Side vent refridgerator

[bigjake]

i have a 2018 GD imagine 2400 BH with the fridge/freezer in the slide out. We camp without hookups almost exclusively. I had to install some extra fans to cool the fridge/freezer compartment. I have one blowing in on the bottom grate, 1 blowing out on the top grate and one blowing on the cooling fins in back. The 1 fan my trailer came with was a joke. It ran all the time, was noisy and drained the battery and food didn’t stay cool or frozen. Food now stays cold or frozen, the 3 fans together are quieter than the one original, they don’t run as much but they do draw the battery down.


I like the floor plan but would never have bought this model had a known about the need for these fans. I like the GD service. GD warrantied some repairs that were due to dealer neglect. Any problems were dealer related, but GD took care of it. No regrets other than not knowing about the constant battery drain from the fans.

Has anybody got any suggestions or learned any secrets to cool the side vent fridge/freezer units?

thank you

[Country Campers]

bigjake

Welcome to the forum.

The fridge fans are a large topic of discussion. This is our first trailer with a fridge in the slide and the 2 side vents you mentioned. Having these 2 vents in this orientation is not ideal for cooling the coils on a rv fridge, heat rises but has know where to go with out help. I like your "3 fan" method and may copy that. Unfortunately there needs to be some kind of air flow over the coils for the fridge to operate. Having no hook ups and relying on battery power is tough in itself , requiring more fans to cool the fridge does not help this at all. I have not camped much with out at least electric so my only advice would be to get a better battery bank to support your use. Remember there are other things in the trailer that uses the battery, but the extra fans might be the biggest draw.

Brian

[bigjake]

Thanks for the response. I used some flatter, larger diameter computer cooling fans with more blades. They move some air, that’s for sure.

I am currently using 1 AGM battery. I have a 100 watt solar panel and I run the generator during the morning and evening generator hours as needed depending on the amount of sun. I went with the one battery because it is easier to bring back close to 100% vs a longer period of time with a bank of batteries. I have also found the onboard charger not to be dependable as far as bringing the battery back to full. I usually disconnect the solar panel, switch the battery off at the battery disconnect and run an AGM battery charger.

[Country Campers]

The converter/charge unit that is stock has been known to not be the "best" unit , but does its job , albeit slower. I have purchased a Progressive Dynamics P9260 , I think is the model number , that was recommended as a better unit for charging. I have not installed it yet but will sometime soon. From the info I received it charges at a better rate and takes care of the battery better than the stock. I am not familiar with them just going off of good advice. This might something to look into that may get your battery charged better and faster.

Brian

[bigjake]

I emailed the company about the P9260 converter/charger. They say it will charge everything but would be slow to charge a lithium ion battery. I’ll have to see what it entails to swap them out.

Thank you

[Country Campers]

If you are going to use lithium I would get a converter that supports lithium.
On the progressive site I have read where the "regular" converter/chargers are not suppose to be used with lithium, I have also heard different. Talking to the company will get you the best results.

Brian

[bigjake]

My lone AGM seems to be keeping up with a
combination of solar and a “smart” AGM battery charger off a 110 outlet when the generator is running. The only inconvenience is having to disconnect the battery from
the camper and the solar panel when the smart charger is on. I believe the current from the panel and the onboard converter/charger fools the smart charger in to maintenance mode. With a better onboard charger, I would only have to unplug the solar panel. An onboard converter upgrade would also be easier for my wife to run the generator without all the unplugging and switching over and back when complete.

[bigjake]

Back to the issue at hand, cooling the refrigerator, why did Grand Design use black vent covers? This just occurred to me. If the camper is parked with the slide out facing east, south or west with less than a dense tree canopy for shade, the sun will be adding to the heat in the refrigerator compartment. I feel Grand Design should consider replacing the black covers with white ones.

[Guest]

I believe its more of a draft issue than anything else. As in lack of a draft.
I do not own one of these but wonder if some sheet metal placed to move air over the coil may help. Also there are cases where making a smaller opening at the bottom may increase velocity which in turn could move air over the coils better than the low velocity low draft that seems to occur in these models. A perfect situation for some thermocouples and various duct applications.

Yes I know folks should not have to do this but don't wait for anyone else to correct this in a timely manner.

Jim