Refrigerator fan electrical issue |
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Pod People
Senior Member Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Location: Chapel Hill,NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 1078 |
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Topic: Refrigerator fan electrical issue Posted: 03 May 2023 at 8:43am |
I am having a perplexing electrical issue on my 179. I am trying to add an additional auxiliary fan in the top of the rear refrigerator compartment to help exhaust hot air. The new fan is a small 4” computer 12vDC fan rated at .32amps. I spliced into the existing black/red wires that go to the original, factory installed fan located at the bottom of the compartment. Every time the fans come on, the refrigerator dies and the red alert light comes on almost instantly. But both fans continue to operate. So, the 12v power to the fans continues even though the refrigerator stops. The existing fan works fine, the thermoswitch sems to work fine and everything is good until I add the new fan—then the refrigerator stops. I am plugged in to shore power. Other people have added auxiliary fans without issues-what is the problem here? Any ideas why the new fan kills the refrigerator? Thanks for your help and ideas Vann Travel safe and often |
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jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3252 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2023 at 9:42am |
That is indeed strange Vann. Do you have the ability to see how many amps that tiny fan is drawing? Maybe it is drawing way more than 0.32amps. For a test, disconnect the original fan and just run the auxillary fan you just got and see if you end up with the same results. It cannot be a wiring issue otherwise the fans wouldn't run when connected together. Having done this modification on several occasions, what problems you are having I have fortunately never encountered. You may end up having to return this fan and exchange it for another.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2653 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2023 at 9:57am |
+1
It sounds like there might be a defect in the new fan that is drawing too much current. If you have a DC clamp-on current meter that would be a good thing to check. |
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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Pod People
Senior Member Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Location: Chapel Hill,NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 1078 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2023 at 10:55am |
I have tried 3 different fans-all have the same result. I think there must be a problem other than the fan itself. The fans will run for 10-15 seconds, then the refrigerator stops and the the red alert button is illuminated. Both fans are still running. I tried to push the red button to reset the refrig and the refrig simply turns off with no response. As soon as I unhook the additional fan, I can then restart the refrig without issue. Weird!! Vann
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jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3252 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 03 May 2023 at 11:41am |
Hmmm. If you run one of the fans by itself (not the original one) does this scenario still play out with the fridge shutting off and the red alert button on? Could it be that the plug-in or some call them blade fuse is not the original and a lesser amp fuse put in its place? I would have to go to my 177 (still in storage as we had more snow a couple days ago) and see what size fuse in on that circuit. If I recall it was a 15 amp, regardless maybe that fuse needs to be replaced or is the wrong size.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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Pod People
Senior Member Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Location: Chapel Hill,NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 1078 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 08 May 2023 at 6:08pm |
I “THINK” my refrigerator fan issue has been fixed!! My Dometic RM8501 refrigerator comes equipped with a small 12v fan at the lower left of the unit. It blows upward across the fins to cool them. It is operated by a thermoswitch located on the main tube in the upper right. I have been trying to add an auxiliary fan in the upper section to help remove the accumulated hot air and increase refrigerator efficiency. After wiring in the second fan,every time they ( both original and newly installed) came on, the refrigerator would turn off and the alarm light would turn on. I went through about a week testing every potential combination of fans, thermoswitches, 12v terminal blocks,ec. I was plugged in to shore power at my shop. I posted here and got some good ideas. I watched YouTube videos, I called friends with RV’s, I talked to Dometic Tech people 3 times and was going crazy. I could never make the existing wiring work if adding an additional auxiliary fan in the upper rear refrigerator compartment. The wiring was different from 2 other friend’s Rpod 179’s, but they were newer and different from each other actually. In my case, the two wires(red/black) came from inside the polyswitch--no visible connection available , could only cut and splice new wires. The red wire came from the poly switch interior to the thermoswitch-then continued to the fan. The black wire came from the interior of the poly switch and went straight to the fan. That seems to be straight forward. It “SHOULD” work to just cut an existing wire and splice in a new wire. But it doesn’t! Maybe that was too much voltage when they came on? Nope, according to Dometic the original fan is .46 amps and the new fan is .32. I also checked the shunt and when the fans came on, it showed a .8amp drain. Ultimately, the Dometic tech people sent me several web addresses for service and technical manuals. I found a wiring diagram that showed the fans were directly wired from the 12 v terminal block on the back of the refrigerator unit and NOT through the polyswitch. I simply capped off the original red/black wires from the polyswitch and rewired it per the drawing. I added a red and black from the +/- terminal block–red to the thermoswitch input and black to the fans. Add a red wire from the thermoswitch output to the fans that are wired together. Now, when the thermoswitch closes, all of the fans come on together and the refrigerator continues to cool. I’ve tried it most of the day with both propane and shore power and so far, everything works as expected. Finally. Travel safe and often Vann |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6326 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 08 May 2023 at 8:08pm |
That was a challenge! I'm glad you got it figured out.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3252 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 May 2023 at 5:30am |
WOW! That is a new one I never heard of before. Thank you for taking us down that road to 'repair.' Will copy this and put in my files. Great Info, and bravo to you for sticking with it and not giving up!
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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