with a hose, it appear again that this is not a problem as I have had the vents off to see, the vent apateurs are angled to stop this sort of thing happening.

 

David

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Minstrel - 2008-09-15 11:51 PM

 

I see Rupert123 leaves the gas on when travelling. I thought that was not wise, can somebody confirm or deny that, please.

 

My manuals, both the Swift and the heating one, say the habitation heating can be use while travelling, so must assume it is safe to leave gas on.

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The answer to the above, as with so many of these sorts of queries, is RTM (read the manual)!

The vent covers are for winter use only, with spacified low ambiant temperatures.  Doesn't anyone have a Dometic manual?

Rupert's fridge is AES, so will automatically select whatever energy source is available, first mains, then 12V, then gas.  This doesn't mean the gas should be on, merely that it may be on, since if it isn't, the fridge merely stops cooling (like any non-AES fridge) until another energy source is available.

The gas should always be turned off when on ferries, or on the channel tunnel, to prevent the fridge from working and possibly igniting any fuel vapour. 

The fridge will merely "find" the 12 V supply again, when the engine is re-started.  However, it will not do this for 15 minutes after stopping, in case you are on a filling-station forecourt. 

The Truma is suitable for use while driving under German law, and as it is a German made unit, that is why this is stated.  The Germans do tend to think everyone else has the same laws as they do. :-)

It will not be legal to drive with the gas on in France unless the van is equipped with the Truma DriveSafe, or SecuMotion, system, which ensures the supply is cut off if any of the gas pipework, either between cylinder and regulator, or downstream of the regulator, is severed, or develops a leak.

UK law is, I believe, "silent" on this point.

Manuals, manuals, manuals!

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