For those WITH a fridge circulating fan

[padlin]

Do you get frost/ice buildup on the fins of the fridge?

[Vermilye]

Yes. Less in the desert, more in the humid south. I end up defrosting my 5 cu ft refrigerator fins every 2-3 weeks in the south, 6-7 weeks in the desert.

I have one of the dual computer fan units similar to this one. It keeps the frost off the fins behind it, but the rest of them do frost.

[MyronL]

No ice on my fins. But no fans either. When I had one I never noticed ice on my fins but hardly camped in high summer heat.

It’s been a few months since I last messed with my 4.3 cu in RM8551. That was back when it wouldn’t work right and the best remedy was clean out the flue in back to insure no visitors had made a home in there. On advice from forum counsel also bought a flea collar and placed it below the pilot light.

Yesterday decided I would check to see how things are. Need a happy fridge for going on the roads again. Temp inside fridge was 60°F. Turned on Propane, 5 dots. In less than 2 minutes the red light on front display was blinking madly, indicating a fault. I shut it down and restarted. Same result again. And again. Turned on stove, it lit, so had gas. Shut down and once again, turned fridge on, 5 dots propane. That’s when I noticed a click inside. It was the pilot light now lighting. Wait an anxious 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes later; no more red blinking light.

Came back after 5 hours, fridge temp now 46°F. We are good. Next, decided to open fridge door and re-insert the freezer compartment. I had long ago removed that, willing to sacrifice the freezer to decrease overall in-fridge temperatures. Placed at its normal spot. No fans. First had to remove my home-boy plastic “inner door” sheet barrier because it’s now too big. Maybe I will make another that fits the main fridge cavity under the freezer. Meanwhile, added an ice cube tray. Then dropped fridge to 4 dots propane.

Went out there this morning to see if we got ice. We got ice in the tray... (none on the fins, at least for now.)
Temp in fridge 36°F at 9:30 AM. Load 'em up -- let the camping begin!

[Kountrykamper]

I can get ice off by letting the fridge get good and cold overnight (around 34) then shut it off for a few hours with a fan inside. I always place a BIG note on the counter so I don't forget to turn it back on. I let it get up to 40-41 then turn it back on. Depending on how much ice is on it I may have to do this for a couple days to get it all off.

I try to stay ahead of it and not let it get a large buildup.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Yes. Less in the desert, more in the humid south. I end up defrosting my 5 cu ft refrigerator fins every 2-3 weeks in the south, 6-7 weeks in the desert.

I have one of the dual computer fan units similar to this one. It keeps the frost off the fins behind it, but the rest of them do frost.

thanks for the link to ebay Jon

was it difficult to connect to a power source in the fridge?

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by MyronL

No ice on my fins. But no fans either. When I had one I never noticed ice on my fins but hardly camped in high summer heat.

It’s been a few months since I last messed with my 4.3 cu in RM8551. That was back when it wouldn’t work right and the best remedy was clean out the flue in back to insure no visitors had made a home in there. On advice from forum counsel also bought a flea collar and placed it below the pilot light.

Yesterday decided I would check to see how things are. Need a happy fridge for going on the roads again. Temp inside fridge was 60°F. Turned on Propane, 5 dots. In less than 2 minutes the red light on front display was blinking madly, indicating a fault. I shut it down and restarted. Same result again. And again. Turned on stove, it lit, so had gas. Shut down and once again, turned fridge on, 5 dots propane. That’s when I noticed a click inside. It was the pilot light now lighting. Wait an anxious 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes later; no more red blinking light.

Came back after 5 hours, fridge temp now 46°F. We are good. Next, decided to open fridge door and re-insert the freezer compartment. I had long ago removed that, willing to sacrifice the freezer to decrease overall in-fridge temperatures. Placed at its normal spot. No fans. First had to remove my home-boy plastic “inner door” sheet barrier because it’s now too big. Maybe I will make another that fits the main fridge cavity under the freezer. Meanwhile, added an ice cube tray. Then dropped fridge to 4 dots propane.

Went out there this morning to see if we got ice. We got ice in the tray... (none on the fins, at least for now.)
Temp in fridge 36°F at 9:30 AM. Load 'em up -- let the camping begin!

Myron glad your fridge is working great . Also bought a flea collar to put behind refrigerator . Hope it works . Last trip we were without refrigerator for almost 2 days until doing suggestions from repair fellow . I am using the fridge quard but was thinking to put freezer back in and shorten to not include quard . Pat

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Losangeles

thanks for the link to ebay Jon

was it difficult to connect to a power source in the fridge?

There are many versions of these fans on eBay. The version I purchased uses alligator clips to mount it to the fins, which also provide the negative connection. The positive wire was long enough to run through the thermostat hole in the back of the refrigerator (other models use the hole for the drain, which the RM2510 doesn't have). I ran it to the + side of the 12V refrigerator supply. Mine did not come with a switch - I added one. I've often wondered what a row of 4-5 of these fans would do for keeping the frost down, but since I dry camp for long periods, I don't want the additional battery drain.

[MyronL]

Here's the back of my fridge showing where I spliced into power in, and ran a wire like Jon said into the fridge. Ground wire from fan simply attached to one of the screws holding fins in place. Can add a fan switch inside, or not.

I subsequently removed the fan entirely because, 1. began doubting its effectiveness, and, 2. my application was just too ugly looking for me.

[MyronL]

Yes fridge is working fine, Pat, --just came in after checking and temp is 38°F after a warm, sunny day on 4 dots. No melted ice cubes in the freezer but did notice slight frost accumulations on fins in there. Since I never removed that extra power line for a fan I just might put another, smaller, neater wee fan in main area. Not taking anything for granted.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Yes fridge is working fine, Pat, --just came in after checking and temp is 38°F after a warm, sunny day on 4 dots. No melted ice cubes in the freezer but did notice slight frost accumulations on fins in there. Since I never removed that extra power line for a fan I just might put another, smaller, neater wee fan in main area. Not taking anything for granted.

Probably good idea about fan . Tom(kountryKamper) helped me with installing a small fan which I have a switch on , we do run it all the time using refrigerator . Have very good numbers down to 31 in morning on 4 . Dealt with very hot temps on last trip . Except for the problem with gas burner , refrigerator is doing very good now. Ice did build up but not bad for 3 weeks and didn't worry about it . Pretty happy with 4.3 now . Pat

[Kountrykamper]

The one we installed were 19CFM 29dBA

Dayton Brand
Fan Part# 4WT34
Guard# 3RP19A

Just zip tied to the shelf blowing down.

[MyronL]

Here's my fridge fan...

[parfsten]

I am somewhat electrically challenged - is this something easily installed? Are the connectors in the frig already there? Do you have to "get into" existing electrical or simply connect... Perhaps I should have capitalized "electrically challenged"...

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by parfsten

I am somewhat electrically challenged - is this something easily installed? Are the connectors in the frig already there? Do you have to "get into" existing electrical or simply connect... Perhaps I should have capitalized "electrically challenged"...

There are battery operated models that will perform the same function
see here for examples https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb...frigerator+fan