Monitoring Refrigerator Performance

Long Weekend · Guru

Monitoring Refrigerator Performance

Olley46 · Guru

Long Weekend wrote:
Serveral days ago a post was started about fitting a cooling fan over the condensor of refrigerators to improve their efficiency on hot days. I intend to fit a fan to our van in the next week or so before we head off to Victoria early in January. Going by past visits in summer we should have a couple of days over the old fashioned one hundred degrees.
To monitor our fridge this afternoon I bought a Companion Wireless Fridge Thermometer (Companion part number WTR001) from Anaconda for $24.95 - special down from $34.95. I have set it up in our household refrigerator with the sender inside and the receiver on top. So far it looks like like it is working perfectly - when the door is opened the temperature inside drops by about one degree! The receiver also shows the outside, that is, room temperature, so should give a good guide as to how the fridge is working.
This thermometer should work equally as well with portable fridge/freezers.
Murray

I have been using one of these and it is exactly the same reading as the readout on the fridge freezer, a great little gadget.
Lance C

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Yes ours is the wired model.. They come in handy in that you read the temp and do something about it before the beer gets cold..
In our case its often too cold buggering up the salads..
All good..

Tomcat · Senior Member

Hello Long Weekend

I used an american made temperature monitoring device in my Engel Fridge Freezer for a couple of years with the freezer full of meat etc and the fridge part full of drinks mainly beer. The Fridge would always sit at around 0 to 4 deg C. Of course if you loaded up with warm drinks it would raise up to around 8 deg. Having said that constantly monitoring the fridge was a good way of determining when it needed defrosting. If the fridge temp started to gradually rise for no good reason I found it to be caused by the space around the freezer being frosted up and not allowing cold air to be blown into the fridge. I would defrost the fridge with a hair drier (frozen food removed ) then reload and switch back on and the fridge temp would be back to about 0 to 4 after about 16 hrs. I also use a laser thermometer to manually measure my temperatures. to be more accurate.

dorian · Guru

It sounds great, but I'm wondering how it manages to transmit a signal through a metal cabinet. Does it all happen via the door seal?

BTW, here is the instruction manual:

Model WTR001 Wireless Fridge Thermometer Instruction Manual:
outdoor.companionbrands.com.au/index.php

-- Edited by dorian on Friday 11th of December 2015 08:39:23 AM

dorian · Guru

There is no mention of the recommended battery chemistry for the freezer mounted unit, so I examined the datasheets for two Energizer chemistries.

Classification: Alkaline
Chemical System: Zinc-Manganese Dioxide (Zn/MnO2)
Operating Temp: -18°C to 55°C (0°F to 130°F)

Classification: "Cylindrical Lithium"
Chemical System: Lithium/Iron Disulfide (Li/FeS2)
Operating Temp: -40°C to 60°C (-40°F to 140°F)

data.energizer.com/PDFs/L92ULT_EU.pdf
data.energizer.com/PDFs/l92.pdf
data.energizer.com/PDFs/LR03PL_EU.pdf
data.energizer.com/PDFs/EN92.pdf
data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf

ISTM that alkaline batteries might be hitting the limits of their specification.

Tomcat · Senior Member

Got this from ebay about 5 years back and ran it in my Engel Fridge Freezer in the Prado sender 1 in the fridge. It ran on 2 Energiser AAs in the Senders and 3 AAAs in the receiver. I only recently threw it out as one of the senders stopped working. I will get another one. Very reliable and I kept the receiver/ display on my dash so the signal travelled about 2 metres. Engels are metal no problem transmitting. Ebay have them at about 35 bucks. Displayed is in Fahrenheit. actual is about 4c -14c

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=acurite+wireless+temperature+monitor&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xwireless+refrigerator+monitor.TRS0&_nkw=wireless+refrigerator+monitor&_sacat=0

-- Edited by Tomcat on Friday 11th of December 2015 10:21:28 AM

-- Edited by Tomcat on Friday 11th of December 2015 10:49:20 AM

dorian · Guru

http://www.acurite.com/media/manuals/00985-INST.pdf
https://www.acurite.com/media/manuals/00986-instructions.pdf

Install or Replace Batteries

AcuRite recommends high quality alkaline batteries for the best product performance. Heavy duty or rechargeable batteries are not recommended.

The freezer sensor requires lithium batteries for low temperature conditions. Cold temperatures can cause alkaline batteries to function improperly. Use lithium batteries in the freezer sensor for temperatures below -4°F / -20°C.

Select Degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius

To select between degrees Fahrenheit (°F) or Celsius (°C) temperature units, slide the "°C/°F" switch, located on the back of the thermometer display.

-- Edited by dorian on Friday 11th of December 2015 10:43:40 AM

Bruce and Bev · Guru

we bought one about a year ago from a small city camping store. They are totally wireless. Attenuation of signal cause by the metal fridge is not normally an issue as most new RV units are not metal - try putting a fridge magnet on the door lol.

You can also get wireless ones that have 2 receivers - one to have inside your 'van and the other in your tow vehicle

Vince · Senior Member

I have these monitoring the fridges in the tug.

Only one working as other fridge turned off.

Have ordered a companion wireless unit for the Van fridge

Engel wired units in pic

Cheers Vince

Wombat 280 · Guru

Something I came across to keep the operating fridge temp down for those who go solar power. I used a couple of 12vot computer fans on my rig but those on solar may find these a good asset. Advert in the latest xmas CAMEC cattledog

Solar Fridge vent fan.jpg

Desert Dweller · Guru

We use one of these Refrigerator Thermometers bought from House for around $15. Hangs from one of the fridge shelves & works extremely well. In the Blue, too cold. In the Red, not cold enough. In the Pink, perfect.

deverall11 · Guru

I use an old computer fan and have it connected to the 12v power supply at the back of the fridge.