# Refrigerator Improvements



## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

After last week when our fridge didn't work so well I started reading up on them. I discovered that one of the most important things with ammonia type refrigerators is to have good airflow over the cooling unit. So I decided to investigate to see if I could improve airflow over the cooling unit in our outback. Air flows in through the access panel on the side of the trailer, up the back of the fridge and out of the roof vent carrying the heat produced by the cooling unit with it. The smoother the airflow, the more efficient the fridge will be. Everything looked fine down below so I went on the roof and took off the roof vent.



















You can see the roof membrane is hanging in the opening as well as some insulation partially covering the cooling unit. I also discovered a large airspace above the fridge, as well as a flat spot on the back wall where the roof and the wall meet. All those things combined probably cut back the airflow quite a bit considering it relies on convection to work. So what I did was first trim away the roof membrane and then installed a piece of 1/4" plywood to cover the airspace on top of the fridge.










Then I added another piece on an angle to create kind of a baffle to smooth out the airflow where the back wall and the ceiling meet.










From all I've read, putting in the baffle and creating as smooth a chimney as possible for the air to flow thru will really help improve the efficiency of the fridge, especially when it's hot out. The more air moving thru that space the more heat it will carry away.

Mike


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## Not Yet (Dec 13, 2004)

Mike that looks real COOL. Another thing for me to look at next time I am up on the roof.

Jared


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Nice job mike
I'll check mine this weekend and see how mine is
Thanks for the info

Don


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## bweiler (Sep 20, 2005)

How tough was it to remove the venting off of the roof? Looks like it will be a decent improvement. Let us know.


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

good job -- will have to check that myself...


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## jeff28rsds (Jul 16, 2005)

Excellent job Sir! A Kudos on that one. Since my Rig is in the drive way still....It's coming off tomorrow. Thanks again.
JJ


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## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

Just when you thought the archives held every last, little tidbit of useful information...


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Looks great...

Let us know how well it performs with this new mod.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Boy, Mike, that was ugly!









Looks like you did a great job. I will be interested to hear what kind of difference you see.









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

Yeah I'd really like to hear if you think it has improved things.

I wonder if it'd even be possible to install a small 12v fan in that path somehow??


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Looks nice Mike.
















My refrig. tends to freeze things.

Kevin


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

> How tough was it to remove the venting off of the roof?


Not very difficult, the cap comes off easy enough with four screws. With the cap off you can take a look to see how clean or sloppy the install is. To remove the rest of the vent I removed all the screws and took a thin putty knife and slid it between the roof and the vent to loosen the sealant.



> I wonder if it'd even be possible to install a small 12v fan in that path somehow??


Campingworld sells a couple of fans made just for that purpose. One is solar powered and the other runs off of 12 volt power.

Supposed to be pretty hot and humid here so I'm curious as to what the temps will be when I check them later. Seemed to cool of a little quicker on start up last night, the freezer dropped 50 degrees in about an hour. I'm not expecting any huge differences, I think if anything it will just run more efficiently and maybe be a touch cooler, I'll get back to you on that









RVerscorner has good info on how the fridge works as well as good info on other system.

Mike


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Looks good mike, you did a nice job. This is one of the mods that should have been done at the factory unfortunatly almost all manufactures of RV do not do it. If I remember right the installation instuctions say to maintain no more than 1" air gap between the coil and the outside walls and to close the opening above the fridge to promote the proper air flow through the coils. Its kind of after the fact but if you use a small computer fan and a thermostat, I used the type of thermostat from an attic fan, it will help move air on those hot days when there is little wind blowing. Another cost saving mod that wasn't done by Keystone was the outside access door to the furnace but I can kind of see it because it saved them a whole $23.00. Again nice job and you will notice the difference on those hot days when you have the coldest beer in the campground. Kirk


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Oh...you had to go and say coldest beer in the campground. NOW that makes me want to do this mod to have the status for sure.


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## countrygirl (Apr 9, 2006)

I was at Camping World and found this lil fan which is suppose to help exhaust the the refrigerator by a 40 percent improvement.

http://campersworld.com/product-view.php?p...t_id=3332:19709

They have a solar powered one too: http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/in...fm?skunum=19710


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

It's been pretty hot here the past couple of days. The outback is in the sun all morning and until about 3 in the afternoon so it was over 100 inside the trailer yesterday. Fridge temps stayed aroun 5-6 degrees in the freezer and 39-41 in the fridge so it is working as well as it can. How different now than before I don't know since I never checked the temps before but to keep temps in the target range when it's that hot is a good thing









Mike


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

So far my fridge works very well. But curiousity will force me to take off the rain guard cap and check it out.

Dan


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## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

camping479 said:


> It's been pretty hot here the past couple of days. The outback is in the sun all morning and until about 3 in the afternoon so it was over 100 inside the trailer yesterday. Fridge temps stayed aroun 5-6 degrees in the freezer and 39-41 in the fridge so it is working as well as it can. How different now than before I don't know since I never checked the temps before but to keep temps in the target range when it's that hot is a good thing
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Haven't checked my roof vent, but if I keep the door closed, mine runs about 6 deg. in the freezer and about 34 in the fridge, (at least thats what the digital thermo. says.

On almost the same subject, has anyone seen a digital thermo. with two remote sensors so it can read both fridge and freezer? would be nice not to have to have two seperate units with all the wasted 'inside temp.' displays.

Dreamtimers


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

From the information above (100+ degree days) it appears your work is paying off...Congrats!!


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## countrygirl (Apr 9, 2006)

It's great we can log in and see the innards of an OB here. I am not brave enough to try something like this...but I applaud you!


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Mike , you are definitly not afraid to take the trailer apart.

You are one of the few to vent the exhaust from the microwave outside.

You redid with a noticable improvement the sewer lines

Now this

Kudos for a job well done









What day did you do it, It had to be hot up there as the last weeks have been hot and humid.

John


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Mike

Awesome Mod - Another added to the list. I know you did take before temps -- but is working better?

Thor


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

tdvffjohn said:


> Mike , you are definitly not afraid to take the trailer apart.
> 
> You are one of the few to vent the exhaust from the microwave outside.
> 
> ...


I did it almost 2 weeks ago just when it started to get really hot. I worked on it one night after work when the trailer was in the shade. I think it's definitely working better in the heat based on how hot it was this past week and how it maintained good temps.

As far as diving in and taking things apart, the trailer is not much different or more complicated than a house, and I'm not afraid to tear into that either









Mike


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Mike the real question is how much colder is the beer now?

Don


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## Txcamper (Apr 3, 2006)

Great mod info... I will be adding that to my list of things to do.


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

From seeing the pictures of the roof covering the vent duct I just had to look at mine. Mine had 4 screws (each sealed) on top so it was easy to remove and check. The rubber roof was trimmed would you believe neatly to the edge with no over lap. With that I just left it knowing it would be OK if not the best it could be if I had done some ducting. On a moderate day (85F) it went to 10 F in the freezer when left alone. For those in the 100 F range it would seem one of those fans would be in order to get some flow through the duct to have better control of the cooling.

Now I understand the layout I think I will definitely get some of those bug screens because they have plenty of places to get where cleaning out won't be easy.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Dreamtimers said:


> It's been pretty hot here the past couple of days. The outback is in the sun all morning and until about 3 in the afternoon so it was over 100 inside the trailer yesterday. Fridge temps stayed aroun 5-6 degrees in the freezer and 39-41 in the fridge so it is working as well as it can. How different now than before I don't know since I never checked the temps before but to keep temps in the target range when it's that hot is a good thing
> 
> 
> 
> ...


On almost the same subject, has anyone seen a digital thermo. with two remote sensors so it can read both fridge and freezer? would be nice not to have to have two seperate units with all the wasted 'inside temp.' displays.

Dreamtimers
[/quote]

Dreamtimers, Click below and scroll down to the bottom of the page:

http://www.millerthermometer.com/RefrigFreez.htm


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

I took the vent cover off and looked at mine this weekend too. The roof is neatly trimmed to the edge of the opening. But it was open to the roof of the trailer, a la the a/c installation (which I fixed this weekend).

I also figured it was good enough and didn't cut through the screen on the vent.


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## Txcamper (Apr 3, 2006)

I pulled the AC cover off awhile back and cut the rubber blocking the ducted AC vents.


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