The other thing which I found recently on sons van when he said it was stinky, was the top of the flu had fallen off so the burner fumes weren't directed outside but floated around behind fridge and it wasn't working as well as usual, we fixed it and he has since said its working well now...... so have alook at the exhaust vent on the side if theres a bit of chimmney poking out its probably okay.... if none of those then more than likely the connection behind the control panel.
Well, well
@Roadhouse, it looks like it was the unlikely problem that
@Drover mentioned above. Even though the sealing of fridge may have kept you and party safe from carbon monoxide poisoning (a silent killer from burnt gas fumes), the heat/exhaust fumes from the gas flame was not directed to the outside and was heating up the fridge surrounds, Computer fans might have cleared some of the fumes/heat away from rear of fridge, but would not effectively drawn a good airflow through condenser fins cooling the fridge.
Although
@Drover and some others may rely on fans only on the top vent, I prefer to have 1 x 120mm fan on
both bottom and top vents. Yes, having fans on only the top vent should, in theory, create a lower pressure area in the bottom section and that should draw air in from below, (and anywhere else there is a gap/hole too), I believe that airflow would only be low over the absorber lower section and maybe only a slightly higher flow through the condenser section, depending on fridge sealing. Hence, I have stuck with one fan pulling cold air in (bottom), and I fan pushing hot air out (top). The bottom fan pulls/pushes lots of outside air directly onto/across the absorber piping, while the top fan sucks out the hot air from below and through the condenser fins. To ensure that the bottom fan does not blow air against/towards the boiler area (and reduce heating efficiency) , I have placed an aluminum barrier between the absorber pipes and side of boiler stack to stop this happening. Both (ball bearing type) fans are rated at 250ma each and each move 93 cubic feet of air per minute. Yes, they do whirr up a bit on start, but with that much air moving, they are not on long, usually only 30 seconds or so, which is all it takes to remove the hot air, to cool condenser fins and thermostat sensor and switch off fans. Maybe against the trend, but my figures and recordings seem to confirm my thinking. Not all may agree, but nothing beats the pure facts, But then I am a perfectionist and a bit pedantic too. Tread your own path!!!