Fridge Mod

[4Campers]

We finally tired of the old "ice box" in the pup so we picked up an electronic (no compressor) Haier 1.7 cf Nu-Cool refridgerator. Took it camping last weekend for a dry run and it ran quiet and kept the meat & dairy cold. Measured out the space and picked up a few supplies at the hardware.

Here is the opening after removing the cooler-


The 110 line ran along the back of this opening so I set up a box there-


I cut two 3/4" boards for each side and mounted the lower one in the opening under the fridge legs. I drilled two flat holes the size of the legs to a depth of about 3/4" in the second top board. Silicone held this board to the legs. Cut a hole for a vent in the side wall. Slid the fridge in and glued/screwed the top board to the bottom from the front and back. Trimmed out the fridge with moulding, added a home vent cover to the outside. Glued some screen to the inside of the vent to keep out bugs.




Can't wait till next weekend when we try it out. Sure will be nice not having to have dripping bags of ice go in and out.

[BadAss88GT]

Looks great, thats exactly what I did, though I never trimmed mine out, and I never thought of the vent, it does get really warm inside the fridge hole. I bet that would really help with the efficiency of the fridge.

[wavery]

Looks great, thats exactly what I did, though I never trimmed mine out, and I never thought of the vent, it does get really warm inside the fridge hole. I bet that would really help with the efficiency of the fridge.

It will not only help with the efficiency, it may help with longevity.

I think if you look at the owners manual it may tell you that the fridge must have ventilation around all sides. I think that I would put another vent up higher and place a small fan, blowing out.

[4Campers]

Yea, after some research prior to this mod (asking here, actually) a 12V fan was going to be a part of this addition. When we found the Nu-Cool I almost though of not even adding the vent since the fridge has no compressor, and no heat build up. But it does have a fan in the back which blows out right where the hole for the vent was able to be cut out, and with only seven inches of room in the back thought that the vent would be a good investment. My only fear is can this type of fridge handle the rough ride out on the road? Since it's all electronic, it's designed for an office or dorm, not bouncing inside a camper. So far it's running nicely, but it hasn't left the driveway yet either. Don't know what I'll do with a vent in the side of the pup if I have to put the ice box back in.

[wavery]

Yea, after some research prior to this mod (asking here, actually) a 12V fan was going to be a part of this addition. When we found the Nu-Cool I almost though of not even adding the vent since the fridge has no compressor, and no heat build up. But it does have a fan in the back which blows out right where the hole for the vent was able to be cut out, and with only seven inches of room in the back thought that the vent would be a good investment. My only fear is can this type of fridge handle the rough ride out on the road? Since it's all electronic, it's designed for an office or dorm, not bouncing inside a camper. So far it's running nicely, but it hasn't left the driveway yet either. Don't know what I'll do with a vent in the side of the pup if I have to put the ice box back in.

Actually....that's not exactly correct....

A thermoelectric fridge uses heat to dispel heat. The more the airflow, the better the fridge works. However, it works by pumping hot air out of the back of the fridge.

What you might want to consider is making an insulated "Shroud" that surrounds the exhaust port on the fridge and the exhaust vent on the camper, making sort of a tunnel. That will help dispel the heat out of the camper instead of just dumping into the void behind the fridge.

The way that you have it, the heated air behind the fridge will be able to escape but the air behind the fridge will still be hot and will increase the temperature of the fridge casing.

There are no moving parts (other than the fan) in that fridge. Vibration should not be a problem.

[4Campers]

Yes, you are right wavery-
after thinking about it, the no heat build up claim means the unit with the proper space around it, which it does not have in the pup. I guess I'll pull the vent and add a 12V fan or a shroud to dispell the heat better. I get to test it out this weekend!

[wavery]

Yes, you are right wavery-
after thinking about it, the no heat build up claim means the unit with the proper space around it, which it does not have in the pup. I guess I'll pull the vent and add a 12V fan or a shroud to dispell the heat better. I get to test it out this weekend!

You stated, "it does have a fan in the back which blows out right where the hole for the vent was able to be cut out,". Could you just pull that outside vent off and push some foam rubber insulation in between the fridge and the hole in the outer wall, forming a sort of tunnel?

[oreo57]

Remember that a refer of that design can only cool  -vs- the outside ambient temp. (37§ F (based on 70§ F ambient room temp), So you can always have a problem cooling. Remember it's Thermoelectric, I work on chillers with the same principle and the rcovery rate is extremly slow.

[BadAss88GT]

Any suggestions for a fan for this? I have a dorm fridge also, gets very hot behind there. I was thinking of maybe a pair of fans mounted to the wall?

[wavery]

Any suggestions for a fan for this? I have a dorm fridge also, gets very hot behind there. I was thinking of maybe a pair of fans mounted to the wall?

It really doesn't take a lot. A 12v computer cooling fan should do just fine.

It's the "Build-up" of heat that's bad. It just takes a small amount of air circulation to remove it. I'd put the fan up as high as possible, blowing to the outside of the camper. I'd also install a small intake vent on the inside of the camper so that it is drawing cooler air into the space and exhausting it to the outside.

You can get little 1 1/2" round plastic vents at HomeDepot. About 3 of those on the inside (down low), would do nicely.

[4Campers]

BadAss88GT- There should be a 12V line running somewhere behind the fridge. Go to any computer store and buy the largest fan they have (about 3" X 3"). Cut the plug off and splice right into the 12V wires. If you run on battery though, add an on/off switch. I used a cheap plastic vent from Home Depot that has a slide to open/close.
wavery- the foam tunnel sounds like a plan, thanks. The fridge did cool well this past weekend, although the DW noticed the cabinet was warm when we shut down. Shortly after I noticed the vent closed and asked if she had closed it already. "NO", so my guess is that it had never been opened all weekend -duh. New habit to acquire.