I am by no means any kind of expert when it comes to Airstream trailers, especially when it comes to all the different years & models. BUT.... I'm slowly getting to be somewhat of an "expert" when it comes to our particular make & model. (the one we live in...our 2001 Limited)
In the height of summer we struggled, as does almost everyone, with sub-standard performance from our Dometic fridge/freezer ( model NDR 1062)
We are Full-timers, but we're parked. So we're on shore power 24/7. Our freezer held it's own, but the fridge was another story.
We might attain 40 degrees, but that was only after 8 hours or more of overnight recovery. By noon the temps were hovering between 50 & 60 degrees, not so good for all the perishables!
A buddy of mine told me to look into a fan for inside the fridge. Made sense to me, so onto the web I go. As with every product, there are lots to choose from.... I decided on a company called Smart RV Products
Home They manufacture the Fridge-Fan, and I'll say this.....It is not the cheapest fan you'll find on the market, as a matter of fact it is probably one of the most expensive ones. But, it is also undoubtably one of the highest quality fans you'll ever find available for purchase.
The gentleman I dealt with was named Mike (one of the owners) and the service & support from him was top notch!
This is the unit we ordered, straight out of the box. Assembled & ready to be installed. It attaches to the roof of the fridge right in front of the cooling fins at the top/rear of the fridge. You will need to shut down the fridge/freezer unit before you do this. A warm & DRY interior roof is preferred, if you want it to stay where you put it!
You'll see 2 wires on the right side. This fan does NOT run on batteries, it will tie into your existing 12volt power supply from the Airstream. ( attn. Boondockers : we purchased a model without LED lighting to keep the current draw to a minimum AND there is also a switched power button to facilitate use only during the heat of the day, when these fridges struggle the most)
So the installation went like this..... warm, clean & dry fridge ceiling.....Pull protective wrap from Velcro sticky mounting patches.....Carefully line up placement of fan directly in front of cooling fins in rear of fridge.....Hold in place for 10 seconds.....Attach white negative wire with special clip to the end cooling fin.....Splice the red (power) wire into the constant "hot" wire leading into the fridge light switch, using the supplied special connector. This whole process literally took me about 10 minutes ( not including the warm up of the fridge!)
Here's the installed fan.....
and a look at the wire leading into the light switch......
5 hours after install we had a 30 degree reading on the top shelf thermostat and actually had to turn down the fridge temp switch!
This unit cost me $72/shipped to my door. It took 10 minutes to install. I will finally be able to have a COLD beer from my fridge! (and of course STOP throwing away milk, lunch meat, cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs and all the other perishables)
Is there a down side? Yes, I guess there is.... You CAN hear the fan running inside the fridge. It's about half as loud as the cooling fans running off the
12 volt converter behind the couch. or about as loud as the fan running inside this computer on my lap. 2 steps away & I can't hear it at all.
If that's a "deal breaker" well, I guess you can continue to throw away spoiled food and spend your weekends defrosting your cooling fins!
As always, I strongly believe in word of mouth advertising and when I come across a true quality product, I like to pass good word along.
A real solution to poor fridge performance...?
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