Additional RV fridge vent fans

[dlewand53]

I'm sitting down in Florida in a pretty hot environment. My refrigerator is cooling pretty good but I was wondering if putting in and using additional exhaust fans on the vents on the outside would help. At times you can hear the fans running on the outside of the refrigerator. Was wondering if I put additional fans in is that going to interfere with anything or the fans that are there right now. What temperature should I set the controller to to make sure the extra exhaust fans comes on and goes off at the right temperature. From what I understand the fans that are part of the refrigerator turn on at 130° and off at not sure what temperature. I use inside cooling fans in the refrigerator right now. Would appreciate anybody's thoughts and insights.

[RogerR]

You don't mention what make and model RV or fridge you have. That would help get best advice.

I did not have fans on my fridge, which is a little gas/electric model with side wall intake and vent. After an inspection of mine when it failed to keep cold in hot weather I found several manufacturing fails.


At the exhaust vent there was a curved piece of metal to send heated air out. But there was no fiberglass above it to keep heat from penetrating. My countertop near it was a great place to keep food warm when it was running. I added fiberglass insulation above the metal.

On both sides to make installation easier to install,( I guess) they had 3 x 3 inches notches which let a large amount of heat go up under the countertop and over the top of the fridge. Used metal tape to plug them up.
The burner area was next to a cabinet with a single layer of 1/4 inch plywood. Heat from the burner tube/electric heat duct kept all my under sink area toasty. I purchased some high heat proof under hood insulation and installed it to channel the heat up and out instead of wasting it into the cabinetry.

All these helped. Then I wired in a pair of fans to boost air flow with an inside the cabinet switch to turn them on in high temps.


While camping in Florida I have seen small awnings over the fridge area to help keep it cool. Also saw a few people running box fans into the vents to help the system.

[RoadrunnerII]

I added 2 12 volt computer box fans down at the bottom pushing air up. They are off center missing the boiler. I tapped into the existing fan snap switch at top. When it calls for the top fans my add ons come on as well. I did the same insulating the side and top. Added a box fan inside fridge area as well.
On ours the deflector at the top was not installed per norcold. Addressed that as well. Freezer keeps ice cream hard and the mountains are blue on the coors can in the fridge door

RoadrunnerII

[CAG]

Here is one from the "search" area at the top of the page in the gold bar. There are more and Google for RV fridge fan/cooling and you will find more.



I have found here in the heat of AZ that the benefit is limited but it does help some. These fridges are just not designed to cool in high outside temps.



https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ing-89615.html

[ultrarider]

I did install two Valtera 4” tunnel fans with modifications under the condenser using some 1/8” craft plywood. Two fans & a two way rocket switch to power either one fan, or two. The difference of having these fans vs not having them is remarkable. Last year camping at Assateague island Md in 100 degree direct sun on the vent side of the camper, the refrigerator stayed on average -5 to 5 freezer,/ 34 to 38 food.. Any fan under the condenser to help dissipate & expel the heat will benefit the refrigerators performance.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by ultrarider

I did install two Valtera 4” tunnel fans with modifications under the condenser using some 1/8” craft plywood. Two fans & a two way rocket switch to power either one fan, or two. The difference of having these fans vs not having them is remarkable. Last year camping at Assateague island Md in 100 degree direct sun on the vent side of the camper, the refrigerator stayed on average -5 to 5 freezer,/ 34 to 38 food.. Any fan under the condenser to help dissipate & expel the heat will benefit the refrigerators performance.

Interestingly, I found the opposite effect. The condenser fans I had in two different RVs did little to nothing and in one case caused the temps to go up a degree or two. That was in Arizona temps.



The best results has been from two fans inside the outside compartment and making sure that compartments is shaded. The awing being down helps the most.