Refrigerator Circulator Fan

[Kountryguy]

I have a two fan unit that is wired to the positive side of the light and clips to the fins of the refrigerator. Does anyone know where I can purchase a replacement unit?

[Kountryguy]

Yes, on all the time.

[Bags4266]

Slightly confused. I’m always complaining on the temp in the fridge. If the fans are connected to the light source then they are continually on?

[landyacht318]

My compressor fridge is small, 1.8 cubic feet. It has the evaporator plate bent into an oblong shape to form the freezer portion.

I aim my Sunon fan so that it blows air into it. It used to have a flap for the freezer door but I removed that. When i open the door it is basically pushing ambient air into the freezer. Unideal. I intended to play with location and test results, but have not bothered in the nearly 6 years I;ve been using this fridge

In the pics above, with fan s pushing air across a tiny percentage of the fins, that also seems less than ideal and a fan circulating air across more of those fins would seem to be better, but any airmovement inside is going to help the fins suck heat from the items within.

the 40mm Noctua draws 0.05 amps, that is the same as the 1500rpm 120mm nf-f12 which moves 6x more air for the same amperage consumed.

My 0.03a 40mm Sunon maglev fan does not seem to be available anymore, but it was the lowest amp draw fan I could find in 2012

[wopachop]

For ultimate performance what circulation of airflow would be best?

Do you want a fan blowing down a couple fins horizontally?

Looking at the fridge i was going for a circular clockwise air flow. Fan blows down on the right side. Thought it might reduce loss when the door is open. I would like a switch that kills the fan when open. Might not matter since the fan will spin for a good couple seconds after it powers down.

[dpgllg]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The first url is invalid, and the other is not visible to me unless I do a quote.

This looks better:

https://rvcoolingunit.com/Norcold-Evaporator-Fan-Greater-inside-Cooling-Custom-Deluxe-wGrill-P323995...

I was also interested in getting one of these fans but the plain jane model with no lights is no longer available. you have to purchase a "deluxe" model at $75.00 now. The no frill models are still listed and cost only $25 but all are out of stock.
A HUGE jump in price just for LED lights.


I am now looking to build my own with some CPU fans. No way I'm paying $50 more just for LED lights.

Dave

[bob213]

Yes that's the site. Corrected mine but they are still out of stock.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

The first url is invalid, and the other is not visible to me unless I do a quote.

This looks better:

https://rvcoolingunit.com/Norcold-Evaporator-Fan-Greater-inside-Cooling-Custom-Deluxe-wGrill-P323995...

[bob213]

I'm looking for a new one as well. Last one was made by "deforce" mentioned above. It was an HDD computer fan with an on/off switch that grounded to the fins and got power from the light bulb wire connection thru a piggyback blade connector. He's out but plans on having them back soon.here is where he will list them. If I can't wait I may just copy my old one and make it myself.
I'll probably use this...
cooling fan

[wopachop]

Ive been trying out a little 40mm Noctua fan. Learned about this brand from LY in a diff thread. Amazon has a good supply of many sizes even with prime. I believe it was under $20.

https://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a4x20-pwm

[Kountryguy]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Now all I have to do is decide which way to go. Probably build my own is the best way to go.

[landyacht318]

Muffin fans can be super cheap with sleeve bearings, and these do not like fridge temperatures very much and will not last very long, as you have found out.

But much better muffin fans are available.

Shop around here, look a the specs:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g36/c15/s673/list/p1.html?id=YVLuABVA

The Fan does not need to move huge volumes of air, and the more powerful the fan the more heat it generates, increaseing the load on the fridge.

If that were my fridge i would determine the fan size and then look for another fan with dual ball bearing and a very low amp draw.

I have a compressor fridge, which I put a 40x15Mm fan inside. It is a Sunon Maglev fan which draws 0.03 amps and only moves some 6.3cfm.

Huge difference in fridge temps and I can use need to use a lower t stat setting, or things freeze. 2.5 of 7 is 32.5f, and much above that and things start to freeze.

without the fan and I require a setting of 4 of 7 and the temperature inside varies from 28.5 to 44f according to my IR temp gun searching for highest and lowest.

With fan and that range is only 2f.

A 70f beer can is 31f in about 3.5 hours.

Chkfweeep gurgle gurgle gurgle, ahhhhhh.

[kevden]

I tried a few different ones from ebay, not sure what type of bearings they had, but none lasted more than a season or two. Now i have a computer cooling fan (120mm size) from amazon tapped into the light for 12v and I re-used the alligator clip from the old fan for ground. Purchased a protector grill seperately as well. It is on its 3rd or 4th season of continuous use. I zip tied it to the top rack.

[pianotuna]

SidecarFlip,

May I ask for a link?

[SidecarFlip]

Just ordered a pair of muffin fans 80mm and I'm about to make my own. Total cost was 15 bucks.

[TenOC]

I found out the on eBay they sell 2 different type of fan units. One for full timers with ball bearings (?) and the other for part timers with shorter life bearings.

Email the seller to see which one