A fridge should be cold...

I mentioned the other day that, due to the nature of most RV refrigerators, they struggle to keep food at a safe temperature in really hot weather -- anything above about 78°F. I did some research on the interwebs (Google and YouTube are your friends!), and found that it's relatively easy and inexpensive to get some help for cooling system in the fridge.

The gist of the problem is that air's not moving over the cooling fins in the back of the unit, and the trick is to add a couple of fans back there. I decided to give it a try and see if it would help. I did not make a video or take many pictures, as there are a hundred good videos out there already, including the one I've inserted into this post:

The whole job only takes a short time to complete, and it does appear to work. When I was done the job at just past 3:00PM, the temperature outside was about 90°F, and the temperature inside the fridge was about the same(!). I fired up the fridge and decided to see how well it worked running just the refrigerator (no AC in the trailer). At 8:30PM or so, the temperature in the fridge was down to just under 40°F. Now, there was some natural help involved. We had a thunderstorm roll through, and the ambient temperature dropped to about 75°F, but before the storm, the fridge had reached 50°F in less than three hours. For an absorption unit on a hot/warm day, that's pretty darned impressive.

200mm fans strapped to the inside
of the upper fridge vent.

I was able to get two 200mm fans for about U$15.00 each at the local Micro Center -- and wire I had on hand. The fans I used were their "Thermaltake Pure 20 High Airflow Sleeve Bearing 200mm Case Fan". I think they're the same ones used in the video, except without the gaudy red LEDs. For their size, and the volume of air they're capable of moving, they're incredibly quiet.

Mine's a little more ghetto at the moment, as the only cable ties I had on hand were the plain white ones instead of the sexy black ones. I also couldn't find a suitable switch today in my travels, so for now I've got the fans hot-wired straight to the 12V feed to the fridge, so they can't be turned off. Eventually, I will want to add a switch. Otherwise,  the fans will eventually run the battery down if the trailer's not plugged into either shore power or the tow vehicle.

Of course, we'll monitor the fridge over the next few days, but so far, I'm calling this little mod a success. Some folks also suggest some circulating fans inside the fridge, and we'll probably add one, too, just because. And, we'll get to test the mod "in the wild" in just a few weeks, when we venture out to Western Maryland for a long weekend.

Update 11 July: Fridge was below 32° this morning!