Board Blocking Dometic Fridge Vent

[moff34]

I have a 2016 Rockwood 8329SS with a Dometic Fridge. My sister bought a 2020 Rockwood 2906RS with a Dometic Fridge.

While doing some maintenance on hers I noticed that the top vent for the Dometic Fridge has a piece of 1/8" board blocking 2/3 of the vent opening. (See attached photo) I checked my fridge vents and they do not have this board.

So the question is: leave it as is or cut it out?

Thank you for your thoughts on why this is there.

[Chris Pastuzyn]

Kinda looks like it is a newer board for a 4ish year old unit,I'm wondering if someone made some kind of modification to it ? Does the fridge work ok?

[14apex]

It's to serve as a "baffle" to direct rising/cooling air over the fins just above & behind. Why it was necessary and who installed it would be interesting to know...but, if the fridge is working OK & the install looks well done I'd leave as is.

[moff34]

Originally Posted by Chris Pastuzyn

Kinda looks like it is a newer board for a 4ish year old unit,I'm wondering if someone made some kind of modification to it ? Does the fridge work ok?

The picture is of her 2020 Rockwood. I only mentioned mine because they are very similar rigs with same Dometic fridge, but mine (2016) does not have the board pictured.

The fridge is working fine, I am just concerned that it may not be getting adequate cooling and wondering if anyone else has seen similar in their trailer.

[TowPro]

the factory did this. this is a refrigerator in a slide, your showing the top vent. in order to have the cabinet act like a chimney they had to put a top and bottom vent on it since you can't have a roof vent on a slide.
they discovered that without this baffle the air would swirl as it tried to exit the top vent causing higher temps on backside of refrig.
By reducing the top opening it actually causes more draft through the cabinet.

They started doing it on Open Range RVs around 2011.

[moff34]

Originally Posted by TowPro

the factory did this. this is a refrigerator in a slide, your showing the top vent. in order to have the cabinet act like a chimney they had to put a top and bottom vent on it since you can't have a roof vent on a slide.
they discovered that without this baffle the air would swirl as it tried to exit the top vent causing higher temps on backside of refrig.
By reducing the top opening it actually causes more draft through the cabinet.

They started doing it on Open Range RVs around 2011.

Thanks. That makes sense. However, as mentioned, my 2016 Rockwood which has a very similar floorplan, including the exact same driver's side slide with a Dometic fridge located in it, two side wall vents, and no roof vent, does not have that baffle.

Anyone else have a newer Rockwood with that baffle?

[The2002Wanderer]

The Dometic Installation manual(s) call for installing this baffle to assure that the airflow crosses over all of the fins. Without the baffle performance will degrade and the fridge won't cool properly.

[Witch Doctor]

I had a rockwood with in a slide I had to put in my own baffle, but I made mine out of metal, I wouldn’t want wood there but that’s just me, after I installed the baffle it cooled better, but I do question wood, I doubt if it would cause a fire but I would change it to metal.

[chriscowles]

Would a similar baffle improve performance on a refrigerator that has a roof vent?

How do you get to the electric and gas connections? It looks like you have to remove it?

[TowPro]

He is only showing the top opening.. the bottom opening will look like any other regret opening.

[Bookumdanno]

Originally Posted by chriscowles

Would a similar baffle improve performance on a refrigerator that has a roof vent?
The roof vent act like a chimney and pulls the warm air up and out. No baffle needed

How do you get to the electric and gas connections? It looks like you have to remove it?

This is the top vent for frig in a slide. The gas and electric connections are behind the lower vent.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Sounds like our experts are telling you to leave it in.

The next question would be... are you the original owner of your rig? If not, the previous owner might have removed it thinking that it was a mistake. Otherwise, you might want to consider putting in a baffle.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by Bookumdanno

This is the top vent for frig in a slide. The gas and electric connections are behind the lower vent.

OK, thanks. It looked like the standard access at the bottom. Perhaps it is the same size but I assumed the top would be smaller.

[DJohn]

Hey moff34, our Brookstone has the same baffle plate, as the fridge is in a slide, there is also a cooling fan on ours just below the bottom of the baffle. Our fan had quit working and the fridge was making some load humming noises when it was hot outside, changed out the fan and added another, works great now. This rambling speal was just an FYI.

[almcguire]

The extra baffling will force the air across the fenns where the heat transfer takes place. Don't remove. I worked Dometic services 43 years.

[5picker]

My 2016 Flagstaff with a fridge in the slide has this same baffle so they were certainly putting it in some models back then. Not sure why yours doesn't?

I cut a 4" square hole in mine and installed a computer fan blowing air out and my fridge temps are spot on.
I also installed a 2" square fan horizontally at the bottom to direct air upwards maximizing the "chimney" effect.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by Reverse_snowbird

Sounds like our experts are telling you to leave it in.

The next question would be... are you the original owner of your rig? If not, the previous owner might have removed it thinking that it was a mistake. Otherwise, you might want to consider putting in a baffle.

Or if he lived somewhere like we do it rotted away. I like the metal or plastic idea to replace the wood.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

Or if he lived somewhere like we do it rotted away. I like the metal or plastic idea to replace the wood.

This is a 2020 Rig.....guessing it's new off the lot.

[SlowrideHD]

I removed my board that was very similar when I replaced the cheap, noisy condenser fan that the factory installs. I had to remove the board to have access to mount the new fans that I put in. The original condenser fan was noisy and we could hear it inside the camper every time it kicked on. I ordered two super quiet computer case fans and installed them close to where the original fan was. One of the fans is hooked to the factory temperature switch on the condenser tubing and the other fan is on a manual switch that I can turn on if I ever feel the need for additional airflow. I run it every now and again but have never actually needed it, even in Arizona with the kitchen wall facing southwest. I did not put the board back in place. Did this about 4 years ago and my fridge works extremely well.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

This is a 2020 Rig.....guessing it's new off the lot.

Which, if it were here in S Louisiana, would mean the rot has only just begun. Id replace it right away............When I see a small problem I fix it so it does not become a Big problem