Fridge ventilation (2 Viewers)

[clrussell]

Hoping this is the right spot as I still learn to navigate here.

about to start the install of the snow master ex85 into the 100 series. I currently have it in my truck in a homemade drawer system. Recently as the temps have climbed and I changed my drawer the fridge I don’t think has adequate ventilation for cooling as it has a hard time holding temperatures after a couple days. Granted it is in a truck bed under a camper shell also.

I have added speed holes in the drawer to help it breathe a little and I believe it has helped.

however just as I’ve got that setups about dialed I picked up this 100 series to swap everything over too.

my current plan has the fridge on a slide mounted to the floor of the cruiser. With. Drawer next to it, and storage around it. I definitely want to make sure I am giving it enough ventilation to do its job, while maximizing the space around it for storage.
I’m sure being in the cabin of the vehicle with the air conditioning will help considerably, but hooping to do this project once unlike the 5 times Ive redone the truck.

I plan on cleaning the coils of the fridge before it goes in the 100 too.

Current setup is the truck, the buildout has a start on the 100. The fridge will go on the right side.

thanks guys!

 

[e9999]

some comments coming to mind is that many fridges only have vents on one end, so that can be taken advantage of. Also, depending on how strong the air flow is out of the vents you may not need that much space around it really if there is no upper obstruction preventing the warm air to rise. I'm thinking that 3 or 4 inches may be all you need, maybe even less. Also, if the fridge is struggling, you may want to explore putting on insulation (while keeping the vents open of course), that will help a bit.

 

[clrussell]

some comments coming to mind is that many fridges only have vents on one end, so that can be taken advantage of. Also, depending on how strong the air flow is out of the vents you may not need that much space around it really if there is no upper obstruction preventing the warm air to rise. I'm thinking that 3 or 4 inches may be all you need, maybe even less. Also, if the fridge is struggling, you may want to explore putting on insulation (while keeping the vents open of course), that will help a bit.

I should have mentioned my fridge has the cover/ blanket for it also.

 

[clrussell]

Here’s my rough idea.

 

[george_tlc]

You could add some 12V fans. Many to choose from and you can trade airflow for noise level. That will help get air to circulate.

And yes, from my own experience, air flow makes a huge difference to fridge efficiency and how long it runs. Trading a bit of amp.hour for small fans pays back many times over if you reduce fridge run time. You could add a switch to run it during the hot parts of the day or get fancy and get some kind of thermostat to control the fans.

cheers,
george.

 

[clrussell]

You could add some 12V fans. Many to choose from and you can trade airflow for noise level. That will help get air to circulate.

And yes, from my own experience, air flow makes a huge difference to fridge efficiency and how long it runs. Trading a bit of amp.hour for small fans pays back many times over if you reduce fridge run time. You could add a switch to run it during the hot parts of the day or get fancy and get some kind of thermostat to control the fans.

cheers,
george.

Thanks George, I wondered about a little 12v fan to help it out.

 

[clrussell]

Just sat the fridge in to test fit.

Centered between the pre existing drawer area, and wheel well I’ve got about 1.5” on each side. With the wheel well side having a more open area. Plus about 10” between the fridge and seat.

 

[e9999]

1.5" is not very generous if there are critical vents there. Is there a built-in fan?
Are there enough vents in that cover? and well located?

 

[clrussell]

1.5" is not very generous if there are critical vents there. Is there a built-in fan?
Are there enough vents in that cover? and well located?

There is a built in fan, and the cover has provisions for the fridge cooling vents

 

[george_tlc]

Is that the whole vent area (in and out) for the fridge? Seems way little if it is.

cheers,
george.

 

[clrussell]

Is that the whole vent area (in and out) for the fridge? Seems way little if it is.

cheers,
george.

There’s one on each side.

 

[george_tlc]

Looks pretty minimal unless the internal fans shift a decent amount of air. Anyhow, getting good airflow will make a big difference in fridge efficiency.

Also, the side with the 1.5" clearance will be major cooling bottleneck, especially since the vents are essentially at ground level.

I keep at least 6" behind and to the side of my ARB vents and I can tell when the weather is hot and air is not circulating out of the vehicle when camped on a hot day.

Maybe needs a snorkel

cheers,
george.

 

[clrussell]

More vent pictures. I might give Jason a ring at ozark overland and see what he says. I got my fridge and most of my stuff from him.

I know a lot of guys run with stuff packed in pretty tight around their fridge setups

 

[spressomon]

FWIW, this is a 12v adjustable temp controller I'm using for a different application but it works great and would be good to control 12v computer type fan via temperature for your refrigerator. IMHO, the amount of clearance between your fridge exhaust and the tall drawer wall is insufficient for typical summertime ambient temps in that area...

Amazon product ASIN B011VGAPOC

 

[hoser]

Hard to tell from your pics but is your compressor, fan and vents facing the 2nd row seat? If so, trying flipping the fridge so those components are nearest the tailgate for better ventilation. If it proves successful, then try and flip your hinges so the fridge opens up on the "correct" side.

 

[clrussell]

Hard to tell from your pics but is your compressor, fan and vents facing the 2nd row seat? If so, trying flipping the fridge so those components are nearest the tailgate for better ventilation. If it proves successful, then try and flip your hinges so the fridge opens up on the "correct" side.

That’s correct. The compressor side is near the second row. However the hinges will not swap on this fridge. Also the wiring plugs/ controls are at the rear near the compressor.

 

[clrussell]

Hard to tell from your pics but is your compressor, fan and vents facing the 2nd row seat? If so, trying flipping the fridge so those components are nearest the tailgate for better ventilation. If it proves successful, then try and flip your hinges so the fridge opens up on the "correct" side.

quote didn’t quote.

 

[surfpig]

That seems kind of tight for spacing but not too far off from a lot of other installations I've seen. It sounds like you have good clearance in the back where the comp/vents/fans are. Honestly, I don't worry too much about any of that while traveling, I often have to stuff crap into every available nook and cranny. Once you're in camp, yeah, make sure you have all the space for good circulation you can get. I don't stress too much about this sort of thing. Or much of anything else for that matter.

 

[ducktapeguy]

The vent holes aren't enough to keep the air around the fridge cool. I have about the same amount of space around my fridge and added a couple of computer fans to help exhaust the hot air out of the fridge cabinet. They are powered by the same circuit as the cooling fan in the fridge so they all turn on at the same time. Figure out which vent on the fridge is blowing out air and put the largest fan possible right next to it. If you can't do that then try and pull the air near the top away from any other openings.

Also, I'm not fully convinced that the fridge covers are helping any, especially if the fridge is already stored inside another box. They may actually be doing more harm than good by trapping the heat.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

This is how I have an old (20 years old?) NorCold 12V frig in my UZJ100 desert exploring rig. It is hard wired to the starting battery with heavy gauge cable.