Refrigerator Drain P-Trap

[sclifrickson]

I discovered something today that might help anyone who is trying eke better performance out of their refrigerator. The drain tube on our Dometic fridge does a loop-de-loop before being fastened down at the base of the refrigerator compartment. I didn’t think anything of this until today when I straightened it out (to run a wire for a new powered interior fridge fan I’m installing) and it dumped a bunch of water out of this loop. That’s when it occurred to me that this loop was acting just like a p-trap, creating a barrier to air exchange between inside and outside of fridge. Clever! This could easily evaporate over time though, so my thought was that it might not be a bad idea to pour a cup of water down the drain from inside the fridge at the beginning of the season, in order to ensure the air lock is there, for anyone looking to get max performance from their fridge. Assuming your drain line routing also has the same loop, of course. Easy to check from the exterior access hatch. Cheers!

[cpaharley2008]

That drain should also fill every time your unit defrosts/sweats or sheds it's ice after use. How is the fan operating?

[Vermilye]

I used one of these fans in my 17V 5 cu ft refrigerator, as well as my 21, and in both cases, it works well at distributing the "cold" from the fins. Much better than the battery versions. If you dry camp, look for one that doesn't have lights...

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I used one of these fans in my 17V 5 cu ft refrigerator, as well as my 21, and in both cases, it works well at distributing the "cold" from the fins. Much better than the battery versions. If you dry camp, look for one that doesn't have lights...

Jon, I didn't see what fan you're talking about. Can you post again? Dale

[GeorgiaBill]

We have an interior fridge fan for $24.50 CAD on our build sheet. Is that a new option not available in 2017 or 2018?

[cpaharley2008]

I believe the optional interior fan is one of these Camco battery operated fans. There are 12v permanent mount fans available, I have had mine for the last 3 Escapes, held in place by velcro and I just get new velcro from the manufacturer. Mine is like the second picture

[GeorgiaBill]

Glad I asked, glad you answered.


27% one star on Amazon.


Thanks again, Jim.

[Perry Butler]

This is the Camco refrigerator fan we received from ETI when we picked up our 5.0 last October.



Trouble is, we already had one. We wanted a fan in the rear to help exhaust warm air out the top of the camper. Oh well.

Enjoy,

Perry

[cpaharley2008]

"Texas" fan option which I believe is no longer being offered. The newer refers do not need them supposedly.

[Vermilye]

The fan on the right in Jim's photos is similar to the one I've used. There are a bunch of them sold on eBay.

[War Eagle]

The little blue box-shaped one on the left in Jim's post is the one ETI offered and we purchased with our camper in February 2017 for $21 CAD ($16 US at the time). It seems to help distribute cool air in the fridge faster during initial cool-down, and during meal prep when the fridge is opened more frequently, but it uses two "D" cell batteries that don't last long in the cold environment inside the fridge, and we haven't found any "D" sized lithium batteries. We plan to keep putting alkaline batteries in it and using it until we get something better. The little sliding on/off switch can be a bit finicky at times, but we always eventually get it working (so far).

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

The little blue box-shaped one on the left in Jim's post is the one ETI offered and we purchased with our camper in February 2017 for $21 CAD ($16 US at the time). It seems to help distribute cool air in the fridge faster during initial cool-down, but it uses two "D" cell batteries that don't last long in the cold environment inside the fridge, and we haven't found any "D" sized lithium batteries. We plan to keep putting alkaline batteries in it and using it until we get something better.

I have the same one and the same concerns are what led me to a hard-wired option. This one was used/recommended by others so is what I’ve just put in:


https://rvcoolingunit.com/Dometic-Ev...-P5444060.aspx

Based on how much air it moves, I think it’s going to work *much* better than the little blue battery box. Construction looks good. Plus, the light is a nice bonus! And no more D cells. I did have to splice some wire onto the pigtail provided, however, as it was too short for the drain tube routing I used to get power. The clips that attach to the cooling fins hold tight. Hopefully I’ll never want or need to remove the unit. It won’t let go without a fight. Lastly, I was pleased at how low profile the unit is, at ~1/2” thick.

[sclifrickson]

Here’s the pic of the hose and power setup for the fan. Also cross posting the pic, per request, on that other thread on self-inflicted electrical troubleshooting.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Jon, I didn't see what fan you're talking about. Can you post again? Dale

Originally Posted by Vermilye

The fan on the right in Jim's photos is similar to the one I've used. There are a bunch of them sold on eBay.

From Jon's website I found a picture of the fans he used in both his trailers.

While Jon's comment about finding one without lights if you boondock may be important to some I wanted to point out that the unit from RV Cooling Warehouse is the one that Eric and I both used and it has two switches - one for the fans and one for the lights.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...tml#post255330
https://rvcoolingunit.com/Dometic-Ev...-P5444060.aspx

[Eggscape]

And do the fans push air towards the fins or pull the air from the fins?
Do they stay on all the time, just when the door is open, only by manual switch or are temperature controlled?
And for those that have had them for a while...do you think it works well enough that you would do the same installation in your next trailer?

[cpaharley2008]

Mine mounts on the top and has rear facing fans that blow the air rearward and then down over the fins, moving it down to the refer bottom. The fans run continuously as they also prevent icing on the fins which can occur after days of use. I have kept mine from my last 2 Escapes and plan on using in the new one.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

And do the fans push air towards the fins or pull the air from the fins?
Do they stay on all the time, just when the door is open, only by manual switch or are temperature controlled?
And for those that have had them for a while...do you think it works well enough that you would do the same installation in your next trailer?

The fans are controlled by a manual switch so you turn them on and off as you please. I believe it does keep the fridge a more uniform temperature and it keeps the fins from icing up as quickly. For only $30 US and a simple wiring job I would definitely do it again.

[Eggscape]

Thanks guys.
I see another fridge mod blowing in.

[yangstyle]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Here’s the pic of the hose and power setup for the fan. Also cross posting the pic, per request, on that other thread on self-inflicted electrical troubleshooting.
Attachment 38576

I can't tell by the picture, did you splice onto the existing wires or does it plug into the fridge connector?

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by yangstyle

I can't tell by the picture, did you splice onto the existing wires or does it plug into the fridge connector?

The fan wires were inserted into the terminal block in addition to the other leads already there. I’d prefer replacing the terminal block with one that has more ports, or whatever the correct term is. The existing one has two each of positive and neutral, and there are a few more wires than that shoved in there, even before adding the fan. Each wire does pass the tug-to-pull-out test though.