Looking for 12 volt power source

[Scott1967]

Hi, I’m adding fridge fans to my 2016 Rockwood 2516G popup. It has the Dometic RM 190 and I can’t find a 12 volt power source. I found a block on the back, but all the wires there are black, no red or white. Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks!

[pgandw]

Are you talking interior or exhaust vent fans?

For the interior fan I just use a Camco fridge fan powered by 2 D cells. Runs for weeks on a set of batteries. For the exhaust vent, I ran wiring from the converter wiring distribution, which is quite close to the fridge. I used 2 120mm computer case fans @ 70ma each. With the fans, I have consistent fridge cooling on my high wall A-frame.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2022 Hyundai Palisade

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by Scott1967

Hi, I’m adding fridge fans to my 2016 Rockwood 2516G popup. It has the Dometic RM 190 and I can’t find a 12 volt power source. I found a block on the back, but all the wires there are black, no red or white. Has anyone else run into this?
Thanks!

I didn't look up a 190 but I believe that is what I had in my last popup. So you have a push button ignitor and 2 rocker switches in the back to turn it on?

Push button ignitor is propane, big green rocker is 110 power and small red rocker is 12V? If so you have 12V behind that thing connected to the 12V rocker.

The line that runs from the coils on the rear go through the body in the rear to the inside. If you look at the inside at the back there is a set of vertical fins. Unscrew the (hex I believe) screws on that to remove the fin plate. There is some white heat transfer "goop" on the back try not to remove that. Once apart you will see a hole in the rear inside of the refer. that has a brownish putty over it to keep air from coming inside. You can pass wires through that to power your fans. The putty is pliable so you can recover the hole easily. I recommend 2 fans, one pulling air from the front to the back at the top and one on the bottom blowing forward to create air flow.

[Scott1967]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Are you talking interior or exhaust vent fans?

For the interior fan I just use a Camco fridge fan powered by 2 D cells. Runs for weeks on a set of batteries. For the exhaust vent, I ran wiring from the converter wiring distribution, which is quite close to the fridge. I used 2 120mm computer case fans @ 70ma each. With the fans, I have consistent fridge cooling on my high wall A-frame.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2022 Hyundai Palisade

Sorry, external fan.

[Scott1967]

Originally Posted by flyerdp

I didn't look up a 190 but I believe that is what I had in my last popup. So you have a push button ignitor and 2 rocker switches in the back to turn it on?

Push button ignitor is propane, big green rocker is 110 power and small red rocker is 12V? If so you have 12V behind that thing connected to the 12V rocker.

The line that runs from the coils on the rear go through the body in the rear to the inside. If you look at the inside at the back there is a set of vertical fins. Unscrew the (hex I believe) screws on that to remove the fin plate. There is some white heat transfer "goop" on the back try not to remove that. Once apart you will see a hole in the rear inside of the refer. that has a brownish putty over it to keep air from coming inside. You can pass wires through that to power your fans. The putty is pliable so you can recover the hole easily. I recommend 2 fans, one pulling air from the front to the back at the top and one on the bottom blowing forward to create air flow.

Perfect, thank you!

[Scott1967]

Originally Posted by flyerdp

I didn't look up a 190 but I believe that is what I had in my last popup. So you have a push button ignitor and 2 rocker switches in the back to turn it on?

Push button ignitor is propane, big green rocker is 110 power and small red rocker is 12V? If so you have 12V behind that thing connected to the 12V rocker.

The line that runs from the coils on the rear go through the body in the rear to the inside. If you look at the inside at the back there is a set of vertical fins. Unscrew the (hex I believe) screws on that to remove the fin plate. There is some white heat transfer "goop" on the back try not to remove that. Once apart you will see a hole in the rear inside of the refer. that has a brownish putty over it to keep air from coming inside. You can pass wires through that to power your fans. The putty is pliable so you can recover the hole easily. I recommend 2 fans, one pulling air from the front to the back at the top and one on the bottom blowing forward to create air flow.

Sorry for the dumb question, but I’m looking at the 12 volt switch, one wire is black (off), one is brown (on). I’m assuming brown is positive, but we all know what assuming can do!

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Scott1967

Sorry for the dumb question, but I’m looking at the 12 volt switch, one wire is black (off), one is brown (on). I’m assuming brown is positive, but we all know what assuming can do!

There is no negative at the switch. Only positive is switched in 12V systems. One wire is hot all the time (12V+), the other is live only when the switch is on. The trailer chassis should be grounded to negative, or just run a new negative wire from wherever you can find one. The positive feed is going to determine what circuit your fan is going to be powered from. Negative is negative and common throughout the trailer. No fuses or circuit breakers or switches on the negative side - unless you put one.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2022 Hyundai Palisade

[flyerdp]

Originally Posted by Scott1967

Sorry for the dumb question, but I’m looking at the 12 volt switch, one wire is black (off), one is brown (on). I’m assuming brown is positive, but we all know what assuming can do!

pgandw is correct. There is only +12V at the switch. You want the side before the switch so its not only powered when that switch is on. Hopefully you have a voltage tester or test light to know for sure. There will be a negative connection too because the refer has a positive and neg. feed.

[Scott1967]

Thank you all for the information! I was able to use the multimeter and find power and ground. Did an in-line fuse as well.

[Bob414]

The electrical system on my 2014 206LTD popup was a joke. I had a large wire nut, that had 6 to 10 ground wires connected to it. It causes all sorts of electrical problems, loose wires, intermittent connections etc. Standard wire nuts should max out at 4 wires. I ordered a ground bus bar from amazon and replaced that wire nut, screw clamped all the ground wires into the ground bus bar.

I did add a 12VDC outlet.

The 206LTD has a simple electrical system, but still has some parasitic loads, gas detector etc. Batteries should always be disconnected when stored, even for a few days. Best to keep on shore power or be monitoring the battery condition.

Most trailer tires die of old age, long before thread wear. Check the Mfg date on your tires and depending or your location and storage of camper, change tires. I change when tires are 5 to 7 years old.

Lub everything frequently, according to Mfg.

The only failures on my rig is the fold down sink power cutoff switch and the AC heating element on the Fridge. I changed the Smoke detector at 5 years with the tires.

My popup does have AC, heat, heated beds and 11 gal fresh water tank (no hot water heater).

The water system requires winterizing (depending on your weather and storage) Flushing and sanitizing before use. Hopefully your PUP is setup for winterizing, if not the kit is easy to install and relatively inexpensive.

Bob