Forum Discussion

anutami's avatar
anutami
Explorer III
Aug 25, 2020

Successful summer mods

In anticipation of our week long lake Powell trip, I finally got around to installing some fans for better fridge circulation for summer camping as my fridge was lucky to get below 50 in 100+ temps


I Was able to fit the controller in the cabover wardrobe , which has some nice settings (speed and timer control)


I Also went way overboard and installed some fans in the side vent :0 pulling air in



Switch



I can finally cook outside using my on board tanks



And yes great 1 week stay at a secluded spot at Lake Powell where temps were very HOT!!! But we had the place to ourselves and my food didn’t spoil




















Also installed a filter for the furnace in anticipation for winter camping, I had a bunch of dust in the furnace compartment so hopefully this helps
Truck Campers
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 29, 2020
    I am using Lacrosse WI-FI thermometers and weather station for years.
    First use in camper was interior temperature monitoring for dogs.
    When WI-FI alarms to your android are nice feature, the cheaper thermometers occasionally would take long time to refresh. Still the probe can go anywhere and when not traveling, the thermometer with its remote probe goes to my swimming pool.
    Weather stations for some reason work much better.

    La crosse
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 29, 2020
    anutami wrote:
    HMS Beagle wrote:
    Want to know if the fridge fans made a difference? Big or little difference?


    Great question, I would say it makes all the difference in the world!,, and scratching my head why a 4 season rated camper would not come with them from the factory. As we all know coolers are very difficult to cary with a TC and my fridge would be in the low 50’s in hot temps, now they are in the low 40’s and overnight gets down the the high 30’s, we just got back from beach camping where temps were in the 80’s and it was down in the low 30’s. I had to bring the setting down on the fridge for the first time ever. Of course with the kids getting in and out of the fridge really kills the temps. I found I can freeze bottles of water as well and put them in the fridge to help out.

    If you need a fan, you might have something wrong with your fridge.
    I had 2 campers with Dometic refrigerators and I operate them in 110F most of the summer, when had extreme of 125F.
    I actually run test on 1 of them and in 105F it froze gallon of water after running most of the day.
    On 2nd fridge I did have some problem, but turned the camper roof installer left big chunk of aluminium roofing covering fridge vent. Once I clear the vent and adjusted thermistor, fridge works just fine with no fan and again with 110F temperatures, quite often we see 135F on parking lots.
  • Geo_Boy's avatar
    Geo_Boy
    Explorer II
    Aug 29, 2020
    Years ago I installed an ARPrv.com fridge controller with their 2 fans and I run my fridge on #6 and the ice cream is hard and the beer is cold.
  • deltabravo's avatar
    deltabravo
    Nomad
    Aug 29, 2020
    anutami wrote:
    I Also went way overboard and installed some fans in the side vent :0 pulling air in



    This has been a popular mod recently in the Arctic Fox / Wolf Creek truck camper Facebook group.

    I've done it and it made a noticeable improvement on fridge operation on my week long trip to Colorado a few weeks ago.
  • deltabravo's avatar
    deltabravo
    Nomad
    Aug 29, 2020
    anutami wrote:
    Also installed a filter for the furnace in anticipation for winter camping, I had a bunch of dust in the furnace compartment so hopefully this helps


    Let us know how that works ok.

    The concern I've had about doing that mod is causing a reduction in airflow that results in the furnace shutting down due to an overtemp condition.
  • anutami's avatar
    anutami
    Explorer III
    Aug 26, 2020
    HMS Beagle wrote:
    Want to know if the fridge fans made a difference? Big or little difference?


    Great question, I would say it makes all the difference in the world!,, and scratching my head why a 4 season rated camper would not come with them from the factory. As we all know coolers are very difficult to cary with a TC and my fridge would be in the low 50’s in hot temps, now they are in the low 40’s and overnight gets down the the high 30’s, we just got back from beach camping where temps were in the 80’s and it was down in the low 30’s. I had to bring the setting down on the fridge for the first time ever. Of course with the kids getting in and out of the fridge really kills the temps. I found I can freeze bottles of water as well and put them in the fridge to help out.
  • HMS_Beagle's avatar
    HMS_Beagle
    Explorer
    Aug 26, 2020
    Want to know if the fridge fans made a difference? Big or little difference?
  • Bert_the_Welder's avatar
    Bert_the_Welder
    Explorer II
    Aug 25, 2020
    Wow. That looks amazing! I guess maybe the fans might due double duty shredding wasps trying to build nests in there.
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Aug 25, 2020
    I love Lake Powell.
    After June trip there with TC, now I am thinking about driving there with boat only and camp on my patio boat for few days.
    The 110F in June could not be survived without AC, although my fridge kept cool with no modifications.

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