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External fans for Norcold fridge

garyemunson
Explorer
Explorer
Gary Munson
10 hrs
In September we took a trip from Nevada to Florida. For most of the ride we encountered unseasonably hot weather. Kept having the problem of the freezer and fridge running warm (10 degrees freezer, 45 fridge). At night, with cooler air, the freezer would go to 0 and 35 for the fridge. Examining things, it became obvious that while driving, there just was not enough air circulating through the rear of the fridge area. I'd previously replaced the sensor for the original fans but the little computer size things just were not doing the job. And, yes, the recommended shrouding was in place. I decided to install more robust fans that will exhaust directly out of the rear compartment top vent. I found these on eBay for about $25. They are small automotive radiator fans. I found wiring them in series cut the speed down and made them very quiet and also reduced current draw to less than 4 amps. They still move a LOT of air. I used flat aluminum stock from Home Depot to make the support brackets. As the RV wall is plywood over foam, I Liquid Nailed a couple strips of 3/4" wood to the inside of the wall to provide something solid to screw the rails to. I'll probably have to wait until next summer to see how this will work but I'm optimistic!
24 REPLIES 24

CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Explorer III
2012Coleman wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
DRAFT......that is the natural air flow due to convection

The airflow (DRAFT) needs to be cooler air PULLED in thru lower vent and then exhausted out the top vent
This will PULL air up thru absorber tubes and then across condenser fins.

Nice idea on extra fans.....bit over kill on the amp draw....but YOU have it WRONG with the airflow.
Bottom to top NOT top trying to push air downward.


Sounds to me like this is what he is doing.

OP wrote:
I decided to install more robust fans that will exhaust directly out of the rear compartment top vent.
Read his second post.
2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob

2012Coleman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Old-Biscuit wrote:
DRAFT......that is the natural air flow due to convection

The airflow (DRAFT) needs to be cooler air PULLED in thru lower vent and then exhausted out the top vent
This will PULL air up thru absorber tubes and then across condenser fins.

Nice idea on extra fans.....bit over kill on the amp draw....but YOU have it WRONG with the airflow.
Bottom to top NOT top trying to push air downward.


Sounds to me like this is what he is doing.

OP wrote:
I decided to install more robust fans that will exhaust directly out of the rear compartment top vent.
Experience without good judgment is worthless; good judgment without experience is still good judgment!

2018 RAM 3500 Big Horn CTD
2018 Grand Design Reflection 303RLS

spoon059
Explorer II
Explorer II
Nice upgrade, those fans look substantial! We added a fan to the rear of our fridge last spring and it really made a substantial difference in hotter weather camping.

I agree with the others, its likely best to work with natural convection and pull the hot air up. Though I have to wonder if it is better to push the cool air across the fins, rather than pull the hot air...
2015 Ram CTD
2015 Jayco 29QBS

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
DRAFT......that is the natural air flow due to convection

The airflow (DRAFT) needs to be cooler air PULLED in thru lower vent and then exhausted out the top vent
This will PULL air up thru absorber tubes and then across condenser fins.

Nice idea on extra fans.....bit over kill on the amp draw....but YOU have it WRONG with the airflow.
Bottom to top NOT top trying to push air downward.
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

garyemunson
Explorer
Explorer
I think the idea for the air to go bottom to top is from the hope that convection will provide enough cooling alone. I really do not think that is going to happen with the big 4 door Norcolds. As the fins that get the hottest are at the top, I opted to try a downward flow first. Easy for me to switch later if necessary.

garyemunson
Explorer
Explorer
They are on the same snap disk sensor that controlled the original "computer" fans. They just did not do the job. Generally they do not come on unless we are driving down the road so the engine provides the power. If we are going to be parked somewhere it's so hot it would trigger the fans, we'll be somewhere with hookups so we can run the AC for us. We generally restrict our dry camping to the spring and fall as we are not fans of having to run a generator to be comfortable. I think vehicle motion interferes with air being able to circulate into the vents. Do they even make 10" computer fans? The two "frame" bars are 26". Enough to span the opening with enough extra to reach the 3/4" wood strips I liquid nailed to the inside surface of the exterior wall (nothing in it but foam to attach to).

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Explorer II
nice but your amp draw is high, get some computer fans, two of them hardly draw a amp.

CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Explorer III
garyemunson wrote:
I ended up with the fans intaking at the top and blowing the hot air out the bottom. I can reverse this if I find it's not working next summer.
Fans I used..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-10-inch-Universal-Slim-Fan-Push-Pull-Electric-Radiator-Cooling-12V-Mount-Kit/151521113218?epid=502641911&hash=item23475cb482:g:Ho0AAOSwuMFUlG0W:rk:7:pf:0&vxp=mtr
Thanks for the fan link. Since the refer design is for hot air to rise I would want the fans to exhaust at the top.

I plan to add snap disk to automatically run the fans when the temperature rises. Maybe on at 130F and off at 110F. And a switch inside.

Since the refer uses 12V it should be easy to to connect the fans.
2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob

2012Coleman
Explorer II
Explorer II
I really need to do something similar. My hurdle will be where to get power. Thanks for the link - I'll look into these fans.

Can you post the dimensions of the frame?
Experience without good judgment is worthless; good judgment without experience is still good judgment!

2018 RAM 3500 Big Horn CTD
2018 Grand Design Reflection 303RLS

garyemunson
Explorer
Explorer
I ended up with the fans intaking at the top and blowing the hot air out the bottom. I can reverse this if I find it's not working next summer.
Fans I used..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-10-inch-Universal-Slim-Fan-Push-Pull-Electric-Radiator-Cooling-12V-Mount-Kit/151521113218?epid=502641911&hash=item23475cb482:g:Ho0AAOSwuMFUlG0W:rk:7:pf:0&vxp=mtr