Internal fridge fan - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Neal and Bev · 03-15-2010, 06:51 AM

I went by Camping World this weekend to pickup a wheel ramp and while I was strolling though the isles I saw a "Fridgecool Fan".

The picture on the package showed it on the inside of the refridgerator. It caught my interest so I picked it up and read the package. Here are the features that it listed on the back.

*Helps your refridgerator run more effciently by recirculating the cold air in the bottom.
*Reduces food spoilage.
*Reduces refridgerator cool down time.
*Helps maintain a more even temperator inside the refridgerator
*Prevents food from freezing on the bottom.

I don't know how well this actually works but for $12 bucks I thought I'd give it a try. I've always been a sucker for a gadget

Anybody else tryed one of these?

BTW - The fan actually goes in the bottom of the fridge per the instructions, I just set in on the middle shelf for the picture.

Neal

455lark · 03-15-2010, 05:36 PM

I bought one of those a couple years ago , and use it every time we go out. It help to cool fridg, off faster when first turning on the unit and keeps the temp. more even in all areas of the fridg during trip. In this Hot AZ climate my Fridg. needs all the help it can get , and that fan is a big help. Thumbs Up on your purchase.

RichR · 03-27-2010, 10:30 AM

How long do the batteries last?

455lark · 03-27-2010, 02:29 PM

my fan uses 2 D cells. I only leave the fan on when the fridge is on . I have about 40 days worth of camping on the same 2 batteries I started with last year. So 40 days of use , not continuous use but still a long time.

Sam Shields · 03-27-2010, 03:48 PM

I use one also, it stays in the frig with the frig running 24/7. I have to change the batterys about every 30 to 45 days when I ck it about 30 days the fan is still on. When I ck it after 45 to 60 days the fan has usuly stoped. That is with using the alkaline battery, the cheep batterys usuly only last 2 weeks.
Sam

RichR · 03-28-2010, 11:42 AM

Thanks for the info, I may have to get one of those. I have seen them in the catalogs for years but never talked to anyone that had one.

Added 3/29/10........I was looking these up on Camping World yesterday and they were given poor reviews due to their new design. Apparently when they redesigned them to add an on and off switch they cheapened the units to the point that they tend to fall apart in a short while.

Beach Boy · 04-17-2010, 05:08 PM

I bought one of these fans about 3 years ago -- worthless. I took it back to CW and got refund. The guy told me that he has had to refund a bunch of these fans.

Now, I have a buddy that bought a fan off of eBay that resembles two computer fans mounted in an aluminum frame. Wow, it really works because of the volume these fans put out.

sushidog · 04-20-2010, 03:33 PM

I've been using a fridge cool fan for years with no problems. I have the old type without the on/off switch - which really isn't needed cause you want it to run 24/7. I get about 3 weeks of continuous camping to a pair of batteries. It doesn't move much air, but then again, it doesn't need to - just stir it around a little so there are no warm spots in the fridge.

A 12v model which runs off of the house battery would be better. I think it would be easy to hook-up a tiny computer fan and attach it to the fridge cooling fins if you are a do-it-yourselfer.

Note from moderator: I think this second part is a GREAT topic for it's own thread so I copied it to a new post called "External refrigerator fan". I hope that was ok with you Sushidog

External refrigerator fan

I hooked up a pair of 120mm high-tech, magnetic bearing computer fans in the rear of my fridge compartment to improve it's efficiency too. My camper came with a single Dometic fan in the back, which made too much noise when the thermostat cycled at night, waking me up occasionally. The new fans run at 1/2 the speed of my old stock fan, but are super quiet and actually move more CFM of air across the entire length of the upper cooling coil than the single, noisy factory unit. Together both new fans draw slightly less amps than the old, single, high-speed fan.

Here's a pic of the new set-up.

Chip

Rolff · 06-22-2011, 08:46 PM

I have an older one without a switch and it works great at circulating the air in the fridge so it doesn't get cold spots. I fould one for $2 at a yard sale and use it in my external compartment to sirculate around the ciols since mine did not come equipped with a fan.

RichR · 06-23-2011, 08:23 AM

That company must have gone out of their way to find fans that make that much noise. It is also partly to do with how the fan is mounted in the trailer.