17 HW296 Fridge Heat

[Larryd]

Just got new to me 2017 HW 296 when my fridge is running either on electric or gas my counter top gets extremely hot.Checked outside fridge vents a lot of heat coming from top vent no blockage or obstruction under vents is this normal or is there a issue????

[IonicBrick]

That’s totally normal. These RV fridges don’t work like your house one. It’s heating the ammonia inside to pull the heat out of the interior of the fridge. It does it will a small flame or by an electric heating element.

[pgandw]

The counter should not be getting hot. In my A-frame, the wood cabinetry was actually getting too hot to touch. It was hot enough that I considered it a fire hazard. The hot air should be exhausting out the upper fridge vent on the outside.

The cause is a combination of pitiful vent design by Dometic (which won't pass gas in hurricane), and improper fridge installation by the Forest River assembly line. If you read Dometic's installation instructions for your model fridge (download from Dometic) you will see that the space above and beside the fridge box is supposed to be sealed off from the behind the fridge compartment, and the space should be insulated.

In my A-frame, I used Reflectix (foil-faced thin insulation that cuts with scissors) to seal off the fridge compartment from the cabinets on either side and above. I curved the Reflectix sections to guide the air from the cooling coils into the upper vent.

My fridge worked a lot better, but I would still occasionally get little heat out the vent, and the adjacent cabinets were getting hot. Following in the footsteps of others, I tie-wrapped a computer case fan to the exhaust vent to blow the hot air out. This really worked well, and the fridge will cool in any weather, at a much lower setting. And no more hot cabinetry and contents.

just my experiences
Fred W
2014 Rockwood A122 A-frame

[IonicBrick]

I missed the “extremely hot” part. My countertop gets warm, not really hot... Mine has a rounded off metal sort of duct above my fridge when looking through the vent on the outside. Maybe take you upper vent off and take a peek at what’s above the fridge?

[michigan_camper]

Mine is a 2017 hw296 and my counter gets warm but not hot. Some in this forum have talked about installing a little fan to boost the air flow, but I haven't felt like mine needed it.
Knowing what we do about the shoddy assembly of these units, it's possible yours is missing some insulation or a reflector barrier as mentioned above. I haven't looked in mine.

Might have to do with ambient temps too. Im in Michigan, and it usually isn't as hot as it is in the south or west. I always pick shady spots!

[HONDAMAN174]

On my 277 the counter used to get hot. I installed a fan to suck in down low and one to blow out up top and greatly helped

[deano55]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

On my 277 the counter used to get hot. I installed a fan to suck in down low and one to blow out up top and greatly helped

Please share pics of your fan install.

[HONDAMAN174]

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pics at the time and I have since traded it. But the instructions are pretty easy.

2 120mm fans
4 1” 90 degree brackets from Lowe’s or Hd
2 wire thermostat wire.

Attach 2 brackets to each fan. Make sure you know which way fan is blowing.

Screw brackets into wood in both openings- usually the top of both.

Use thermostat wire to insert into fan plug and then into 12v at back of fridge. I prefer where 12v comes in vs connecting to circuit board.

[Itwrx]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pics at the time and I have since traded it. But the instructions are pretty easy.

2 120mm fans
4 1” 90 degree brackets from Lowe’s or Hd
2 wire thermostat wire.

Attach 2 brackets to each fan. Make sure you know which way fan is blowing.

Screw brackets into wood in both openings- usually the top of both.

Use thermostat wire to insert into fan plug and then into 12v at back of fridge. I prefer where 12v comes in vs connecting to circuit board.

What was the end result with the fan mod? Did your fridge cool faster or better? How was the noise level? Was it just to keep heat down on the counter?
Thanks.

[HONDAMAN174]

Noise wise barley noticeable. Where we live it can get to 115 so when it’s sitting outside would take a long time to cool fridge down. The airflow helped it cool faster and a little colder. And the counter/cabinet didn’t feel like a hot box

[Itwrx]

Originally Posted by HONDAMAN174

Noise wise barley noticeable. Where we live it can get to 115 so when it’s sitting outside would take a long time to cool fridge down. The airflow helped it cool faster and a little colder. And the counter/cabinet didn’t feel like a hot box

Has anyone done this in a cooler area? Where we live 100-103 tops. I wonder if it would still be effective in cooling faster?

[michigan_camper]

I said mine doesn't get hot, but we are camping now, and it is a little warm. I took the panel off outside and there is insulation between the hot coil and the refrigerated section, but above the coil, there is just a piece of metal bent to direct air flow out the vent. There is a gap between that metal sheet and the counter above it. I think I'm going to put insulation in that gap. There isn't any insulation on the sidewalls either, although I don't know if that would matter much.
Being in Michigan, we don't experience 100+ degree days very often, but if I was in a hotter climate I might consider the fan mod.