10 replies to this topic

[Rollrs45]

The new 5'er has a Norcold refrigerator and the old Roo-ster had a Dometic. The first thing I noticed is it seems the Norcold took 3x as long to get cold. I researched those fans you mount behind the fridge that blows across the fins. I bought one the other day and mounted it inside the fridge ventilation stack. I mounted the on/off switch in the cabinet wall that surrounds the fridge. The fan came with a thermostat that is suppose to kick on at a certain temperature. I bypassed the thermostat and straight wired it. The switch is lighted so I'll remember to shut it off when the trailer is stored.

Anyone have one of these fans and have they been successful? It claims the fridge will stay 40% cooler on hot days. I have a second fan I'm thinking of mounting at the top of the vent cover near the roof. I'm also thinking of buying the battery powered fan that sits inside the fridge and circulates the air inside.

Let me hear from you!

Mike

[dreamtimers]

Rollrs45, on Jun 19 2009, 07:57 PM, said:

The new 5'er has a Norcold refrigerator and the old Roo-ster had a Dometic. The first thing I noticed is it seems the Norcold took 3x as long to get cold. I researched those fans you mount behind the fridge that blows across the fins. I bought one the other day and mounted it inside the fridge ventilation stack. I mounted the on/off switch in the cabinet wall that surrounds the fridge. The fan came with a thermostat that is suppose to kick on at a certain temperature. I bypassed the thermostat and straight wired it. The switch is lighted so I'll remember to shut it off when the trailer is stored.

Anyone have one of these fans and have they been successful? It claims the fridge will stay 40% cooler on hot days. I have a second fan I'm thinking of mounting at the top of the vent cover near the roof. I'm also thinking of buying the battery powered fan that sits inside the fridge and circulates the air inside.

Let me hear form you!

Mike

Hi mike. I've been thinking of a vent fan myself. I spoke with several service techs about them. They said many of the big class. A. Units have them and the owners like them. It's a cheap mod, so I thought I'd try it. I've had the internal fan for a while and I think it helps. Best of luck with yours.
Dave

[Crawfish]

Mike, I have been down here at Topsail for 10 days now and every day has seemed to be hotter than the last. The frig has been struggling the whole time. I also have been thinking about this mod and plan on putting one in when we get back home. I will post the results after the test run.


Leon

[Rollrs45]

Crawfish, on Jun 20 2009, 10:32 AM, said:

Mike, I have been down here at Topsail for 10 days now and every day has seemed to be hotter than the last. The frig has been struggling the whole time. I also have been thinking about this mod and plan on putting one in when we get back home. I will post the results after the test run.


Leon

We'll be heading to Myrtle for a week starting this coming Thursday. The fan is already installed so I guess I'll have my own input when I get back. Marcy has to take her computer and do some work while we're there so I'll let you know how things are looking.

Mike

[Rollrs45]

Leon,

Just wanted to let you know the fan performed flawlessly. The temperature the first day was hovering around 100 degrees and after that it fluctuated between 95 - 97. I added one of those cheap battery powered fans inside the fridge that's supposed to keep the air inside circulating. Everything stayed ice cold and Marcy had the fridge packed.

So, I recommend this mod to anyone. It's cheap and seemed to really be worth the effort.

Mike

[Crawfish]

Thanks for the report Mike. Do you remember the name of the one you bought? The last time I checked at Camping World they had two different types. I plan on taking care of this in the near future.


Leon

[Wolfpackers]

Glad the fan solved your problem...warm beer sucks. Don't think I need the fan as I have a hard time keeping the fridge above freezing !! I have the little slider thing all the way towards warm and it stays 32-38 degrees. Guess it's good to have somthing that doesn't need fixin'.

Brent

[dreamtimers]

Crawfish, on Jul 2 2009, 09:46 PM, said:

Thanks for the report Mike. Do you remember the name of the one you bought? The last time I checked at Camping World they had two different types. I plan on taking care of this in the near future.


Leon

Hey Leon, we've been using the gray one with the cage blower from CW since 05. It has worked very well and the batt. last for a long time.
Has anyone tried the fans that install behind the fridge to move the air out the vent? I plan to try one when I have time to install it.
Dave

[Rollrs45]

dreamtimers, on Jul 3 2009, 12:08 PM, said:

Hey Leon, we've been using the gray one with the cage blower from CW since 05. It has worked very well and the batt. last for a long time.
Has anyone tried the fans that install behind the fridge to move the air out the vent? I plan to try one when I have time to install it.
Dave

The behind the fridge fan is what I installed....... great little device.

Leon..... The fan I purchased was made by Valtera. It's a cheap looking little thing but, combined with the battery powered internal fan, they seemed to do the trick.

Valtera

However, when I was at Camping World they sold a model that had a little solar panel. I thought it was pretty cool and wished I had seen it before installing a hard wired version.

Solar fan

They also make a device that replaces the top vent cover. It has a built in fan and a solar panel as well. They sell it at Wal-Mart. I may replace the little fan with one of these gizmos........

Solar Roof Vent

Mike

[Crawfish]

Thanks Mike. I read some reviews on the solar powered model. They say they would rather have the hard wired model because the solar one does not turn fast enough unless it is in full sun.


Leon

[Rollrs45]

Crawfish, on Jul 3 2009, 10:02 PM, said:

Thanks Mike. I read some reviews on the solar powered model. They say they would rather have the hard wired model because the solar one does not turn fast enough unless it is in full sun.


Leon

Good point. I wondered how effective the fan I installed would be considering it's size. I actually got two fans when I made the purchase and was initially going to install them both. However, I waited to see how the single fan did before I installed the second. Now I have a back-up if the other goes out.

Mike