Any suggestions on 12v interior lighting?, and fan for fridge

[goinoregon]

I am doing some electrical and shelf/cabinet work in the camper, and thinking i might like some additional task lighting or ?? for the interior. i currently just have the oem ATC lights, which are fine.

oh, and since i will be messing with wiring, i thought i might add a fan to exhaust hot air from the fridge out of the access point for front tiedown. any suggestions ? i have a dometic fridge/freezer that sits horizontal up against the front window.

thx in advance.
go

 

[Vic Harder]

I am doing some electrical and shelf/cabinet work in the camper, and thinking i might like some additional task lighting or ?? for the interior. i currently just have the oem ATC lights, which are fine.

oh, and since i will be messing with wiring, i thought i might add a fan to exhaust hot air from the fridge out of the access point for front tiedown. any suggestions ? i have a dometic fridge/freezer that sits horizontal up against the front window.

thx in advance.
go

I used dimmable LED strip lights from eShine in my PUMA build. We like them very much.

For the fridge fan, it depends a lot on your setup, positioning. In general, a computer fan (size and CFM vary a lot) can be used.

 

[goinoregon]

Thx Vic !

 

[PaulT]

Estimate the total volume of the air in the fridge cabinet in cubic feet. Find a 12 volt computer or electronic cooling fan rated to move that much air at least once per minute. Mount it on the fridge cabinet vent (upper vent if there are two) and wire it to a switch or thermostat so that it will run only when the fridge is turned on.

I found on my 2014 Hawk that a small fan consuming only 0.02 amps was sufficient to replace all that air at the rear of the fridge cabinet several times/minute. I leave the fan turned on anytime I have the fridge turned on.

Paul

 

[Vic Harder]

I think the squirrel cage fan i use to cool the outside of the fridge/compressor moves 75 cfm. That’s a lot.

The fan inside the fridge that I added is much less!

 

[michelle_east_county]

Check clearances in refer housing between refer top and sides relative to housing, and check specs for your refer. Many RV manufacturers have big empty gaps that inhibit natural convection or trap a pool of warm air on top. Both the original Dometic 3-way absorption refer and replacement 2-way absorption refer in my father’s ‘97 Roadtrek had this issue that left inside countertop and a sidewall warm and reduced efficiency, even with the small fan added by installer of 2nd unit pulling air through coils and out upper vent. Years later after refer performance declined despite religious attention to parking level (“…still within specs….” per Dometic) we had another RV shop add insulation to fill gaps and a baffle down low to better direct convection air up. With or without fan (which only sped up cool down), it cooled a little better parked (4-6 degrees less) but still warmed up on highway. One theory was that too much air passed through coils do to shape of body of Dodge van. Shutters were contemplated but I never pursued it.

 

[kmcintyre]

If you search the forum(s) you'll find quite a bit about adding fans to the refrigerator. Pretty easy, especially if you have (or doing) work on other parts of your camper. I had mine hooked up with a switch and a thermositor.

We used some usb rechargable LED puck lights in cabinets, etc. too which are nice. They are light activated. I would suggest that you used LEDs for obvious low voltage drain. We love the ones FWC puts in the newer campers that are dimmable and light strips.

 

[Beach]

https://www.amazon.com/Ventilation-Cooling-Refrigerator-Controller-TTC-SC22/dp/B07F2K5GCW/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.b05db705-0b89-4b8b-82f5-e767e46bfb6a%3Aamzn1.sym.b05db705-0b89-4b8b-82f5-e767e46bfb6a&crid=2C8U9G7EDVXN9&cv_ct_cx=rv%2Bfridge%2Bfan&keywords=rv%2Bfridge%2Bfan&pd_rd_i=B077TJCL3F&pd_rd_r=6047c604-6c7f-46c7-b961-9149b6f535b1&pd_rd_w=A5qTo&pd_rd_wg=1yC4I&pf_rd_p=b05db705-0b89-4b8b-82f5-e767e46bfb6a&pf_rd_r=28CTBYXET4QT14NANTVB&qid=1667831711&sprefix=rv%2Bfridge%2Bfan%2Caps%2C147&sr=1-2-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&th=1

Quite happy with this unit, I mounted it in the upper vent to draw warm air out. It added about 4-5 degrees of extra cooling in 90 degree weather. Order the biggest that will fit and get the controller, works very well. I blocked off some of the louvered area the fans didn't cover to prevent "wrap around air" from disturbing the air flow.

 

[goinoregon]

Thx all ! and thx for the fan recommendation Beach !
very much apprediated.

 

[mobilelists]

I think my question might apply to this thread.

Does anyone know of a source of standard homeowner ac style switch face plates (2 3/4 X 4 1/2) that would accept a RV DC switch like : https://www.amazon.com/5Pcs-Rocker-Switch-Position-QTEATAK/dp/B07Y1GDRQG/ref=sr_1_32?keywords=12+volt+rv+switches&qid=1687040151&sr=8-32 ?

I have a box that had a standard ac wall swich that I now want to replace with the smaller format DC swiches. The hole in the box is 1.5" X 3.2"...much larger than the small DC switch and any bezel that I have found so far.

Thanks
Pat