Journey Electrical upgrades JJOB

Drover

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I would fit 2 x 75mm fans zip tied to the vent, don't bother about the other two down lower, I fed a cable along the cable shaft for the control panel and fitted a micro switch to activate them/override the thermo switch, I have fitted a few thermo switches to SS spring clips so you can easily position it, replace it and it does transfer the heat very well, fitted to the horizontal pipe at the top just inside the vent ... description in my 14.44 and Big Mal thread I think..

Just looking back at your post on fridges way back when @mikerezny and it has a pic of my fans mounted on the vent and certainly reminds me of how little room you have at the back of your fridge, one forgets the size difference entirely.......
 
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Hitting the road

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Jan 14, 2022
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Have the 100mm fans got a shroud around them? If not, then the fans are probably just pumping air from the back to the front.
There are two options, make a shroud around 100mm long to go on top of the fans to direct air up as directly as practicable onto the condensation fins. Ensure that the fans are off to the left as far as practicable. i.e as far away from the boiler so the inflow is not getting hot air from the boiler.
Also over to the left is where they will do the most good as that is where the fins are the hottest.
Similarly with mounting a fan on the top external vent. There is no point putting in two fans as the second fan will be mounted on the right and will just draw hot air up from over the boiler. I experimented a lot with fans and I am of the opinion that a good quiet 120mm fan mounted over on the left provides the best cooling. (caveat, unless you want to go to the trouble of putting in a wall to ensure that the boiler is thermally isolated from the LHS of the fridge. The lesson is that getting only the cool air from the bottom vent up to the condenser fins is more important than getting a lot of air over the fins.

Look for the dimpled pipe that comes off the top of the boiler and head left across the top of the fins and then into the condensation fins. The thermostat is placed over on the LHS of this pipe. A 60C thermostat is probably too high. I use a 55C thermostat.
Her is a link to one of my early posts when I first installed the fan:

https://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/quiet-fridge-fan.9619/post-170065

This post shows the location of the thermostat.
https://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/dometic-3-way-fridge.10180/post-175505

cheers
Mike
Hi Mike...The small fans at the bottom of the fridge are factory, and I think they have a very small shroud around them to direct the air flow...so they would be doing something...but not much I suspect.
The fan I have mounted to the upper vent is in the middle of the vent, it is fused of course and can be unplugged via the mini Anderson plug to remove the vent leaving the connection and thermostat still in situ

. Fridge vent fan.jpg
 

Boots in Action

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Hi Mike...The small fans at the bottom of the fridge are factory, and I think they have a very small shroud around them to direct the air flow...so they would be doing something...but not much I suspect.
The fan I have mounted to the upper vent is in the middle of the vent, it is fused of course and can be unplugged via the mini Anderson plug to remove the vent leaving the connection and thermostat still in situ

.View attachment 68715
No matter how many fans you have going or where they are positioned, the most important thing is to make sure that there is some sort of baffle directing the moving air THROUGH the condenser fins. In fact, the baffle between the inside of wall of van behind fridge and bottom of top cooling fins on condenser should not allow any air to bypass going through the cooling fins on condenser. Additionally, this hot air must be directed to the outside air by the shortest and fastest means possible, and not allowed to stagnate around any cavity/ies at top of fridge. Also no gaps around side or top of fridge either.
I have 2 X 120mm fans connected - one at the bottom and one at the top attached to vents. Automatic thermostat control with 50C thermostat attached to condenser pipe on left hand side just before the cooling fins. Spring clips from Bunnings which @Drover told me to use are very effective. When my fans come on, there is a considerable blast of hot air expended from top vent for a short time while fans run. With fans each rated at 94 cubic feet per minute, they only run for about 30 to 40 seconds before switching off. Only seem to come on and run for a short time when ambient temp is getting around 26C plus. Of course that means that the thermo on the cooling tube has reached 50C plus to bring fans on. Pictures of clips and thermos below.
 

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Drover

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, they only run for about 30 to 40 seconds before switching off.

Be nice if mine did that, once they come on they stay on all day though the smaller fridge in the 14.44 the fans did cycle, bigger fridges more heat I think thats why I went from a 50c to 60 or 70, forget which now... but its died haven't bothered replacing it though...
 

Hitting the road

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Jan 14, 2022
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No matter how many fans you have going or where they are positioned, the most important thing is to make sure that there is some sort of baffle directing the moving air THROUGH the condenser fins. In fact, the baffle between the inside of wall of van behind fridge and bottom of top cooling fins on condenser should not allow any air to bypass going through the cooling fins on condenser. Additionally, this hot air must be directed to the outside air by the shortest and fastest means possible, and not allowed to stagnate around any cavity/ies at top of fridge. Also no gaps around side or top of fridge either.
I have 2 X 120mm fans connected - one at the bottom and one at the top attached to vents. Automatic thermostat control with 50C thermostat attached to condenser pipe on left hand side just before the cooling fins. Spring clips from Bunnings which @Drover told me to use are very effective. When my fans come on, there is a considerable blast of hot air expended from top vent for a short time while fans run. With fans each rated at 94 cubic feet per minute, they only run for about 30 to 40 seconds before switching off. Only seem to come on and run for a short time when ambient temp is getting around 26C plus. Of course that means that the thermo on the cooling tube has reached 50C plus to bring fans on. Pictures of clips and thermos below.

My problem is, I haven't really had the time / opportunity to play around with the set up. If I were to put an awning on the fridge side to protect from the sun it would certainly make a difference too. The van has sail tracks fitted that side, and I likely have an awning among all the bits that came with the van...need to spend some time sorting that out.

The sealing around the sides and top of the fridge seem to be pretty good. Maybe because it is a larger fridge than the standard fitment to the 17.55.8 so had additional care?

The additional fan I have fitted with the 60 degree thermostat hasn't switched on as far as I know...I am sure that I have attached the thermostat to a condenser pipe on the left side looking at it from the back...above the cooling fins.
Though in reality I would not know if did came on even when the sun was hitting that side of the van as it would run silently.
Gotta say...I do like those clips, would beat mucking about with small cable ties in the confined space.

I'll have another good look at the set up next time I'm out. Some additional baffles to direct the cool air to the cooling fins would help for sure...I do need to give the cooling fins a de-scale as well, they looked fairly ordinary....add to the "to do" list...
 

Drover

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On one hot day when some idiot went camping during December I made a set up at the bottom vent similar to a Coolgardie safe, where I covered the lower vent with a T towel which the bottom bit sat in a bucket of water, seemed to work okay, the fans at the top vent pulling the air through the wet cotton, just a lot of stuffing around but a good experiment, throwing a bucket of river water over the screen was easier to cool things down though.............

Though in reality I would not know if did came on even when the sun was hitting that side of the van as it would run silently.
usually doesn't need the sun on the wall to get them going... I placed a temp probe on mine to see what temps would happen at various times, should have wrote them down..........
 
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Drover

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My temp check now is warm can of beer in freezer, return 20 odd mins later if not cold then "Houston we have more problems" ................ or stick finger in ice cream ... soft not good..... disregard though if warm can of beer has been in freezer though.
 
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