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Old 04-15-2017, 02:25 PM   #1
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Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: SE Michigan
Posts: 2,024
Dometic 2 way side vent upgrade

I have a Dometic 2 way my unit. It's a side vent, which is a typical side out mount.

Back in the day, they were vented though the roof which caused a natural thermal draft to occur, pulling in cooler air through the bottom access vent and exhausting it through the roof...a chimney effect that works pretty well.

When you install a 2way in a slide, the, the natural draft effect is lost because of the close proximity of the lower and upper vents so the builder install a muffin fan (computer fan to help the airflow.

I found out last year that the one wasn;t enough so this year I ordered 2 120mm high flow 12 volt muffin fans fro E-bay and removed the very cheap and noisy Dometic fan (cheapo) and replace it with 2 high velocity fans.

While I had the upper cover off (and the lower), I noticed an acute lack of insulation around the fridge so I went to Lowes and bought a roll of R13 unfaced insulation and proceeded to add a lot. Now the fridge is 'embalmed' in insulatin.

I also added a sheet metal deflector plate above the condenser to direct the heated air towards the fans.

Did it make a difference, sure did.

It's 75 here today and my unit is sitting with the fridge on the sunny side of the camper.

I started the fridge this morning at 11am and at 2pm, interior temp was sitting at 43. The ambient temp in the unit (I'm not running the ac) was 78.inside.

Last year I had trouble keeping the fridge below 50 on a hot day, especially if the sun was on the fridge side, and, I had to start the unit at least a day prior to putting in pre cooled food.

I believe now it will actually chill my adult beverages

I do believe my issues are over.

Pretty easy and cheap mod really. 2 ball bearing 120mm case fans were 27 bucks delivered, a roll of butyl tape )to seal the vent was 9 bucks. Some miscellaneous wire and crimps...nothing. Used the existing fan mounts but you might have to get creative on yours.

The fans need to be directly in line with the evaporator for the best airflow.

I used the existing fan thermostat that Dometic installs in the evaporator to run it's fan.

The 2 ball bearing fans are quieter than the cheapo Dometic single fan and move 3 times the air.
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