Adding cooling fans to the back of the fridge

[Bamaman]

Refrigerator/freezers put out much more heat than I ever imagined. I replaced my OEM Atwood with a comparable Dometic unit after an accident. And all that heat was circulating all around the fridge--inside the cabinetry. First thing I did was to reconfigure the baffles on top of the coils to 45 degrees so the heat would go straight out the upper side vent rather than blow all over the fridge side walls, etc. So far, I'm good on hot days--able to keep ice cream in the freezer.

Note: My 8.5 cu. ft. Dometic is about an inch wider than the Atwood, and I had to cut a little insulation off the back of the fiberglass siding for the fan. No big deal.

[Mike&Maggie]

I did the same thing and also added two more fans at the base of the refer shelf. I then added 5 fans inside on the condenser coil. Refer now stays at 34 degrees on hot days

Details on the parts / photos of the install?

[ksbowman]

I added 2 fans to the inside cooling fins. Mine worked great on electric but, was lacking on gas. If this doesn't resolve it I may add one on the exterior to help. This is the first camper refrigerator that I've had a cooling problem on gas. Funny one time it seems to work well and the next not so well. Hooking up the inside fans was easy and I ran the wiring thru the drain hose.

[HOWITTRO]

Can you tell me if the fans run all the time or where you able to install a temperature sensor switch

[beaumark]

I upgraded original sensor to come on sooner and the kit for the two fans came with it’s own sensor.

[ksbowman]

Mine have a switch to turn on and off as needed. Mine works well on electric, it only struggles on gas. On electric it runs 34-36 regularly. On gas there are times it runs in the 30's and other times it will run as high as 43- 45 and that is the times I want to run the fans.

[Paul_Lori_Millie]

Yes, the upper vent.

May I ask why the upper vent, as opposed to the lower? Positive Pressure Ventilation (pushing air through) is easier and more efficient than Negative Pressure Ventilation (pulling air through). After 15 years fighting fire, PPV is much better than NPV.... But it seems like everyone puts them on the top. Just curious.

[nadkaw1957]

May I ask why the upper vent, as opposed to the lower? Positive Pressure Ventilation (pushing air through) is easier and more efficient than Negative Pressure Ventilation (pulling air through). After 15 years fighting fire, PPV is much better than NPV.... But it seems like everyone puts them on the top. Just curious.

The fans are actually located between the upper and lower vents in a "chimney" type of space. It's pulling air from the lower vent, but pushing it past the upper coils (where the heat is) and out the top vent. Unfortunately, the design (especially of the vent themselves) doesn't lend itself to great airflow.

[Roll With The Changes]

This is an awesome thread. Thanks Rob, for wanting to move it to reference. It will be a while before my to do list gets short enough that I can look at this.

[Paul_Lori_Millie]

The fans are actually located between the upper and lower vents in a "chimney" type of space. It's pulling air from the lower vent, but pushing it past the upper coils (where the heat is) and out the top vent. Unfortunately, the design (especially of the vent themselves) doesn't lend itself to great airflow.

Exactly my point - in order for negative pressure ventilation to occur, there has to be a sealing of the area around the fan, meaning nothing can get by without going through the fan. Damned near impossible. In Positive Pressure, it's not required to have that sealing, thus it does not impede air flow, only improves..... Just wondering, because I've seen it both ways. I'm going to start at the bottom (I'm short ) and if I have to go to the top, I will... I bought 5 of them for $20.