I need a re think on fan (1 Viewer)

Petest

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I was toying with the idea of fitting a fan in the top fridge vent to improve the performance in warmer weather.

Just taken the cover off, not enough room.
 

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Deleted member 29692

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You'd get a 12v computer fan in there if you have the DIY skills.
 

pappajohn

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Loads of room....
Only needs a 3.5 or 4 inch computer fan fixing to the inside of the vent.
You could fix it with sikaflex so no screws etc showing.

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Petest

Petest

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I'd have to reroute the gas pipe. It's very close to the back of the vent
 
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Deleted member 29692

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I'd have to reroute the gas pipe. It's very close to the back of the vent

No you wouldn't. A computer fan is only about 3 inches or so square. It would fit above the gas pipe easily.
 
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Petest

Petest

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I will have a search. I have a 120mm one that I was hoping to use. This would fit pretty well in the opening but not with the pipe there.
I'll look at another size.
Thanks
 
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Deleted member 29692

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I will have a search. I have a 120mm one that I was hoping to use. This would fit pretty well in the opening but not with the pipe there.
I'll look at another size.
Thanks



(y)
 
Aug 6, 2013
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The recommended (by Dometic) position is under the heat exchanger. I have 3 x 80mm fans under mine. Usually (always?) plenty of room there.

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injebreck99

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Finding a 12V supply in my rear kitchen Bolero could be a problem though, assuming the fans are 12V.
 

Badknee

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Watching this with interest, how do you switch them, thermostat? (n)

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Petest

Petest

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I was going to get a temperature sensing controller off ebay. Cost a couple of pounds and you can set the max and min stoo/start temperatures.
I thought I'd connect the fan to it and have it in the top vent space.
 

magicsurfbus

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I fitted an old 12v computer fan to the inside of the vent cover, mounted on rubber pads to reduce vibration noises, and wired it to the spare terminals on my solar panel's charge controller above the hab door, which means it has an on/off switch.

It works fine but it's noisier than I wanted, so I may replace it with a quieter fan.
 
Nov 7, 2015
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I was going to get a temperature sensing controller off ebay. Cost a couple of pounds and you can set the max and min stoo/start temperatures.
I thought I'd connect the fan to it and have it in the top vent space.

Your situation is similar to mine with a Thetford fridge where the space is limited and I had to reroute the gas pipe.

I recently fitted a Vento twin fan kit that automatically adjusts the fan speeds to suit the cooling demand, others seem to have had great results using this kit, however when the fans were fitted almost touching the outer grille the fixed thermistor (heat sensor) was only an inch away from the heat exchanger and this caused the fans to run every 5 seconds on then 5 seconds off and adjusting the supplied control box only made the fans run constantly, this was even with an outside temperature of 20 degrees, I have thought about using a temperature controller from eBay which includes a thermistor with a long wire so that you can try various positions to find the right spot.
I think a fan should be factory fitted as standard

Good luck

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Neckender

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I've fitted twin fans similar to your fridge and I used 2 angle brackets which I squeezed to the right angle that I needed in my vice and used screw clips and self tappers and the fans sit adjacent to the fridge vent.

John.
 

DBK

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I've more less made up my mind to replace our three way gas fridge with a compressor one. At the moment we have the gas fridge and a Waeco compressor coolbox and the difference between the two in cooling performance is significant. Using a 'fridge thermometer yesterday in a very humid 32C the gas fridge was at about 11C measured halfway down the inside of the door. The coolbox was running between 4 and 5C. Guess which one we use for the beer and white wine? :)

Coincidently my brother is in the process of buying a MH from East Neuk Campervans of Fife at the moment and they only fit compressor models to their conversions. Their reasoning is gas versions are too troublesome.
 

andy63

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Coincidently my brother is in the process of buying a MH from East Neuk Campervans of Fife at the moment and they only fit compressor models to their conversions. Their reasoning is gas versions are too troublesome.
I've got a small 65l compressor fridge in a self build... and the electrical usage in that van is high.. A lot of it down to the fridge..
Great fridge but I'd only put one in if the batteries and charging system were up to it... The van has a 100w panel on and only in summer does it come close to running the fridge (and it's a small fridge)
Andy

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DBK

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I've got a small 65l compressor fridge in a self build... and the electrical usage in that van is high.. A lot of it down to the fridge..
Great fridge but I'd only put one in if the batteries and charging system were up to it... The van has a 100w panel on and only in summer does it come close to running the fridge (and it's a small fridge)
Andy
That is an issue, but we have 190W of panels and the room to add another 100W if we need to, and space to add a third leisure battery. We don't spend days off grid anyway so if the setup can last two or three days that should be enough. In winter we've learned we can turn the coolbox off at night and it doesn't warm up much before we turn it on the next morning. If needs be we could do the same with the fridge.
 
Aug 6, 2013
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Finding a 12V supply in my rear kitchen Bolero could be a problem though, assuming the fans are 12V.
If it's a modern fridge (in other words either AES or one where you don't have to push a piezo thingy) there is a supply on the fridge itself. (As well as the supply that's only on when the engine is running).
 

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