Dometic Refrigerator Noisy Fan

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by rburns4147

I cut the connector off the old fan, then wired both new fans to the old connector with solder and shrink wrap tubing. .

I'd love to see how and where you mounted yours. I have the fans and hope to finally install tomorrow. Got any pics?

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[Ramblin Recks]

Originally Posted by Nortie16

We had our new trailer out for the first extended trip last week and I certainly noticed that noisy (high pitched whirring sound) that others have mentioned here. It did stop at those times when the outside air temperature was lower and, I'm assuming, when the fan could shut off.

Is this noise caused by the fan causing the metal housing bracket to vibrate?

Sounds like others have developed some great fixes for this issue. A bit of advice on this would really be appreciated.

My fridge is in the slide, and I have two (a lower and an upper) exterior vent cover. When I take off the upper cover, there's a kind of shroud made of two pieces of thin panelling. If I look over top of this I can just see the fan. I've attached a picture of what I see when I take off the vent cover. The top piece of panelling is just attached to the bottom piece with three screws. I can remove that piece easily, however it would be still be a challenge with the bottom piece in place to get my hands/tools inside to do what is needed.

Where is this bottom piece attached and is there a way to remove it, or will I need to work within that opening (five inches or so)?

Thanks!Attachment 54652

I used a razor knife to cut the paneling out. I disconnected the old fan and replaced it with 2 quiet high flow fans. Then I used some roofing flashing to make a baffle at the top the refer to help "funnel" the air flow out the vent. Huge improvement for little effort and $$..

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by Ramblin Recks

Then I used some roofing flashing to make a baffle at the top the refer to help "funnel" the air flow out the vent.

That's exactly what I intended. Thanks.

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[onetonford]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I'd love to see how and where you mounted yours. I have the fans and hope to finally install tomorrow. Got any pics?

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This is how I put mine looking down from top cover because my refrigerator is mounted in the slide it was too hard to go from the top so I ended up removing refrigerator six screws and the gas and electric lines and it slides right out then was easy to get to.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

That's exactly what I intended. Thanks.

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Make sure you get some pics as you do it. I have been waiting to see how yours turned out before starting on mine as I am technologicly challenged

[dcheatwood]

OK. Got them installed this morning. Took about 4 hours but there was a lot of head scratching and problem solving (thinking) time involved.

First I lowered the wood panel for better access to the top vent behind frig on back of slide out.


Then removed old fan and thermistor.


Checked connections with voltmeter and found that fuse was burnt just at the positive terminal in lower vent. Direct connection showed fan does work so decided to use it still in a new location.

Next, screwed a small lightweight board approx 3/4" X 1.5" and 15" long to the holes where the original fan was fixed. Used this as a mounting base for all three fans.
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Mounted original fan in center with original hookup including thermistor.
Direct wired two new fans to pos & neg with a switch in lower area. I can turn these on as needed on HOT days or when no shade available.



Picture showing difference in size - new and old fans.


Here's where the head scratching started. All three fans blow downward. I tried wiring them backwards and they will not run at all. Only +to+ and -to-. They are mounted upright. If I turn them over, the bearing area is exposed to weather more. There is a shroud type cover in the center of each fan that seems to indicate up and down. Why won't they run backwards when wired backwards? At this time, a huge storm blew in with nearby lightening, and I dismounted my ladder olympic style. Will think more on this issue as oright now, all three fans are blowing downward and that is not what I want. Hope someone has some advice.

Here's a close up of the board mounted.

[dcheatwood]

Checked temps behind frig with touchless thermometer. Boiler ? Right side is 125° and tank on lower left is 115°. 10° difference doesn't seem bad.
But frug is 45° and freezer is 10°.
I think tomorrow I'll move 2 new fans down to blow on lower fins and leave original on top fins. Also gonna trim out the wood panel in top vent. It blocks 60-70% of vent openings. Not sure why.

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[dcheatwood]

Wow! Put thermometer in freezer over night. -2° this morning. Gonna put it back in frig and check bit again.

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[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Checked temps behind frig with touchless thermometer. Boiler ? Right side is 125° and tank on lower left is 115°. 10° difference doesn't seem bad.
But frug is 45° and freezer is 10°.
I think tomorrow I'll move 2 new fans down to blow on lower fins and leave original on top fins. Also gonna trim out the wood panel in top vent. It blocks 60-70% of vent openings. Not sure why.

Might want to get some alum flashing and fashion a curved deflector at the top to get the air movement a little better. I found mounting the fans down low, just above the burner, cools the entire back a lot better than trying to pull the air up and out the vent.

[dcheatwood]

I just went out to look at that very option. Seems like no where to mount the fans low.

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[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I just went out to look at that very option. Seems like no where to mount the fans low.

Mine is a Norcold.

[dcheatwood]

Thanks OC. I'm still looking for mounting space. Yours looks adequate in that space. I have to find the space.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Thanks OC. I'm still looking for mounting space. Yours looks adequate in that space. I have to find the space.

I have seen OC's posts on low mount before and immediately when out and looked at mine. There is no where down low to mount them on the 1350

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by RickV

I have seen OC's posts on low mount before and immediately when out and looked at mine. There is no where down low to mount them on the 1350

How about a picture?

[OKI Marine]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

My frig fan was loud also. I took top outside vent out and looked in and fan stopped. Guess it burnt out or cooled down enough to turn off. Have not heard it since. 11 months now.
Update: Not cooling well in firg. Freezer is -2 degrees and frig is 45. Installed two more fans in top to pull air thru but did not help frig. Trying to find a locatio to mount the new fans lower to blow from bottom up.

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Are you using fans with a high CFM. I had problems last year while on vacation in our fifthwheel. I couldn't get the refrigerator temp below 61 degrees. Had to keep food in coolers. When I got home, I pulled the Dometic refrigerator out and discovered that there were no fans at all. I ordered 5 High CFM fans, wire cables, AC/DC converter 2amp, switch, and power hub strip from Coolerguys.com, (about $100 invested). I made brackets from Aluminum angle iron purchased from Lowes. Three fans at top of vent shaft and two fans between coils on rear of the refrigerator. Placed a strip of two sided thick foam like tape on the rear bracket to obsorb any vibration of it next to the unit. The rear bracket is not held only by the foam like tape. The ends of the bracket are bolted to the refrigerator. When we get to our site I flip the switch to turn them on and it stays on until we break camp. Stays around 34 degrees in the hot heat. These fans also help it to cool down a lot quicker. Good luck with your set up. My fans are blue LED fans also. I can peek up through from the outside and see them running.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

How about a picture?

Sorry about the small size but I uploaded them to forum and they got shrunk down you can open the album and see bigger pics. http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...lbums1910.html

Here it is:


Tried to get one looking in and up:


What about mounting a 90 Degree bracket to this:

[OldCoot]

RickV, just above the horizontal black tube.

[dcheatwood]

Well. I just cut out top panel to allow for more air exit and placed a piece of roof flashing above it all. Frig at 42 this morning. Has come down to 38 in past 20 minutes. Watching.

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[dcheatwood]

Still can't get frig temp below 40°, even with 3 fans on. So this morning I direct wired elected heating element as described in video I watched. Hoping.

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[Freds342]

Dometic recommends that any vent fans be installed well above the burner in the vent, not below the burner or any other place in the compartment.

They also have stated, on other forums, that proper installation design doesn't require fans. (I guess they didn't expect reefers in slides!)