Here's a pic of my fridge light mod.



I used a clip on headlight with 5 leds powered by 2 button batteries. It provides about 3 hours of light per battery change and enough lumens to tell the difference between balogna and salami on a midnight fridge raid, thanks to the highly reflective fridge interior. I got the micro switch from Radio Shack. The little metal thingie on the bottom (made from a 1/4 " Snap-on spring steel socket holder) can swing up to catch the lever and turn the switch off when it is not needed, like when cleaning the fridge or loading and unloading at home. I made the bracket from a small piece of aluminum strapping I had left over from another project. The hardest part was measuring the exact distance from the switch to the door. The light mounts to the bottom of the freezer compartment with Velcro for a quick battery swap when needed. Yes, the light really does go off when the door closes.

There's still no light in the freezer compartment. Maybe I could make one with a mercury switch and mount it to the small freezer door, so it comes on when I pull the door down.... I don't think the mercury would solidify in the fridge as it freezes at -38 degrees. I guess I've got the modding bug.

Chip

I made a few more fridge mods. I guess I just can't help myself.

I got to thinking that my small inside fridge fan's airflow could be easily blocked is something shifted over the fan during travel. So I decided to move it from under the shelf to directly below the cooling fins. I should benefit from slightly better cooling in this location too. Rather than attach it directly to the cooling fins, I decided to build a small shelf extension from a small piece of wire clothes hanger. My idea was to mount it slightly below the fins with no part touching the fins which might let condensation get into the fan motor. It may still drip into the fan motor even after this precaution. If this proves to be the case, I will mount a new fan vertically in front of the fins, not horizontally (which is best to augment natural convection air flow) as I did in my current design. Here's a picture:



Finnaly I added a fridge baffle to prevent the flame from blowing out while running on propane when traveling. My fridge has 12v capability, but it works much better on propane and it allows all the power flowing into my Aliner from my TV to recharge the battery while towing, as I mostly camp without hook-ups. I got the kit from AdventureRV.net for about $30 with shipping. Here's a link to the kit. BAFFLE KIT - $18.95
It basically works by forcing the air take a rather circuitous path to get to the burner, preventing gusts of wind from blowing the flame out while traveling. Here's a few pics of it installed.



The kit consists of 4 pieces (2 components). 3, U-shaped pieces of sheet metal (Dometic calls them lower vent baffles) partially block the lower vents as seen here and are held on by one tiny plastic push pin each (easily removable by hand.) The instructions say that these may be removed once you arrive at your destination to improve fridge performance in very hot weather. I was thinking that one could just leave the lower door off rather than remove the door baffles if occasionally needed. My dual, 3 speed fridge fans draws so much air through the cooling coils that I don't think it will be necessary - perhaps if I didn't have forced ventilation behind the fridge.


The second component to the kit is this metal shroud which wraps around the burner cover and flue. It is secured by 2 small self-tapping screws.

Since this kit is a genuine Dometic item I feel safe using it.

I will be trying it out next month on a 2,000 mile trip to the Smokies, so I'll post up how well it works once I return. Finally, I will trash my cheap inside fridge thermometer for an electronic one with a sending unit, so I can monitor the interior fridge temp inside my TV and while camping without even opening the door and allowing warm air to enter. I plan on getting one like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acurite-Wireless...ometer/16888921

They are only around $11 at my local Walmart and provide cheap peace of mind that those juicy steaks and sweet lobster tails will be fresh and safe when I arrive at the CG.

Chip

Clever idea for mounting the internal fan, Chip. It should also "decouple" the fan from the refrigerator so that vibrations are not transferred and amplified. I found I got some vibrations with my original mounting, so I added some vibration isolating silicon washers to the corners of the fan and that seemed to take care of the problem.

I've been using a wireless inside/outside thermometer in my fridge for about two years now. It's worked perfectly and provides a lot of peace of mind.

We'll be FINALLY taking our trailer out on a week of boondock camping into New Mexico in a couple weeks, so we'll be able to see how the inside fan works for us.

Do you think the lower vent baffles are really necessary if you have the burner shroud in place? From the picture, it looks like the shroud would do the trick by itself. I never use the propane feature while driving, but I've sometimes wondered if maybe strong winds would blow out the flame while camping. The shroud will surely protect against that.

- Jack

You're probably right. I think I will experiment by removing the door vent shrouds one at a time and see if the fridge remains lit. Of course this doesn't mean that it will suffice for all applications. Which do you think I should remove first (for testing purposes), the upper, middle or the lower baffle?

Chip

Chip, I totally missed your post here, and, we just got back from a very successful camping trip with the new internal fan in the fridge. It worked like a charm. I don't know if it really keeps anything colder, but it certainly seemed to speed up the cooling down process. It was quiet and the battery seemed none the worse for having it on 24/7. Maybe, it reduces the need for the external fans to run?

As far as the vent baffles, I think I'd start with the upper one. My reasoning here is that the draft it might permit would be mostly bypassing the flame source since it's up high. I'd think the lowest baffle would be the one to have the greatest effect on the flame. Of course, I might be totally out to lunch here, because I'm working off your pictures and I haven't really looked at the positioning of things in my trailer (which I think are pretty much like yours.)

- Jack

I'm leaving on the 4th and I'll be back Oct.13th, so I'll let you all know the results of my testing. I concur that the removing the top vent baffles should least affect the flame going out, at least in theory, so I'll start there.

Chip

I am a person that looks for the cheapest and easiest solution to everything. I bought some similar PC case fans, and found that they run on 9v - I bought a 5 pack of 9v battery connectors at Radio Shack and some 9v batterys - The rubber bands came on my newspaper. It worked out to about 4 bucks a piece. I put one in the fridge on a shelf and 2 pointed up in the outside fridge compartment.
Sorry about the second picture - I forgot that the eyepiece is off after I dropped the camera.

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Good to know that I am not the only one that is "photo challenged" when taking pictures.

I just returned from a great 1,600 mile trip to the Smokies. I found that removing the bottom baffle did not allow the flame to go out. In fact, I couldn't get the flame to go out even with big trucks flying by at high speeds with the bottom vent baffle removed. I could probably get by with the middle vent baffle removed too, but I didn't test this configuration. I'll bet only the top baffle is mandatory on my fridge. Your experience may differ.

BTW, when stopped and camping the fridge stayed very cold inside (31 - 36 degrees depending on outside temps) with 2 baffles in place. Of course it wasn't very hot out either. I kept the fridge set on its middle setting the entire time. Shrimp kept in the freezer section was rock hard when I took them out to cook, several days into the trip.

Chip