Does a 2-way refrigerator do a good job of staying cold in high ambient/outside temperatures?

Sharon_is_SAM

@Dragonfly4100 - we have a vent under our ARB fridge in our CSS galley.  Do you have a vent there?

Dragonfly4100

The fridge has a vent itself, but not to the outside air. 

Dragonfly4100

Marceline said:

I've wanted to do the hole in the sidewall but have lacked the courage. I've thought about one on each side for cross-ventilation. My concern about the vent is possible water ingress if driving in the rain. Maybe a marine-style vent with a screw-in deckplate? My concern about your plan for "B" would be what happens when you have the clamshell open and it's raining? 

I've been looking at some solar powered car and chicken coop ventilation fans as a way of getting the air moving around in there when the T@B is parked and hatch shut during the day with the fridge run (gone for a hike or whatever). I'd run the wire through the hatch and stick the solar panel to the roof with a suction cup or something. 

I also thought about driving rain while underway, but with the vent that I used, it has a plastic tube which protrudes out about 3/4" and I don't think much water could be driven up into it. I also used a hose clamp and some insect screening to make sure bugs can't enter. I should've taken a close up picture of it.
Good thought about the "B" vent and rain while open, but with the plastic sleeve protruding out, not sure this would be an issue either but certainly worth a closer inspection before I start drilling!

Slackers

I would think an underneath and higher sidewall vent is the way to go, but I can't back this opinion with engineering or experience. I'm just trying to imagine an easy path for air flow. Also guessing the tubing and bug screen deployed by @Dragonfly4100 would reduce water intrusion.

Marceline

Slackers said:

I would think an underneath and higher sidewall vent is the way to go, but I can't back this opinion with engineering or experience. I'm just trying to imagine an easy path for air flow. Also guessing the tubing and bug screen deployed by @Dragonfly4100 would reduce water intrusion.

The problem with the sidewall is there’s just a little bit of corner that can be used because of the fridge location and the way the lid closes over the galley counter. There’s not a lot of wiggle room. I’m not even sure there’s much of a path for the warm exhaust from the front of the fridge to move higher when the clamshell is closed (it comes close to the edge of the counter when shut). Something to check before putting a vent in the lid @Dragonfly4100. 

RMo

Well, I'm glad I found this thread before I got carried away and spent big bucks on a 2-way to replace our original 3-way.  I had thought that 2-ways were the magic bullet, solving all our above-90-degrees problems, but I can see I was wrong.  Thanks for all the honest comments!  Last trip we made an effort to park with the fridge side in the shade, and put the side and back windows in "cracked" position with the overhead vent open just a skosh while traveling.  That kept the fridge below 40 at outside temp in the low to mid 90s.  Now, what do I do with the money I saved?

manyman297

We were having issues with our refrigerator holding temp at anything above 90-95. We ended up removing the drip tray for the freezer section and it definitely did help. Our recent trip to Oregon put us into 95+ degree weather in Idaho and our refrigerator fared much better than the prior year in the same conditions. Definitely hopeful removing the drip tray was the fix.

NMSunshine

@Marceline Did you ever try any exterior venting?

On my 2021 Tab 320ss (non-clamshell) the fridge is pretty tight as well and up against the HOT front and side wall of the trailer in summer. I am looking at some improved fridge airflow with a very low current electric computer fan tied into the fridge (or possibly just a settable temp controller) so it kicks in when the fridge is operating/fridge heatsinks are hot.

On this model with the 12v (fridge is 12/120v but its only wired to the 12v connection) Isotherm fridge the air circulates below the fridge, up the back past the compressor/heat exchanger etc, along the top of the fridge under the stove, back into the trailer. 

Rather than pumping lovely warm fridge air back into the trailer I wondered about venting to outside instead using an Alde flue cap for the vent, since I assumed it's somewhat designed to limit water ingress?

https://www.alde.us/our-products/alde-flue-cap/

Maybe add appropriate screening to make sure bugs/dust didn't come in. Dust is probably my biggest concern in New Mexico with any opening to the outside.

I am thinking rather than risking any holes I'll insulate better between the fridge and the outside walls to reduce heat transfer while still allowing airflow, and just let the air circulate more efficiently inside.  

Marceline

NMSunshine said:

@Marceline Did you ever try any exterior venting?

 

I know that other people have done it, but I've been too chicken to cut a hole in the sidewall. I looked at all sorts of options but in the end I didn't do it.