Forum Discussion

Baja_Man's avatar
Baja_Man
Explorer
Aug 18, 2022

Propane/120V Fridge Mods....Please Share Your Results

On my previous RVs I added interior evaporator fans (2) and also added 2 computer style fans to the back of fridge area to push/pull air up and out of roof fridge vent.

These were both 6cf and 8cf propane/120V refers.

The rear fans were placed horizontally above condenser coils, with the intent to pass cooler from outside, past coils and remove heat from behind fridge. I chose to use an on/off switch over using a thermostat, as I wanted to use fans at my discretion.

Unfortunately, I am unable to locate my before/after data when these mods were done. I searched the forums here, but search function doesn't find anything nor does my user profile show my previous posts from past years.

I am planning on modding my current 6cf Dometic refer to have it work as efficiently as possible, especially during the brutal summers here in the Southwest. I know these refers can only cool so much, depending on ambient temps, but I want to be sure I do as much as possible to have the best install and mods to reach MAX efficiency.

With that said....

1. What mods have you done and what were the before and after results, given ambient temps and altitude?

2. If fans were installed, what size/type, where were they placed, and in what orientation (ex. vertically attached to lower plastic side vent; horizontally placed under/above condenser coils; horizontally placed just under roof vent; etc.?

3. Do you have any data that indicates fans mounted vertically to lower side vent and fans mounted at top just under roof vent provide better results than other fan orientations? My thoughts here are that both sucking air from outside and pulling air from top (and through the back cavity of refer) would produce more volume of air passing through condenser coils, thus allowing refer to stay cooler.

Thoughts?
  • Fisherman's avatar
    Fisherman
    Explorer
    Aug 18, 2022
    1. I can't give exact temps, I never probed. I have a small under the counter size fridge that has the 2 vents, upper and lower outside. Before I added the exhaust fan, the counter area above the rear of the fridge got surprisingly "warm" to say the least in 80F weather. After the fan was installed, the counter never got warm again.
    2. Exact model, unknown but it's a 12V 5" x 5" computer style that had a small 3 way switch, hi/med/low feature. It's wired via fuse to the electrical board at the back of the fridge, there were 2 OEM open spade connectors for installing a fan. I built a small mount for the fan and screwed it into the wooden frame behind the upper vent to exhaust the hot air from the coils. The fan is standing upright.
    3. Even on the low setting you can feel the warm air being exhausted, the fridge cools down twice as fast and maintains freezer and fridge temp at a higher setting than previous.
  • Baja_Man's avatar
    Baja_Man
    Explorer
    Aug 19, 2022
    IAMICHABOD wrote:
    I did find one thread that you posted back in 2016 that may be of help.

    2016 Thread


    IAMICHOBOD, Thanks for providing this link! This is the one I could not find. It provides all of the details I was looking for.

    I must be doing something wrong, as I am unable to find my posts from months and years past. I only found those posts from this month.

    I am hoping others post their fridge mods and results. Living in the hot SoCal desert, I am always looking for ways to keep things as cool as possible!
  • 3_tons's avatar
    3_tons
    Explorer III
    Aug 19, 2022
    The best improvement I made to our Norcold 6c/f fridge-freezer was to fabricate and install a thin sheet metal wind baffle close to (but not fully surrounding) the pilot light…After a few years of fighting poor temps from just a meager pilot flame, it turned out that the biggest culprit was just the wind while driving…

    3 tons
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    Aug 19, 2022
    Baja Man wrote:

    I am hoping others post their fridge mods and results. Living in the hot SoCal desert, I am always looking for ways to keep things as cool as possible!


    Try searching from google. For example:

    site : rv.net winter camping

    This allows the entire history to be searched, rather than just one year.

    My mod was to make a mask that went at the top of the "chimney" with twin 5 inch computer fans. They are controlled by a mechanical thermostat. This helped with cool down times.

    The mask has the side benefit of restricting heat loss in the winter, so that I can prevent freeze up using a 40 watt bulb controlled by a thermocubre (35 f on; 45 f off).
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Aug 20, 2022
    Baja Man wrote:
    On my previous RVs I added interior evaporator fans (2) and also added 2 computer style fans to the back of fridge area to push/pull air up and out of roof fridge vent.


    Did part of that (only one or two fans computer type pushing)

    When after oh about 13-14 years the cooling unit failed (Not related at all) and we had to replace the unit the RV tech pointed to a small amount of "Stuff' that had collected on the bottom of the heat exchanger fins (The radiator like part at the top of the fridge on teh outside of the housing) and said the fans make that worse.

    NOTE: I did not think it was all that bad but she did.

    (A blow with oh. perhaps a hair dryer set on COOL, down through the top of the fridge with the access panel, roof cap and fans all off (Turned off in the case of the fans) should blow the crud down and out.. Or you could use a low pressure tanked compressor.. There was not a lot of crud there)
  • Skibane's avatar
    Skibane
    Explorer II
    Aug 20, 2022
    Dometic is now installing a small DC fan on the back side of some units - It is temperature-controlled, and runs when the ambient temp rises above approx. 80 degrees F.

    It's a good idea, but the fan they use is small (80 mm?), isn't located where it will do much more than circulate hot air around the back side of the fridge compartment, and it runs at a fast, whiny speed.

    The back side of the fridge acts as a sounding board, making the fan noise very noticeable inside the RV.

    I'm considering replacing it with two larger fans, mounted on the inside of the RV's fridge air inlet grille. These fans would be connected in series, to minimize noise and current consumption.

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