Have you installed the fans yet?
Do they work and how did you fit them with a simple switch. I'd be interested to read what you did?
Cheers
Hi,
I initially installed a Gelid Silent 12 fan. To power it I ran a power lead from the ignition for the cooker.
On a Penguin the cooker is next to the fridge.
Then I used cable ties to mount a 55 degree C, normally open thermostat to the black pipe running from
the fridge boiler across the top of the condenser fins. Wired this in series with the power lead going to the fan.
Wired +12V to the fan, -12V to the thermostat and then to the fan. That way avoids any shorts to +12V if either
of the leads on the thermostat accidentally touch the condensor.
I got the thermostat on eBay from China. Otherwise, Jaycar have something similar, but not 55 C.
Then mounted the fan onto the top dometic fridge vent with 4 cable ties.
I found a fan splitter lead and used the socket so I could easily disconnect the fan when required.
This worked well, but not as well as I wanted on a couple of days close to 40. So, I initially intended
to add a second fan. Couldn't buy a Gelid any more, so opted for the Pure Wings 2.
The Gelid draws about 45 mA and the Pure Wings shifts about 40% more air but draws about 100mA.
I mounted the two fans but then noticed that the boiler vent was much cooler. So, with two fans,
air is being drawn from the hot boiler side of the fridge, some of which will be across the condenser fins.
Not what I wanted.
So, I took out the Gelid fan and just kept the higher airflow Pure Wings. Now the boiler vent is hot again and the fridge is working well again.
That is the current set up. But my next plan is to add a divider between the boiler side of the fridge and the condenser side of the fridge. For efficient operation, the boiler should be hot and the condenser fins should be cool. I have some thin flexible aluminum flashing they use on house roofs.
Continuing, on getting the fridge working efficiently: Bought a dual inside / outside digital thermometer and mounted the external probe inside the fridge. It is hard to work out what is happening with the fridge if you cannot measure the temperature!
Then filled in the gap on the left hand side (looking from the back) to stop the warm air at the back mixing with the cool air on the side of the fridge. Jayco put some fibreglass wool on the top of the top of the fridge.
Now to the boiler side. The fridge is mounted close to the wall but there is a small gap around 1/4 to 3/8 ". But that is only part of the problem. The boiler tube is hot and heats up the cabinet wood at the top and the side. This conducts heat through the wood to the top and side of the fridge. This heat is quite noticeable and will be heating up that side and top of the fridge.
Found some aluminium-backed polyester roof insulation (about 25mm thick). I have put this down the gap between the boiler and the wall, ensuring that it wraps around the gap between the fridge and the wall. Then another piece across the top and back of the fridge around the boiler area. It is a bit fiddly and needs some patience. Fortunately the insulation is very flexible.
Note, I kept the aluminum side towards the boiler. Also, don't try to use screws since the polyester will wrap around the thread.
Only did this last week, and will only get to try it out when we head off next week.
Another big improvement was to reduce teh amount of air loss from the fridge when the door is opened. We have a Dometic 2350 9-l fridge. We added a plastic tray from KMart that makes a perfect crisper for the bottom shelf and we have 4 other plastic containers that fill the other two shelves. They stay in unless they get in the way. So basically, when we start out, the top two shelves are full and no trays are needed, we then just have the crisper full of vegetables . As we use food, we add the trays (lids on) to the empty areas on the shelves.
This works really well and greatly improved the fridge recovery time when we open the fridge, especially at lunch time.
I hope this helps. Otherwise, I am happy to give more information.
kindest regards
Mike
