Roof vent for rear refrigerator

[Neal Flagrving]

I have a 5Th wheel with a rear kitchen. The refrig is on the back wall. The vents are both on the back wall (1 high, 1 low). When we travel down the road on propane or generator the inside temp rises allot (45+). I think due to a vacuum created at the rear of the unit. We will pull over and put the rear into the wind to help cool down. I have installed 2 recirculating fans and that didn't help going down the road. I am thinking about closing off the upper vent and installing a roof vent. Has anyone had this problem? I don't see allot installed this way except on slideouts which would have air passing by them going down the road. Would it be better to install the roof vent parallel or perpendicular to the rear wall? I have had this unit for 5 years and it has always been like this. A number of things have been checked out and all seems ok. But when it is hot outside that is the worst. We are looking at traveling in the summer next year and this is the hardest time as everyone knows.  Thanks for the info

 

[BruceinFL]

I had a reefer like that in an older Prowler 5w I had. Never had a problem like yours. It had a roof vent but can't remember the orientation. Seems like it was parallel to the rear but can't say for sure.

 

[Cant Wait]

Neal how long of a trip are you taking? A frig will keep everything cold with it off for 6-8 hrs with no problem. Have you tried towing with the frig off?  I towwed one time with the frig on propane, and the first time I fuel up and forgot to turn the propane off WAS THE LAST TIME  I towed with the frig on propane on. We've towed for 8-10 hrs with the frige off and it was still in the proper temp range when we arrive at campsite.  Try this.

 

[Neal Flagrving]

Hi, Thanks for the replies. We travel every July back east, so it is hot when we leave. We normally drive 5-7 hours going back. We go through AZ, NM, Texas. so it is hot!!! 100 plus. We return in Oct. the north route so it is always cool. So I had not thought of running with the refrig off. But I am allways open for ideas. I can load with some water for a test run so we don't get any bad food.

 

[Larry202br]

it seems to me that poor cooling is better than no cooling at all. I can't see how turning the fridge off will make it colder. baffling is critical! Check out this page: http://www.rvmobile.com/tech/trouble/vent.htm

 

[Neal Flagrving]

Thanks for the link. The clearance to the wall is less then a inch at the bottom. But I installed the fans above the larger coils but there is a small set of coils at the top that are father from the wall (not shown in pictures), this is how I got the fans in. The smaller set of coils have a larger gap. So it looks like I need a baffle there. And I have no directional baffle at the top angling over to the vent.  Aren't must standard 2 door (top/bottom) refrigerators larger then 5 cu. ft.? If so, Cardnail (Forest River) shouldn't installed the upper wall vent. They should of installed a roof vent. I guess I need to pull down the inside of the roof to see why they choose to put in the wall vent.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

These days most RV fridges are 8 cu ft and the larger ones are 10-12. The 5-6 cu ft models are in the smallest RVs.

 

[Larry202br]

You're correct, I've seen double-wide fridges in slide-outs that have to use the double wall vents. I suspect they don't always work that well. the fans were a good idea, but since that didn't help, I'd try to improve the baffles before you cut a hole in the roof though. Good luck!

 

[Neal Flagrving]

I have seen double vents in slides but they have the wind going by on the side. I think I will work on it this weekend unless it snows. Don't like working on the plastic parts when it is that  cold. Thanks for the help Guys.