fridge cooling fans

marchie said:
Agreed! And, being anal retentive/OCD, the temperature controller and switch being inside the Van are great! The LEDs are a little bright, but we use the switch to turn the display off at night, so job's a good 'un ...

Steve
Click to expand...
as discussed Steve, I can send you a little housing box (like the ones in the photos with the labels on) or next time our paths cross, fit one for you to enclose the controller :)

(for anyone looking for nice quality enclosures, that is a Marlanvil brand box, made in Italy. They have a good selection of different sizes and are superb quality. I've seen cheaper, but I haven't seen better :) )
 
UFO said:
With the three fans mounted in the top vent and blowing air out how and when are they switched on and off? Automatic or manual?

My original 3-way fridge, 2009 Adria Twin, is still working ok (probably jinxed it now!), no fans installed. Freezer although small is impressive, we can get three cooked meat meals in there and just need to add veg. Off to Spain and Portugal for 50 nights in 4 weeks and will try to avoid the hot-hot-hot areas in which case from previous experience the fridge will be fine.
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hi we bought. this it was a lot cheaper a few years ago but we also added 2 more fans all connected together .
i have seen the thermostat sold on its own so you can put the system together easy .cheyenne
www.ebay.co.uk

DOMETIC ABSORPTION FRIDGE VENTILATOR KIT UPGRADE CARAVAN & MOTORHOME 4499000133 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DOMETIC ABSORPTION FRIDGE VENTILATOR KIT UPGRADE CARAVAN & MOTORHOME 4499000133 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
Pudsey Bear said:
That is a lot of beer vouchers for a poxxy PC fan, a bit of wire and thermostat switch.



Other fans and switches are available.

MF50151V1-1000U-A99 | Sunon M Series Axial Fan, 12 V dc, DC Operation, 28.9m³/h, 870mW, 72mA Max, 50 x 50 x 15mm | RS

uk.rs-online.com uk.rs-online.com

RS PRO Bi-Metallic Thermostat, Opens at 15°C, Closes at 0°C, +150°C Max, NC, Automatic Reset, Fixed Mount | RS

uk.rs-online.com uk.rs-online.com
Click to expand...
I fitted a pre-packaged kit on my own Motorhome.
Obviously I could have gone down the type of DIY routes discussed or the setup I have installed for others, but I decided to trial a "proper" kit and got this popular Titan set - https://amzn.to/3DlPgoY

Fitted the Fans in the lower vent pushing air in rather than sucking air out at the top.

IMG_20210730_190144_0 by David, on Flickr
reason for that is that I think it is more beneficial to push air against the compressor unit with a Compressor type fridge.

And the control unit is fitted behind the table stowage locker door
IMG_20210730_132230_0 by David, on Flickr

It is very good and IMO actually better then any of the options discussed (including the ones I have installed) as the fans are not a simple on/off activated by temperature, but have a speed control. In Manual Mode, you can select between 6 different speeds; in Auto mode, the fan speeds is variable depending on the temperature.
Whether the more flexible operation is worth the extra cost is another question. My objective was to test this out to (and bought with my own money, not some kind of freebie btw!)
 
I did think about blowing in from the bottom, but the discussion at the time was you are blowing warm air in, my thoughts were I'll go up top and suck hot air out but this would inevitably suck air in at the bottom anyway, but with the fans up top I could still get at the gubbins at the back of the fridge as I'd not done the gas and 240v at that point, but wanted to get the top vent all secure and water resistant as it was winter then.
 
You'd need much more KY Jelly if you didn't though.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I did think about blowing in from the bottom, but the discussion at the time was you are blowing warm air in, my thoughts were I'll go up top and suck hot air out but this would inevitably suck air in at the bottom anyway, but with the fans up top I could still get at the gubbins at the back of the fridge as I'd not done the gas and 240v at that point, but wanted to get the top vent all secure and water resistant as it was winter then.
Click to expand...
you could go double whammy and have blowing in the bottom and sucking up the top? :D
out of interest, after we did Steves setup on Friday, I used my IR Thermometer to look at the temps at the top vent and there was a very obviously effect with the fans running. I am convinced it is a worthwhile thing to do.

Not a Fridge, but in the locker where I have all my electrics, when the inverter or charger is going full pelt, the temp-controlled fan in there slows down the heat increase by a factor of 3 or more.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
That is a lot of beer vouchers for a poxxy PC fan, a bit of wire and thermostat switch.



Other fans and switches are available.

MF50151V1-1000U-A99 | Sunon M Series Axial Fan, 12 V dc, DC Operation, 28.9m³/h, 870mW, 72mA Max, 50 x 50 x 15mm | RS

uk.rs-online.com uk.rs-online.com

RS PRO Bi-Metallic Thermostat, Opens at 15°C, Closes at 0°C, +150°C Max, NC, Automatic Reset, Fixed Mount | RS

uk.rs-online.com uk.rs-online.com
Click to expand...
Is epoxy resin one that's past its sell by date and won't work? :ROFLMAO:

Steve
 
wildebus said:
you could go double whammy and have blowing in the bottom and sucking up the top? :D
out of interest, after we did Steves setup on Friday, I used my IR Thermometer to look at the temps at the top vent and there was a very obviously effect with the fans running. I am convinced it is a worthwhile thing to do.

Not a Fridge, but in the locker where I have all my electrics, when the inverter or charger is going full pelt, the temp-controlled fan in there slows down the heat increase by a factor of 3 or more.
Click to expand...
If you block the bottom with fans you can't get to the burner in a hurry, (on a three way that is)
 
Greengrass said:
If you block the bottom with fans you can't get to the burner in a hurry, (on a three way that is)
Click to expand...
Depends how you fit them! I fit the fans to the cover. Take off the cover and you remove the fans at the same time ;)
(on my own van with Thetford covers, they are fitted to the mesh bug screen that just clips into place behind the cover. same difference).
 
wildebus said:
Depends how you fit them! I fit the fans to the cover. Take off the cover and you remove the fans at the same time ;)
(on my own van with Thetford covers, they are fitted to the mesh bug screen that just clips into place behind the cover. same difference).
Click to expand...
A slot one end and weak clip on the other end I wouldn't trust if it flies off you lose the lot
 
Greengrass said:
A slot one end and weak clip on the other end I wouldn't trust if it flies off you lose the lot
Click to expand...
If you saw how hard it was to get Steves cover back on, you would see it is not going to fly off anywhere :D
 
wildebus said:
If you saw how hard it was to get Steves cover back on, you would see it is not going to fly off anywhere :D
Click to expand...
And I had removed it on 2 previous occasions, cracking the lower corner [and supergluing it back together each time ...]; the last time only 4 weeks prior to the fan fitting [and I coated the sides of the grille with vaseline on that last occasion to reduce the friction squeezing them into a very tight gap]. They were designed and made by Titus A. Duxass II ... :oops:

If the grille does fly off, the M/Home will still be attached ... Given that my payload margin is a maximum of 150Kg, and possibly as little as 60Kg within the 3500Kg limit, I think that's unlikely!

Steve
 
After a while all the dust and road much seems to make them hard to remove.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
After a while all the dust and road much seems to make them hard to remove.
Click to expand...
I think the Dometic covers are especially awkward to remove (Steves ones were pristine and we were still using trim removers to try and pull off). His are a different design to earlier Dometic ones in terms of the securing tabs as well.
Thetford ones - if mine are typical - are way easier to remove AND still very secure.
 
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