Debris in fridge outer access panel

[Toby Dog]

With all of the back and forth the other day about fridge fires etc I pulled the access panel off to see if the previous owner had installed a Fridge Defender.
He hadn't, but due to the fridge being on the back wall of the TT some debris has been sucked into that area by the vacuum as they and we have traveled.
A lot of pine needles and other weird stuff, dirt, leaf particles, etc.
I'm tempted to screen the access panel, what's ya'lls opinion on that?

[Wiscampsin1]

Good thing you caught the debris. I installed fridge screens on all of our 6 previous pull behinds mainly to keep insects from building nests. Never had a problem with fridge operation.

[wildtoad]

Don’t know of the screens, but two things:

Be careful not to restrict air flow

Perhaps make it part of your maintenance to blow out / clean out the refrigerator, furnace, water heater service areas on a monthly basis (or frequency that works for you).

[Fridge Defend]

Originally Posted by Toby Dog

With all of the back and forth the other day about fridge fires etc I pulled the access panel off to see if the previous owner had installed a Fridge Defender.
He hadn't, but due to the fridge being on the back wall of the TT some debris has been sucked into that area by the vacuum as they and we have traveled.
A lot of pine needles and other weird stuff, dirt, leaf particles, etc.
I'm tempted to screen the access panel, what's ya'lls opinion on that?

The rear mount fridge are very sensitive to boiler overheating due to the wind currents behind your RV, the same currents that deposit debris inside the fridge compartment.


The eddies cause stagnation of air flow and the result is boiler overheating, the Fridge Defend will prevent this issue and your fridge will run cooler. We have studied this issue by performing data collection while driving, the Fridge Defend will turn off the fridge for about 10 minutes, when the Fridge Defend restarts the fridge everything is good, as a result the fridge stays colder.


Good thing you caught the stuff in the compartment, although rare, it can be a cause of fire. The main cause is boiler overheating and the resulting destruction of the cooling unit over time.


Take care, Paul

[Random01]

Of course you need screens next might be a bee nest there or a gazillion of bugs

[Toby Dog]

We've had so many TTs and a few 5ers over the years that we lost count. None have had screens but we certainly will be adding one.
And a Fridge Defender.

[Random01]

All kinds of stuff can be blown into the fridge compartment installed on any side of the RV by the strong winds alone. Plus bugs love it. I very rarely have to clean the fridge compartment, mostly just dust, I have screens on all louver vent openings