17' Series 12v Fridge Fan Always On...

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
We had the 12v fridge fan option fitted with the new van and it appears that the fan is always on once power is applied to the van - 240v or 12v

As the fan makes a small amount of noise and will be irritating at night, I was thinking of fitting an isolation switch so that when we are not in places that are hot, we can switch the fan off at night.

As I can't see the fan, I am also not sure where is the best spot to pick up the fan wire/circuit.

Has anyone done this?
Any ideas on best location to get the the fan power?

Cheers,

Ro
 

zerosecta

Active Member
Sep 27, 2011
459
71
28
Melbourne
Take the covers off the side of the van behind the Fridge, Take a look inside the holes and you should see the fan - Without having ever seen one personally I would imagine you will fine one of two situations.

1. the wires from the fan are simply t'd into some wires (12v) at the back of the fridge (doubt this because in theory it would then not work unless connected to the vehicle - although this also entirely depends on how your fridge is wired for 12v operation)

2. the wires from the fan disappear behind panels into the abbis towards the direction of the setec transformer unit.

either way all you need to do is cut the wire the go's to the fan and put a switch in line... Switch location is only limited to your imagination. :)
 

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
Zerosecta,

Have taken both the bottom and top fridge vents off and the fan is mounted half way between them and is not accessible unless I pull the fridge out.

There are a number of 12v 6mm wires in the back - guess it might be a matter of cut & crimp if I get it wrong!

Cheers,

Ro
 

zerosecta

Active Member
Sep 27, 2011
459
71
28
Melbourne
Perhaps stick a camera in there and take a pic for me then I'll be able to see whats going on.

Could you stick your hand\arm in, find the fan and then using your hand follow the cable down to hopefully a point where it is visible What you will probably find as well is that the fan wires are likely to be fairly thin - not 6mm I stand to be corrected though :)
 

achjimmy

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2011
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take it back to the dealer and tell them to make it work correctly. You dont want the fan running all the time as it will be adverse to the correct running of the fridge besides pissing you off. Ring dometic but i thought it should be thermostatically controlled.
 

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
Jim,

Thanks. Just checked the Dometic specs and yes, it is meant to be "thermostate-controlled".

Guess this is the 1st warrantly/service item for us...

Cheers,

Ro
 

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
Kev,

Spoken to the team - looks like the factory installed fan is not connected to the thermostate-controller as it seems to kick in at about 80 degrees, which can be too late!

Offered two solutions:
1. Turn off the 12v battery switch.
2. Bring the van in, have the fridge removed fit a switch and refit fridge.

Option 1: Not much good if remote camping and also told at handover to have the battery switch turned on when using the van even when connected to 240v.
Option 2: Is at my expense!

Guess this is my first mod!

Cheers,

Ro
 

Feldty

Member
May 31, 2012
129
7
18
Wangaratta, Vic
Ro,

That sounds a little odd! Did you happen to ask if they would fit a switch to the unit for you, as I cant see why anyone would want the fan on all the time. Just wasting battery when off the grid. Make a little more noise and something will happen I would suggest, but up to you at the end of the day.

In some ways it may be better that you do the mod yourself, that way you can have the switch mounted where you like. I did see another thread where someone was fitting a thermostat switch on a retrofit 12v fan. Have a look at this thread. It may help.

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/1580-Where-to-mount-a-fridge-fan-thermo-switch?highlight=fridge

When you think about it, you may only need a thermo switch that works when the ambient temp gets over say 30deg. You may be able to find one that will do that for you then you could mount it anywhere you liked under the van?

Just a thought!

Kev
 

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
Kev,

They did say they could fit a switch and put it in the robe out of the way, as per option 2, but it will be at my expense!

Agree, who wants the fan constantly running if not necessary and consuming battery. I only want to turn it off at night.

Would leave it running during the day and during warmer weather.

Thanks for the other links.

Cheers,

Ro
 

boots33

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2011
708
679
93
Maudsland Gold Coast Hinterland Qld
Kev,

Spoken to the team - looks like the factory installed fan is not connected to the thermostate-controller as it seems to kick in at about 80 degrees, which can be too late!

Offered two solutions:
1. Turn off the 12v battery switch.
2. Bring the van in, have the fridge removed fit a switch and refit fridge.

Option 1: Not much good if remote camping and also told at handover to have the battery switch turned on when using the van even when connected to 240v.
Option 2: Is at my expense!

Guess this is my first mod!

Cheers,

Ro


the dometic fan kit comes with a thermostat as can be seen here. It is totally unacceptable to have the fan wired to operate all the time, it should be through at least a separate manual switch or the thermostat that comes with the kit. I would be insisting they rectify the situation under warranty.
 

achjimmy

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2011
3,031
3,401
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the dometic fan kit comes with a thermostat as can be seen here. It is totally unacceptable to have the fan wired to operate all the time, it should be through at least a separate manual switch or the thermostat that comes with the kit. I would be insisting they rectify the situation under warranty.


Iam with boots here. As I said before the fan running all the time is detrimental to efficient running as well. Ro can I ask why you think you need a fan at all? I spoke at length with a senior Dometic rep about this at the show, his thoughts were you would have to be doing a lot of NT summer camping. He said in most cases where fans are used it is because the install is not correct. Only had our 150 lt in hot weather for 5-6 days but it didn't miss a beat.
 

macca

(aka maccayak)
Mar 20, 2012
1,660
832
113
Victoria
That style of fidge was around 50 years ago or more and they worked fine without fans then. I agree, if you are in NT, fair enough. Should be easy to wire a switch in the circuit, then you could use on those stinking hot days.

However, I think you need to find out who fitted the fan. If it is not an original manufacturers accessory then it will contravene the certificate of compliance for the fridge installation.

Ventilation is a big issue at the moment with gas appliances, if the fan is not right it cleary would contravene the manufacturers installation instuctions.

Geoff
 

ROnEM

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
650
356
63
Macedon Ranges, Vic
Thanks for the replies Boots, Jimmy and Geoff

I had the fan fitted as we will be going a few months in the NT when we do our big trip.

Agree that this needs to be remedied as it runs all the time when either 240v or 12v battery switch is on.

Dealer said the factory may not have fitted an original Dometic 12v fan kit and also said that the Dometic thermal switch did not cut in until too hot.

Sounds that either way, this will void the Dometic fridge warranty!

Will look at speaking directly to Dometic and get their take on it and then use that as leverage with Jayco and/or dealer.

Ro
 

relgate

Superstar
Staff member
Feb 2, 2012
2,946
1,902
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Sydney, NSW
Hi Ro
I picked up our van our 17.56.2 on Monday this week from Page Bros. We stayed in it that same night and I noticed the same thing with our fan. It ran full time and was very noisy. (note I had it fitted at factory as an option). I took it back to Page Bros the next morning. They were excellent. Literally 5 of them started poking and proding at the fridge, until eventually one arrived with a multimeter! It became obvious to all that the fan was indeed directly wired to the 12v supply and was agreed by all that this was nuts. The guys went in and came back out with a dometic fan kit with built in thermostat and said "go to Macca's, we'll have it fixed when you come back".
They wired in the new fan and off I went. (note they accessed the 12v supply in my case by removing the outside 240v point and pulling the wires through the hole. DIDN't NEED TO REMOVE THE FRIDGE)

As agreed in above posts, this fan is supposed to work on a thermostat and it is not an option to have it running full time. Not sure why they are doing this at the factory but it's not your problem. They need to fix it.
 

Burnsy

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2012
2,663
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Newcastle
Good to hear you got it sorted relgate, that's great service. Ro, I'm sure you'll get the same if you persist mate!

Cheers.
 

straydingo

Well-Known Member
Jul 4, 2011
1,137
645
113
Melbourne
to me it seems quite simple - a product does not meet the requirements for which it was intended/advertised/IMPLIED: there is a default warranty to be rectified by reseller or manufacturer under current aust consumer laws.

?????
 

shadow75

Member
Aug 25, 2011
98
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Sale, Victoria, Australia