Refer Mod Helps Cooling

[nm1oqrz]

Greetings, I was told many years ago by a Dometic tech at the Dometic factory that round sided trailers (like AS) have too much room between the back of the refer and the inside skin of the refer compartment. He recommended that I make a baffel that is mounted on the inside skin of refer compartment and angles at about a 45 degrees towards the back of the refer for about a 2" gap between the edge of baffel and back of refer coils. This baffel will not allow the circulating air to travel up the side of the refer compartment but direct it towards the back of refer. The reason I called was because the refer in my 88 25" Excella was not cooling very good. After I installed the baffel, the refer worked very good and I could turn down the thermostat quite a bit. I made the baffel out of 1/16" aluminum and sheet metal screwed it to the inside wall of trailer refer compartment (hard on back doing so) Good luck, nm1oqrz

[bmklawt]

I'm confused.
How about a picture or drawing.

[MarkR]

Here's a section thru my trailer at the Refrigerator . . . It's not built yet but this is my plan. My Norcold manual actually says there should only be an inch between the coils and the baffle.
MarkR

[HowieE]

I had the same problem and made a false wall behind the refg.

The pictures show the cavity with the refg. removed, the sheet metal false wall in place, and a sweep of metal to close off the top of the refg.

On the sides I made pillows of fiberglass insulation covered with plastic. When the refg. is slid into place that insulation keeps the hot air that is behind the refg. from influencing the sides of the refg.

Note the wooden frame liquid nailed to the side wall to act as a place to screw the sheet metal to

I had hoped for much better results than I got but I guess every little bit helps when working with a very poorly designed application.


.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by MarkR

Here's a section thru my trailer at the Refrigerator . . . It's not built yet but this is my plan. My Norcold manual actually says there should only be an inch between the coils and the baffle.
MarkR

I think I get it: it forces the air to go mostly through the coils, rather than just mill around in the larger cavity. The air comes in the door vent, passes over the coils, and leaves the cavity through the roof vent.

Looks like a good idea.

[withidl]

I just looked at the back of my 2002 ASCL 31' refrigerator and it has plywood on the inside wall extending the wall to within about 3" of the coils such that it accomplishes what the OP has done; so maby the AS factory caught on after 1988.

Another thing that I have considered doing is putting a small 12 volt fan inside the refigerator (tap power from the light) to force circulate air over the cooling fins hanging below the freezer. The freezer does an excellent job of freezing but the refigerator using only convection does not recover quickly enough from an opened door.

[HowieE]

This type of refg. requires "Convection" across the coils to work. The baffle increases the flow rate, via the chimney effect, of the cooler air and thus should improve the the efficiency. However when working with 90 to 100 degree outside air we have about reached the limits.

I have long considered removing the refg. again and placing a flat sheet of metal between the back of the refg. and the coils to reduce the "Radiation" of heat from the coils directly on the back of the refg. This would also create a second draft column if that sheet had folded sides attaching to the back of the refg.

Anyone doing these modes feel free to apply this idea and let us know if it has an additional effect.

[HowieE]

I had used the fan in the back before I made the wall. It did not have a measurable effect. However I have installed a small fan in the refg. and use the light supply line to power it. The fan is on ALL the time moves air around inside.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by withidl

I just looked at the back of my 2002 ASCL 31' refrigerator and it has plywood on the inside wall extending the wall to within about 3" of the coils such that it accomplishes what the OP has done; so maby the AS factory caught on after 1988.

Another thing that I have considered doing is putting a small 12 volt fan inside the refigerator (tap power from the light) to force circulate air over the cooling fins hanging below the freezer. The freezer does an excellent job of freezing but the refigerator using only convection does not recover quickly enough from an opened door.

After seeing this thread (http://www.airforums.com/forums/f425...cks-34859.html) I built one and used it in my original fridge. Worked pretty well. I haven't bothered to install it in the new one I put in almost three years ago.

[markdoane]

I did the same on my refrigerator. I made an outside door into the dead space and it became a very convenient (though shallow) storage compartment for hoses and electrical cable.

[Gringo]

Some years back I had installed a small solar exhaust fan to the top vent cover of a Class C motorhome I had. It pulled the air up through the vent when the sun was shining on it.

[Dkoelfgen]

Hi, I know this thread is really old but hoping your still around.

We have a 2011 27FB and the fridge is a problem at times. It seams to work best when we are going down the road, I'm assuming it's because of better airflow over the coil.

Did your Fan idea work?
Appreciate any feedback.

Best Regards,
Doug