RV Fridge/Freezer Needs More Air Flow, SOLVED

Last time I was dry camping it got warm, high 90's. I noticed that the RV freezer was not freezing water bottles overnight like it usually does. Its a Dometic double door fridge that usually works great. The sun was on the fridge side of the RV most of the day the way it was parked, which was a bonehead move on my part.

I read up on the electric/propane combo fridges and there were several posts about tight clearances around the back of the fridge not allowing enough air flow. The space in back of the fridge is tight on my RV, and my parents (they used to own it) complained a few times about it not cooling well in hot weather. Several posts on RV forums talk about using 12 volt computer fans to increase air flow over the coils. I decided to give it a shot, using 4, 50mm (about 2") square 12 volt computer fans. They are small and I can spread them out to maximize air flow. I spent a day pondering how to install them after they arrived. I ended up epoxying two old pieces of 2" wide faux wood blind slats together to make them thick enough so the fans would clear the coils. The blind slats are here, they are easy to work with, very light weight, and can stand up to hot conditions. You can cut them with a box cutter type blade. I used epoxy and wood screws to mount the fans to the fan mount. I mounted the slats / fan mounts to the top inside lip of the fridge access hatch frame. I am sure I spent way more time than I needed, but I wanted to make the mount as small as possible so it didn't interfere with air flow while the fans are not in use. The end result is a nice flow of air with all four fans and the switch light pulling .29 amps. I can run those fans 24 hours a day while dry camping when its hot and it should help the fridge cool. I located a screw type terminal that is a constant + so I didn't have to do any splicing of the original wiring. I have the fridge on propane with the fans running now and will check it in the morning. I went up on the roof and could feel the air being pushed out of the fridge vent.

I didn't get any pictures of this pre-installed, so here it is installed. The surface rust on everything is because the RV has been going to the beach since it was new and the manufactures don't really care. I thought about figuring out how to get the fans dead center in the middle of the coils, but then the mount would be blocking the vents. I could run individual mounts with some thin flat bar but I think this should work since I can feel the air being pushed out the vent. If this doesn't work as well as I hope, I will probably zip tie a little bit larger fans directly to the bottom of the coils.

I didn't plan this, but I can turn the fan switch off and on through the hatch's grate, and I can see the switch light as well. Fans are very quiet.

 

[MakinJeepsWeep!]

Good job and good idea, i bet it helps out! I know my mother inlaws trailer she is in for the moment has a fan in the fridge area that runs when the fridge does, wonder if its the same idea going on its a small cpu type fan but i dont think its on the coils. I havent done any real research into it im still fighting with the hot water heater on the darn thing myself.

 

[tdavis]

The truck camper fridge came from the factory with a fan, and a thermal switch to turn it on/off.

It whined. So I replaced it with a pair of "silent" fans. You can no longer hear them, and it cools great!

 

[Stic-o]

Does it make a difference what you are running it on?

Our Lance was a 3 Way and would be fine on 12v until about 95* and then would start not being able to keep up. We never really ran on propane unless we were sitting somewhere. I never really tried to do anything with it, just figured it was old, it was the best it was going to get.

Our Pop up, was a 3 Way as well, and acted the same. We actually started to just keep cheese and stuff iced down in cooler when crossing the desert. We never could figure out how to get the propane to work, because it had a ignitor like a bbq on the front of the fridge pannel. It was weird.

Our Hybrid trailer is a 2 Way. Only does 110v or propane. So we have no option to for 12v, so propane it is, unless we're plugged in. What a difference! 120* across the desert and fridge is still holding at high 30's. Freezer around 0* Propane seems to way more effective for running the fridge. Ice Cream is now a standard , just because I can....lol

 

[MakinJeepsWeep!]

I would assume that being out in the desert the propane is working better because the propane side of fridges in campers are usually just large heat exchangers not really compressors running. Same thing they use in the huge skyscrapers for ac an regular compressor ac would not keep up. I assume. Now my thermoelectric fridge I keep in the X is a kind of mix of both it doesn't really cool but rather keeps the temp 30 degrees cooler then it is. So if it's 100 inside it's 70, but with ac in the X going it keeps drinks from the fridge the temp they where.

 

[BKennedy]

It was on propane dry camping when I noticed it warming up. The fans are making a slight resonating sound inside the coach that I can hear near the fridge. Don't think I am going to like that, but I can turn off the fans at night. There is a small fan inside the fridge that circulates the air. I wasn't using it until I noticed the freezer wasn't freezing water bottles overnight. Its not that bad, just need to remember to not stuff 6 water bottles into the freezer when its 97* outside with the sun shining on the fridge side of the RV.

 

[MakinJeepsWeep!]

It looks like have you kept really good care of the camper looks clean was gonna see if you have cleaned the plate where the flame is? I know it helped the water heater. Also the flame nozzle or jet whatever you want to call it.

 

[BKennedy]

I had it serviced a few years ago and keep it clean. After it was serviced it acted like a new fridge. I checked on it this morning and at setting 3 of 5, the fridge was icing up the water bottles I left in there from the last trip and the freezer was at below zero. It usually takes more than 14 hours to cool the fridge. I think the increased air flow is working very well. I turned off the fans for comparison, and will check it again tomorrow.

The interior is in very good condition excepting the driver and passenger captain's chairs need to be reupholstered. The seat bottoms were seamed way too tight and are pulling apart. Its a common issue with the older National RV's. Exterior is finally showing its age, but only with the graphics. They are starting to show some minor cracking. I am planning on having them removed and then new graphics painted because that's a one time fix and the replacement graphic stickers don't seem to last.
Pic after the half-assed wax job done by a "professional". I ended up redoing the entire coach myself.

Coach has been updated with LED lights throughout, 600 watts of solar panels, a 3000 watt inverter/charger, etc., for dry camping or boondocking. Its a Workhorse chassis, so it has that giant 8.1 liter (495 CI) LS engine which pulls better than any of the Ford V10 RV's I have had or been around. When I register it in Arizona I can have it tuned and get a large HP gain and more importantly a large gain in torque. Can also tune the Allison transmission to increase line pressure and change shift points.

 

[MakinJeepsWeep!]

It has a chevy motor but econoline tail lights haha least they resemble them to me. Its impressive the chrome on the ladder and wheel covers are not rusted are pitted they look good the whole thing does!

 

[Josh P]

What is the fuel economy? Once you tune the engine, that's a good time to force feed it.

 

[BKennedy]

It has a chevy motor but econoline tail lights haha least they resemble them to me. Its impressive the chrome on the ladder and wheel covers are not rusted are pitted they look good the whole thing does!

Tail and headlamps are from a GM Safari minivan as far as I know. Headlamps for sure.

What is the fuel economy? Once you tune the engine, that's a good time to force feed it.

Fuel economy, that's funny. No such thing. 8-10 pulling the Explorer.

 

[Josh P]

Fuel economy, that's funny. No such thing. 8-10 pulling the Explorer.

Yeah, who buys an RV for fuel economy? That figure isn't bad, my friends F250 with a 460 got that on a good day.

 

[Rick]

The truck camper fridge came from the factory with a fan, and a thermal switch to turn it on/off.

It whined. So I replaced it with a pair of "silent" fans. You can no longer hear them, and it cools great!

Do you have a link to the fans you used? Mine is definitely not silent.

 

[tdavis]

Finally found the link..

Amazon product ASIN B002KTZJOQ
It was originally 1 fan. I figured that adding a second fan wouldn't hurt it any - in fact, the freezer can now keep ice cream rock solid in 100 degree heat, and it's super quiet. There is a thermal button on the chimney that they are wired to cycle them on/off. If I remember correctly, I did have to cut off the connector and replace it. These are a 12v fan, and you just hook them up in parallel. Very sturdy fan, sealed oil bearing.

Installed them in May, 2014, after listening to the old fan whine about the heat in the middle of the night. There was an TSB about this for the fridge, to replace the fan if it was too noisy. The issue was - it was hit or miss. They simply put the same exact model fan back in. Some was quiet, some was not.

Also remember, in my truck camper, the fridge is in the slide, it's impaired air flow since it comes and out of the slide, no top cap or chimney.

 

[BKennedy]

I might get 2 of those and just zip tie them to the bottom of the coils.

 

[BKennedy]

I haven't used the RV since I installed the fans, but I am going out to my Arizona property for a few weeks soon.

The freezer is equipped with a ice maker that only works when plugged into shore power. It takes up a lot of space, and it hasn't actually worked in many years. The water feed line fell apart a long time ago and its way too much work to replace as you have to remove the fridge to get to the upper connector. I am rarely plugged into shore power except at home, and when plugged in ice is readily available, which is another reason it was never repaired.

The ice maker was only held in place by four screws so its gone. I noticed the water feed tube is open, which means it allows cold air out. I plugged it with some sticky plumbers putty I had on hand, tucked the electronic cord out of the way and I now have a entire extra shelf in the freezer. The ice maker has its own 110 plug so I unplugged it, then capped off the incoming water line to the solenoid, and both the in and out lines on the solenoid. I zip tied the water line so if it ever does leak it will leak on the outside fridge access door lip and outside so it would be noticeable. Maybe someday I will use it for a mist system or something if I ever want to get all fancy.

 

[BKennedy]

I posted about the vent fans in my RV thread, but not here. I ended up removing these four little fans because they caused a low humming noise inside the RV that was annoying.

The new stuff was all Amazon sourced parts. Instead of the four 2" fans, I went with two 4" fans. These new fans are nearly silent and push a lot of air. The fans are now controlled by a temperature switch that turns the fans on and off at 32 C. I screwed the fans into the door frame of the outside fridge access door as they just fit under the coils. I think total I'm in it for under $20.00. I did this in June with a few two month long trips in the RV and they are working very well.

The surface rust is what happens when you camp on the beach a few dozen times. It hasn't affected the performance of the fridge, and those coil units are crazy money to replace. There is no room to get in there, and clean them up and paint them, and I think messing with 20-year-old refrigerator parts would be a bad idea.