Improved Performance for TAB 360 fridge

Hi,

If the fridge in your TAB 360 (or really any RV fridge of this style) struggles in warm weather, I wanted to share a modification I made that dramatically improves performance when cabin temperatures climb. I’ve tested it with extreme interior cabin temps reaching 100°F, and the results show the fridge can now maintain low‑30s throughout, even the top drawer. I’ve included data below showing the improvements.

Background

The fridge/freezer works very well until the cabin temperature rises above ~75°F. But once the interior warms beyond that, cooling performance drops off sharply. Running the cabin Saphire AC solves the problem, but that’s not always possible — especially when boon docking or driving down the road in summer, when the cabin heats up. Also, if you never camp in warmer weather, the issue won’t be experienced.

There are a few tricks that help somewhat:

• Keeping the vent below the freezer open
• Avoiding blockage of the rear open space inside the freezer
• Removing the glass shelf above the top drawer

But in hot conditions, these alone aren’t enough. Some people rotate frozen water bottles from the freezer to the fridge, but that’s a hassle. And the bottom drawer will never cool well because the top-drawer blocks most of the cold airflow.

After digging around online, I found many RV owners with this same fridge reporting the same issue.

Cause

This fridge is relatively tall, and all the cold is produced in the freezer at the top. Without an evaporator fan (which every home fridge has), very little cold air makes it down into the lower fridge section. As a result, the upper area cools somewhat, but the lower shelves and drawers stay warm.

Solution

As shown in the photo, I installed a small computer‑style fan in the freezer to push cold air downward into the fridge compartment. I paired this with a second small fan inside the fridge (mounted low in the upper drawer) to improve circulation.

Together, these two fans have made a huge difference. Over the past week of very hot weather in my area, with the cabin getting extremely warm, the fridge has consistently held to the low to mid 30s F, everywhere, except the bottom second drawer. The data below shows the test results.

Installation Notes

• The fridge has an existing hole sealed with non‑hardening putty that can be used to route wires to the rear compartment. Just push the putty aside and press it back afterward.
• All 12V connections can be made using the existing 12V outlet to the left of the fridge or the same connections (as the OEM fan) at the bottom of the rear of the fridge.
• The modification is fully reversible and doesn’t require altering the fridge’s structure.

Additional Improvements: Insulation + Rear Ventilation

To support the internal airflow upgrades, I also made two additional changes to the rear compartment:

• Added batt insulation behind the fridge, plus a thin layer of insulation on the right side. The fridge cubby gets extremely hot when the trailer sits in the sun, and reducing heat soak helps the cooling system keep up.
• Upgraded the rear ventilation fan to a larger, more powerful unit. This helps create a stronger chimney effect, pulling hot air up and out of the rear compartment more effectively.

These rear‑side improvements help, especially in direct sun, but the freezer fan + interior circulation fan remain the dominant contributors to the improved performance.

Hope it helps other…