Fans for fridge cooloing

[Chris_Hyde_Cheshire.]

I have seen a couple of posts that mention using pc fans to help cool the fridge, can anybody explain to me (hopefully in detail) what is required, how to do it and how effective this is please.

If need be I dont mind this being sent to my email address rather than via the forum.

Thanks,
Chris Ryan - Hyde, Cheshire.
2006 Cmax 1.8Tdci Style & 2006 Avondale Golden Mayfair 556/6

 

[Damian]

The fridges in carvans are absorbtion fridges and rely on a flow of air across the cooling coils and fins at the back of the fridge to work correctly.
All UK built vans have Northern European specfication fridges in them whch mean they are most effective between 8 degrees C and 30 degrees C.
Below 8 degrees the amount of air should be reduced and this is where Winter Covers come into play.
Above 30 degrees and extra cooling is required, either by removing the outer covers or fitting a fan system such that the fan is mounted below the lower cooling coil at the same angle as the coils and pointing upwards to speed the flow of air and heat generated by the fridge upwards and out of the top vent.

The fan can be fitted at the top of the rear of the fridge if there is room. but it is not quite as effective.

There is a ready made aftermarket fan kit available complete with temperature sensor so that it only comes on when required.

 

[oldievanner]

Look at www.caktanks.co.uk in the Fridges part of catalogue, they have just what you are looking for. I can recommend the double one if you have a 150ltr fridge/freezer, kept every thing really cold in France in the summer when temperature outside was 35C. If you google fridge cooling fans there is an article on how to fit it, if you are technically minded. It is the www.caktanks.com/news google reference.

 

[terry.birchntlworld.com]

The fridges in carvans are absorbtion fridges and rely on a flow of air across the cooling coils and fins at the back of the fridge to work correctly.
All UK built vans have Northern European specfication fridges in them whch mean they are most effective between 8 degrees C and 30 degrees C.
Below 8 degrees the amount of air should be reduced and this is where Winter Covers come into play.
Above 30 degrees and extra cooling is required, either by removing the outer covers or fitting a fan system such that the fan is mounted below the lower cooling coil at the same angle as the coils and pointing upwards to speed the flow of air and heat generated by the fridge upwards and out of the top vent.

The fan can be fitted at the top of the rear of the fridge if there is room. but it is not quite as effective.

There is a ready made aftermarket fan kit available complete with temperature sensor so that it only comes on when required.

We had fridge cooling problems in Spain a couple of years ago, so I got the local Dometic service man to fit the cooling fan, £47-00 job done I thought! On the next trip to Spain I noticed that although the temperature was in excess of 40c, the fan wasn't coming on. I borrowed some steps and removed the top vent and found that the temp sensing unit that was fitted to a pipe, was not doing anything, so I removed it and put a switch in the circuit. When I switched it on I noticed that the fan was blowing down instead of up. I changed the polarity over but the fan still blew down. I then realised that he had fitted the fan upside down, which he corrected on our return. The fridge was still more or less useless in very hot weather, so I fitted 2 computer fans in the top, so that they were sucking up and blowing the hot air out of the vent, and this as proved to be a be improvement.