Venting a 12V fridge through the floor

[TimC]

I'm installing a fridge on drawer slides in the galley of my new Foamie build. I want to provide some ventilation and after reading past tnttt posts on the subject I am wondering if the following method might eliminate some of the road dust that might enter through the vent.

I'm thinking of a 2" PVC Street EL placed below the fridge, through the floor and pointing toward the rear. It would be accessible enough to be able to cap off the end with a 2" test plug which I see Menards has for seven bucks.

I'll probably install a small case fan over the vent and figure out which wire in the control wiring is hot only during the fridge run cycle. Not sure there is such a thing but if there is I'll find it.


Whatdayathink?

[bdosborn]

I tapped into the fan wire on my fridge to add another fan since I buried the fridge in a cabinet. Works like a champ. Noctua makes the best PC fans but you probably can't go wrong with a no-name fan.
Bruce

[MickinOz]

Certainly the cap idea would work well for closing off for travel.
You need two vents, don't you?
If you have one in the floor, there needs to be another somewhere, otherwise there is no flow through?
What's the plan?

[Onajourney]

I like bdosborn's idea and wish I did that. I just put a 3" vent in the bulkhead wall behind the fridge. I typically leave the maxfan on 2 when using it 24/7. That pulls the hot air out of the camper including the fridge space. I was surprised on how much heat the fridge actually generates at such a low wattage. May not be the most efficient way in the summer but I use the AC if it's too hot and it has no problem cooling it down.

[Onajourney]

I like bdosborn's idea and wish I did that. I just put a 3" vent in the bulkhead wall behind the fridge. I typically leave the maxfan on 2 when using it 24/7. That pulls the hot air out of the camper including the fridge space. I was surprised on how much heat the fridge actually generates at such a low wattage. May not be the most efficient way in the summer but I use the AC if it's too hot and it has no problem cooling it down.

[TimC]

Certainly the cap idea would work well for closing off for travel.
You need two vents, don't you?
If you have one in the floor, there needs to be another somewhere, otherwise there is no flow through?
What's the plan?

Yep, I am thinking two is the ticket. The second one, a make-up air vent, will probably be on the other side of the galley floor under some drawers and be of a similar design (PVC scoop pointed to the rear with appropriate critter screen and a cap. I ordered a 50mm 12V case fan to pull air from the space. I purposely left a small space under the fridge and drawers for running wires, installing vents and other out of the way items (yet to be determined).

I might try to design the fan assisted vent to somehow pull air from just under the counter top making it a little more efficient since the hot air will sit up there. There's a small void behind the fridge that I may be able to squeeze a long flat plenum into.

[MickinOz]

Its going to work fine.
I just bought a 70mm ball bearing PC case fan myself.
Last trip we camped in three days of rain with very chilly nights.
Natural convection didn't take care of the condensation, so I've decided I'll put in fan assist.
They do move quite a bit of air for very little current draw.
70mm because the mounting holes align with my vent mounting screws.

[MickinOz]

Went to a catchup dinner with former colleagues. One of whom built a nice square drop.
Current project: install vents in galley, his fridge keeps kicking out on overload due to the compartment overheating.