ManTheVan
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Two on Tour can I confirm that the fans on the top vent extract hot air to the outside, not blow cool air onto them? Thanks also for the paste idea.
Fridge freezer performance in hot summer ambient conditions
- Thread starter Graham of Madrid
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MisterB
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- enough to know i shouldnt touch things i know nothing about ....
Yes
Two on Tour
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As MisterB says, Yes.
The fans are helping to draw greater volumes of colder air in at the bottom vent than would normally be the case, pulling that air over the finned condenser pipework at the top part of your fridge, taking heat from the condenser and then expel that heated air out of the top vent. The same air cycle goes on without the fans or the fans running, but with the fans running the throughput of colder air across the condenser is greatly increased.
jessthedog
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Theres a couple kits here .
www.homesteadcaravans.co.uk
Brunner Vento 12v Dual Fridge Fan - Homestead Caravans
Designed to be fitted just behind the top fridge vent to exhaust hot air | Turning speed of both fans is controlled electronically through a temperature sensor
DP+JAY
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I too have fitted fans but I wonder if the French,Spanish etc. vans have either different fridges or fans fitted as standard?
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Graham of Madrid
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I think it's all the same products with no variations in Europe. Can't be certain though.
The Brunner vento looks like a keen price. I'm looking for simplicity to install, not bothered about automating/programming/designing complexity for what should be something very simple. I'd be happy with an on/off switch
The Brunner vento looks like a keen price. I'm looking for simplicity to install, not bothered about automating/programming/designing complexity for what should be something very simple. I'd be happy with an on/off switch
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Graham of Madrid
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Removing fridge panels is OK for occasional probs but not a long term solution.
Clipgate
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Two 120mm computer cooling fans mounted in the top vent to extract as previously stated, Chinese 12v thermostat, clipped to the middle exchanger find, yesterday read 42oc. I set it to come on at 35oc. Total cost £16. Bit of fettling with a bracket to fit the fans.
Two on Tour
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There are four (CEN Standard) Climate Class ratings.
Fridges rated 'SN', and 'N' (which stands for Sub Normal, and Normal respectively) are designed and rated to work up to 32 degrees C.
Fridges marked 'ST', (which stands for Sub Tropical) are designed and rated to work up to 36 degrees C.
Those marked 'T' (which stands for Tropical) are designed and rated to work up to 43 degrees C.
Supposedly a correctly installed fridge Climate Class rated fridge can be relied upon to work satisfactorily up to the highest ambient temperature for which it is rated , ............................. yeah right.
The label on our fridge/freeer
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i was told that there are different variants of the same domectic fridge for Uk climate and hot climatesie. they can stand higher temperatures.. just looking for the document
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need to get me a T then because ours is crap, even with fansThere are four (CEN Standard) Climate Class ratings.
Fridges rated 'SN', and 'N' (which stands for Sub Normal, and Normal respectively) are designed and rated to work up to 32 degrees C.
Fridges marked 'ST', (which stands for Sub Tropical) are designed and rated to work up to 36 degrees C.
Those marked 'T' (which stands for Tropical) are designed and rated to work up to 43 degrees C.
Supposedly a correctly installed fridge Climate Class rated fridge can be relied upon to work satisfactorily up to the highest ambient temperature for which it is rated , ............................. yeah right.
The label on our fridge/freeer
View attachment 401353
MisterB
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I fitted the Brunner fans. They came mounted on a frame which made them easy to fit.
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I bought two 14cm quiet fans from Maplin, when they existed, and mounted them on simple metal straps from B&Q attached to the upper vent frame. Not the vent cover, because I just take that off to improve air flow if necessary!
pwilmo
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Hi there
Folks we will always have fridge problems in warmer weather, you can fan assist all you like because we expect our gas/ electric fridges to be more than they are capable of.
A Dometic engineer explained to me that they are only a glorified coolbox, if you need serious refridgeration you are going to need expensive compressor units.
So we all make do but come unstuck in warmer climates, thats the fun of m'homing.
Folks we will always have fridge problems in warmer weather, you can fan assist all you like because we expect our gas/ electric fridges to be more than they are capable of.
A Dometic engineer explained to me that they are only a glorified coolbox, if you need serious refridgeration you are going to need expensive compressor units.
So we all make do but come unstuck in warmer climates, thats the fun of m'homing.
When the condenser outlet (known as the liquid line) is hot it means not all of the refrigerant has condensed back into a liquid it will be a mix of vapour and liquid. As you can imagine this is really bad because it needs to be a liquid again fully so it can be evaporated again. By getting the heat away you're helping it work a bit more efficiently and use less gas, or in very high temperatures the performance might fall off so bad it defrosts.
Disclaimer: my knowledge is based on vapour compression systems and I know sod all about absorption but I bet it's very similar
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Graham of Madrid
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That's great ! How well does it work though ?
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Graham of Madrid
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Super ! How well does it work though ?
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Graham of Madrid
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Impressive, |I've seen that done before and it's good to keep the vent cover free. How well does it work though ?
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Graham of Madrid
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Graham of Madrid
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Sounds a great solution. I'm not gonna have the time to do this, I'll have to get something out of the box. How well does it work though ?
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You only have to put your hand in front to see that the temperature at the back of the fridge comes down almost instantly. And I notice because the rosé gets cooler!
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Also do not assume that turning up the fridge to full will make it cool better. Although it seems illogical there is an optimum setting on ours the knob at about 5 o'clock.
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I fitted 2x 8cm computer fans mounting them directly underneath the fins blowing air upwards through the hot fins.
It the same method as the fan kits recommended and supplied by Thetford for all their absorption fridges.
This method is more efficient and uses less 12v power to run.
By building a simple aluminium frame it is suspended by the 2 existing screws that hold the condenser fin unit in place so no new screws needed into the back of the fridge.
The fans are supported under the frame hanging by rubber fan mounting fixings to keep any vibration/noise to a minimum
Have not yet been able to access its performance but hope to find out if we are able to go to Spain later this year.
This method does require the fridge to be removed to access the back
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Lenny HB
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I hope it works after having to take the fridge out & all that work.
It would have Ben better to mount 2 x 120 mm fans in the top vent you would have got at least 4 times the airflow also those type of fans are more efficient sucking air out rather than blowing it.
It would have Ben better to mount 2 x 120 mm fans in the top vent you would have got at least 4 times the airflow also those type of fans are more efficient sucking air out rather than blowing it.
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I was quite surprised to find markings on the back of the fridge, roughly where I have mounted my fans labelled Fan 1 and Fan 2 ?. So I know for sure its where the manufacturer intends fans to be placed.
Can't understand why the manufacturers don't fit external ( and internal fans to circulate cold air ) when they know full well that they are needed in hot ambient temperatures.
Cost and reliability I suppose, but these fridges aren't cheap appliances to skimp on.
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2657
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I am not technically qualified to comment on the efficiency of the different fan positions but I am certainly qualified to comment on the simplicity of installation.
My 2 fans are attached by cable ties to the inside of the upper vent, obviously blowing out and thus sucking air over the cooling fins from below.
The electrical connection is even simpler, in the cupboard next to the fridge is a 12v power socket, I simply drilled a hole through the plywood divider and wired a cigarette lighter plug to the cable. I didn't bother with a control mechanism, or even a switch, simply plug in when needed and unplug when not.
It might seem a bit of a bodge but it is not unsightly, easy to do and more importantly it works.
I am going to ask a daft question, I have a Thetford T1090 fridge 12v only compressor. What temp should I expect in the freezer section ? And would providing better air circulation ( fans ) make it more effective? Currently Freezer section doesn’t get below -5%. If I turn the setting to their highest the fridge section freezes at the back so I don’t switch to move the half way.
I also switch it off when we are not staying in the van, should I be keeping it switched on (solar should help with power drain) ?
I also switch it off when we are not staying in the van, should I be keeping it switched on (solar should help with power drain) ?
In France the other year we had 40° outside and cold beer in the fridge.
Dometic 7550 series set at the 5 o’clock position and a 5” computer fan on the top vent.
Saves a little on gas as well we have found.
Also great for drying clothes in the awning in the colder months
Dometic 7550 series set at the 5 o’clock position and a 5” computer fan on the top vent.
Saves a little on gas as well we have found.
Also great for drying clothes in the awning in the colder months
First step would be install fans with an electronic temperature control. If that doesn't work check out my infamous fridge saga thread..
Our 3 way fridge saga
My story just might help someone with 3 way fridge trouble so here goes; We've had our motorhome 3 years now and the fridge was always ok even in Spain's high ambient temperatures, until suddenly about a year ago we were in Spain, temperatures were the usual high twenties and I noticed the...www.motorhomefun.co.uk
I made my own fridge fan controller and it works very well with only a tiny power standby usage, the posh controllers with a LED readout will use about 150ma continuously and even more when the relay pulls in.
Here's mine:
View attachment 401035
There's an on/off switch and 2 status LED's. The sensor is on a 1m long cable and it's just pushed into the fridge condenser fins, you can vary the on off setting by moving the sensor to the left or right in the fins. I can make you one at cost if you want, £5 plus postage.
Postage to Spain? And do you you just slot the box in the cavity behind the fridge?
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