Baffle for 4.3 and 6.7 fridges

[Brian B-P]

When I do my baffle I plan to use tapered PolyISO insulation board that is designed for commercial roofs. 3.5" of that stuff has R value over 20. I figure that a solid (tapered to fit the curved wall area) baffle made from PolyISO board of the same overall shape proposed by Reace will keep the back of the refrigerator much cooler and result in better overall cooling performance.

I like this idea. Rigid insulation is often foil-faced; that seems like a good idea for the refrigerator side.

I see that the 120V outlet gets buried behind the baffle, which seems like a feature to be avoided. Solid foam could have clearance for the outlet and cord carved out of it.

 

[Ron in BC]

Well, you have to get lucky sometimes. Knowing now what the baffle looks like I opened the exterior hatch and looked inside. Imagine my surprise to find that I have the baffle. So mine must have been one of the first this Spring to have one installed by ETI.

At some point I'll probably pull the fridge anyway because I think insulating the space between the baffle and the fg skin is worth doing.

On mine the bottom baffle is above the 110 volt receptacle and it is still accessible.

Ron

 

[hotfishtacos]

Ron, do have the screw on cover on the bottom of the baffle as shown is Reace's picture? If show you may be able to open it up and stuff it upward with fiberglass insulation...may save a lot of work and give you good results?

 

[lefttee]

Our 19 was new in July 2013. When we had problems in 100 degree weather in Nebraska, Reace had me remove a plywood baffle that was originally placed during construction. I simply opened the outside access door and reached up and worked it loose. It made little if any difference. Now we're talking about putting in another baffle. I'm confused.

 

[Ron in BC]

The bottom of my baffle looks like it was air nailered on but I'll take a closer look.

I wouldn't mind pulling out the fridge anyway because now, after using the trailer, and knowing which is the "head end" of the bed I could add some blocking to the wall panel as well as insulate those panels also. I'd also like to look around the area and see if there's any opportunity to add a "cubby hole" storage area for the bathroom.

Oh, and I discovered that I have a fan that I didn't know I had I thought it was an option and was going to add one myself. Now all I have to do is track down all the comments that have been made about them and sensors etc. I didn't read previous comments about the factory installed fans because I didn't know I had one.

Ron

 

[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.

 

[Ron in BC]

R 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 switch inside the trailer.

Thanks, I'll check it again when the lights better. I'd also rather have a manual control so that'll be in the cards also.

Ron

 

[Kountrykamper]

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.

Steve

Our 4.3 only has 1 fan on the bottom (Stock setup from Dometic). I have never seen it run. I have followed the wire from the fan trying to find the thermostat but the wire appears to go into the control module. I have felt around on the condenser fins but can't find the thermostat. Where was yours mounted?

This is another reason I will probably make this a winter project because I don't want to have to rush it and want to get the fan rewired so I can control it and add more if needed. I will probably bench run the fridge some to make sure it is doing what I want before I reinstall it.

 

[Parker-ESC]

Our 19 was new in July 2013. When we had problems in 100 degree weather in Nebraska, Reace had me remove a plywood baffle that was originally placed during construction. I simply opened the outside access door and reached up and worked it loose. It made little if any difference. Now we're talking about putting in another baffle. I'm confused.

I had that same talk with Reace last summer. We were camped on a really hot day and I called to talk with him about the fridge. He was even then trying to make it work better and had experimented some with baffles. The one he told us to remove was nothing more than a hunk of plywood to deflect the air over toward the back of the fridge. But of course right above it is that large volume of stagnant air that's contributing to poor performance. So in our case, removing it might have helped a tiny bit by at least not restricting the upward flow of cooling air.

The new baffles are entirely different and do direct air closer to the cooling fins, and probably help develop a little chimney effect. This also gets us in compliance with the installation instructions from Dometic. When I took ours to a local RV shop, their first inclination was to not work on it as a warranty job because of all the clearance between the fridge and the outer wall.

I'm looking forward to doing this mod. It's going to take some effort, but I think it's worth the trouble and eliminates a huge uncertainty in making these things work as well as they can.

 

[Kountrykamper]

Well with a extendable mirror and some good light I found the fan thermostat clipped to the top of the condenser. Not able to reach it so just another reason to pull the fridge. The mod would force the air to be directed over it instead of going around it.

 

[cpaharley2008]

I'm a little baffled now. In post#20 here, Reace stated that the baffles did not seem to work, so why would someone undertake this change?

 

[Rossue2]

Reace started his post with this: "Well...the fridge saga continues. Although the fridges definitely work better with the baffle installed, there is a limit."

Like many problems, there is evidently no single solution. Differing approaches working in tandem are hopefully going to make these larger RV refers work without having to constantly worry about food spoilage.

 

[rbryan4]

I'm a little baffled now. In post#20 here, Reace stated that the baffles did not seem to work, so why would someone undertake this change?

I think Reace is just echoing what alot of others have said -- that high ambient temps cause absorption fridges to not work well. Even if the baffling/venting system is "near perfect" as he quoted from the Norcold site, there may not be enough of a temperature difference at the top to allow condensation to happen.

For those who live and camp in colder climates, I don't really see an issue, unless there's something defective in the unit. Sure, there will be days when it's hotter than others, and the fridge performance may suffer, but not enough to look for another technology IMHO.

But, we live in South Texas, and we plan to camp here alot as well. Since our build hasn't been started yet, I'm looking more and more into the possibility of an ac/dc compressor fridge. With one solar panel we should be able to run for a couple days off grid. If we add more solar, who knows?

 

[nealmccarter]

I assume we have the new baffle in our 4.3 cf and I am happy to report that we had absolutely no problem holding the temperature in 97F (36C) weather. Love our fridge, love our trailer.

 

[Kountrykamper]

I'm a little baffled now. In post#20 here, Reace stated that the baffles did not seem to work, so why would someone undertake this change?

"Definitely work better" is enough for me to spend a Saturday on it. At least when I'm done with the baffle, fans, and insulation I will know I have it is the best it can be.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Well, Tom, how did you do today?

 

[markvt]

Well I had some time today so decided to start looking at how I was going to install the new baffle design on my Escape 19 trailer. And to my surprise the baffle design where already installed on my trailer. My trailer was manufactured middle of this last last April. What's funny is when I had just talked with ETI yesterday they told me my trailer was to early to have the new baffle system installed on it. So I guess the moral of this story is if your trailer was manufactured around April or May time line of this year you should check to see if you do are don't have the new baffle design before you do anything. As most of you Escapers already know if you can see the outlet as in the attached picture then you have the new baffle design.

 

[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.

 

[markvt]

Picture of my baffle

 

[Kountrykamper]

We have a trip planned next weekend so not today although I did look at it and do some planning. Fridge removal is very easy just will need a hand by someone other then the wife (she don't read the forum). I really wanted to just jerk it out and go for it but resisted. Also while at Lowes I looked at different insulation I might use and found out they don't sell 1X1 just 1X2 so will probably just use them. Will probably move the electrical plug too because I had the fridge come unplugged once. Need time to order some fans and switches once it's out too.


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.