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Refrigerator vents


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#11 Vic Harder

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 12:47 AM

I did mine a bit differently.  I kept the fridge mounted as far forwards as possible so as to avoid bouncy/rough roads making "camper fridge surprise" messes.  Note: To maximize interior room in the camper, the fridge is only vented on one side (front of the camper in this picture).  The bottom is open to the 3000W inverter compartment below it.

 

looking in at the front cabinet wall
 
In looking at these fridges (ours is a TruckFridge 130L, similar to others of this size) the compressor and fan are on the top right rear when looking from the front.  The fan is only 4", and the air flow is pulled from the outside, and blown over the compressor and coils, and exits on the sides and bottom.  I figured as long as I created an air tunnel, it would cool just fine.  So far so good....
 
I kept the vent small so as to avoid water intrusion issues.  The black vent in this pic is all I have on the outside. I have 1" rigid insulation on the back of the fridge, and made a channel in the foam that allows the fridge fan to pull air directly from this vent.  
 
Pick of the vent and foam from the inside of the camper
Fridge vent from inside camper

 

 
I installed a super quiet fan designed for home theatre systems on the coils themselves (attached with zip ties) and powered off the same circuit that powers the stock fridge fan. 
 
This is the stock fan, wedged between the coils.  Notice the arrows indicating the direction of air flow
Stock fan, notice the directional air flow arrows
 
This is the fan I added.
Home Theatre fan installed

 

This is where I tapped into the power feeding the existing fan

This is where you tap into the stock fan circuit
 
Wired up and ready to go
Wired up

 

They both come on at the same time.  The extra fan blows the air out of the front side vent through another channel cut into foam on that side.  The extra fan also has a "high power" mode.  This fan is so quiet because it is actually a 12V 75CFM (that's a LOT of air) fan that is "dumbed down" to use 5V via a USB connector, so it runs slowly and quietly on your home theatre amp.  I used a 45*C thermistor thermally glued to the top of the compressor and wired to 12V to kick it into high speed mode when the compressor gets too hot.
 
This is where the fridge lives now
This is where the fridge lives now

 

With more and bigger vents, this complicated a system may not have been necessary, but it is working well for us.

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#12 Outnabout

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 02:17 AM

The ventilation on mine just cools the rear wall of the fridge and is sealed. I don’t see any other ventilation provisions.


Thanks. I’m going to look for 130L and insulate all around. From just looking at measurements and not actually measuring the space it appears there is room on the sides and should be plenty of room behind. I will leave the stock vents as it appears that will provide enough ventilation. I don’t think I’ve ever had any trouble with water intruding through the vents. Thanks again for the pictures.
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#13 Outnabout

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 02:31 AM

I did mine a bit differently. I kept the fridge mounted as far forwards as possible so as to avoid bouncy/rough roads making "camper fridge surprise" messes. Note: To maximize interior room in the camper, the fridge is only vented on one side (front of the camper in this picture). The bottom is open to the 3000W inverter compartment below it.



In looking at these fridges (ours is a TruckFridge 130L, similar to others of this size) the compressor and fan are on the top right rear when looking from the front. The fan is only 4", and the air flow is pulled from the outside, and blown over the compressor and coils, and exits on the sides and bottom. I figured as long as I created an air tunnel, it would cool just fine. So far so good....

I kept the vent small so as to avoid water intrusion issues. The black vent in this pic is all I have on the outside. I have 1" rigid insulation on the back of the fridge, and made a channel in the foam that allows the fridge fan to pull air directly from this vent.

Pick of the vent and foam from the inside of the camper




I installed a super quiet fan designed for home theatre systems on the coils themselves (attached with zip ties) and powered off the same circuit that powers the stock fridge fan.

This is the stock fan, wedged between the coils. Notice the arrows indicating the direction of air flow



This is the fan I added.


This is where I tapped into the power feeding the existing fan


Wired up and ready to go



They both come on at the same time. The extra fan blows the air out of the front side vent through another channel cut into foam on that side. The extra fan also has a "high power" mode. This fan is so quiet because it is actually a 12V 75CFM (that's a LOT of air) fan that is "dumbed down" to use 5V via a USB connector, so it runs slowly and quietly on your home theatre amp. I used a 45*C thermistor thermally glued to the top of the compressor and wired to 12V to kick it into high speed mode when the compressor gets too hot.

This is where the fridge lives now



With more and bigger vents, this complicated a system may not have been necessary, but it is working well for us.


Thanks for the pointers and pictures.
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#14 Jon R

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 04:17 AM

My installation is from the factory, and I have never pulled the fridge out. It is difficult to see the vent fan that can be seen at the top of the outside wall ventilation space without unscrewing the upper fixed vent. That fan may be over an opening in the rear wall of the fridge (top right of the rear when viewed from the front). The fan is controlled from the camper, and the instructions say to use the fan on hot days. I have not used it much.
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#15 Outnabout

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 04:33 AM

My installation is from the factory, and I have never pulled the fridge out. It is difficult to see the vent fan that can be seen at the top of the outside wall ventilation space without unscrewing the upper fixed vent. That fan may be over an opening in the rear wall of the fridge (top right of the rear when viewed from the front). The fan is controlled from the camper, and the instructions say to use the fan on hot days. I have not used it much.


I have a fan attached to the upper vent and it controlled from the switch by the back door. I’m giving my 3-way one more chance this summer after I try to do a thorough cleaning of the burner, etc. I am getting weary of coming back to a warm fridge after a day out. The 12v sounds like a fix to that problem. Thanks again.
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#16 M1010 Mike

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 04:38 PM

I have a fan attached to the upper vent and it controlled from the switch by the back door. I’m giving my 3-way one more chance this summer after I try to do a thorough cleaning of the burner, etc. I am getting weary of coming back to a warm fridge after a day out. The 12v sounds like a fix to that problem. Thanks again.

Personally, I would never use a 3 way fridge again.  That was the first thing I did to our old Grandby, replaced the 3 way with a 12v compressor NovaKool fridge.  I picked up another NovaKool fridge for my current build.  Once you go with a compressor fridge, you will never go back to anything else.

 

Save your sanity and food before this summer.  Just replace it now.  I swapped the one in the Grandby and never changed any vents that were factory installed.  No issues after 4 years of use and the new owner used it for years as well.


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#17 Outnabout

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Posted 17 March 2023 - 04:59 PM

Personally, I would never use a 3 way fridge again. That was the first thing I did to our old Grandby, replaced the 3 way with a 12v compressor NovaKool fridge. I picked up another NovaKool fridge for my current build. Once you go with a compressor fridge, you will never go back to anything else.

Save your sanity and food before this summer. Just replace it now. I swapped the one in the Grandby and never changed any vents that were factory installed. No issues after 4 years of use and the new owner used it for years as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems like an easy swap and and as you say will most likely save my sanity. Cheers.

Edited by Outnabout, 17 March 2023 - 05:00 PM.

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