Smart RV products / Frig Fix

[abc40kids]

Has anyone used this product to help move the air in the frig? I saw that Dometic makes a cheaper version of a fan that is supposed to move the air also. I need to do something, looked at adding a fan to the outside near the coil to help move the hot air out. Looking for ideas to help cool it down, the freezer works great... It's a Dometic frig, in a 2015 fifth wheel. Thanks

[BarneyS]

You can see what I use in this archived post of mine.
Barney

[Hudsoner]

Muddydogs wrote:
I put this one in my fridge,Ebay fridge fan , and didn't notice any improvement. Before the best my fridge would do was around 40 degrees, after the fan my fridge still runs about 40 degrees. I do have one small fan in the vent stack which I think I'm going to upgrade to a dual fan system and see if that helps.

I have a similar setup, but my fans are slightly angled against the fins and thus cover more fins. I have a definite improvement of the fridge cooling ability.

[mike-s]

Seems some commentators didn't bother to see what you were talking about before commenting, and assumed you were talking about external fans.

Wow. $150 for some fans? As others have said, the internal fans don't really help if the fridge isn't working right to begin with. They do make the internal temperature more consistent, and also help chill things faster because of the circulation. But $150??? I installed a $20 one from eBay. Works fine. $20 was worth not having to figure out mounting and wiring for computer fans. Has an on/off switch, I use it when starting up the reefer or after I put any warm stuff in, otherwise it's turned off to save battery. The $15 battery powered ones work, too, but take shelf space and require a supply of batteries.

If the fridge isn't cooling well, an external fan may help by moving more air through the coils.

[ramjleo]

We have used this fan for almost 6yrs ,in 2 different rvs .The rv had 2 different size frigs. The fan works really well easy to install

[WeBeFulltimers]

Hank MI wrote:
We had eggs freeze on the top shelf and warm drinks on the bottom. Bought a cheap fan to move the air inside the fridge. Uses 2 D cell batteries. It works, everything in the fridge at same temp and plenty cold. A permanently wired one would be nice but the little battery one works well.

Why didn't you move your eggs to the bottom and your drinks to the top? That's the way we have ours and it works fine.

[SCClockDr]

Muddydogs wrote:
I put this one in my fridge,Ebay fridge fan , and didn't notice any improvement. Before the best my fridge would do was around 40 degrees, after the fan my fridge still runs about 40 degrees. I do have one small fan in the vent stack which I think I'm going to upgrade to a dual fan system and see if that helps.

I used these Enermax UCMAA12A Magma T.B 120mm shift speed control Case Fan very quiet and minimum draw. I used this Ventamatic XXFIRESTAT 10-Amp Adjustable Thermostat with Firestat for Power Attic Ventilators mounted near the top fin assembly to control them.

[beemerphile1]

If you want to even the cooling thru out the refrigerator, it is a good product.

If you need to improve the cooling of the refrigerator, you probably need to fix the poor installation. The absorption refrigerators work well if they are installed correctly but many RV manufacturers do a terrible job of installing.

Read the installation manual for your refrigerator and then start examining the installation and taking measurements. Was it installed according to the refrigerator manufacturer's instructions?

[horton333]

Those 2 fans only covering a couple of fins is not going to be as effective as even one of those batter fans, you need to get air moving over lots of fins to help so they need to e farther away (at least)

[Muddydogs]

I put this one in my fridge,Ebay fridge fan , and didn't notice any improvement. Before the best my fridge would do was around 40 degrees, after the fan my fridge still runs about 40 degrees. I do have one small fan in the vent stack which I think I'm going to upgrade to a dual fan system and see if that helps.

[Hank_MI]

We had eggs freeze on the top shelf and warm drinks on the bottom. Bought a cheap fan to move the air inside the fridge. Uses 2 D cell batteries. It works, everything in the fridge at same temp and plenty cold. A permanently wired one would be nice but the little battery one works well.

[horton333]

Mine came factory equipped, from Dometic, with a single thermostatically controlled fan, probably 4" fan. Mounted at the top blowing out the external vent. I thought it looked rather useless with no baffle or anything, but it actually moves enough air out that even with the fridge in a slide it cooled pretty well - and this has been a very hot summer for this area. It's pretty much always on, use a manual switch for your installation and likely not much different.
The internal fans are likely even more important, I made mine from 3 1" USB (so 5 volts) fans from a laptop. They are mounted right on top of the fins and powered from the light wires, no issues with interference with an overstocked fridge like the battery powered units that sit on the self but I've heard lots of people say they work fine too.

[nineoaks2004]

I installed 2 fans to move the hot air outside, improved the reefer a lot.
Outside ambient temp has an effect on the cooling. I also installed a small thermostat in line with the 12V computer fans so at a cooler outside temp The fans do not run I also installed a switch inside to turn them off if the reefer is shut down.

[Bill_Satellite]

A fan inside your fridge is the least effective (but cheapest) from of getting better cooling. If your fridge is not cooling you need to find out the "actual" reason that you have a problem. Too much stuff inside preventing normal air circulation might be one. The shelving is open for a very specific reason! Many RV manufacturers did not properly install the fridge and the associated venting system. If there is too much air space behind the fridge, the fridge will not cool properly. That sounds contradictory but the reality is that the absorption fridge is not like any household fridge you might be familiar with. There are very specific parameters that must be met for the unit to work properly. You should list the fridge you have, the manufacturer and whether it is installed in a slide out or not. I suspect there is/was someone dealing with the same problems you are seeing.