Refrigerator Heat Exhaust Baffle Mod

[astrocaster]

I've been concerned for some time about the piece of rubber-like material that drapes over and rests on the top of the tube and radiating fins of the refrigerator. These parts get hot and radiate heat as part of the refrigeration process, and it has seemed to me that having a piece of such material resting on them and confining them would restrict airflow and the efficiency of the cooling process. Therefore, I have added a piece of sheet aluminum to hold the rubber-like material up and away from the refrigerator parts, and to form a curved path to direct the hot air out the vent on the side of the Oliver.

 

Here is a picture before I added the aluminum baffle. It's hard to see, but the black rubber-like material is pressing down on the dimpled tube across the top of the refrigerator. This tube gets quite hot and the black material was trapping some of that heat.

 

 

Here is the sheet of aluminum I added. You can see at the bottom that I folded the edge around to make a smooth surface to rest on the top of the refrigerator.

 

 

Here is the installed aluminum baffle. I simply screwed it in at the top in front of the black material and let it rest on the top of the refrigerator. The curve of the aluminum sheet provided the right arch to avoid the need for any other support.

 

 

Here is a closer view. It may be difficult to see, but there is now good clearance between the hot parts of the refrigerator and the aluminum baffle and black material.

 

I believe that this mod has improved the performance of our refrigerator. Please let me know if you would like any further information.

 

Steve

[ScubaRx]

Steve,

 

That's a great idea. I think I'll just copy it. I've got a roll of aluminum flashing stuck somewhere in the attic that will work just dandy for that.

 

Now here's another problem we have in that same area. The microwave does not have enough air-flow around it and it gets really hot if you use it for any length of time. I want to put a 120V shaded pole (squirrel cage) fan behind it and vent it down and out the upper refrigerator baffle. I just need to find one that will fit. Any thoughts, suggestions???

 

Steve

[astrocaster]

Steve,

Thanks for the kind words about the refrigerator exhaust mod. I think that you will find it to be an easy and worthwhile project. By the way, I neglected to mention that I had previously filled the space above the refrigerator and behind the black rubber-like flap with home wall insulation (the pink fiberglass batting) which helps keep the heat from the refrigerator radiator fins and pipe from migrating above and to the front of the refrigerator. That idea had been given to me last summer by other members of this board, soon after we picked up our Oliver.

 

We have not used our microwave for long enough periods of time to notice the heat build up that you refer to, but I can see how that could happen. As you say, there is very little room for air-flow around the microwave. If I think of anything, I will post it here.

 

Steve

[technomadia]

By the way, I neglected to mention that I had previously filled the space above the refrigerator and behind the black rubber-like flap with home wall insulation (the pink fiberglass batting) which helps keep the heat from the refrigerator radiator fins and pipe from migrating above and to the front of the refrigerator.

 

This is a great idea. We opted to leave the microwave out, and instead have a large food storage cabinet over our fridge. The bottom of this storage area gets warm though, and it would nice to not need to worry about accidentally storing melty things (chocolate!) here.

 

I may need to copy this mod...

 

- Chris