adding fan at fridge vent

[GlennWest]

If I did this would it help cooling? Lots of hot air in there.

[GlennWest]

Sorry, been reading up on fridge and found that fan is already in there. My fridge doesn't get as cold as I believe it should. We have it set on 5, the coldest setting, and meats won't keep very long. Milk and juice is cool and not cold. Milk doesn't last long enough to spoil. Checked fan fuses today. They are good. I've never remember hearing the fan running though. Moved the "whatever you call it" up and made sure it's not touching anything. We have an interior fan. Any suggestions.

[Red Ram]

Don't know about the 06, but my 07 has two of the fans below the upper vent. Remove the upper vent cover and look down inside, if you don't have any, it would help if you installed a couple. They kinda look like the type that you find in your computer for cooling.

[RodeWorthy]

The fans are controlled by a heat switch mounted on the evaporator fins at the top vent. A method of checking this switch is to remove it from the fins and carefully direct heat from a propane torch towards the flat surface. Do not put the flame directly on, or even close to, the device or near the vent opening. You do not want to burn the rig down. A safer way might be to use a hair dryer or heat gun if you can get one to it.

Some have removed that switch and added a manual switch so they can control the fans manually. At least you would know if they are running or not.

Your problem may not be the fans. The thermistor mounted on the fins inside can be bad or the circuit board may have failed. The thermistor is the "whatever you call it" that you have already discovered.

One indication that the thermistor is not working will be that the lower cabinet does not get cold enough but the freezer gets down to below zero F degrees. I had to have my sensor replaced and the normal temp in the freezer is 8-10 F and the lower cabinet stays in mid 30 degree range.
When it was failed the freezer was very cold (below 0) but the lower cabinet was above 40.

Hope this helps.

[GlennWest]

My freezer is very cold. I'll disable the thermistor and see what happens. Thanks and God bless.

[Charlie and Sue]

Our fans never worked from day one. The switch mounted on the fin did n't work. Ordered another from dometic and mounted it on the vertical evaporater pipe with plastic ties. That was 5 years ago, the fans run more often but do a better job of cooling the coils. Worked for me.

Charlie and Sue

[RodeWorthy]

My freezer is very cold. I'll disable the thermistor and see what happens. Thanks and God bless.

That's a good test. Unplugging the thermisor at the circuit board is supposed to make the refer run fully on. You will have to give it several hours to see if it works. I would plan on leaving it unplugged overnight and see if the lower cabinet is colder in the morning.

Another test is to put the refer on propane power and remove the cover over the burner so you can observe when the flame lights calling for cooling. Remove the thermistor from its holder on the fins and have someone alternately place it in, and remove it from, a glass of water filled with ice. You should be able to make the burner cycle if the thermistor is in good working order. Give it time to react. If it is working, you are probably looking at needing a circuit board. I am betting on the thermistor being bad from what you have described.

I am not sure if my fans have ever run while operating the refer. I agree that with the switch position on the fins there is not enough heat there to cause the thermal switch to close. We have not been in temperatures that have caused a problem without the fans running so my experience is not conclusive.

[Jack in Alaska]

I purchased a small AC fan (about 8" in diameter) from Ace Hardware for $9.95 and installed it in the lower part of the refer cabinet. I mounted it facing up so it blows air up and out over the fins. I plugged it into the AC receptacle there in the refer cabinet.
It runs 24/7 when plugged into AC in the park and the refer works excellent and has for 3 winters. Cheap to replace when it wears out.
When traveling you will have to depend on the DC fans.

[traveler]

I installed a second fan near the top or my refrigerator that runs on 110 volts . I installed a switch on the lower vent. I run the fan nearly all the time. I have no problem with maintaining a 42 degree ( and usually lower, in the high 30's) temperature.

The fan plugs into the 100 volt outlet in the refrigerator compartment--the same outlet that the refrigerator plugs into.

I decided not to waste my time messing with the thermistors.

I am not sure how much the primary, factory DC fan runs, but before the second fan was added I often had trouble getting below 45 degrees. My refrigerator gets so cold that when I travel for , say , 6 hours the temperature does not rise much--but I also run the unit on propane occasionally when underway.

[GlennWest]

Thanks, I pickup a fan this weekend.

[Jack in Alaska]

Glenn,

Let us know if this solved your problem.
I liked my solution as it was a 10 min./$10 fix.

Jack in Alaska

[wingnut60]

I had problems same as Glenn describes--I only had one fan in the back, had a 2nd one put in. They both run at same time, and most of the time. And fridge is at 35d after 36 hours in Mesa, AZ, with fridge side facing afternoon sun at 103d.
Good luck with a fix.
Joe

[GlennWest]

Found two fans in back. Neither working. Removed sensor and mounted on vertical tube (much hotter), still no fan(s) running. It is 96 degrees today. Disconnected wires from sensor and installed toggle switch. Fans run continuously now. Will report back on results.

[GlennWest]

It is now down to 31 degrees on top shelf. This is the place my meat was spoiling at. Going to NC today; be back Sunday night. Might have to turn it down!!!! Thanks everyone. God bless.

[RonS]

Glenn is their anyway you could post a picture of your toggle switch set up. I like your idea better than another fan. I dont have a clue what the sensor even looks like, or where its located.

[rdunk]

FWIW - much of the time when one takes a look at the fridge fans, they won't be running. That is because the heat sensor installed by Dometic (on the 12 cft fridge) turns the fans on at about 155 degrees, and turns them off at about 132 degrees - yep, a lot higher than I would have thought. That was told to me by a service tech, and he verified that on our fridge using a heat gun and a temp heat detector.

So, just because it is hot around the back of the fridge, and the fans aren't running, doesn't necessarily mean there is a problem there.

Fridge not cooling well does mean there is a problem somewhere!!!!!!

Robert

[GlennWest]

Well, It's now 28 degrees on top shelf, 33 on middle shelf. It has never been this cold before. My grape juice will hurt your teeth!!!! I'm going to turn it down. Toggle switch was just for testing. It's hanging currently. I'll probably get a new sensor. This proves what my problem was. The vertical tube is very hot, too hot to hold to. This is where I changed the sensor to. The original location I can hold on to. Never ran at either location.

[DYQUEM]

Behind the lower vent panel there are two inline fuses. One for each fan. They are red and twist to open. Check these to see if they have blown. The manufacturer built the fan with a 1 amp fuse. The load from the fan requires a 3 amp fuse. I never saw or heard my fans until I replaced the 1 amp fuse with a 3 amp. The Fans come when the sensar at the rear of the refrigerator hits 110 degrees F. and shuts the fans off at 80 degrees F. My fridge cools just great and the freezer keeps icecream frozen.

John