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removing city water and adding fridge fan
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llilibel03
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:27 am    Post subject: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

If I disconnect the city water do I need to plug the hose attachment on the faucet? Like, if I turn on the faucet (from the tank) is water going to spill out this connection or is it a separate line?

Also I bought a computer muffin fan to put in that hook up. It has three wires. ??? In the "frank condelli fridge maintenance" thread he says to wire this to the "12v constant power" at the led panel. Can anyone explain or have pics of how to do that splice? And does that mean the fan will be on anytime the ignition key is in or what?

Three wires-
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Finally, there is no rust around my hook ups, nor on the body panel reinforcing rib. The rust is only on the floor and I suspect the water fill connection on the tank. Because it is lower than the overflow it will be submerged when the tank is full and mine looks tampered with? What do you think and how might I address?



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Thanks for all the help!
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llilibel03
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:29 am    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

Is this the ticket?
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llilibel03
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:49 am    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

I cut that fitting off the fan's wires, stripped them and tried putting every combination of TWO wires to a battery with no luck. Three wires? Anybody?
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Vanagon Nut
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:52 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

What size battery did you connect the fan to for testing?

If you google the fan part number, brand, you should be able to find a wiring diagram for it.

Constant power means just that. So no, it won't be switched at ignition switch. I would suggest installing a fuse between the fan and supply. On my Westy, I installed a switch to turn fan on/off.

Would also suggest installing a suitable sized mesh screen at fan outlet to keep out larger bugs like wasps.

Maybe fill water tank and watch for leaks at that hose to tank?

Neil.
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Ahwahnee
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:41 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

I am in the midst of adding extra fans to the fridge operation, including one in the city water location.

On one fan that had 3 wires (red, black & blue) the fan ran correctly with red to + and black to -. I just cut the blue wire as far back as I could.

The big blue hose is submerged as the tank fills. Should not be a problem but worth checking for seepage or leaks once the tank is full. I use non-white paper towels (the cheap brown ones or blue ones from service stations). Dark towels readily show any wetness.

For my fans I added a couple of toggles right near that fuse block behind the driver's seat. I don't care to have this stuff running all the time and may only want some of the fans on depending on temperature, use of fridge and if I'm trying to sleep.

My fans --

Stock fan, which worked fine once I cleaned it, adjusted the clearance so it would not clip the plumbing and replaced the thermal switch (replacements at any electronics store).

Extra fan on the rear fins (also controlled by thermal switch).

Circulation fan inside the fridge.

City water exhaust fan.

Exhaust fan inside the exhaust grille on the rear side of the stove unit.

I am hopeful that lots of air movement to take heat away from those fins behind the fridge will help it perform better in hot weather.

Also - I plugged the flare fitting on the (disconnected) gray city water line. I don't think water squirts out of there when you run the 12V pump but some water may drip if unchecked. Ace Hardware had a brass plug specially for closing off a flare fitting.
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VWinVT
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 3:27 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

I put a muffin fan in my city water port. It works well and really gets the heat out from behind the fridge. I made a plenum from reflectix as well...this keeps,the interior of the van cooler, as the fridge heat doesn't dissipate all over the rear of the kitchen and water tank area.

Do you have an auxiliary battery? I ask because, with the plenum, I need to run my city water fan all the time, and the stock fridge fan cycles as it should (just less frequently). If I shut the city water fan off, the stock fan runs constantly. Problem could be if you do not have an auxiliary battery, your starting/main battery will have constant draw.

I wired my fan to the hot wire that feeds the little toggle on the face of the sink/stove unit. (Red to red). Then I wired this hot wire to a toggle switch I mounted on the wall nest to the side fridge vent on the left. This allows me to turn it on and off as needed. The other wire serves as the ground, I forget the color. The third wire is not needed in this setup. You will need to find out which of your wires is which.
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MarkWard
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:13 am    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

I added a fan to the city water outlet as well. I have a 2 way toggle. Off the thermoswitch controls the fridge fan as intended. Position one overrides the the thermoswitch. Position 2 runs both fans. It is not always convenient to have the city water fan running. I posted some photos in the my gallery here. No science, but I never hear " I don't think the fridge is cold" that was not the case prior to the fan changes.
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llilibel03
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2017 1:38 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

FYI- yes, if you disconnect the city water supply and run the sink from the tank water will spill behind the cabinet. Ask me how I know.

So if I adding a fan in the city water hookup you will have to cap the city water connection at the faucet.
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Ahwahnee
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2017 2:02 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

llilibel03 wrote:
... if I adding a fan in the city water hookup you will have to cap the city water connection at the faucet.


Or cap the flare fitting on the end of the gray plastic line (that previously connected to the city water inlet). This is what I used ($1.29 @ Ace):

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sped372
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:03 pm    Post subject: Re: removing city water and adding fridge fan Reply with quote

Warm January weather gave me the itch to tinker on the camper; I've wanted to do this mod for awhile. I didn't add a fan (yet) since I wasn't ambitious enough to pull the fridge to tap into a power source, but I'm curious how much of an improvement I'll get without one. I might experiment with rolling a towel and laying it across the interior vents behind the fridge to force some heat out the new exit... in due time once spring arrives.

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No turning back now! Cringed a little modifying "new" parts but we'll never use the city hookup.

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Cleaned up nicely with a utility blade and some sand paper.

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While doing surgery I noticed that the housing had a couple cracks in it at the bosses for the self tapping screws. I just put these new hookups in a little over a year ago, didn't look that closely at them to see if they were cracked when brand new. Just an observation. Everything was still snug but surprised me for the age of the parts.

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