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Keeping Refer Cold


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Well, it's been cooler weather, but I think that though it's not working at 100% (I hope), it's working "good enough". In the 70s it's keeping things just under 40, and with 50 degree overnight temps it's getting down to the mid 30s. Once it's in the 80s in the day and 60s at night I might need to use the cooler again...we'll see.

I'll still get it pressure tested at some point, but I think this is good enough to get me through the spring.

Thanks for all the advice.

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Cooler just works better. I mean I'll probably keep the stuff that doesn't really need to be refrigerated, but just kept cool, in the fridge. Then throw everything else in the cooler. It's just such a small fridge, the ice takes up 1/3 of it. And as it melts, it makes a mess, even with the tupperware pan I bought.

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It does seem like.

Part of it is that it just magically started working again after sitting for the winter. But possibly taking it out and re-installing it did something. When that oil got in there I can only guess. But having that out, and a new regulator (though I don't know if the old one was really clogged) definitely must be helping.

Sometimes it seems like things just need a little attention...

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Are those solar panels in your "southern Utah" pics yours? If they are and you start having problems with the refer just duct tape a 12v computer fan to your vent and rig it to the panels. May you can move enough air to help things, and at night the panels will shut the fan off.

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Yes, they are. 90 Watts total. That could maybe work...but I'd have to think on it. I mean it would work, but I'm not sure if it would work, and still allow me to be charging my coach battery.

I think it'd probably be just as easy to actually wire them into my system, with a switch. I've also seen setups they sell as a kit, for solar powered fans. And that's actually a really common thing for solar powered roof vents in houses, just solar direct with no battery. We'll see. Not going to spend that much money, but yeah, that's definitely an idea that would work if I wanted to just rig it for cheap.

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Yes, they are. 90 Watts total. That could maybe work...but I'd have to think on it. I mean it would work, but I'm not sure if it would work, and still allow me to be charging my coach battery.

I think it'd probably be just as easy to actually wire them into my system, with a switch. I've also seen setups they sell as a kit, for solar powered fans. And that's actually a really common thing for solar powered roof vents in houses, just solar direct with no battery. We'll see. Not going to spend that much money, but yeah, that's definitely an idea that would work if I wanted to just rig it for cheap.

You should be able to get away with that even a 5" computer fan only draws about a 1/2 amp.

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Yeah I'm not worried so much about the draw.

I just wouldn't hook a fan directly to my panel, since then the panel would be powering the fan, instead of charging my battery. I'd rather charge my battery and run the fan off the battery. Plus there are days when I'm "urban camping" and I'm not going to set up the panel those days. So it makes more sense to run a fan to the battery and be able to have it on anytime I want.

I do think, now that I see the fridge has potential, that I'll put a couple small fans in there at some point. Probably when I get a job and am stationary for a few months. I'm really trying hard this spring to live like I'm living out of a camper, not live like I'm on vacation. So I'm not spending unnecessary $. And yes I guess fans are pretty cheap, but I'm just going to wait on projects like this until I have a home base. I'm only going to fix stuff on the road if it's really causing me an inconvenience or is completely broken.

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A 5" fan draws about .36 amps or about 4.5 watts so hooking it directly to the panels means that 85w is still going to your batteries. The idea is to just do a quick check out and see if its worth more of your time at a later date.

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A new 5" fan for $15.00 or so versus the aggravation of having the bearings go out on an old one that cost a few dollars less? YouR labor time to replace it with another fan will exceed the cost savings.

I used to have fans go out in the old tower style PCs in just a couple of years.

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Can you explain how to hook the fan to the panel and not the battery? The panel is clamped to the battery terminals using jumper cable style connections. If I sandwich a wire from the fan into that connection, will it not start drawing from the battery? Especially once the panel shuts down at night, the fan will just keep drawing from the battery, since it's attached to the terminals. Which would be the same as hard-wiring it to the battery.

So how do I isolate the fan from the battery, when the panel is connected to the battery?

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A diode between the battery and fan will do what you want. Something in the 7-10 amp range

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Ok. Well, it seems like a good idea, but I have such low electrical draw in my camper, plus I can recharge the battery with the alternator and solar panels, that having more connected to my battery isn't an issue. To me, at least, it sounds less complicated to just wire a fan directly to the battery (with a fuse), to see if that helps. If it does, then I'll wire it into my converter/power center like all my other stuff and get it connected right.

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A diode is automatic. Hot wired and a switch will do just fine to experiment with. Just remember to turn OFF the fan at night.

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If you get one of the 12 volt extension cords you can cut the socket end off and wire those cut ends to the fan. The plug end will already have a fuse wired into it. Just unplug to turn off the fan. Your power source for the fan try out could be one of those 12 volt jump start batteries. I suspect you travel with one and they always seems to have a 12 volt outlet socket in them.

The cord won't be wasted as it is handy to have such things around for adapting stuff in various situations. If the fan does not work out for the fridge you will have a nice portable 12 volt powered fan you can box a frame around with a bit of wood and then move it around the campsite or inside the rear of the RV or mount it near your driver's seat to cool you off since you don't have air conditioning. When you cut that socket end off the 12 volt extension cord leave enough cord at the socket end of the extension cord so you can rewire it to use for something else. Not a lot of money spent and you end up with something very useful at the end of this project trial so that there is not a waste of your money.

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