Installation of Auxiliary Ventilation Fans for Norcold Refrigerator in 2022 LEII

[dhaig]

From late May to mid-June my wife and I took a loop trip from our home in Dallas, TX to: Greenville, SC; Asheville, NC; Asheboro & Seagrove, NC and back to Dallas.  The trip covered approximately 1900 miles, with significant temperature variation.

 

During the trip we experienced erratic performance by the Norcold Model 412 refrigerator, standard equipment in our 2022 Oliver Legacy Elite II trailer.  The refrigerator would not maintain food safe temperatures in either compartment, except when operating on AC current.  This problem occurred mostly on the second half of the trip, as daytime temperatures exceeded 90 degrees (F).  Especially when in transit, operating on propane or DC current, the refrigerator temperature would climb to approximately 60 degrees and the freezer into the mid 20s.

 

We contacted Oliver Service and made an appointment to have the refrigerator problem assessed in Hohenwald.  We later decided not to divert from our trip plans and to deal with the problem when we returned home.

 

Upon our return home to Dallas, TX, on June 20, I began a series of tests with the trailer parked in our driveway.  To monitor the temperatures in the refrigerator and freezer, I used an AcuRite Digital Wireless Fridge and Freezer Thermometer, which we had purchased to monitor the Norcold refrigerator and had been using since September, 2022.  I also used an Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 1080 to compare readings with the Acurite thermometer.  The AcuRite and Etekcity thermometer readings agreed closely.

 

With the refrigerator empty, I recorded the time required to go from ambient temperature to food safe temperatures using AC, DC or propane.  Using AC, the refrigerator/freezer would reach food safe temperatures in 6-7 hours (low 40s F for the refrigerator; 0 degrees F for the freezer) with ambient temperatures ranging from 87 to 99 degrees F.   Once achieved, when on AC, the temperatures on both compartments would hold in a food safe range.

 

Conducting the same test on propane, the refrigerator and freezer would reach only 62 degrees and 19 degrees F, respectively after more than 12 hours of operation.  This test also was done while ambient temperatures ranged from 87 to 99 degrees F.  Similar results were observed while operating the refrigerator on DC.

 

I again contacted Oliver Service and was recommended to take the trailer to an authorized Norcold service provider.  Blue Moon Mobile RV (Blue Moon) was determined to be the closest available Norcold service provider.

 

I arranged an appointment to bring the trailer to Blue Moon for troubleshooting of the refrigerator.  Technicians at Blue Moon confirmed my observations of the behavior of the refrigerator.  They also confirmed the cooling function was working properly, since proper temperatures were achieved when operating on AC.  They also confirmed the single, small fan located at the rear of the refrigerator was operational, but providing insufficient air flow for the refrigerator to operate properly when ambient temperatures were high.  Blue Moon conferred with Norcold technical support on their findings.  Blue Moon and Norcold recommended additional fans be installed to dissipate warm air behind the refrigerator.

 

Having anticipated installing additional fans, I had done online research and chose a dual fan assembly from Beech Lane 12V RV Fridge Ventilation Cooling Fan 5.5" (140mm).  These fans come with a remote control with which fan speeds and threshold temperature may be set manually or automatically.  These fans were installed by Blue Moon in the upper vent opening of our LEII.

 

 

The 12VDC power supply to the refrigerator was also used to power the fans.  The remote control was mounted to the cover over the refrigerator circuit board using double sided tape.  The excess length cables provided with the fans were bundled with zip ties and secured nearby, as shown below.

 

 

Blue Moon tested the operation of the refrigerator following the installation of the Beech Lane fans and reported food safe temperatures were being achieved and held, with high ambient temperatures.

 

On July 19 I picked up our trailer from Blue Moon and returned home to repeat my prior tests to compare results running the refrigerator on propane and on DC.  The trailer was parked in the same location in our driveway as previously.  

 

After installation of the ventilation fans, using propane, the refrigerator and freezer compartments achieved safe food temperatures in approximately 8 hours, with the refrigerator control set to 7, despite ambient temperatures ranging from 93 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 

Once safe food temperatures were achieved the refrigerator control setting was reduced from 7 to 6 and allowed to run overnight.  The following morning both the refrigerator and freezer had slightly warmer temperatures, but still satisfactory for safe food storage.

 

We have not yet had an opportunity to utilize the Norcold refrigerator on a trip to observe how effectively safe food temperatures are maintained when full of food and under changing environmental conditions using the three power sources.  Based on the test results using the ventilation fans, I expect the performance of the refrigerator to be significantly improved.  We should now be able to use DC to power the Norcold refrigerator when in transit, and avoid the use of propane.  Performance running on DC appears to be similar to running on propane.

 

While I was pleased with the significant improvement in the operating temperatures achieved by the Norcold refrigerator, there were three aspects of the installation I chose to change, all related to access to the remote control:

• The remote control for the Beech Lane fans has very bright blue LEDs which are ON whenever 12VDC power is ON.  At night, we noticed a bright blue glow emanating from the lower refrigerator external vent cover.
• Accessing the remote control to change settings required removing the refrigerator external vent cover.  When we store the trailer we typically turn OFF all DC power by turning OFF our lithium batteries.  Upon the next use of the trailer, when DC power is restored, the refrigerator ventilation fans must also be turned ON manually.
• There was no switch to turn OFF DC power to the remote control.

To address these issues, I relocated the Beech Lans fan remote control to the interior of the trailer and installed a switch on the control panel located at the entry to the trailer.  I chose to have the remote control inside the access hatch in the storage cabinet located over the microwave oven, directly above the Norcold refrigerator.

 

To re-route the cables to the ventilation fans, I had to remove the microwave oven.  To install a new switch in the control paneI I had to loosen the panel from the wall.  I had to add approximately 10 feet of 20 AWG twisted pair cable (gray) to reach from the new switch on the control panel to the 12VDC power supply at the bottom rear of the refrigerator.

 

The photo below shows the routing of the remote control wires (black) and 12VDC power supply  behind the microwave cabinet.  I had to drill a ~3/8" hole in the angled MDF panel behind the microwave cabinet, directly above the refrigerator.  I caulked around the cables after routing them through the hole and behind the refrigerator. Fishing the wires into the area behind the control panel was not difficult.  The yellow Romex appearing at the top of the photo below supplies the AC outlet for the microwave oven.

 

 

I contacted Oliver Service and ordered a single pole switch (with blue light) to match the others in the trailer control panel.  The cost was slightly over $7, including shipping by first class mail.

 

The new switch was installed in an unused location on the control panel which previously had a blank cover.  I added crimp on spade type connectors to the twisted pair cable to connect to the terminals on the new switch.

 

 

Although the new switch is single pole, there are three terminals on the rear with the wiring connections listed below:

• Ground (dissimilar color)
• DC Power IN (center)
• Switched DC Power Out 

I found the wiring diagram below which shows an analogous circuit.  The switch and the ventilation fan remote control both require a ground connection.  The Switched DC power terminal is connected to the DC+ power connection for the ventilation fan remote control.  The new switch needs a ground connection in order for the blue light to operate indicating the switch is ON.  In the diagram a car battery is shown as the 12VDC source.  On the trailer, the 12VDC source is located at the bottom rear of the refrigerator.  This DC circuit is already fused at the DC power panel located below the rear dinette seat.

 

 

I chose to locate the Beech Lane fan remote control behind the access panel in the storage cabinet above the microwave oven.  I made this choice to avoid having the bright blue LED lights on the remote control illuminating the interior of the trailer.  The access panel is easily removed when there is a need to access the remote control, to turn ON the ventilation fans, or to change the fan speed or threshold temperature.

 

 

The Beech Lane ventilation fans are very quiet.  With the auxiliary fans running, the volume of air exiting the top exterior vent is noticeably greater than with the small, single OEM fan mounted to the rear of the refrigerator.  We have not yet tried sleeping in the trailer with these fans running.  There is no chance of hearing the fans inside the trailer with the Dometic A/C running.  They are not noticeable when they are running unless you are standing close to the upper exterior vent.

 

I recommend these fans to anyone having similar difficulty maintaining food safe temperatures in the refrigerator when ambient temperatures are high.

Regards, Don

[Katjo]

WoW, thank you for this incredibly thorough explanation and photos of your trouble and solution for the Norcold refrigerator. Very helpful!

[CRM]

Nice work, and I'm sure you'll see a performance bump with the addition of fans.. I also added a couple of them recently, and with the arrival of Idalia  I finally got to see how the fridge performed with them of the course of several days. Not too bad for a 13 year old fridge considering it's been running in 90+ deg temps during the day. IMO, these fans should be standard equipment on absorption fridges.

[MAX Burner]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:18 PM, Katjo said:

WoW, thank you for this incredibly thorough explanation and photos of your trouble and solution for the Norcold refrigerator. Very helpful!

@dhaig:  We totally second @Katjo's comment - thanks for posting your findings about the Beech Lanes!

[Half Fast Hugo]

Awesome post! We have a friend who did the same on their LE2 with great success. Not sure which fans he used but it's definitely a mod I need to do on my 2021. Appreciate the detail!

[topgun2]

This "story" is a bit embarrassing but ....🥵

At the end of last year my original exterior fridge fan bit the dust.  It had been making noises for some time, but, finally, mercifully, it made no more noise.  Certainly these poor things do live in a rather harsh environment and get little "love".

So, over the winter I decided to get a replacement (I ordered THESE).  

While TWIST was in storage I looked at how the old fan was installed and decided to replace the rubber isolation bushings too which I got at Lowes.  I also noted how the existing fan was wired and did all that I could in my home workshop (i.e. I installed spade connectors on the fan wires) so that when it came time to install the fan in the Ollie the process would not take very much time.

Fast forward to a day before leaving for the Owner's Rally and I installed the fan with my plan proceeding very smoothly.  Except for one "small" detail - when I hit the switch just inside the Ollie's door, the fan didn't come on!  Of course I rechecked all my work - to no avail.  I got out the multi-meter and started checking my wiring and found out that I was only getting a little over 8 volts in the fan wiring.  THAT would tend to indicate a bad ground or loose connection but with the time I had before leaving I could not find any problem.

Due to lack of time - fast forward to a month ago when I stopped at the Mothership for annual wheel bearing service.  I mentioned my fridge fan problem to Jason and asked that if the Service guys had time would they take a look to see if they could identify the issue.

That afternoon when I picked up Twist I asked if they had enough time to look at the fan .  With a grin and a wink I was told that the issue was with a faulty crimp in one of the spade connectors!  Yes - I did the "tug test", yes I've done hundreds of crimp connections over the years without any issues, I even double crimp each connection.  Due to the environment that these things live in I also took the extra step of putting heat shrink over these connections!  Just shows what being in a hurry will do.

Now that things are back to normal - I can report that the fan I installed actually works better than the original and it is quieter too.

Bill

[dhaig]

2 hours ago, topgun2 said:

This "story" is a bit embarrassing but ....🥵

At the end of last year my original exterior fridge fan bit the dust.  It had been making noises for some time, but, finally, mercifully, it made no more noise.  Certainly these poor things do live in a rather harsh environment and get little "love".

So, over the winter I decided to get a replacement (I ordered THESE).  

While TWIST was in storage I looked at how the old fan was installed and decided to replace the rubber isolation bushings too which I got at Lowes.  I also noted how the existing fan was wired and did all that I could in my home workshop (i.e. I installed spade connectors on the fan wires) so that when it came time to install the fan in the Ollie the process would not take very much time.

Fast forward to a day before leaving for the Owner's Rally and I installed the fan with my plan proceeding very smoothly.  Except for one "small" detail - when I hit the switch just inside the Ollie's door, the fan didn't come on!  Of course I rechecked all my work - to no avail.  I got out the multi-meter and started checking my wiring and found out that I was only getting a little over 8 volts in the fan wiring.  THAT would tend to indicate a bad ground or loose connection but with the time I had before leaving I could not find any problem.

Due to lack of time - fast forward to a month ago when I stopped at the Mothership for annual wheel bearing service.  I mentioned my fridge fan problem to Jason and asked that if the Service guys had time would they take a look to see if they could identify the issue.

That afternoon when I picked up Twist I asked if they had enough time to look at the fan .  With a grin and a wink I was told that the issue was with a faulty crimp in one of the spade connectors!  Yes - I did the "tug test", yes I've done hundreds of crimp connections over the years without any issues, I even double crimp each connection.  Due to the environment that these things live in I also took the extra step of putting heat shrink over these connections!  Just shows what being in a hurry will do.

Now that things are back to normal - I can report that the fan I installed actually works better than the original and it is quieter too.

Bill

@topgun2, Bill, I appreciate the story of your fan installation experience.  Thanks for sharing.

I dread projects which I must do a hurry, because they invariable turn into a huge PITA.  Fortunately, I had no deadline pressure for modifying the installation of the remote control for my fans.  Nonetheless, I had to re-do all of the electrical connections and add a few, due to the additional of the switch in the control panel, so there remains the possibility of problem "in use".  The acid test will be our next road trip, where the shake table torture will be applied.  I have very high confidence the fans can deal with extreme heat, as my driveway tests proved.

One of the benefits of DIY projects is gaining the knowledge of where to look to diagnose problems appearing later.  I try to take photos, before, during and after and keep notes.  These are great aids in dealing with problems such as you described.  Smart phones are a tremendous aid in doing so.

[topgun2]

20 minutes ago, dhaig said:

I dread projects which I must do a hurry, because they invariable turn into a huge PITA.  

Yep - I probably spent 2 hours trying to trace down the issue.  Even if I had not put the shrink tubing on the faulty spade connector connection I still would not have found the problem until I got around to specifically checking that wire before the connection and after the connection.  Of course - I simply ASSUMED that all of my crimps were good.

Bad assumption!

Bill

[MAX Burner]

The double cooling fan for the fridge is officially high on our prioritized "To-Do" list for this summer's adventures.  Thanks to all for posting the links and the process to modify the standard configuration for more efficient chill!  Great info!

[topgun2]

41 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

The double cooling fan for the fridge is officially high on our prioritized

I only replaced the original fan with another single fan.  I don't usually camp in very hot locations and I think that the standard single fan does a fine job.  However, if you are camping in hot locations and/or want to get ahead of "global Warming" then a dual fan setup might help.😁

It should be fairly simple to construct a mount for the two fans versus the single.

Bill

[Ray Kimsey]

I have a set of 3.5 inch fans where I did a very similar install. My question is how were you able to secure the 5.5 inch fans? I would like to use the larger fans, but cannot figure out a way to do it. I secured the smaller fans to the upper vent cover, but the larger ones seem to prevent me from closing the cover.  Maybe you could post a close up picture of how they are mounted.  I can't tell from the first picture. Thank you!

 

[CRM]

20 minutes ago, Ray Kimsey said:

I have a set of 3.5 inch fans where I did a very similar install. My question is how were you able to secure the 5.5 inch fans? I would like to use the larger fans, but cannot figure out a way to do it. I secured the smaller fans to the upper vent cover, but the larger ones seem to prevent me from closing the cover.  Maybe you could post a close up picture of how they are mounted.  I can't tell from the first picture. Thank you!

 

I tried installing 5.5 fans on mine too but it was impossible to make them fit. Maybe differing clearances based on year of hull and fridge model?

[topgun2]

Note the Oliver supplied "supports" beneath the fan picture.  I used these same supports when installing my new fan.  Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of where and/or how the bottom of those supports are attached.  But I do hope this helps you.

Bill

 

[Ray Kimsey]

Thank you Topgun, I have a 2020 and as far as I can tell there was never a fan installed.  That is why I put in the 2 3.5" fans. Running on propane in the summer was not a good option for food safety.  The picture does give me some ideas though.  Thank you!

 

[dhaig]

3 hours ago, Ray Kimsey said:

I have a set of 3.5 inch fans where I did a very similar install. My question is how were you able to secure the 5.5 inch fans? I would like to use the larger fans, but cannot figure out a way to do it. I secured the smaller fans to the upper vent cover, but the larger ones seem to prevent me from closing the cover.  Maybe you could post a close up picture of how they are mounted.  I can't tell from the first picture. Thank you!

 

@Ray Kimsey and @CRM,  my apologies for not including the detail photos below in my original posting.

The fans come mounted together as an assembly.  Mounting hardware is included in the kit.  In the first photo below, at the right rear of the fan a flange can be seen with a Phillips head screw circled.  This screw and a matching one on the left side secure the upper part of the assembly to the sloped MDF panel which forms the top of the rear compartment of the refrigerator.

At the lower right another Phillips screw with a large head clamps to the front vertical edge of the vent opening.  A hex screw attached to the front lower right of the fan frame holds a small rectangular bracket which clamps to the rear side of the vertical edge of the vent opening.  Together, these two screws form the clamping mechanism to the vertical edge of the vent opening.  The same arrangement holds the lower left side of the fan to the vertical edge of the vent opening.

I editing the photo below to to brighten the interior details.  Unfortunately, I do not have the exact dimensions of the upper vent opening.  My recollection is that I did a quick measurement of the vertical height available inside the opening and concluded the 5.5" height of the fans would fit.  Amazon lists the dimensions of the 2 fan assembly as: 1"D x 12.5"W x 5.5"H.  The Beech-Lane website does not list the dimensions of the fans.  My trailer is in a storage facility about 35 miles north of my home.

The cables for power and remote control run up the left side of the compartment, across the sloped MDF panel behind the fans and up into the right corner of the compartment into the area behind the microwave oven.

Our ELII is a 2022 model.  I do not know if the size of the upper vent opening has varied over model years.

I hope this helps clarify the mounting method.

Don

[CRM]

3 minutes ago, dhaig said:

Our ELII is a 2022 model.  I do not know if the size of the upper vent opening has varied over model years.

My 2010 has the same size vent, but I don't have the depth available near the top of the opening to be able to fit the 5.5 fans.

[Ray Kimsey]

@dhaig, @CRM,  @topgun2 Thank you all and others I may have missed. The additional pictures help a lot. I actually have the same Beech Lane fans so I was especially interested in how they did that.  I will work on it tomorrow!  We are heading to Colorado, Utah, Arizona  in a couple of weeks so that will be a good test for it.  Thank you again!

[johnwen]

On 8/28/2023 at 10:10 PM, dhaig said:

The 12VDC power supply to the refrigerator was also used to power the fans

dhaig,

Are the connections below the yellow caution label in your photo the power supply to the refrigerator, yellow being ground and red being 12v ?  Trying to figure where to tie in for the new fans.

John

[dhaig]

@johnwen, you are correct- yellow is ground and red is 12VDC.

I believe you were referring to the image below:

Please note, I later relocated the fan control to the upper storage cabinet above the refrigerator and microwave oven.  The power connections for the fans remained unchanged from what is shown above.

Regards, Don

[johnwen]

Thanks much, Don.  Now all I need is a break from the weather :)