fridge cooling fan?

[oppy]

As most of our 'vans systems are going menopausal, the fridge is now the latest. Our dear friend Dave suggested, at the last meet, that a fan or 2 would help keep things working when the outside temp. got a little too warm. So my question's are, do I fit them at the top vent or the lower one, and do they blow out or in ?

Yes I know, it's another stoopid 'oppy question, but it may help others too
Ta

 

[andyjanet]

As most of our 'vans systems are going menopausal, the fridge is now the latest. Our dear friend Dave suggested, at the last meet, that a fan or 2 would help keep things working when the outside temp. got a little too warm. So my question's are, do I fit them at the top vent or the lower one, and do they blow out or in ?

Yes I know, it's another stoopid 'oppy question, but it may help others too
Ta

Ours is fitted at the top and blows in and that’s a factory fit but if I was designing it it would be fit at the bottom and blow in ( cold air sinks hot air rises so use convection to help transfer heat up and out top vent if I was really flush I would have a bottom blowing in and a top blowing out so you get a real circulation going on

 

[Canalsman]

Can't understand why your fridge fan blows air in at the top ...

I have two fans at the top exhausting the warm air i.e. blowing out.

Works very well and I leave them running permanently in the warmer months. I have a 12 volt time switch in the circuit so in cooler times the fans are switched off at night when they aren't needed. This is done to save power.

 

[Tezza33]

I fitted mine at the top blowing out, they work efficiently because the cold air comes in the bottom vent and rises to the top exiting at the top vent, the fans blowing out help to extract the hot air, it does make a huge difference

 

[molly 2]

Have you considered getting the fridge serviced ?????.

 

[Wooie1958]

Top vent, blowing out.

We've just experienced 34C and the fridge freezer is working fine.

 

[IJenk52]

I used an early version of this: Portable 4"/6"/8" USB Solar Power Panel Camping Fan Outdoor | eBay
There was enough room behind the external vent to fit the fan and the solar panel was left free to be placed in the sunniest location, but I did fix it onto the roof eventually. I used a simple plug and socket to allow extra cable to be used.

The fan was set up so the circulating (warm) air was blown out of the top vent. Being solar powered meant it was at its most efficient when the sun was out.

 

[jagmanx]

Exactly

Ours is fitted at the top and blows in and that’s a factory fit but if I was designing it it would be fit at the bottom and blow in ( cold air sinks hot air rises so use convection to help transfer heat up and out top vent if I was really flush I would have a bottom blowing in and a top blowing out so you get a real circulation going on

Yes Andy I have a 400mm square fan just one and am now ready to fit it with a switch to extract on the upper vent.

 

[yeoblade]

Ours is fitted at the top and blows in and that’s a factory fit but if I was designing it it would be fit at the bottom and blow in ( cold air sinks hot air rises so use convection to help transfer heat up and out top vent if I was really flush I would have a bottom blowing in and a top blowing out so you get a real circulation going on

Doesn't seem correct to me, my two are on the top vent, extracting heat .
If no fan is fitted, then you can feel it, unaided, venting out the top. Fans just increase the natural flow of cooling air over the heat exchanger.


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[mid4did]

I use 2 blowing out at the top.I got mine from maplin,not with us anymore but loads of them about.I use one of those temperature sensor switches.
I screwed mine to the outside vent but if I had to do it again I'd take more time and make a bracket to mount them on independent of the vent.
YouTube

 

[n brown]

top mounted , blowing out
this removes the hot air as it rises and acts as a flue
blowing in ,either at top or bottom seems a bit foolhardy , as there is a chance of blowing out the gas flame or causing CO to be forced into the hab area

 

[tugboat]

Ours is fitted at the top and blows in and that’s a factory fit but if I was designing it it would be fit at the bottom and blow in ( cold air sinks hot air rises so use convection to help transfer heat up and out top vent if I was really flush I would have a bottom blowing in and a top blowing out so you get a real circulation going on

Should definitely be at the top and blowing out.

Yours is easy to fix, just turn them round.

Fans only need to be relatively small, so they don't interfere with airflow when they are not in use.

 

[yeoblade]

Should definitely be at the top and blowing out.

Yours is easy to fix, just swap the 2 wires over.

Fans only need to be relatively small, so they don't interfere with airflow when they are not in use.

Unless they are PC cooling type fans, then you will just blow it up! Polarity must be correct for the IC .

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[jeffmossy]

I have 2 x 40mm at the top blowing out , they are sikaflexed onto the back of the vent , the sikaflex takes the vibrating out of the running vent

 

[Deleted member 5816]

If this is the case rotate the fan 180 degree to blow out

Unless they are PC cooling type fans. Then you will just blow it up! Polarity must be correct.

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[oppy]

Thanks folks, I've just ordered a couple. I just need to work out the wiring now
Once again you've come to this daft owd duffers rescue, ta muchly

 

[andyjanet]

Just checked ours is fitted to a frame work towards the top of the fridge blowing at the fridge mechanism,

 

[Wooie1958]

Just measured mine and they a 2 X 120mm fans which i bought on Ebay for £3.99 delivered and i cable tied them to the inside of the top vent blowing out.

They are super silent so i can leave them running all night if necessary and manualy operated with a simple on / off switch in the kitchen above the fridge.

With the silly temperatures we've just experienced here in southern France ( 34C ) we had them running all night on several occasions and everything has stayed frozen in the freezer compartment.

They have little / virtually no effect on the leisure batteries.

 

[QFour]

I put three fans in mine wired through to an Audrino microcomputer. This checks the temp behind the top grill and decides if the fans need to be turned on. If its over 35 degrees the fans switch on to half power and run for 5 minutes before the temp is checked again. If its reduced the temp then the fans switch off. If the temp is climbing because its hot outside then they just keep running and the Audrino keeps checking the temp. If it gets to over 40 degrees then they switch to full power and run for five minutes. At night the outside temp drops and so the fans will stop working. You can here the fans running on full power but on half power they are very quiet.

 

[bartman]

It's just occurred to me that this might be a use for the unused "load" terminals on my MPPT solar controller - but having googled it, there are differing explanations as to how the "load" supply works, with most saying that it's not of any use in the motorhome.
If it is supplied from the unused energy from the solar panel after fully charging the batteries, which would otherwise be wasted, then it seems to me it would be ideal for powering the fridge vent fan, as it would be available during periods of sun when the ambient temperature is likely to be higher. However, if it's going to reduce the charge going to the batteries, or even worse use some of their power, it's probably not a worthwhile option.
Perhaps some of the knowledgeable contributors on solar could advise?