Fitting a fan in fridge outlet vent (1 Viewer)

[Fellraven]

I have read with interest the threads on fitting fans into the outlet vent on an absorption fridge. I even priced up some fans on ebay. There was also an article in a MH magazine lately.

I thought I would ask other Hymer owners for help and posted a question on a different forum.
The answer came back that it was not recommended as it contravened gas safe regs.

"Fitting a fan will draw air through the combustion chamber and affect the the stability of the burner flame."

I am now confused as it seemed such a good idea.

 

[Mikeco]

Not in the one that I fitted, I put two fans in the top vent to help push the air out of the space from the back of the fridge to the vents, nowhere near the burner.

 

[Fellraven]

? That's what I'm asking!

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[RogerThat]

I'm curious about this mod now as on a recent (rare) hot day in the UK my fridge really struggled to stay below 10C, is there a definitive thread / how-to on the forum somewhere??

 

[2657]

I am not an expert but as far as I know and from what I have observed the exhaust from the gas burner is vented through a sealed flue that has a separate outlet at the side of the top vent covered with a separate aluminium cover.

I do not think that a fan drawing air over the cooling fins would have a great effect on the air intake into the burner, it is not a supercharger.If you were parked with the wind blowing directly into the intake cover then I would have thought that would have more of an effect.

I and many others have fitted fans without any detrimental effect, no idea about the gas regs though.

 

[Rob Turner]

Did mine at the weekend, two fans, top vent and controller in the cupboard above the fridge. Real easy and cant see how gas regs are affected.
The fans suck the hot air out!

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[gus-lopez]

I have read with interest the threads on fitting fans into the outlet vent on an absorption fridge. I even priced up some fans on ebay. There was also an article in a MH magazine lately.

I thought I would ask other Hymer owners for help and posted a question on a different forum.
The answer came back that it was not recommended as it contravened gas safe regs.

"Fitting a fan will draw air through the combustion chamber and affect the the stability of the burner flame."

I am now confused as it seemed such a good idea.

They do not apply to privately owned motor homes.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/ocs/400-499/440_34.htm

 

[Just smiffy]

I and many others have fitted fans without any detrimental effect, no idea about the gas regs though.

Out of interest, what difference has it made then, has anyone any evidence that it has...?

 

[Rob Turner]

I'm fitting a digital temp sender in fridge to see the exact difference but it does work as my beer is a lot cooler.

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[2657]

Out of interest, what difference has it made then, has anyone any evidence that it has...?

It definitely made a difference in our PVC, the sliding door covers the vents when open and even when the doors are closed it is surprising the amount of heat that the fans move, especially when first activated, indicating a large build up of heat behind the fridge.

The cost is minimal, ours is connected by a simple cigarette lighter plug because an outlet was close but others have more sophisticated automatic systems that are still relatively cheap, well worth the effort in my opinion.

 

[Alistair33]

View attachment 167070 View attachment 167071 Did mine at the weekend, two fans, top vent and controller in the cupboard above the fridge. Real easy and cant see how gas regs are affected.
The fans suck the hot air out!

What colours are the various wires out of those fans, I have the same waiting to be installed?

 

[Rob Turner]

Yellow is + and black is -
You can bin the green and blue unless you want to vary the speed of the fans.

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[Richard n Ann]

If the pipe exiting the fins on the left is still hot then it probably would benefit from a fan. I've just removed our top and bottom vents and the pipe is just warm. Switching the fans on just wastes electric in our case at the minute (30c ambient).

 

[Shrimp]

Hubby fitted a fan in the top vent of our fridge, works a treat, was kicking on a lot the last few weeks in France!
Fit a fan, it's worth it.

 

[Gcs]

Just done the exact mod as a couple of posters here have done, Arctic F12 fans and the digital stat, works an absolute treat, ready for the trip to the sun in a couple of weeks.
My question is, even though the fans are pretty quiet, can a speed controller which lowers the voltage be added to it, to be able to turn it down at night to reduce the noise? Read up a lot on PWM fans and not sure if they would work properly like this
Thanks in Advance

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[Rob Turner]

I'm sure you could but my fans are real quiet and you can hardly hear them.
Did you mount them on rubber??

 

[Lenny HB]

View attachment 167070 View attachment 167071 Did mine at the weekend, two fans, top vent and controller in the cupboard above the fridge. Real easy and cant see how gas regs are affected.
The fans suck the hot air out!

I recognise those fans better check mine are still there.

 

[Lenny HB]

I am not an expert but as far as I know and from what I have observed the exhaust from the gas burner is vented through a sealed flue that has a separate outlet at the side of the top vent covered with a separate aluminium cover.

On the larger fridge freezers the the burner just vents into the space behind the fridge.

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[MattR]

I am looking for a thermostatic controller with the digital display on wires so that it can be displayed in a smaller area and away from the control panel. Any ideas?

 

[Fellraven]

I recognise those fans better check mine are still there.

Hi Lenny I asked the original question at the top of the page as another Hymer forum told me that it was unsafe to play with gas equipment. Quote "Fitting a fan will draw air through the combustion chamber and affect the the stability of the burner flame." I was rather hoping someone could comment on this?

 

[Lenny HB]

I'm fitting a digital temp sender in fridge to see the exact difference but it does work as my beer is a lot cooler.

With the fridges are empty they work quite well but as soon as you start putting food & beer in them they are useless, when fully loaded the bottom can be 7 or 8 deg hotter than the top.

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[Lenny HB]

Hi Lenny I asked the original question at the top of the page as another Hymer forum told me that it was unsafe to play with gas equipment. Quote "Fitting a fan will draw air through the combustion chamber and affect the the stability of the burner flame." I was rather hoping someone could comment on this?

Fitted on every Caravan and Motorhome we have had never had a problem. Dometic even offer their own fan kit.
The amount of air you are drawing through is far less than the effect the wind would have on a day with very light winds, only time I have had a fridge burner blow out is when the vents were facing a force 10-12 wind, a gale is a light breeze in comparision.

 

[gus-lopez]

Hi Lenny I asked the original question at the top of the page as another Hymer forum told me that it was unsafe to play with gas equipment. Quote "Fitting a fan will draw air through the combustion chamber and affect the the stability of the burner flame." I was rather hoping someone could comment on this?

I thought we had ? No it doesn't affect the stability of the burner flame , certainly not on mine. Nor does driving along with the burner running on gas /fans running .
The only thing that occasionally affects it would be gale force wind directly on the side of the fridge vents.

 

[Gcs]

I'm sure you could but my fans are real quiet and you can hardly hear them.
Did you mount them on rubber??

Hi Rob, no didn't mount them on rubber, they're not noisy as such, just the air noise really. Just fancy the option of being able to control them really.
Short of turning them off completely

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[Lenny HB]

I am looking for a thermostatic controller with the digital display on wires so that it can be displayed in a smaller area and away from the control panel. Any ideas?

This is the one myself and others use.

 

[MattR]

This is the one myself and others use.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have space to for this. I have lots of space for a control unit inside the cupboard next to the fridge but limited space to display the led so was wondering if the led could be wired and placed away from the control.

 

[Richard n Ann]

This is the one myself and others use.

You'd be better using a thermostat as this electronic controller uses up to 3w (0.25 amps) which is more than a 120mm DC fan. OK if you're on EHU all the time mind.

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[Reallyretired]

Here in the south of France my fan has been running from 10am to 10pm in temps of 33C.
I may fit a 2nd 5" fan as there is room.

 

[Two on Tour]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have space to for this. I have lots of space for a control unit inside the cupboard next to the fridge but limited space to display the led so was wondering if the led could be wired and placed away from the control.

I have a couple of these units that I was to use for my fridge fan setup but I went for a simpler option. The probe that senses the temperature has a 2 metre long cable which should give you some options for locating the control unit with the LED readout.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have space to for this. I have lots of space for a control unit inside the cupboard next to the fridge but limited space to display the led so was wondering if the led could be wired and placed away from the control.

Not practicle to rewire the LED display, These are a lot smaller used one on the last van.
You only need to see the display when you set the unit up, on the last van I mounted the controller behind the fridge.

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