Baffle for 4.3 and 6.7 fridges

[markvt]

Originally Posted by padlin

Found I have the new baffle setup in my TA, completion date early June. Also found there is an on/off switch and fuse inside the fridge access vent for the Texas Fan, shipped position is off (see below). Guess there was a good reason I did not hear it running when it got hot out. It goes to a single fan located at the top of the fridge, same area as what looks like the temp sensor.

Well Bob I guess I wasn't that lucky to find that I had a switch for the Texas fan option. Not that I didn't look because I did.. Did you order the fan option on your build sheet ?

[KirkB]

I think that the new baffle design was introduced much earlier than suggested by Reace. Our completion date was December 2013, with a Feb 2014 delivery, and we have the new design as shown in the email photo.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by Kountrykamper

I will have a bunch of material left over too like most of a 4X8 sheet of paneling and extra insulation so maybe I can talk my mod partner Parker into coming to Tennessee and we could have a fridge mod session.

It's a party! It's a fridge mod party! Big mods, little mods......

[kstock11]

Originally Posted by KirkB

I think that the new baffle design was introduced much earlier than suggested by Reace. Our completion date was December 2013, with a Feb 2014 delivery, and we have the new design as shown in the email photo.

That is interesting. Our 19 with the 4.3 fridge was completed on 1/2/2014 and worked very well. Our return from Chilliwack lasted for 48 nights with highs sometimes around 100. We drove with the fridge off and food in a cooler without ice and transferred as soon as we got to our stops.

[tractors1]

Loews does sell 1x1 hardwood stock - it's in the moulding aisle in a rack with the round dowels. I think standard length is 36 inches.

[cpaharley2008]

I just checked, my picture is same as MarkVt's, seems that may explain why our units have been able to cool better than others. No fan switch though
My build date was in October 2013.

[padlin]

Originally Posted by markvt

Well Bob I guess I wasn't that lucky to find that I had a switch for the Texas fan option. Not that I didn't look because I did.. Did you order the fan option on your build sheet ?

Yes, I did order the Texas fan.

[jamman]

Our 2014 19' completed and delivered January 8, 2014 came with the new baffle.

[Greggo]

Originally Posted by hotfishtacos

Ron, mine is a 4.3 and it has 2 fans screwed to the back of the refer under the top coils (stock setup, not optional). They were tied to a fixed thermostat clipped to one of the top coil tubes. It is supposed to go closed and turn on the fans when the coil temp reached whatever temp. I removed it and wired the fans to a switch inside the trailer.

I watched Reace do the fridge mod to mine at Bandon. It's a huge job and not for the faint of heart. He relocated the clip thermo to make it come on at a lower temp. It's driving us nuts at night. Maybe I'll get used to it, maybe not.

A switch on the fan so the user can choose to turn it on when it's hot outside and leave it off when cooler and not necessary is a great idea.

Fyi, the current draw on the fan is minimal, even running all day/night.

Greg

[Jubal]

Greg what size refer ? Did Reace raise or lower the location of the thermistor ? Is it fan running at night that drives you nuts ?

[Greggo]

It's a 4.3 cu. Yes, the fan coming on and going off all night was like dripping water.

Don't know a thermistor from a thermos. He moved a switch in the back that was clipped onto a black pipe, presumably the one that contains the coolant, to the oppose side of the first fin where apparently the factory installed it. It makes the fan come on at a much lower temp. If it's not needed in cooler temp (which mine doesn't), it's like to be able to turn it off. I was fine until the OAT hit 95 degrees.

Greg

[Klem]

Hi Greggo, we are picking up our 19' on the 5th of August so I'm making a list of things to ask, like 'is the thermistor moved'?.

Are you sleeping with your head at the refrigerator side (driver's) of the trailer?

Mel

[hotfishtacos]

I'm not optimistic that thermistor changes will help refer cooling because shortly after I had problems with cooling my 4.3 I went into the circuitry and tested numerous thermistor values to try to tell the refer that it was warmer than it thought it was. My hope was that it would work longer and give me lower temps. The thermistor is just a temp feedback device that calls for more or less cooling. In fact, I used a potentiometer in series with the factory thermistor to increase the resistance I was able to get the refer to go colder but only when the ambient temps were lower. When it was hot the thermistor change made no difference.

What I surmised from my experiments was that the refer did not have sufficient cooling capability when it was hot outside. I'm sure that properly designed baffles help and internal fans also help but the basic design needs to have the capability do it's job when it's hot. I don't think it does and hope I am proved wrong...

[rbryan4]

Dunno. Reace just posted his was much colder after the thermistor change with an outside temp of 36C. Wait and see I guess.

[Dave Walter]

We just returned from three weeks traveling with our April 2013, Escape 19' with 6.7 cu ft fridge. Majority of our time was spent in Utah. Daytime high temperatures varied from 85 deg F to 110 deg F. In that time we operated our fridge on a combination of propane and 120V (probably about 50-50). Our experience with our fridge was that it performed well. Unfrozen food (steaks, chicken, freezies, etc) placed in the freezer in a thawed condition would freeze solid and stay frozen. Food placed in the refrigerator would cool and stay chilled until removed from the fridge. We never did record fridge temperatures so I do not have that information.

It is apparent to me that the fridge cooling issue is not something that everyone is experiencing. If there was a design flaw in the baffles, I would expect that all fridges should perform poorly in very hot conditions. But since this is not so, it is likely that something else is driving the poor performance. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon so that those of you suffering through this can get a fix that solves the real problem.

[Klem]

So Hotfistacos what value pot are you using? K or M? Number value? (Like 5K?) in series I would guess.

Seems to me we need to optimize the ventilation on the back to achieve lower temperature on the fins. Then move that 'cold' around the box better with a fan.

Mike at FrigFix is developing an outer fan to work with the inner fan. He said the outer fan should be available around next March. With an adjustable potentiometer on the thermistor and adjustable speed fans I hope to be able to fine tune the system balance and achieve some stability.

I am thinking of ways to improve aerodynamics of the flue chamber and vents. Dometic sells a flue baffle device too. Dometic 2932667054 Flue Baffle


Mel

[Klem]

Ice-breaker that is excellent news. Maybe there are a higher number of 'lemons' out there. Hope I get a good one!!

Could it all be poor, or limited, quality control and optimization of the assembled system before shipment? It's starting to look like that.

[Donna D.]

I've mentioned this before, but if you think this is an ETI build problem... you're very mistaken. Just follow IRV2.com or RV.net/forum

There are folks spending big bucks ($$$$) that are most unhappy.

We're fortunate, we have the manufacturer of the trailer in our corner. The others seem to be flapping in the wind....

[hotfishtacos]

Originally Posted by Klem

So Hotfistacos what value pot are you using? K or M? Number value? (Like 5K?) in series I would guess.

Seems to me we need to optimize the ventilation on the back to achieve lower temperature on the fins. Then move that 'cold' around the box better with a fan.

Mike at FrigFix is developing an outer fan to work with the inner fan. He said the outer fan should be available around next March. With an adjustable potentiometer on the thermistor and adjustable speed fans I hope to be able to fine tune the system balance and achieve some stability.

I am thinking of ways to improve aerodynamics of the flue chamber and vents. Dometic sells a flue baffle device too. Dometic 2932667054 Flue Baffle


Mel

Mel, I don't remember the exact value of the pot I used because I did this study about 1 1/2 years ago. I do know these products though because I worked for Bourns Electronics for a long time and designed potentiometers and resistor networks.

[jamman]

Our large fridge (with the ETI installed baffle and Texas fan and a small interior 2 D-cell fan) cannot keep the fridge temperature below 45-50 F during 90+ F days. It can recover somewhat at night (maybe get down to 40 F) - but only if the outside temperature is in the low 50s. This is at the coldest setting.

Thank you Reace for all of your efforts.