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Old 11-09-2015, 12:23 PM   #1
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Refrigerator Interior Fans

Anything that circulates air in the fridge and keeps ice from accumulating on the heat transfer fins helps. Interior fridge fans are not a new idea. I just thought I would share what I did. On a piece of angle aluminum I installed four slow turning ultra-thin 80mm x 80mm x 15mm 12v computer fans and chrome grills. I cut out aluminum where the fan blade overlapped the angle aluminum. From those cut out bits I made fan-to-fan braces rather than install a second piece of angle aluminum. Corner braces were used to install the assembly into the fridge, immediately in front of the heat transfer fins. Yellow speed control wires came with the fans. I snipped them off and insulated the ends with heat shrink tubing from Harbor Freight.

Colllectively the fans draw 0.2 amps. The wiring exits the fridge through the same hole as the thermostat sensor wire. I have them connected to a switch mounted on the galley, where I can switch them off before opening the fridge. I included a picture of the receipt to show vendor, model numbers, and prices.

These fans really help, even more so I think than the similar fans I installed to blow hot air out the exterior refrigerator vent. They can barely be heard, if at all, inside the cabin. No more ice build up on the heat transfer fins and no more warm and cold spots inside the fridge. They have been installed for about a year now with no problems.

These fans and regular freezer ice removal have made the refrigerator work MUCH better.
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Old 11-10-2015, 08:15 AM   #2
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Tim, that is really a neat modification! I wish i had the skills to do something like that.

For less talented folks, there is a small cube like battery powered fan that a person can purchase that sits in the refrigerator. I used one for years and they do help with the cooling. I doubt that a single fan would work as well as your installation, but it's a start.

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Old 11-10-2015, 08:34 AM   #3
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Are they blowing on the fins or pulling air across them?


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Old 11-10-2015, 10:48 AM   #4
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If you don't want (or have the skills) to build your own, these are available from eBay and work well. You do have to find 12V power to run them - I ran the +12V power wire through the thermostat hole in the back of the fridge to the power block.
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Old 11-10-2015, 04:35 PM   #5
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The fans are blowing directly on to the heat transfer fins.

I tried fans exactly like the ones in the eBay link. They worked well enough, but could be knocked out of place by shifting food and eventually the fins without fans would ice up. When the bearings went bad in them I decided to build my own.
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