Dometic cooling fan noise

[dlb435]

I've got a 2008 Safari Sport. There is a small cooling fan mounted near the Dometic refidgerator to help circulate the air. (old trailers used a tall convection stack) When the fan would run I could hear it resonate in the trailer. I mounted it on a heavy duty rubber sling to insulate the noise from the inside of the trailer. Made a lot of differance.

[cpaharley]

How do you like your Safari Sport? Which model do you have. I'm looking to purchase either a Safari Sport 22' or a Flying Cloud 20'- any suggestions?

[dlb435]

We had a 72 Safari 23' camper that was wrecked two years ago. We just got the 17' Safari Sport as a replaement.
They list the Safari Sport as an entry level camper, so it's not as big or as plush as many of the AS campers. I wanted a light weight camper that was easy to tow. The Sport only weighs 2850 LB, so it is easy to tow. I find I don't need load levelers or anti-sway bars to tow it.
Layout is much the same as our old camper except for the 6' missing in the middle. That was an extra bed and storage space. Yes, we do miss the extra space. It's just me and the wife so a small camper is fine. I think if I had to do it again I'd look at the 22' Sport a little more. Still, the small size is easy to tow, easy to find spots for and very fast to set up. It's a hard choice.
One of the things I like the best about the camper is the rear bath. It has a full size shower and a dry bathroom. The old Safari had a wet bathroom and a closet in the back. I like this much better. It's also set up for a TV and has a microwave/convection oven. Each of these takes up space and it cuts the storeage space in the trailer. We have to use the tow vehicle for overflow storeage. I've looked at the 22' layout and it has much the same problem.
To cut cost and weight, AS did not do the big wrap around front window. Also there is no door window or small port windows. They did add a skylight so it is bright and cheery inside. To be honest, we don't miss the big window at all. While we had the old Safari there was only one time we really got to use the big window, the rest of the time we had the curtains closed. I think the campers looks better with the big window but it makes no differance actual use.
AS used much the same parts in this unit as they do in any other camper. The only quality issues are the ones common to all the late model campers. I felt right at home as soon as I walked in. It had the same stuff as my old 72 except it was all updated. All of the gas has automatic ignitors so I don't have to run around lighting things when we set up. There have been some failures but it only took a little cleaning or drying to fix everything. The sink faucet broke once, but that was from being forced.
For a small camper with two people, this one is great. If you have kids to camp with, the 22' will work for two small kids. The 17' also works for a live abourd for one. For two poeple, it's going to get a little tight. Sort of depends on how well you work with each other.
One of the main reasons we got this camper is because it is more like the classic campers from the 60's and 70's than anything else in the AS fleet. It's only 7.5' wide and the weight is about the same as the early campers. It has that clasic round shape. This camper really goes back to the Airstream roots.
Hope this helps.

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by cpaharley

How do you like your Safari Sport? Which model do you have. I'm looking to purchase either a Safari Sport 22' or a Flying Cloud 20'- any suggestions?

All depends on your needs. After almost two years and many miles traveled
we don't have any complaints with our choice.

[Silvertwinkie]

I would do a search for this here on the forum under fridge fan replacement. A forum member replaced the noisy fan(s) with much more quiet fans and was very pleased with it. A number of folks duplicated his efforts with similar results.

[CanoeStream]

Here are a couple threads - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f425...lly-11811.html and http://www.airforums.com/forums/f283...fan-10960.html

[CanoeStream]

Anybody know about SilenX not color coding their wires any more? The link above suggests a white and black wire. But the clip connectors for PCs may not be color coded. See - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f48/...fan-52507.html

[CanoeStream]

Electricians? Computer geeks?? Any ideas here?

[richinny]

Silicon Valley Compucycle (SVC.com)
1498 Seareel Lane
San Jose, CA 95131
Toll Free: (866) 989-2970
Local: (408) 432-1239
Fax: (408) 432-1249

[SilverRanger]

The FAQ may not have the answer, but you can also e-mail them a question from their contact page.

SilenX Corporation - Frequently Asked Questions

Does anyone know the CFM of the original fan? It would seem important to come as close to this as possible with a new fan.

[dlb435]

I do both computer and electrical engineeering work. The older trailers used convection cooling and had a stack built into the trailer. This takes both space and cost more to build into the trailer. The 12VDC fan does the same thing at a much lower cost and in much less space. There is nothing wrong with the fan; it's just mounted to the underside of the counter over the refridgerator. The counter acts as a resonator and the sound can be heard inside the trailer when it runs. Mine was loud enough to wake me up at night.
By mounting the fan to a heavy rubber strip it insulates the fan from the counter top and there is no resonants. You can still hear the fan run but the sound is very low.
Fluid motion and vibritory noise are dependant on both displacement and frequency. If you use a larger but slower turning fan, you can reduce the noise significantly. ( one of the problems with the Carrier AC unit is the velocity of the air moving in the unit, fast cooling but high noise) In this case the main problem is not the fan noise, but rather the resonant effect on mounting the fan directly to the under side of the counter.