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Old 08-08-2003, 09:26 PM   #21
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Stephanie,

Attached are pictures of the fans I built and a side view of the top back of a rv refer.

Fans
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Old 08-08-2003, 09:26 PM   #22
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Wher I designed the fans to go:
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Old 08-09-2003, 05:25 AM   #23
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Quote:
Originally posted by thenewkid64
Stephanie,

Attached are pictures of the fans I built and a side view of the top back of a rv refer.

Fans
You should probably try either wiring the fans in series or use a dropping resistor. All that is needed is a gentle breeze across the fins; after all, they were designed to work with only thermal currents. Even a small fan breeze is many times the air movement of the intended thermal currents.

I have 4 2" fans that I bought, with giant heat sinks, for $1 each. I have been considering a similar array with pairs of the 2" fans (sans heat sinks) in series so that each fan will be running on 6V. They are absolutely silent paralleled in this way and together, move plenty of air.
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:08 AM   #24
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re: fans

brett g.
most excellent design!!!

John,

my feeble old mind is having a problem comprehending your electrical design..with the fans in parallel you would need a resistor to drop the voltage to 6..would not the amp draw increase??? like kinda a mini brownout?....
norby.
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:11 AM   #25
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Question

John what BTU is you AC unit? Just wondering.
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:20 AM   #26
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They are not loud now on 12 V, but when I was cannabilizing the Computer Power supplies I took them from I only had a 9 volt source. At 9 volts they were all but silent, the noisy ones got trashed.

I normally install the fans with a switch that contains a telltale to let me know they are on. I run them in the heat of the day when the refer is likley to be struggling. If they need to be run there is no way that those little fans will be heard over the noise my Armstrong AC makes

Norbert,

The thrid time is the charm, I have played with diffrent mounting systems and I decided I was going to go all out this time while I had the refer out. Much easier to work on this kind of project when you have room
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:23 AM   #27
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Brett, that is a pretty cool design. Is your fridge unit one that vents to the top?

Eric
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:30 AM   #28
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Yep,

Standard 70's style. The ivory at the top of the photo is the bottom end of the flue. I figure more air movement will increase the cooling power on those hot summer days we get here in FL. Any additional air movement helps in my experience.
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Old 08-09-2003, 07:49 AM   #29
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Thumbs up

Agreed 200%! My fan on my '03 never worked. If temps get beyond about 85-90 I do notice it warm up a bit.

Every little bit helps!

Nice job.
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Old 08-09-2003, 10:36 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally posted by Silvertwinkie
John what BTU is you AC unit? Just wondering.
13.500 BTU. Keeps my trailer comfortable at 104 degrees in partial shade running on medium speed.
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Old 08-09-2003, 10:43 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally posted by Silvertwinkie
Agreed 200%! My fan on my '03 never worked. If temps get beyond about 85-90 I do notice it warm up a bit.

Every little bit helps!

Nice job.
Try shorting across the pins of the fan thermostat with a screwdriver. The fan should run. That was what I did while testing my new fan without the refrigerator running.

If this does no start the fan, you either have a dead fan motor or you have no voltage to the thermostat. Time to get out the voltmeter. I think JPAIRSTREAM said there is an inline fuse in the Bambis that could be bad.

If shorting starts the fan, you can make up a little jumper to cause the fan to run on hot days until you get a new thermostat.
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Old 08-09-2003, 10:58 AM   #32
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Re: re: fans

Quote:
Originally posted by norbert
brett g.
most excellent design!!!

John,

my feeble old mind is having a problem comprehending your electrical design..with the fans in parallel you would need a resistor to drop the voltage to 6..would not the amp draw increase??? like kinda a mini brownout?....
norby.
No. The resistor would be in series with the 3 paralelled fan motors. Series resistance decreases current.

Let's say that the running resistance of each motor is 12 ohms. Each fan would then draw 1 amp at 12 volts (I=12/12). Parallel 3 fans and the resulting resistance would be 4 ohms and the current would be 3 amps at 12V. Now, put a 4 ohm power resistor in series with the 3 paralelled fans and you would get 6 volts across the fans. The current would be 1.5 amps (I=12/8) This is somewhat simplified, since the running resistance of DC motors is not linear with voltage, but it should illustrate the point.
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Old 08-09-2003, 04:09 PM   #33
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John,

Tried the bypass you suggest a while back....no luck. Also, I untaped and unwrapped the line and found no inline fuse on the Bambi. I haven't yet got out the multimeter.

Eric
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Old 08-09-2003, 04:26 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally posted by Silvertwinkie
John,

Tried the bypass you suggest a while back....no luck. Also, I untaped and unwrapped the line and found no inline fuse on the Bambi. I haven't yet got out the multimeter.

Eric
It is pretty rare for one of those fan motors to fail (but not unknown). They usually get a noisy bearing if anything happens rather than not running. I would bet that you are getting no 12V power to the thermostat.

On my trailer, the power for the fan comes through the body harness, then the ceiling harness. Could be a problem where the harnesses connect. According to my diagrams, there is no fuse in my fan circuit; it is one of a group of items fed by the pink wire including the ceiling lights.
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Old 08-10-2003, 07:58 PM   #35
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John -- you mentioned you have 4 tons of a/c --- was that a typo?
I have a brand new Carrier 15,000 BTU in our 31' --- sun hitting the side of it and near 100 outside, the a/c was doing OK, but the inside walls at the curve of the roof were VERY warm!!! My daughters 34' motorhome with one 12,500 unit running was cooler.


12,000 BTU = 1 ton, I thought

don
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Old 08-10-2003, 08:03 PM   #36
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John -- you mentioned you have 4 tons of a/c --- was that a typo?
I have a brand new Carrier 15,000 BTU in our 31' --- sun hitting the side of it and near 100 outside, the a/c was doing OK, but the inside walls at the curve of the roof were VERY warm!!! My daughters 34' motorhome with one 12,500 unit running was cooler.
12,000 BTU = 1 ton, I thought

don
The 4 tons that I mentioned are my home AC. I posted that the day after I arrived home. I have 13,500 BTU in the trailer.
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Old 08-11-2003, 07:37 AM   #37
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FWIW: I know "servel" refridgerators. the camp where I stayed for a week every year as a kid....acutally, just up until a couple of years ago, has no electricity. nice, quiet little cabins on a secluded lake in ME. The original owner that rented these 5 little cabins out (old family friend) died a few years back; his kid kept renting the places for a few years, but has decided to keep it as a private family place now So...can't stay there anymore. Actually, this is one of the things that prompted me to finally buy a camper. That's the only way I can affordably visit the area now.

Anyway...they manage to keep all 5 of these old servel's running. One of them should be 86'd; hasn't run well for years, but the others all work great. last time I stayed there, it froze all my stuff, and I had to turn the thermostat way down. made ice like nobody's business....

So...do they not make these anymore? is "Servel" out of business? I thought they were still operating up in Canada....
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Old 08-11-2003, 09:49 AM   #38
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oh ..canada....?

still made in canada? thats a new one on me....i was telling john, they were made so well it probabaly put them out of business...i had to junk mine when the t-couple broke and i couldnt find a replacement....with no moving parts, the t-couple was the achilles heel... i could have rigged it ...but it wouldnt have been safe....i mean cold beer is a priority....but not at the risk of blowing the house off the foundation.... ..... so therin in lies the lesson...all these rv fridge manufacturers have finally engineered something that will eventually destruct itself...
norby
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