Fridge struggling to cope with Spanish heat

trevskoda said:
30c, where the heck is that, im moving down, best we ever got here many years back was 27c, tar was melting in Donegal roads and sand trucks were out to sort it.
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I was just thinking the same. I grew up in Ireland and go home regularly and I don’t think I ever experienced 30 degrees.

Unless it was Fahrenheit!!
 
Trotter said:
I know someone who would call it a Dome e tec
Hi Alan 😬

These fridges will only reduce temperatures only by about 25 degrees C. So at 30c you’ll be lucky to get below +5c
Try removing the outside grills.
I’m not convinced that running the fridge on electric would help.

Tis the price you pay for enjoying yourselves 😉
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We use bag of ice from super market as already stated. In fact all summer including UK, we find a bag of ice fir a quid us cheaper than ussing gas to keep fridge cold
 
V1nny said:
I was just thinking the same. I grew up in Ireland and go home regularly and I don’t think I ever experienced 30 degrees.

Unless it was Fahrenheit!!
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15-16 July there was a mini heat wave in Kerry, things returned to normal on the 17th when at Inch it was overcast and cool, on the 19th it rained, temperatures rose again on the 20th but only to about 17c
 
Cooler on the coast in Northern Spain and the further West you go . We find fridge works much better on gas but it's still a struggle when temps go over 25.
 
I have just fitted two 120mm computer fans - I thought three would fit, but they don't.
I bought this lot, 3 fans for £14. I screwed them to the inside of the grille.
plus a thermostat for £10.

You can buy the Dometic kit for £137 or a more powerful setup for £24. The choice is yours :unsure:
Just make sure if you buy computer fans that they are 12v, you don't want to end up having to drop it to 5v. or find you have accidentally got 230v ones.

I'm off to Germany now, so I'll see how they work. I have a 25 year old Electrolux 3 way fridge.
 
Boris7 said:
15-16 July there was a mini heat wave in Kerry, things returned to normal on the 17th when at Inch it was overcast and cool, on the 19th it rained, temperatures rose again on the 20th but only to about 17c
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All through that mini heatwave my compressor fridge held everything the same with control know at around a quarter up. Only problem with mine is if you have a wife that turns it up full because she think it will need it when weather gets hot. If I don’t notice it freezes everything in the fridge as well as freezer bit lol.

Only used van in the U.K. but been in low 30’s quite a few times and no problem at all, doesn’t matter if fridge side is facing the sun or if I am on a slope, (don’t use levellers so often lol). The only downside to compressor fridges is power useable, so long as you are equipped for that it all good 👍
 
gasgas said:
I have just fitted two 120mm computer fans - I thought three would fit, but they don't.
I bought this lot, 3 fans for £14. I screwed them to the inside of the grille.
plus a thermostat for £10.

You can buy the Dometic kit for £137 or a more powerful setup for £24. The choice is yours :unsure:
Just make sure if you buy computer fans that they are 12v, you don't want to end up having to drop it to 5v. or find you have accidentally got 230v ones.

I'm off to Germany now, so I'll see how they work. I have a 25 year old Electrolux 3 way fridge.
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A more efficient solution is to make a plate that fits behind the grille with cutouts for the fans.

Without this the fans will tend to pull air round the sides and recirculate it.
 
Fact is fans dont realy make much difference as you will be pulling hot air from inside the van, so if its 30c out and in all you are doing is moving air.
I have done tests of this with a fan in the house, room temps stayed the same, all i was doing is moving air, so unless you have one of the ice aircon units then just wasting your time.
 
Use freeze packs put In freeze all day and turn fridge off at sunset power over nigut saved
 
Canalsman said:
A more efficient solution is to make a plate that fits behind the grille with cutouts for the fans.

Without this the fans will tend to pull air round the sides and recirculate it.
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I have fitted three computer fans, originally just cable tied to try them out and it certainly made a difference but after making a plate to fix them on it improved even more, last time in France when the temperature was 35C we had ice cold beer and ice cream in the freezer, my fridge is the original fitment and is now 22 years old, it still works perfectly but if I had to replace it then I would buy a compressor fridge
trevskoda said:
Fact is fans dont realy make much difference as you will be pulling hot air from inside the van, so if its 30c out and in all you are doing is moving air.
I have done tests of this with a fan in the house, room temps stayed the same, all i was doing is moving air, so unless you have one of the ice aircon units then just wasting your time.
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Fans fitted correctly make a huge difference, sealed around the fans as Chris said is the best way fitted on the top vent and extracting air from the cooling fins at the top of the fridge, the fridge should be sealed from the inside of the van so the air that it is moving comes in from the lower vent not from the inside of the van Trev.
I am lucky because my lower vent is under the van where the air is cooler than on the rear panel, I am sure this also helps in my case
 
trevskoda said:
Fact is fans dont realy make much difference as you will be pulling hot air from inside the van, so if its 30c out and in all you are doing is moving air.
I have done tests of this with a fan in the house, room temps stayed the same, all i was doing is moving air, so unless you have one of the ice aircon units then just wasting your time.
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Don't think you're comparing like with like re the tests you refer to, Trev. David @wildebus fitted fridge fans for us and they draw the hot air from the top vent almost continuously, but especially when the sun is beating on the M/Home rear, i.e. at the lower fridge area. The frequency with which the gas kicks in to cool the fridge is much reduced since the fans were fitted, and the refillable lpg lasts longer

Steve
 
marchie said:
Don't think you're comparing like with like re the tests you refer to, Trev. David @wildebus fitted fridge fans for us and they draw the hot air from the top vent almost continuously, but especially when the sun is beating on the M/Home rear, i.e. at the lower fridge area. The frequency with which the gas kicks in to cool the fridge is much reduced since the fans were fitted, and the refillable lpg lasts longer

Steve
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Yes did not spend to much time on old fridges, just fitted a table top aaa fridge, there is no coil at the back of mine and all sealed in, so no fans required, i did however fit top vents to keep some air moving just in case of moisture around it.
fridge a.jpg
 
I think "vent fans" on a 3-way fridge are essential if you are touring in hotter climes. Need to pull that stagnant hot air out (y)
I fitted a kit to my motorhome to shoot air at the compressor of my 240V Compressor fridge but I don't know how much difference it makes to the power use as they don't seem to suffer from working in higher temperatures - but having said that, not taken it to places like Spain or Greece so not the best to judge on if adding fans to a compressor fridge is worthwhile or not.
Whatever the case, rarely a bad thing to have cooling going on to keep stuff as reliable as possible.
 
Just having them in there is a good move 3 best, but this plate idea is new to me but thinking of it modern cars and vans have a cowl fitted to improve airflow, and it's how jet engines work so if I do it again I'll make a plate up, securing the fans will be much more difficult though I expect, dunno I need to have it front of me as I'm a more visual bear..
 
V1nny said:
We are currently in Northern Spain with temperatures in the 30’s. Our domestic fridge freezer is struggling to get below 15 degrees.

My question is, if we connected to mains electricity instead of gas, would the fridge then perform normally and come down to a more reasonable temperature?
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Our 12v 90L Vitrifrigo Italian fridge has always been pretty useless, as you say 15° in warmer temperatures. 10° is good for ours even in a far cooler climate.
So we have to buy just 1L of milk at a time. To replace it is expensive, so we soldier. Maybe a fridge fan on the exchanger could di the trick....., but many are now forced air cooling anyway as is ours.
 
trevskoda said:
30c, where the heck is that, im moving down, best we ever got here many years back was 27c, tar was melting in Donegal roads and sand trucks were out to sort it.
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Donegal?
Just returned from there and the whole of the wild atlantic way, never hotter than 15° for eight weeks. So we just missed summer!
 
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