Refrig fan...

[davidc-HILO]

Well I poked around and found no evidence of a fan ever being in mine... No switch inside, no wires laying around in the access panel - nada...

Cruised around the forum and found a link to an scambay ad and bought one... comes with all the crap I am missing, pricey, but I cruised the net looking for individual parts, by the time I bought "stuff" and put it all together, I would have paid about the same, so oh well.

I can see the plus side of having it there and figured "Might as well".

Will post pictures of the install and I'll even post part numbers (therm control) switch, which was 1 of the things I couldn't really track down...

 

[PopRichie77]

Older trailers didn't have a fan.

 

[davidc-HILO]

Older trailers didn't have a fan.

Oh well, seems like a good idea.

 

[PopRichie77]

It is a good idea, the fridge will work better.
Sorry, what I meant in the previous post was, that the reason you couldn't find any fan stuff was that older ones didn't come with a fan. The fridge will work much better with a fan.

 

[sam-HILO]

Ref . Fan

Our 1990 Classic Ref. didn't hav any kind of a fan. We had our dealer replace the Ref. and you can't install an internal fan. We use the cheap place on the shelf blue cube fan. I would callJay Simon at Mantelli trailer sales and ask him if it possible to install a fan for your model . Don't open your parts as you may have to return them (716) 625-8877. Check the extensive back posts on the mods that our very talented guy forum members have done on Ref. fan installs.

 

[sting32]

Our 1990 Classic Ref. didn't hav any kind of a fan. We had our dealer replace the Ref. and you can't install an internal fan. We use the cheap place on the shelf blue cube fan. I would callJay Simon at Mantelli trailer sales and ask him if it possible to install a fan for your model . Don't open your parts as you may have to return them (716) 625-8877. Check the extensive back posts on the mods that our very talented guy forum members have done on Ref. fan installs.

SAM, He's not talking about any fan inside the fridge, he's talking about a fan that vents the heat from the back of the fridge out of the top side opening out of the camper, when top is raised... Newer Hilo's have these, usually single 5.25 inch computer fans run off 12v. BTW, you can install these yoruself if you dont have one or even if you do, I used 2 computer case fans and a rocker switch to control the fan. I used a piece of wood I created when I trimmed 1/2 inch off the width a 2x4 to make a 2x3 for unrelated project... Used that wood to mount the fans.

 

[RichR]

I think someone had a thread here on the forum with photos showing how they mounted their external fans and what parts they used, etc. I couldn't locate it for some reason.

 

[JackandJanet]

Search "Sushidog mod" for the external fan pics.

- Jack

 

[RichR]

Thanks!

Here it is:http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f35/external-refrigerator-fan-261/

 

[davidc-HILO]

I think someone had a thread here on the forum with photos showing how they mounted their external fans and what parts they used, etc. I couldn't locate it for some reason.

Search "Sushidog mod" for the external fan pics.

- Jack

Thanks!

Here it is:http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f35/external-refrigerator-fan-261/

WOW - So if ANYONE, not just me, is looking for this mod, they have to look for "Sushidog mod" and NOT oh let's say "Refrig fan mod"??? no wunder I couldn't find anything about this when I did a search for it. Doesn't matter it's only $70 for what is maybe $12 worth of parts - Thanks guys

 

[davidc-HILO]

I said I would post part numbers, but the problem you will have is finding a thermodisc with the same specs.

Thermodisc - 36T22 F40-15C (the f40-15c is the off and on temp, you can find a F40-10C, but I had no luck with the "15C") so it was prob made specific for Dometic or Hi Lo. Probably wouldn't hurt anything to use the 10c if you can actually find one you can buy. Most I found were wholesalers who did not sell to the public. The "F40" is in celsius and is about 100F. There are some on the bay, but they are mostly over 100C which would be way to high and would be useless.

Switch - I could give the part number, but it's simply a SPST switch (off - on) just make sure it will handle the amp. about any "rocker" type switch will.

Fuse - Just a fuse holder and a 1 amp fuse.

Fan - 5 1/4" dc fan. Find a nice quiet one, can't see brand making any difference.

The rest is just wires (18 gauge) misc screws and terminals.

Just remember this all runs on DC not AC so the amperage is not that high.

Useless, because you probably won't find the same thermodisc that they used, I'm guessing it was made for Hi Lo because I looked for such a kit on from Dometic and they have similar stuff, but they are designed for the roof vents which a Hi Lo doesn't have.

 

[RichR]

The JR Repair guys may know where to get the thermostat.
Home - JR REPAIR

Grainger has one that is on at 110F and off at 90F.

 

[sam-HILO]

External ref. fan

One thing you can do if you don't have a ref. fan (external) is to prop open the outside white vent door to get more circulation. This was told to us at a HiLo rally by the owner of HiLo. So I was on a campout with dh and I tried this. I probably duct taped it in the up position and then it rained and the water caused a fuse to blow,no real harm done. We were away from our site for a few hrs. Probably should make some kind of a "Y" crutch to prop it open in case of rain.

 

[hilltool]

A timely topic. I just tried the propane tonight on the refrig and it worked great. Question: Do you always turn the fan on when you have the refrig running? I have a switch inside mounted on the refrigerator housing - next to panel indicating the state of my batteries and holding tanks. I couldn't tell from the dometic book and the instructions on the fan and switch whether that switch is to always be left on when the refrig is on and it will cylce on and off by itself----or not. Just thinking that while camping without shore power if that won't be a continuous drain on the batteries.

 

[PopRichie77]

In warm weather, I leave my fan switch on all the time and it cycles on and off as needed. Yes, it is a drain on the batteries with out shore power, I also watch TV almost every night, also run the fantastic roof fan if needed. I have 2 deep cycle batteries, but I run my generator everyday for a couple hours or until the batteries are back to full charge, when camping without shore power.

 

[hilltool]

Thanks- that is what I was thinking. I've also got two deep cycles---- but I have been thinking a solar panel or two or a generator as handy additions. I t depends on where we are, of course, and how long between moving and re-cahrging via TV. Am sitting with it in my drive as I wait for TV to get some long needed TLC- extensive brake work, ball joints, and a leaky radiator replaced. Soon.....

I was impressed with how cold the reefer got----i had about the same size in my old texson truck camper and it never did as well- but the external fan never worked real well, either. Leaving it at "4" yesterday after I started up was clearly over kill---as it got down to below thirty after about 4 hours in the main compartment.

anyway- thanks for the clarification. Rick

 

[RichR]

You will find that an empty refrigerator will get much colder than a full one and the the door being opened and close often will affect the temperature. Keep a wireless thermometer in there and then fine adjust after running the fridge full of food. An internal fan will help keep the temperature even by circulating the air, but don't get the little blue one they sell, they are junk. There have been many complaints about them, mine was DOA. Camco makes one that seems to do a good job, it is gray color. A battery lasts a long time.

 

[davidc-HILO]

Thermodisc - Dometic part No. 3104133.016 and just one place I found with a quick search is here... Pricey at $20, $22 on fleabay, but there it is...

It's all you really need to set up the fan, just buy a 12v rocker switch, an inline fuse holder and a 1amp fuse, some wire and a 12v computer case fan (or two)... I found a very nice fan at Altex (local TX computer store) that runs at 2,000rpm and puts out 26db of noise, it's larger than the one that comes with the kit (I forget how many MM it is, but it's larger) and has 9 blades.

It's similar to this one, but it's larger (160mm I think) and it's the same price. Maybe I should pick a couple up before they are gone and not restocked... Really all you need the fan for is to get the air moving, it's not really "cooling" anything, just getting "stale" hot air moving... convection won't do it.

*** Not everything that is at the stores is on the web-site and vice versa***