Fridge-Fix by Smart RV Products - has anyone installed?

[bobjogone]

Has anyone installed one of these - article in Trailer Life October 2014?
Does it work and did it help with frost buildup.

Thanks

[rekoj71]

when I pulled my light apart I found one wire was always hot, and the other wire went to the switch to provide a ground for the light when the door was open. The fins are also a ground so My computer fan is just always on.

[Gunpilot77]

SCVJeff wrote:
Its mounted to the ceiling with double stick tape and powered through the light, so when the door opens the fan shuts off.

I just removed mine from the old RV and tried to install it in the new one. It has a Norcold frig. For the life of me I can't get it to work with the door closed. I also can't find the instructions from when I bought it years ago. Would you refresh my memory about where the wire attaches to the light?

[toddb]

sorry I didn't have any issues but here they are:


approx 6* temp drop at the bottom of the fridge.

[shooted]

toddb wrote:
I built this for my 16yr old fridge. The overnight lows were pretty close during both tests, around 87*. The data recorder was placed on the first shelf up. I'm very happy with it, but I think a smaller fan would suffice, I'll make another with a 100mm fan and see how that goes this spring.
photo and test results

Hi toddb,

Your link prompts a sign in request.

[BarneyS]

I use an old computer fan installed right above the light switch.


Also have one of these installed in the outside compartment blowing up over the coils.


Our fridge is over 11 years old and has worked flawlessly since day one. It stays cold even in 90Deg temps and with the sun on the fridge side. I think at least part of that longevity and performance is due to the fans.
Barney

[toddb]

I built this for my 16yr old fridge. The overnight lows were pretty close during both tests, around 87*. The data recorder was placed on the first shelf up. I'm very happy with it, but I think a smaller fan would suffice, I'll make another with a 100mm fan and see how that goes this spring.
photo and test results

[jcthorne]

I bought one and for the price it was a PIA to install. Took a good deal of fabrication to get the thing to fit and they way they use the cooling fins for part of the electrical circuit does not work well. On mine, not at all. Overall, for $100 for 2 computer fans in a 'custom' enclosure it should have fit perfectly without any reworking.

Not impressed. And the fans are not very quiet. I can hear them in the living room with the fridge door closed.

[SCVJeff]

Yep, it's a DC fan with blade guards on both sides. It's nice to have All Electronics on the way to work

[Dutch_12078]

RTBabich wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
...The "Fridge Fix" is an expensive solution that can be done just as well with a couple of these fridge fan units for much less cost. ...

Those fridge fan units on ebay are $13. If you are handy, have some wire and a small switch they are 3.5" HDD cooling fans that are available for under $5. That's why all the mounting holes along the edges. Been using them for years on my desktop PC drives. Not sure what the switch is really needed for. Tap power off the control panel ON switch and it would be on whenever the fridge is.
Jeff's fan looks like a standard CPU fan.

I agree it's cheaper to make your own, but I posted the link for those that would rather not spend the time sourcing the fans, alligator clips, etc., as I did. I don't see any need for the switch either. My hot wire is dropped down through the drain tube, and tapped into the igniter board wiring.

[Oldme]

I used an old computer power supply
fan and wired it to the 12v on the board.
Ran to wires from the fan to the board thru the
drain tube (small hole).

Mounted it inside to blow on the fins in the
main refrigerator part.

Been there for a year and working good.
These fans use very little current.
You could wire in a switch if you wanted.

There were a number of hits on the web search when
I was seeing how other did the same-thing.

[RTBabich]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
...The "Fridge Fix" is an expensive solution that can be done just as well with a couple of these fridge fan units for much less cost. ...

Those fridge fan units on ebay are $13. If you are handy, have some wire and a small switch they are 3.5" HDD cooling fans that are available for under $5. That's why all the mounting holes along the edges. Been using them for years on my desktop PC drives. Not sure what the switch is really needed for. Tap power off the control panel ON switch and it would be on whenever the fridge is.
Jeff's fan looks like a standard CPU fan.

[SCVJeff]

Gjac wrote:
I like your solution Jeff, how did you mount the fan to the roof of the reefer or to the fins itself? Did you try different locations along the fins before you settled on placing it in the middle of the fins?

Its mounted to the ceiling with double stick tape and powered through the light, so when the door opens the fan shuts off.

I didn't do any placement experiments with this one, but started out with one of those point focused fans from ebay and quickly figured out it wasn't working with the entire fin assembly. That became obvious when the only place the fins didn't ice up were around the fan. This one draws in on the left and exits on the right where the fins are the coldest, and essentially rotates the air clockwise around the fridge. I went from a setting of 6-7, down to 3-4

[Gjac]

I like your solution Jeff, how did you mount the fan to the roof of the reefer or to the fins itself? Did you try different locations along the fins before you settled on placing it in the middle of the fins?

[SCVJeff]

All you need is to move air, not clamp extra stuff to an already inefficient fin. Most of these solutions spot focus cooling only on a few fins. This fan blows left to right and essentually takes no space since its up and behind the light. All it does is move air in a circular pattern around the box.

[Sandia_Man]

Although this version is aesthetically more pleasing the economic version Dutch alluded to provides similar attributes. I viewed the article as well and thought someone sure is making a bundle of money for a few dollars of parts. Nothing wrong at all with that but I have used the less costly version for years and it has performed flawlessly keeping our fridge equally cool throughout and dramatically reducing temp recovery time from constant door opening.

We have camped in very hot weather numerous times and have not seen any frost buildup since installing the dual fridge fans. Either version is a must have for RV fridges in general. Many complain about the cooling effectiveness of their Dometics and Norcolds, adding these devices go along way in stabilizing interior fridge temps and eliminating frost buildup under any type of camping weather.