Refrigerator vent fan placement ?’s

[Stevej3658]

So the 1st picture is the back side, or inside of my refrigerator vent cover. The second and third pictures are the vent fan I purchased to hopefully help with my refrigerator to start acting more like a refrigerator I got a few questions here. Should the air be blowing in ( I think that’s correct) or out ? As you can see regardless of which position I place the fan only one section of the vent is going to be providing air. Those of you who have installed them, where did you tap into your 12v power from ? Do I have to run it all the way back to the main fuses panel ? I know this is alot of questions but any assist is more than appreciated

[jeff64]

You see at the left, there is a tag, right below it is a terminal block for 12 vdc. My thoughts were since heat rises, pull the air in and go with the flow if you are mounting to the grill. That's why they tell you to make the connection and turn it on so you know what direction the air moves. I had to reorient the tabs and brackets from their original positions . so my Pic is opposite yours but correct for my desired air flow

[Gumpster808]

I mounted mine so they pull air in. That way it is extra flowing over the coils and out the roof vent for the fridge.

Mine now runs around 34 degrees - huge difference from how it performed before the fans.

I pulled power from the block in the fridge area where I found 12 volts.

Used the connectors that came with the fans so when I want them running I just tilt open the panel and plug the lines together. Unplug at the end of the trip.

[nvs4602]

IMHO the best place to put the fans is under the roof vent, so it pulls the heats out . You want to get as much air to pass through the fins at the top of the refrigerator as possible. This is where the coolant inside the absorption unit is changed from a gas back to a liquid that will then absorb the heat out of the inside of the refrigerator. You can put a 12vdc thermostat on the fans to turn them on and off at a set temperature.

https://a.co/2jMyWWV

Set it to turn on anytime the temperature gets above 90 degrees.

[theHookers]

Originally Posted by nvs4602

IMHO the best place to put the fans is under the roof vent, so it pulls the heats out . You want to get as much air to pass through the fins at the top of the refrigerator as possible. This is where the coolant inside the absorption unit is changed from a gas back to a liquid that will then absorb the heat out of the inside of the refrigerator. You can put a 12vdc thermostat on the fans to turn them on and off at a set temperature.

https://a.co/2jMyWWV

Set it to turn on anytime the temperature gets above 90 degrees.

2nd this!!!

Both the fan placement and the thermostat.

Our fans are set to come on at 85 degrees. Have made a huge difference here in the 115 degree summer heat.

This thread has my struggles documented:

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...4s-211679.html

[Stevej3658]

So as you can see in the photos the bottom of my frig vent fans hit the bottom of the plastic cover. I thought about using zip ties, I thought about modifying a piece of metal to make a makeshift bracket how would you all go about securing the bottom of the fan ? Thanks in advance

[Stevej3658]

Originally Posted by jeff64

You see at the left, there is a tag, right below it is a terminal block for 12 vdc. My thoughts were since heat rises, pull the air in and go with the flow if you are mounting to the grill. That's why they tell you to make the connection and turn it on so you know what direction the air moves. I had to reorient the tabs and brackets from their original positions . Attachment 276228so my Pic is opposite yours but correct for my desired air flow

Jeff , is the white or green block my thermal block for connecting 12 v fan ?

[jeff64]

Don't know on your particular installation . If you measure 12 vdc. You're probably not far off if it looks like a terminal block. I bought the 90 mm fans and thats how they looked after the installation. These fans are not power hungry. Look at the spec sheet. Yes you could place them from either end. I chose the placement from the product info page. Pull the air out from the top or push it from the bottom. Pick one. You'll get just as many conflicting opinions and thats all they are , unless someone can come up with hard data, which isn't likely.Consider the source. I did install the controller that came with it ,that automatically comes on at 68*. Seems to work fine for the girls I hang out with!

[Stevej3658]

Originally Posted by jeff64

Don't know on your particular installation . If you measure 12 vdc. You're probably not far off if it looks like a terminal block. I bought the 90 mm fans and thats how they looked after the installation. These fans are not power hungry. Look at the spec sheet. Yes you could place them from either end. I chose the placement from the product info page. Pull the air out from the top or push it from the bottom. Pick one. You'll get just as many conflicting opinions and thats all they are , unless someone can come up with hard data, which isn't likely.Consider the source. I did install the controller that came with it ,that automatically comes on at 68*. Seems to work fine for the girls I hang out with!Attachment 276254

Thanks, I like the controller installation, although I’m not sure how to run the wire from inside the rig into the vent space where the fan resides. Also what are your thoughts on installing the fans on my grill ? As you can see the bottom bracket hits the plastic / fiberglass portion of the cover itself. I was thinking of drilling holes in the cover and running 1 1/4 bolts to secure, but not terribly thrilled with drilling holes in my vent cover

[jeff64]

From the picture, looks like you bought the 120 mm, whereas I bought the 90 mm and in the sales literature it told you where to measure for the "fit" shown in the sales brochure . Yes? You will likely have to rig these on the top . Maybe above or below the chimney on the roof. I would hate to cobble the vent cover and in fact did not do that. Following the instructions, I very carefully milled with a dremel/burr, the recesses on the exterior of the cover for those oddly shaped pieces of hardware to grab on. I did remove the cap and chimney to route the controller and it's wiring down the back of the fridge. That was a pia on its own. You might need a extra set of hands pulling the wires.You may need to have some butyl caulk tape on hand and some Dicor to reset the chimney. It was above 90* when I did the install. Good luck , take your time , I hope you are handy. probably took a good couple hours, but I'm not punching a clock these days.

[Stevej3658]

Originally Posted by jeff64

From the picture, looks like you bought the 120 mm, whereas I bought the 90 mm and in the sales literature it told you where to measure for the "fit" shown in the sales brochure . Yes? You will likely have to rig these on the top . Maybe above or below the chimney on the roof. I would hate to cobble the vent cover and in fact did not do that. Following the instructions, I very carefully milled with a dremel/burr, the recesses on the exterior of the cover for those oddly shaped pieces of hardware to grab on. I did remove the cap and chimney to route the controller and it's wiring down the back of the fridge. That was a pia on its own. You might need a extra set of hands pulling the wires.You may need to have some butyl caulk tape on hand and some Dicor to reset the chimney. It was above 90* when I did the install. Good luck , take your time , I hope you are handy. probably took a good couple hours, but I'm not punching a clock these days.

Yeah I def bought the larger fan I figured the bigger fan the more air it would move. It was a Amazon purchase so I’m returning an exchanging for the 90 mm

[jeff64]

Or make the topside mount. I think it would have to be on the underside of the chimney, suspended. I'd don't see sufficient clearanc between the chimney and it's cap.. I had to mount the control above the fridge panel. Couldn't snake the wiring on the other 3 sides no way,no how. Agree with airflow comment though. There isn't an abundance of clearance here. You'll get it done [emoji818]

[hkreck]

I had a fan set up like your showing and couldn't get it to cool the refrig. I switched to a top vent fan set up and it changed things 100% better.

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by hkreck

I had a fan set up like your showing and couldn't get it to cool the refrig. I switched to a top vent fan set up and it changed things 100% better.

What direction were you moving the air 1st time. Did you reorient the mounting hardware? If you were pulling air down and out of the vent, I could believe it wouldn't work.So what you are saying is that you first set the fans in the vent and read X* temperature at so many degrees ambient temp and then removed them and reinstalled them topside at similar outside temp and read on a thermometer and you claimed 100% difference.
Put some actual numbers to your claim and establish some degree of credibility and clarity so far I'm seeing BS

[aceinspp]

You should do a search there have been post put up a couple years ago about fan and a good one by Old coot. Later RJD

[Highinthemountains]

I went with a top and bottom solution with a controller


https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ml#post2756040 Look for my post.

[01tundra]

On this episode of Pimp My Refrigerator......

I originally started with one fan mounted low on the intake louver and one at the top under the roof cap and worked OK and helped the refrigerator performance some.

Later I changed to fans mounted under the top vent to pull air through and it works great. They are controlled with an ARP controller and condenser coil temperature sensor.

After much research I chose these Noctua fans due to high airflow (54 CFM ea.), low amp draw (0.05A each), super quiet (22.4 dB) and SSO2 magnetic fan bearings (versus sleeve type bearings).

Also purchased fan housing gaskets to ensure no bypass/short cycling of air at the fans.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

While I was at it I installed three fans inside the refrigerator (two mounted on the evaporator and one at the bottom, a Bluetooth temperature sensor and installed a switch on the door heater so it can be disabled while boondocking. All fans are switched as well and can be disabled if I want to turn them off.

I also added a zip tie to keep the factory thermistor from slipping down in the plastic clip and added a Dinosaur Electronics adjustable thermistor for better internal temperature control.

While empty, our refrigerator will cool down from ambient in the 90F's to below 32F in about four hours max.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention......I like fans

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

On this episode of Pimp My Refrigerator......

I originally started with one fan mounted low on the intake louver and one at the top under the roof cap and worked OK and helped the refrigerator performance some.

Later I changed to fans mounted under the top vent to pull air through and it works great. They are controlled with an ARP controller and condenser coil temperature sensor.

After much research I chose these Noctua fans due to high airflow (54 CFM ea.), low amp draw (0.05A each), super quiet (22.4 dB) and SSO2 magnetic fan bearings (versus sleeve type bearings).

Also purchased fan housing gaskets to ensure no bypass/short cycling of air at the fans.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

While I was at it I installed three fans inside the refrigerator (two mounted on the evaporator and one at the bottom, a Bluetooth temperature sensor and installed a switch on the door heater so it can be disabled while boondocking. All fans are switched as well and can be disabled if I want to turn them off.

I also added a zip tie to keep the factory thermistor from slipping down in the plastic clip and added a Dinosaur Electronics adjustable thermistor for better internal temperature control.

While empty, our refrigerator will cool down from ambient in the 90F's to below 32F in about four hours max.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention......I like fans

Looks like you've got a fan club! Stay [emoji41]

[270S]

Another POS by RV manufacturing I personally resolved. It is more than just adding a fan!

You have to remanufacture the area as the air flow has to be properly channeled. You can see in the first & Second picture how FR didn't do it properly and I had to add and remove material so that it is correct. The third picture shows the completed proper installation as it should be done from the factory, but never is!

I added a simple on/off switch inside the RV low cabinet next to the Refr. I turn it on when i start the RV for a trip and it gets turned off when I get home.

In case you are wondering, air 100% SHOULD BE REMOVED vs Forced in. The top piece is sealed such that it is forcing air to move 100% over the evaporator coils on the top. The fan sucks the air up, over the coils. and out the vent. There is a small open area up top JIC the fan dies without my knowledge/noticing. I will though as I have installed thermostats in freezer and refr that always read apx 0-2 // 33-38. I haven't had a problem in 5 years and do not expect any as long as I own my RV! But I do carry a spare fan JIC.

I also added an fan (from cooling unit warehouse - $20) inside the refr itself to circulate air.

The switch/fan is powered from the 12Vdc power connections inside the lower (intake) vent area. The internal fan is set to connect to the refr light.

I have done dozens of mods/upgrades to my RV properly that the RV industry totally screws up. I'm an OEM in an unrelated industry. FYI, I run my RV off of my batteries 24/7 - Yes including the A/C!