Fan for fridge

[Brad]

Howdy all.
For Christmas I got one of those 12 volt fans for the back of the fridge.
So today I open the bottom vent for the fridge to determine a mounting point.
To my dismay I find not much space.
Looking up the cavity however I can see heaps of space at the top.
But mounting up there is heaps more work than lower down.
So please please please someone make my day by saying they managed to mount one of these fans in a 18 series van lower down where it is easier to reach.

 

[chartrock]

Brad, I have mounted two ex computer fans up at the top vent. It is better for the fans to be at the top as they blow out and the natural air flow is in at the bottom out the top vent. As you say, there is less space but I had no real problem and mounted a switch inside to switch on and off as needed.

 

[macca]

Brad, I would think you would want them at the top so you are sucking the air, at the bottom you could blow the pilot light out. Does it have a thermostat switch or manual switch? Merry Xmas mod man.

Geoff

 

[Jaybird]

Chartrock,

Where in the back did you connect to the power

Thanks

Terry

 

[chartrock]

Jaybird, notice in the 3rd picture where I have place the switch, there is a 12v outlet wired as standard. I just tapped off the back of that for the fan switch and then to the fans. I don't know if all vans have the 12v plug above the fridge. I did rewire the fridge with heavy wire to an anderson plug and could have taken it off that but I had already wired it in and saw no reason to change.

Hope this helps. :thumb:

 

[Brad]

In the 18 the top vent is on the roof.
I cannot see how I can get to the top of the fridge easily to install it.

 

[Jaybird]

Jaybird, notice in the 3rd picture where I have place the switch, there is a 12v outlet wired as standard. I just tapped off the back of that for the fan switch and then to the fans. I don't know if all vans have the 12v plug above the fridge. I did rewire the fridge with heavy wire to an anderson plug and could have taken it off that but I had already wired it in and saw no reason to change.

Hope this helps. :thumb:

Thanks mate
No switch in my van, I will try for the 12v in the back and install a switch.

 

[ROnEM]

Brad,

Is it a Dometic fan kit or an after market 12v fan?

The Dometic kit has a thermocoupler/switch that attaches to one of the rear pipes and turns on if required. The fan is mounted towards the top to draw the air and not extinguish the pilot light as previously mentioned.

Might be easier to remove fridge retaining bolts/screws and pull fridge forward/out to work on it.

When the dealer fixed the fan as the factory installed and wired it to run ALL the time, they also put a "master" switch over the fridge that illuminates so I know the fan has power.

Cheers,

Rohan

 

[Brad]

Thanks Rohan. Will take a look.
The other thing I was wondering is if I could gain access via the roof vent if it detaches easy.
But will push the fridge forward a tad if that proves easier.
The fan is one I got from award RV. It has the thermocoupler switch. In terms of the size of the fan, it would be 1.5 times the size of a computer fan.

 

[leesy]

this might be a silly question but why the need for extra fans in the fridge cavity?

 

[Brad]

It assists with cooling the fridge down easily. Where I notice it is when you set up camp and it takes a while for the fridge to cool down on a hot day. (Especially when waiting for ice for G&T's ). I am hoping the fan gets the fridge cooler quicker.

 

[drewy]

I fitted a Dometic fan kit recently, I found it was easiest to move the fridge forward and ended up mounting the fan in the position recommended in the instructions. The only thing I did differently was to mount the fan to the outside wall of the van and not the fridge as described in the instructions, the back of the fridge was like foil insulation and not great for mounting to. The whole job took around an hour to complete and with a lot less heart ache than I expected!

drewy

 

[Roh]

Hey Brad,
The top roof vent on our van has 4 or 6 screws(cant remember exactly) covered over by ample amounts of sikaflex. I pulled the sikaflex off then unscrewed the top cap. Under the cap is a layer of chicken wire or the like I guess to eliminate leaves, rats or mice sneaking down. the hole was around 300mm by 100mm from memory. That was as far as I went, I cannot recall how the wire was attached whether screwed in at the sides or sikaflexed on but at least you'll know what you're in for. If you cut it you could always 30mm around all sides then rewrap another piece over once finished and tie on with offcuts of wire.
I was thinking of running my solar cable down this cavity but haven't done it yet.
Hope this helps
Rohan

 

[achjimmy]

Guys I have posted this before, had a long chat with a Dometic rep one day. He advised that without he fan being Thermo controlled you run the risk of causing its performance to suffer when conditions cool. He said the biggest single factor effecting most Dometic fridges was poor Installation (ventilation) I reckon the 18s with the roof vent would be near perfect for ventilation.

 

[Brad]

I ended up pulling the fridge forward and that gave me enough space to install the fan half way up the wall. I think it is perfect positioning. Far enough up towards the top of the fridge to suck the air up through the cavity and through the top vent.
[MENTION=712]Roh[/MENTION] you mentioned installing solar panels and coming down the cavity. When I had the fridge forward I noticed on the left hand side a false wall. This hid the main cables running from the roof to the floor. I would suggest pulling the fridge forward and having a look around.
So the bad news in this mod is my foolishness in destroying the brass gas connection at the back of the fridge. Fan works, gas to fridge no longer does.

 

[Paul]

Where can you get the dometic fan kits.

 

[Brad]

Try award RV

 

[willtrack]

Try this.
http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html

 

[Paul]

Try award RV

I tried there but couldn't find the dometic one in their site.

 

[Xpandafan]

For what it's worth...my fridge worked perfectly in 44+ temperatures over summer without a fan.