Fridge vents

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POH

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Pilote 740c
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Hi, a quick question does anyone travel with the vents on, also do you keep them on when on ehu on site or do just leave them off until the end of season. Thanks.
 
You don’t need Dometic fridge vents unless washing the van with a hose
 
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I just put them on when storing the van, to save leaves etc getting in there, its surprising how much crud gets in there over time, especially if parked near trees.
We had very high winds on a rally last winter, the fridge blew out overnight, so I put the vents on next day all was good.
However over Xmas, new year despite the temps being below the subscribed 8/9 degrees, our Fridge did not perform well, it wasn't until we got home, that I realised that the fridge would probably worked better without the vents on.
We will now leave them off, unless stored on drive, and put them on in very extreme windy conditions.
LES
 
TinaL said:
We will now leave them off, unless stored on drive, and put them on in very extreme windy conditions.
LES
Click to expand...

My drive is in an exposed position, plenty of 60/70 mph gales straight off the sea this is winter. I don’t usually park my van there, but on the only night I did my dometic top cover disappeared, never to be seen again. That was despite taking care to ensure it was securely fitted. Cost of replacements, particularly in dark grey are ridiculous! In extremely windy conditions I might be tempted to use a bit of gaffer tape - belt & braces!
 
I feel for you, we have the Grey ones also, I like you try and ensure the lock nuts are secure, especially worrying with the thought of using them at motorway speeds.
I have heard that the Grey ones are not only expensive, but harder to locate, to my knowledge theres not even a Chinese copy.
Lets hope there is a supplier out there that can offer these at a more reasonable cost. soon.
LES:reel:yea I am hoping someone out there is reading this:giggle:

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Our vents have a fine wire mesh inside I guess to stop leaves etc

never fitted covers, been away in -12C and gales, never needed or never bothered, I know we have a pair and dark grey, must find them if they are so valuable ? get them sold ?
 
Captain Pants said:
on the only night I did my dometic top cover disappeared, never to be seen again.
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There must be a dometic fridge vent convention somewhere where all our covers have gone for their holidays.

I too only bothered with mine during stormier weather as when parked on my drive the vents are facing the prevailing wind and rain. With the limited fixing I'd never think of driving with the covers on. Manual says you should only need to be using the fridge with covers on in really cold temps as otherwise you'd be affecting airflow so the fridge can't work.
 
Used to put them on when stationary and cold, now do not bother unless extreme wind and only the bottom one.

Year before last travelling back from Spain we put them on both vents when we hit France as it was bitter and we were heading east to Strasbourg. A couple of days later the fridge started playing up and decided to defrost itself went outside and realised the top vent was still on and very hot not enough to melt but alot of hot air behind it. The weather had become a bit milder and we had completely forgotten about them:rolleyes:. Lesson learnt now would only bother with bottom one if extreme winds or cold, actually :unsure: we have not bothered since.
 
Captain Pants said:
My drive is in an exposed position, plenty of 60/70 mph gales straight off the sea this is winter. I don’t usually park my van there, but on the only night I did my dometic top cover disappeared, never to be seen again. That was despite taking care to ensure it was securely fitted. Cost of replacements, particularly in dark grey are ridiculous! In extremely windy conditions I might be tempted to use a bit of gaffer tape - belt & braces!
Click to expand...
Tried that, darned sticky stuff difficult to get off. So I used Selotape Magic tape, just pulls off leaving no marks.
 
Do you means vent covers? If so we have ours on in the depth of winter, but only on the bottom vent. Took it off last week now the weather is allegedly getting warmer. We do drive with the cover on in winter and have never lost it.

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I also hesitated at the cost so made some fairly simply with a router and plywood, protected with a couple of coats of paint.
 
I thought that the purpose of vent covers was to use them when it was cold outside to stop the fridge getting tooooo cold.
Am l right or wrong :unsure:
 
TUCANO said:
I thought that the purpose of vent covers was to use them when it was cold outside to stop the fridge getting tooooo cold.
Am l right or wrong :unsure:
Click to expand...
AFAIK I think that is wrong. It is to stop the fridge getting too warm paradoxically. In order to cool down an absorption fridge has to first warm up the gas in order to turn it into liquid. If it can't, because too much cold air is coming in from outside, it won't work and will start to get warm from the warmth inside the motorhome.

See here for an explanation
 
Like others on here, I only fit the bottom one when the weather gets very cold but I do leave it on when we travel and, to date, no problems in 5 years or two vans
 
Dorwyn said:
Tried that, darned sticky stuff difficult to get off. So I used Selotape Magic tape, just pulls off leaving no marks.
Click to expand...
I have the same issue with duck tape on my vents. What did you use to remove the marks please?
Cheers.

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Nirvanauk said:
I have the same issue with duck tape on my vents. What did you use to remove the marks please?
Cheers.
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I used both nonstickystuff, then I think just neat alcohol. The essence seems to be, loosen or moisten the goo, then just rub it off with a fairly ribbed cloth. Does that make sense to you? I really cannot remember the actual fluid that did the damage, but it did work easily when it did. And that was only a month ago in England! Oh dear, memory!!
 
Captain Pants said:
My drive is in an exposed position, plenty of 60/70 mph gales straight off the sea this is winter. I don’t usually park my van there, but on the only night I did my dometic top cover disappeared, never to be seen again. That was despite taking care to ensure it was securely fitted. Cost of replacements, particularly in dark grey are ridiculous! In extremely windy conditions I might be tempted to use a bit of gaffer tape - belt & braces!
Click to expand...
GMLS said:
I also hesitated at the cost so made some fairly simply with a router and plywood, protected with a couple of coats of paint.
Click to expand...
I bought the cheap white ones from Ebay and sprayed them with car paint. ! ?. Looks just the same.
 
Odd that this is another MH thing with different view points.
On our 1st cold weather trip the Dometic fridge was less effective than previous warmer trips.
I did some RTM & read that covers were for cold weather & van cleaning.
And with the lower cover fitted we then got back our fridge’s expected cooling ability.

Ours is a 3 way power source fridge.

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Always fitted here when van not in use -- to try to keep the mice out. Oh the joys of countryside living!
 
peterc10 said:
AFAIK I think that is wrong. It is to stop the fridge getting too warm paradoxically. In order to cool down an absorption fridge has to first warm up the gas in order to turn it into liquid. If it can't, because too much cold air is coming in from outside, it won't work and will start to get warm from the warmth inside the motorhome.

See here for an explanation
Click to expand...
Do I understand this correctly now, in warmer climates the covers are fitted :unsure:
 
My bottom one disappeared during the last storm. I searched all over for it but it is probably in the next county so I bought some new ones on fleabay for an extortionate cost (grey ones). If it goes again I’ll do without.

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Never used ours. Lowest temperature was in France when it went down to -1.5°c and all was well. We don't usually use the van in the winter though.
 
Leave ours on unless we’re using the fridge and the bottom one has only got one clip on it. Survived motorway speeds and gale force wind.
 
Well confused here, some people leave them on all the time whilst others leave them off.
Does anyone know what is the correct thing to do for the fridge efficiency.
Thanks to all (y)
 
TUCANO said:
Well confused here, some people leave them on all the time whilst others leave them off.
Does anyone know what is the correct thing to do for the fridge efficiency.
Thanks to all (y)
Click to expand...
RTM ;)
 

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