Increasing Airflow through Condenser.
The new DC only compressor fridge I will soon have in my possession has a 92 mm computer muffin fan pulling air through only a portion(~85%) of the ~120mm tall condenser. It then blows this warmed a...
Forum Discussion
Looks like they really shoehorned that cooling unit in on the back of that TruckFridge.
The Danfoss/Secop controller can handle powering 0.5 amps of fans and upto 1 amp for a few seconds. I'd suggest you hook up another low draw, low cfm fan to the controller to exhaust the hot air from the area and draw cooler air into it. The Fans available vary greatly in output for noise made and current consumed.
My System is working beautifully and in sub 60 degree weather it take more than 72 hours for the fridge to consume 24 amp hours. I've got a "Watts up" meter I can hook inline. Here it is next to my controller where I have a removable panel for winter time to keep warm air inside the living compartment and not draw cool air in past weak seals.
I've not reread this whole thread, and don't remember it all, but long story short, I never reversed the airflow. I did add more insulation to cabinet walls and fridge walls which allowed me enough room to move the fan to the other side of the condenser. These fans are much quieter pushing air through a restriction rather than pulling it through one.
I'd also made a cooling unit tunnel to direct all fan flow through condenser, and across compressor and controller. This air is then directed out a louvered vent behind the fridge, or into the next compartment of the cabinet where I have another fan exhausting air into the living space.
Having moved the fan makes it much easier to clean the dust off the fan blades and condenser twice a year. The cooling unit tunnel also protects the unit from installation/ removal stresses, as I do need to remove it to access the fan and condenser. 4 screws and disconnect a powerpole connector and it slides right out easy peasy
It is said that the best way to increase fridge performance is by making sure the condenser is not sitting in air it itself has already warmed. I feel that just letting it stew in its own juices with a few passive vents in the area is like a vehicle radiator with the grill blocked off and wondering why the engine runs hot.
Mine has 0% chance of running preheated air through the condenser or across the compressor, and I'm sure if the bean counters allowed the engineers to design it this way, they would, but what does a bean counter care if your fridge consumes 24 amp hours per 24 hours, or 30 A/H. There is enough wiggle room on their spec sheets, and there is no truth what so ever in advertising anyway. Besides that, they can't design the cabinet where the fridge will reside and the manufacturer making recommendations as to how to design the cabinet for most advantageous airflow for maximum efficiency will make 90% of the public thing it was not designed properly in the first place, rather than as a compromise and good enough for those who don't understand the physics.
Doing these mods is not trying to outthink the engineers, it is undoing the damage done by the beancounters to the engineer's designs, what they would do if allowed free reign, in my opinion.
The Danfoss/Secop controller can handle powering 0.5 amps of fans and upto 1 amp for a few seconds. I'd suggest you hook up another low draw, low cfm fan to the controller to exhaust the hot air from the area and draw cooler air into it. The Fans available vary greatly in output for noise made and current consumed.
My System is working beautifully and in sub 60 degree weather it take more than 72 hours for the fridge to consume 24 amp hours. I've got a "Watts up" meter I can hook inline. Here it is next to my controller where I have a removable panel for winter time to keep warm air inside the living compartment and not draw cool air in past weak seals.
I've not reread this whole thread, and don't remember it all, but long story short, I never reversed the airflow. I did add more insulation to cabinet walls and fridge walls which allowed me enough room to move the fan to the other side of the condenser. These fans are much quieter pushing air through a restriction rather than pulling it through one.
I'd also made a cooling unit tunnel to direct all fan flow through condenser, and across compressor and controller. This air is then directed out a louvered vent behind the fridge, or into the next compartment of the cabinet where I have another fan exhausting air into the living space.
Having moved the fan makes it much easier to clean the dust off the fan blades and condenser twice a year. The cooling unit tunnel also protects the unit from installation/ removal stresses, as I do need to remove it to access the fan and condenser. 4 screws and disconnect a powerpole connector and it slides right out easy peasy
It is said that the best way to increase fridge performance is by making sure the condenser is not sitting in air it itself has already warmed. I feel that just letting it stew in its own juices with a few passive vents in the area is like a vehicle radiator with the grill blocked off and wondering why the engine runs hot.
Mine has 0% chance of running preheated air through the condenser or across the compressor, and I'm sure if the bean counters allowed the engineers to design it this way, they would, but what does a bean counter care if your fridge consumes 24 amp hours per 24 hours, or 30 A/H. There is enough wiggle room on their spec sheets, and there is no truth what so ever in advertising anyway. Besides that, they can't design the cabinet where the fridge will reside and the manufacturer making recommendations as to how to design the cabinet for most advantageous airflow for maximum efficiency will make 90% of the public thing it was not designed properly in the first place, rather than as a compromise and good enough for those who don't understand the physics.
Doing these mods is not trying to outthink the engineers, it is undoing the damage done by the beancounters to the engineer's designs, what they would do if allowed free reign, in my opinion.
