Norcold Muddypaws mod

SVCJeff, Ha. I started using that handle a decade or two ago when I started flying RC Heli's and participating in related forums. Though I'm a fixed wing pilot I don't have any time piloting rotary wing aircraft (Plenty of time as a passenger). Though I no longer fly RC heli's I continue to use the name as it's embedded in my brain and one I won't likely forget

If you already have a picture I'll PM my email. Otherwise don't bother.

If you fins are like my Dometic then the air blows across the edge of the fins, not necessarily through them.

My DW packs our fridge so full I'm not sure there's room for a fan let alone circulation. LOL

Tom

grooving grandpa said:

OK 8 Muddy Paws, I have an open schedule. When are you coming over to do mine, before or after lunch.

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I'll start scrounging up the parts.  We'll talk about it at lunch next week.

Muddy, I'm in north Michigan if you're passing by.... :

Heli_av8tor said:

SVCJeff, Ha. I started using that handle a decade or two ago when I started flying RC Heli's and participating in related forums. Though I'm a fixed wing pilot I don't have any time piloting rotary wing aircraft (Plenty of time as a passenger). Though I no longer fly RC heli's I continue to use the name as it's embedded in my brain and one I won't likely forget

If you already have a picture I'll PM my email. Otherwise don't bother.

If you fins are like my Dometic then the air blows across the edge of the fins, not necessarily through them.

My DW packs our fridge so full I'm not sure there's room for a fan let alone circulation. LOL

Tom

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i have pix..
yes, it blows BY them, not through, but you're still exchanging the box air across them and thats what counts.

I started RC about the time the multi-rotors started coming out, and have built a rather large one 550mm long before they were commercially available. It can easily pick up and carry a Phantom

Alpena Jeff said:

Muddy, I'm in north Michigan if you're passing by.... :

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The DW would like that.  She was born in Adrian.  :

Bill N,

I'm going to have to take some more pictures.  And in order to take pictures I will have to be home and have access to a good ladder.  Next week.

Russ,  AKA 8Muddypaws

Hey! We finally found out his name? 8)
I just figured you were in witness protection.

That's witless protection.

Some already knew.  But is that my 'real' name?

And the fact that the dog in your pic has 8 paws...that's Oprah material! I'm talking goldmine! I'll make some calls.

Jeff, Muddy Paws is not cheap. He takes a big lunch.  but do can you expect from a good RV Buddy

8Muddypaws said:

Bill N,

I'm going to have to take some more pictures.  And in order to take pictures I will have to be home and have access to a good ladder.  Next week.

Russ,  AKA 8Muddypaws

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Thanks Russ.  No hurry and be safe on that ladder.

OP here.
I'm about to expose how little I know about wiring stuff. Feel free to laugh, I laugh at myself sometimes!
I received my shipment of 2 noctua 120mm fans that I plan on installing behind my exhaust vent blowing out. They come with a "Y" connector to connect them together. My thought is to wire them directly to two of my 4 Interstate 235ah batteries with a fuse and a toggle on/off switch between the battery and fans.
The lead that goes to the batteries looks like a basic 4-pin plastic connector. The wires are colored green, blue, yellow and black.
Questions:
Am I on the right track?
How do I connect to the battery bank? Plain English please. ???
Do I need to be concerned that my battery meter SOC shows 13.8? Is over voltage an issue?
What size fuse do I use?
What size wire!

Am I the only grown man that doesn't know how to do this? This is embarrassing!
I do have skillz....this isn't one of them.
Thanks, ummm Joe Smith

Don't wire anything directly to the battery.  +12v and ground are easy to find right in the refer.

User a Norcold thermostatic switch and mount it right next to the existing thermostatic switch.  It turns the fans on at 120F and off at 115F.  Easily available on Amazon & eBay.

I got some quick pictures of my install today but I need to shrink them down to a size I can post here.

Hi Jeff,
It?s well after 1am and I need to be up early for a TV transmitter run early in the morning. If you can wait I?ll get you the proper pinouts for the fans, but as mentioned you can get power right at the fridge. These draw very little power. 

10-7...

Thanks for stepping up Russ and Jeff. This Norcold thing has really gotten under Judys skin and you know what that means! :-\
Standing by....

On the road (passenger) , but two questions:
Did you buy a Y adapter for the fans?
Which Noctra did you buy?

SCVJeff said:

On the road (passenger) , but two questions:
Did you buy a Y adapter for the fans?
Which Noctra did you buy?

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it came with a Y adapter. It's the 120mm. NF-F12 PWM
D.C. 12v
.6w
.05a

Yes I am cheap.

The first picture, Four Fans, shows the low rent way I mounted the 4 12 Volt muffin fans to the 'grill'.  Yup, those are cable ties.  I bought a set of 4 Thermaltake fans on eBay for about $12.

The second picture, fan closeup, shows what I did with the tachometer output from the fan.  I cut the yellow wire.

The third picture, 12Volt Source, shows where I picked up +12V and Ground.  Right off the recall box.  I used 2 Y adapters I had in my junk box.

The fourth picture, Fuse, shows where I placed the inline fuse on the +12V wire

The last picture, Thermostat, shows where I added the thermostatic switch.  The existing thermostat can be seen behind the added one.  It has two sheet metal screws.  I used the nearest one to mount one side of mine and a binder clip, yup, a binder clip, to hold the other side of the ring mount in place.  The thermostatic switch is exactly the same as the Norcold part.  It turns the fans on at 120F and off at 115F.

Getting the 12V and ground up to the top of the coils where the thermostat switch and fans are was tricky.  I used a fish tape to pull them down from the top along the side of the refer.  I didn't want them touching anything hot.

I used cable ties, velcro cable wraps, wire nuts, and a connector off of a computer power supply so I could remove the grill.  Low rent and dirt cheap.  But it works well and has worked for over 5 years as is.

Note that all four fans are wired in parallel.  They draw so little current that a 5A fuse is more than adequate.

The last picture

After a beautiful day on the mtntop, finally on communications range again..

If you havent found it already, I assume your fans are 4 wire?  If so, YELLOW is +12, and obviously BLACK is Ground. I have a .jpeg of the pinout i can email if you need it

Curious which fans you bought? There are several flavors of the NF-F12 Noctra, and I found out the hard way the the 3000RPM fans are much noisier than the 2000RPM PWM models. As mentioned above, I run mine through a speed controller and found out that the 3000RPM version doesn't like to start at 1/3 voltage, which is roughly 50% spin rate. I just changed the two i had on the back of the Norcold for 2000?s a few weeks ago. So much better..