fridge coolig fan noisy

Depending on the make of fridge (in my case a Dometic), mine was also noisy for a couple reasons...

One.. I was a cheap fan. There are quite an array of fans available and Dometic uses the cheapest, sleeve bearing fan available. I would suggest replacing it (as I did) with a FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan with a computer designed blade. The FDB fans are silent in operation and a computer designed blade will reduce air flow noise. I picked up a couple on Flea-Bay for 10 bucks each, they make no noise whatsoever. But..

Two: You need to pay attention to how the fan(s) are mounted. Just like a FW pump thats mounted solidly to the substructure of the camper, the fan will transmit operational noise and the camper fram will amplify it. You need to isolate the fan from transmitting operational noise/vibration to the camper itself.

I did that by adding rubber grommets to the fan mounts. While it don't dampen everything. between the FDB fan itself and the rubber grommets in the mount, my fan noise is very minimal.

Personally, I prefer not to hear that noise when I'm sleeping at night. During the day not a big issue but at night, I want quiet. Before the modification (new fan(s) and mounts, I was turning off the fridge at night so I didn't have to listen to the fans.

Pretty cheap fix really, just takes some time on your part.

SidecarFlip wrote:
Depending on the make of fridge (in my case a Dometic), mine was also noisy for a couple reasons...

One.. I was a cheap fan. There are quite an array of fans available and Dometic uses the cheapest, sleeve bearing fan available. I would suggest replacing it (as I did) with a FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan with a computer designed blade. The FDB fans are silent in operation and a computer designed blade will reduce air flow noise. I picked up a couple on Flea-Bay for 10 bucks each, they make no noise whatsoever. But..

Two: You need to pay attention to how the fan(s) are mounted. Just like a FW pump thats mounted solidly to the substructure of the camper, the fan will transmit operational noise and the camper fram will amplify it. You need to isolate the fan from transmitting operational noise/vibration to the camper itself.

I did that by adding rubber grommets to the fan mounts. While it don't dampen everything. between the FDB fan itself and the rubber grommets in the mount, my fan noise is very minimal.

Personally, I prefer not to hear that noise when I'm sleeping at night. During the day not a big issue but at night, I want quiet. Before the modification (new fan(s) and mounts, I was turning off the fridge at night so I didn't have to listen to the fans.

Pretty cheap fix really, just takes some time on your part.

Hey Sidecar thanks and yes the fridge is a dometic with one cheap high rpm fan that runs a lot , the original fan is rated at 75 cfm so I was thinking of putting two 50 cfm lower speed fans in since the bracket is made to mount to 92 mm fans on it , lower speed and a bit more air. I am surprised at how much noise the original fan makes and your right it is a pain at night . I have been researching this since I posted this morning I did not know there were so many types and sizes of these case cooling fans I will defiantly go with the FDB fans , thanks
Mike

Do you need to pull refreg to do this job?

towpro wrote:
Do you need to pull refreg to do this job?

Not in my case (Dometic in the slide out) the current fan and the mounting bracket are accessible from the upper removable vent cover. hoping all I need is a ladder and a few wire nuts the bracket is already made for two 92 mm fans
Mike

Devocamper wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
Depending on the make of fridge (in my case a Dometic), mine was also noisy for a couple reasons...

One.. I was a cheap fan. There are quite an array of fans available and Dometic uses the cheapest, sleeve bearing fan available. I would suggest replacing it (as I did) with a FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) fan with a computer designed blade. The FDB fans are silent in operation and a computer designed blade will reduce air flow noise. I picked up a couple on Flea-Bay for 10 bucks each, they make no noise whatsoever. But..

Two: You need to pay attention to how the fan(s) are mounted. Just like a FW pump thats mounted solidly to the substructure of the camper, the fan will transmit operational noise and the camper fram will amplify it. You need to isolate the fan from transmitting operational noise/vibration to the camper itself.

I did that by adding rubber grommets to the fan mounts. While it don't dampen everything. between the FDB fan itself and the rubber grommets in the mount, my fan noise is very minimal.

Personally, I prefer not to hear that noise when I'm sleeping at night. During the day not a big issue but at night, I want quiet. Before the modification (new fan(s) and mounts, I was turning off the fridge at night so I didn't have to listen to the fans.

Pretty cheap fix really, just takes some time on your part.

Hey Sidecar thanks and yes the fridge is a dometic with one cheap high rpm fan that runs a lot , the original fan is rated at 75 cfm so I was thinking of putting two 50 cfm lower speed fans in since the bracket is made to mount to 92 mm fans on it , lower speed and a bit more air. I am surprised at how much noise the original fan makes and your right it is a pain at night . I have been researching this since I posted this morning I did not know there were so many types and sizes of these case cooling fans I will defiantly go with the FDB fans , thanks
Mike

Mike:

If you look closely at the mounting bracket, you'll see it's actually 2 brackets, not one (at least in my case it was), so you aren't limited to just the OEM sized fan. I did a pair of 120mm muffin fans and made a second set of brackets from sheet metal (all the brackets are is bent sheet metal). The fans I bought were 2 wire (I cut the plug off the end) rated at 8-13 volts DC so 12 spins them pretty fast but the FDB design is noiseless (and laying on my bench right now, probably headed for the landfill). With the FDB bearings and the computer designed blades, they run quiet. I did do one thing. When I went to 2 fans, I upped the ATO inline fuse to a 2 amp. The stock fuse is 1 amp and both my fans pull a tad over 1 amp, actually 1.2 amps so I increased the fuse size to compensate. I changed nothing else.

My upper access vent isn't readily removable. It's a louvered aluminum grill set in butyl tape and screwed to the outside skin so removing and replacing it is a PITA. Why I upped the fuse rating. The inline fuse on mine is under the upper vent panel

towpro wrote:
Do you need to pull refreg to do this job?

Not at all. Everything you need to fiddle with is on the backside of the fridge under the access vent covers.

Back in the day before slides, fridges mounted with the lower access vent in the side and the upper vent was on the roof so you had a nice natural draft to keep the cooler ambient air moving (and some slide campers are still like that, fridge mounted on the non slide side.

Once the builders stuck the fridge in a slide, there was no more roof vent so they added fans to artificially create the draft. Now, if they would have used good, quiet fan(s), all would be good but they use the cheapest available and that's not good, but then, they don't have to listen to noisy fans, they just assemble the units.

Even a roof vented fridge can benefit from added airflow, especially in the summer or when the sun is beating down on the side of the camper.

Mike, I installed an ARP rv refrigerator control with dual fans in my TC because the side vent fridge is not very efficient removing heat. I just completed a 8,600+ mile trip out to the west coast and was up and down the mountains and my fridge stayed at 20 degrees and the freezer was -10. I am very satisfied with the ARP control.

Mine has the top hole 3/4 covered by a piece of plywood stapled from the inside. I understand what this is for, but to go into mine from top i need to remove the baffel. It Might be hard to secure it again

But I have gotten used to it. Just finishing 2 weeks at beach and don't hear it anymore.

towpro wrote:
Mine has the top hole 3/4 covered by a piece of plywood stapled from the inside. I understand what this is for, but to go into mine from top i need to remove the baffel. It Might be hard to secure it again

But I have gotten used to it. Just finishing 2 weeks at beach and don't hear it anymore.

Mine was too actually, partially blocked upper vent. I removed that and replaced it with a shorter length of HDPE plastic sheet, 1/16th inch thick that just comes up to the bottom edge of the replacement fans.

Mine really blows.... (pun intended)...

I looked at the ARP unit. Kind of interesting but at least in my case I don't believe it's a needed $135 buck addition. For one thing, contrary to their claim that the snap disc thermostat is installed over the boiler flue exit on that side of the condenser, it's not. Dometic recommends the instillation be on the outboard cooling fin OPPOSITE the boiler, exactly where mine is installed, not over the flue exit and their 2 fan option puts one fan at the bottom of the rear cavity. My opinion (opinion only) is that multiple fans in the upper cavity exhausting through the upper vent pulls ambient air over the entire refrigeration unit anyway.

I do agree with their premise that the addition of an internal (in the fridge section of the internal cavity will go a long way toward cold air circulation inside and eliminate the stratified air in the fridge which will allow for faster cool down and better (more even) interior temps. Easy addition connecting to the interior light. In fact, I bought a small muffin fan just for that modification