We have a dometic 3 way fridge in our two year old Coromal the fridge has been good, but we have been travelling home through Western Queensland. Temperatures have been up to 41degrees. Yesterday we left the van for over an hour, parked in the sun. Since then I suspect that the fridge is now struggling to keep cool. Any clues, please?

Homer and Marge

Hi Simpsons

We did this... but im told I have a "T" for tropical fridge if yours is a "ST" then you may have issues, good luck.

Its 90% (I think) shade cloth on a sail track. Keeps everything cool and creates a privacy screen.

We have a 3 way Dometic fridge too. Just 3 years old.

It struggles in 40+ degree heat but picks up quickly when the temp goes down.

I've lived in hot areas a lot and most fridges do it tough in extreme heat.

We have also set up a shade cloth almost identical to the one Phil has . It does help.

In another forum I was informed that on the label (on the fridge door) if you see the letters "ST" the fridge will only handle sub tropical heat < 36 degrees or so.

If it has "T" then it will handle the higher heat load, made me look and thank goodness mine is a T, its worth checking.

Hi,  having worked in Caravans for many years,

I have found that the biggest problem  with a fridge overheating is usually caused by lack of air circulation in the rear.

this can be greatly improved by adding a small 12v fan under the coils at the rear,

these fans which are solar powered, are available at most caravan accessory stores for around $100.00,

or another cheaper alternative, is to find a 12v 8amp cooling fan out of an old computer, $5-$10 some of these fans are two speed

and are easily fitted, and can be wired direct to the 12v circuit at the connection box behind the fridge.

hope this is some help.

K.J.

Phil C wrote:

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In another forum I was informed that on the label (on the fridge door) if you see the letters "ST" the fridge will only handle sub tropical heat < 36 degrees or so.

If it has "T" then it will handle the higher heat load, made me look and thank goodness mine is a T, its worth checking.

-- Edited by Phil C on Thursday 6th of November 2014 09:06:36 AM

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ours has a T on the front too Phil, but struggles in over 40s heat.

Must admit I struggle a bit myself once the 40 mark is reached.

Hi, just wondering what sort of side screen and where you purchased it, thanks, Gitsho 

WE have a Vitrifigo 12 volt fridge/freezer, and there is no T or ST on the lable.  However, it does struggle in the heat, and on speaking with "the fridge whisperer" a few years ago, he told us to defrost more.  So the further north we are, the hotter it gets, the more we defrost.  Makes for icy cold beer. 

We too have a small shade sale which we put over the vent at the back of the fridge (and we open the vent) when that side of the van is facing west or north.

Put a computer fan 12v in the rear attached to the top exhaust panel. Run it from the van 12v system using a thermo switch in the negative return, that way the fan will be operative when the fridge needs it and silent when not needed.

You can try adding extra insulation around the fridge sides if there is room.

Plus the shade a shown above also helps.

I have done all this and our 3 way works ok . 

gitsho wrote:

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Hi, just wondering what sort of side screen and where you purchased it, thanks, Gitsho 

-- Edited by gitsho on Thursday 6th of November 2014 03:39:41 PM

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 I actually got the shade cloth and 2 x 2 meter sail track and tape from ebay, some mob in Victoria.

From memory it cost about  $200 all up, got a friend to sew it all together and bingo, sweet as.

Safe travels

hako wrote:

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I've done the same as dodg except I used 2 fans just because I had them. Also used a 70C thermostat attached to one of the big black pipes on top of the fridge to turn fan on/off. Jaycar have the thermostats - pretty cheap.

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 Me too.

One fan only seems to do the trick for us,  and mounted on the top Exhaust vent.   ( I believe a fan is more efficient mounted at the top vent moving hot air out.  Stalled hot air in the top of the fridge compartment needs to be moved )

Also I have fitted a Baffle to close the gaps around the condenser cooling fins.   Forcing the air to pass through the cooling fins makes the fridge more efficient. If the cooling air finds an easier route it will take it and  not pass over/between the fins.  

Have a look at these below they might help.  

http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/fridge_vent.htm

http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html

Unfortunately the top vent on the AVAN  is really too low for really efficient cooling, as the construction wont allow it to be higher.  The fridges are not fitted as recommended by Dometic. Are any of them fitted as recommended by the makers ?

Regards

Mike