Replacing air conditioner exhaust fin?

[caadoptees]

I think that is what you might call it. It is the vertical piece of aluminum that sits between the exhaust of the air conditioner and the vent for the refrigerator.

Here is the problem that we found. On the way to the International in Salem, we hit 117 degree weather in Redding. We were running our air conditioner (naturally) plus our refrigerator. Well the refrig wasn't doing real good. It was around 60 degrees and it normally does better than that at home during 100+ degrees. I was unsure what was happening since the refrigerator worked great before we left and it is less than 2 years old.

Sisters, OR was a bit cooler but we still had the same problem with the refrigerator. I got up to the top of the trailer and felt that the exhaust from the air conditioner was blowing over the fin and over the top of the air conditioner vent. Knowing how the refrigerator works with all the updraft airflow and eddys, etc. it seemed like the overflow was blocking the air from exiting the refrigerator vent. That made sense since there was the diverter fin there between the two.

So at International I looked at the different years of trailers. Ours, 1992, had a short little fin. The newer models had TALLER fins than ours. I also checked with an Airstream service fellow and he confirmed that my deduction could very well be the problem. However during the rest of the trip we did not use the air so I could not verify it.

When I got home, I took off our old fin and got a new one. Today I finally I got around to putting it on. The first photo shows the old and new fin. The second shows the taller fin installed.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[john hd]

good post and good solution!

my trailer, also a 92, has the same fin.

on mine, the fin and fridge exhaust is on the other side of the ac unit. that is the air intake side for the ac. so in my case changing the fin would make little difference.

post back when you get both running to see if it helps the fridge!

john