Fridge humming

[richp]

Hi,

Sounds like Oldcoot's idea is about what I did with a single fan. My noise level is down 90%.

And since I left the upper fan and thermo device in place, if I ever get in extreme conditions, it would be there to take the extra load.

On removing the thin plywood panel, my thought is that it ensures air moves all the way up to the cooling fins. Temporary removal to work on the stock fans is no big deal, but I'd replace it if I ever took it out to work on the upper fan.

The other thing I did was block off the large cavity above the top of the refer and the underside of the slide. I figured that it was a chamber that accumulated warm air, which made it that much harder for the adjacent fins to cool.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

[OldCoot]

My frig is not in a slide, but in the back wall and vents thru the roof.

[richp]

Hi,

I first installed an aftermarket fan of this type in a rear kitchen fiver, with the refer in a solid wall. In those years I was camping a lot in the desert, and I came to believe it helped a lot -- even though the heated air had a straight shot up and out.

FWIW.

Rich phillips

[SlowrideHD]

Well....now I feel a bit foolish. When I hooked my cooling fan to the RV battery bank of two deep cycle battery's to test it, my main battery switch had been switched to "OFF", probably a month ago. The batteries had drained down to the point the fan was barely turning (hence, no noise). I was watching how I was holding the lead wires on the battery posts more than looking at the fan.

Checking the battery condition with my voltmeter reminded me to check the disconnect switch and turn it back to "ON".

Took the fan back out again to run it off the batteries with full voltage and yes, it is a bit noisy although it does move a lot of air.

Back to square #1 it seems. Will investigate the quieter fans (if I can find that link).

[raspivey]

Originally Posted by Davidceder

Raspivey;

Can you post a link to the fans you purchased? It would be appreciated.

The link is in my post with the pictures...I probably could have made it easier to see. It's right above the pics.

Mine actually showed up at the house a few hours ago...I'll try to install them this weekend if the rain isn't bad. These are about 1.5" larger than the stock 92mm so the mounting will have to be played with, but it shouldn't be hard.

They also come with silicone fan mounts to dampen vibration that can be used instead of screws. I'll see if they're actually usable for this application or not.

[SlowrideHD]

I just ordered a pair of Cougar 120mm fans.
1200 rpm
60.4 cfm (each)
17.7 dba
Hydro-Dynamic bearing
300,000 hours

If they are as quiet as they say, I'll probably wire one to run all the time the fridge is on, maybe put the other on a toggle switch for increased cooling for when the heat load is high inside the fridge (like tossing a case of warm beer inside, ha-ha)

Will report on results soon.

[SlowrideHD]

So I'll try to show a couple pictures of the new fan install. I wired the fan on the left to the existing thermostat that is attached to the right side of the condenser fins. That fan will continue to function just as the original equipment fan did.
The fan on the right is wired through a simple toggle switch for manual operation. I fabbed up a bracket out of a piece of 1" x 1/8" steel and drilled holes for two mounting screws and the toggle switch. When I mounted the bracket I used 5 min epoxy between the bracket and the wood, plus the two wood screws. This fan switch will let me add additional cooling if and when I think it might be required.
Both fans are held in place to the original bracket support that supported the old fan. I used 5 min epoxy to glue the corner pads of the fan housing down to the bracket that held the original fan. The fans are very quiet.
I used the original power supply wire since it was already fused, and just pigtailed the switch wire and power to the thermostat to it.

[SlowrideHD]

fans and switch

[raspivey]

I haven't gotten around to putting mine in yet. I'm probably just going to run them both off of the thermostat though. Might get around to it this week sometime, lol.