Update on $18 ebay refrig fan

[rollingcat]

DOMETIC NORCOLD REFRIGERATOR FAN FOR RV 12 VOLT | eBay



Received in 4 days after placing order on e bay! I will say it makes a outstanding difference with the temp inside my refrigerator. I gave him 5 stars on everything on his feedback. Its simple to hook up, after refrig door is closed , you can't hear it running. Compared to my "D" battery fan , huh, there is no comparison!!!!! The ebay fan pushes air out of its metal body. The best thing is it hangs on the fin and is out of the way. The lazy square "D" fan always got pushed to the back wall.
I like it

[Billieg]

Thanks, ordered one today.

[Ray,IN]

For us anything hanging from a shelf just gets in the way, we prefer a battery fan, which sits in the back of the bottom shelf where it does the most good. Different strokes for different folks.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollingcat DOMETIC NORCOLD REFRIGERATOR FAN FOR RV 12 VOLT | eBay Received in 4 days after placing order on e bay! I will say it makes a outstanding difference with the temp inside my refrigerator. I gave him 5 stars on everything on his feedback. Its simple to hook up, after refrig door is closed , you can't hear it running. Compared to my "D" battery fan , huh, there is no comparison!!!!! The ebay fan pushes air out of its metal body. The best thing is it hangs on the fin and is out of the way. The lazy square "D" fan always got pushed to the back wall. I like it

Please explain how it is wired. Thanks Cliff

[Elkhartjim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifftall Please explain how it is wired. Thanks Cliff

From their site:


4.) EASY INSTALLATION: Only ONE (1) WIRE to hook up makes for SUPER EASY installation, usually less than FIVE (5) minutes! Simply hook the hot (12 volt) wire to the light bulb or door switch in your RV's refrigerator, and YOU ARE DONE! Fan hangs from the fin by one clip. Comes with illustrated instructions. As you can see from this photo, the fan hangs directly from the cooling fins in your RV’s refrigerator. This fan is actually hanging in my refrigerator. *******Your refrigerator MUST have a light and/or a door switch in the interior to provide 12V power*******If you own a 2007 or 2008 or newer Norcold or a Dometic RM7400 series refrigerator, please read this: Apparently Norcold has changed their light/switch assembly beginning in 2007 models. As yet, we have not been able to find a constant 12v source in the light assembly. We have had customers tell us how they're installing it. Send us a message asking for alternate installation instructions. Be sure to include your regular e-mail address. We can send you simple instructions WITH PICTURES to guide you through the alternate installations.

[powerboatr]

I SNAKED A 12 + WIRE UP THROUGH THE CONDENSATION DRAIN TUBE

and used the negative off the light assembly

[Gary - K7GLD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by powerboatr I SNAKED A 12 + WIRE UP THROUGH THE CONDENSATION DRAIN TUBE and used the negative off the light assembly

ACTUALLY, the fin assembly in most Dometic and Norcold RV refrigerators are at ground potential, and can be used for the ground returm of the fans...

I tried the set the OP points to, they made a definite improvement - but I wanted more, sooooo:



WORK? Here's what they will do with the thermostat set at coldest:

[rollingcat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifftall Please explain how it is wired. Thanks Cliff

Cliff, if you buy the same fan I did, the hook up is about 4 minutes. This fan only has one wire to hook up to a red spade at the light / switch ( the red spade on my dometic is HOT even when door is closed. Switch works off ground). I did it just like the fans directions said, wired it, Then clip it to the fin. Fan started up running, pushed in my switch to make sure it would still run when door is closed. Look at picture in e bay ad to see how it hangs from fin with 1 alligator clip. They reconfigure the wiring on the fan so that it has 1-hot wire and 1-ground alligator hanger / mount clip.
Very very simple hook up. NO TOOLS NEEDED WHAT SO EVER!!

Cliff, here is a link to the fan I bought, look at picture of the fan.
Link: DOMETIC NORCOLD REFRIGERATOR FAN FOR RV 12 VOLT | eBay

[rollingcat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN For us anything hanging from a shelf just gets in the way, we prefer a battery fan, which sits in the back of the bottom shelf where it does the most good. Different strokes for different folks.

Mine is hanging from the fin and touches nothing, completely out of the way. Blowing air back across cold fins seems that where it would do the most good. The fan blows INTO the cold fin and the air comes out the bottom of the fin.
I have this battery fan, it will not blow ashes out of my ash tray, Try yours I bet yours won't either. The battery fans are lazy with no air flow. My E bay fan pushes out air and needs no batteries.
I started this post to update on some of my earlier questions about this E bay fan. If you don't have one, how can you comment on it's performance or it getting in my way. I don't own a norcold refrigerator, so I don't comment on them?
If you like the battery fan, you will love this fan, so quit depriving yourself.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elkhartjim From their site: 4.) EASY INSTALLATION: Only ONE (1) WIRE to hook up makes for SUPER EASY installation, usually less than FIVE (5) minutes! Simply hook the hot (12 volt) wire to the light bulb or door switch in your RV's refrigerator, and YOU ARE DONE! Fan hangs from the fin by one clip. Comes with illustrated instructions. As you can see from this photo, the fan hangs directly from the cooling fins in your RV’s refrigerator. This fan is actually hanging in my refrigerator. *******Your refrigerator MUST have a light and/or a door switch in the interior to provide 12V power*******If you own a 2007 or 2008 or newer Norcold or a Dometic RM7400 series refrigerator, please read this: Apparently Norcold has changed their light/switch assembly beginning in 2007 models. As yet, we have not been able to find a constant 12v source in the light assembly. We have had customers tell us how they're installing it. Send us a message asking for alternate installation instructions. Be sure to include your regular e-mail address. We can send you simple instructions WITH PICTURES to guide you through the alternate installations.

Thanks Jim. I have a 2008 and as stated on their site , they have not been able to find a constant 12 v source. if no one here knows , I will contact seller.

[Doug Sage]

Here is the reply that I got from the seller:

Here is the alternate installation info you requested.....

Basically, you are looking for any conduit from the interior to the exterior. The drain tube is only one. I had a customer fish a wire beside the drain tube. Another said he found a good outlet at the wiring for the thermistor (roundish metal disc attached to the aluminum fins - interior). Once you are through to the back side, the connection should be the same as the pictures show.

Please let me know if you have ANY questions.
Thanks, Richard


************************************************** ***********************

I have many customers with the newer Norcold and Dometic units using the drain tube as a route for the hot wire. Here is the information:

Going through or beside the drain tube......

You do NOT need to cut or splice any wires.

I was able to duplicate this set up on my own refrigerator to verify the fan would run. I have not been able to actually USE the fan set up this way to see how the refrigerator does. My concern is that the wire could possibly block the drain tube resulting in overflow in the refrigerator. The customer who sent me these pictures of his install has been using his this way since early Sept. '09. He said he would let me know if anything came up, but on 9/17/09 he emailed me everything was fine. I haven't heard from him since so apparently nothing unusual has come up.

Here's what he wrote...."I used a fused (.5A) wire and snaked it from the outside up into the fridge compartment. I would say if you where going from the inside fins it would take maybe 3 feet to safely get over to the 12 volt supply. My water tray inside the fridge pulls out and disconnects from the drain tube, this would make it easier to feed wire from inside." He also stated, "took less then 5 minutes installation time".

I can't vouch for the 5 minute part. It took me 18 minutes and 3 attempts to get the wire down the tube. The easiest way for me was to go from interior to exterior. I used an 18 gauge wire I purchased at an auto parts store. I think the 18 ga was a little too much. You could probably use a 20 ga and be better off.

I had a customer just last week said he was able to snake his wire beside the drain tube, and did not go through it. He did not have to lead it with anything like a coat hanger, etc. He used a 16 or 18 gauge wire which was stiff enough to go on its own. I have not tried that, so I can't say how easy/hard it would be.

Again, once your hot wire is established, simply clip the fan onto an aluminum fin to complete the circuit. Whenever you want to turn the fan off, you will need to unclip it from the fin and lay it on a shelf. This hook up is a CONSTANT 12V source even if the refrigerator power is OFF. You can drain your coach battery if you leave the fan clipped to the fin when the refer is not in use.

If you are not comfortable doing this, I would advise you not to do it. These RV refrigerators are way too expensive to risk messing something up over installing a $15.00 fan. End of quote.

[Clifftall]

Thanks Doug. That's a little beyond what I'm capable of doing , so I won't be doing it that way.I have the battery fan and actually have just ordered another. I'm doing well as my freezer temps are below 10 and the fridge is below 40.

[Ranger429]

So does anyone know if ir will work on the Norcold units?

[sfrantz]

We replaced our battery fan with this unit and we love it. We have been able to turn down (up?) the refrigerator setting since it helps keep everything cooler and reduced condensation.

It hooks up with no tools. I was surprised that the frig light connection still has power when the door is shut and the light is off. Dometic must interrupt the ground to turn off the light.

It takes up no space and works great.

The only down side is that if you have the fan touching the shelves it will create a low hum that is audible outside the frig. Just make sure it doesn't touch the shelves.


Stephen