Fridge Fan turns on in high heat- how to disable?

[pdm777]

1990 Westy with gowesty aux battery kit.

Parked in my driveway, the fan is powering up on very hot 100*+ days.
I fear this is depleting my house battery.

Is this a mis-wiring problem?
Can I disable the fan from turning on?
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1990 Westy Full Camper

[kamzcab86]

[CanStan]

This might be a dumb question, but are you sure your fridge is turned off properly?

[Jeffrey Lee]

This is a common problem when parked in hot weather. As Kamz says, the thermoswitch doesn't know/care whether the fridge is on or not; it simply senses a high temperature and turns the fan on.

When I pulled my fridge for overhaul a couple of years ago I took the opportunity to wire in a manual cutout/override switch. The switch is mounted inside the kitchen cabinet beneath the sink, and it simply breaks the thermoswitch circuit to disable the fan between trips.
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[pdm777]

Thanks for the info.
I checked and the DC mode is definately 'off' (AC button pushed in)
It's -only- 100* inside the fridge, and the fan been running for hours.

I'll look into a manual switch.

Makes me wonder-- the 'one battery' stock Westys musta had
starting problems in hot climates due to battery drain?

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1990 Westy Full Camper

[pdm777]

Jeffrey Lee-
campwestfalia.com -- very cool site, nice! SUBSCRIBED
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1990 Westy Full Camper

[Ahwahnee]

I added a manual switch right behind the drivers seat (near the fuse block).

This used to be a problem primarily in Arizona summers but seems like everyone is hotter these days.

Since I was putting in a switch anyway I went with a double throw and can have the fridge fan (and water pump) run off either the main or aux battery. Probably an unnecessary complication but seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Jeffrey Lee]

[Paulbeard]

[DwarfVader]

[crazyvwvanman]

The fridge fan power is always on, it doesn't go through the fridge relay. The relay is only for the 12 volt heating element. The fridge fan is needed in all 3 modes of the 3 way fridge, not just 12 volt mode.

It isn't the temp inside the fridge that makes the fan run, it is the heat behind the fridge on the fins. If that side of the van is parked in the sun it can make the back of the fridge hot enough to turn on the fan sometimes. This is more the case with darker paint colors.

Mark

[Ahwahnee]

[DwarfVader]

[crazyvwvanman]

In Westy models with the 2 fuse setup behind the driver seat 1 fuse is always powered and 1 fuse gets power from the fridge relay only when the alternator is charging. The fuse that always has power is for the led panel, the faucet pump, and the fridge fin cooling fan. If one wished to disable the fridge fan when the Westy wasn't being used for camping you could just pull the 1 fuse. The faucet pump and led panel would also be off then so you could easily remember to put the fuse back when camped. That way the fridge fan would also be available when camped, like it should be.

Mark

[DwarfVader]

Which all makes sense.
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I'll find my van someday, or it will find me.

[Ahwahnee]

FWIW worth... my fridge fan died about 10 years ago and I really can't tell any difference in cooling (fridge works fine).

I could replace it but I rather like not having that thing cycling on & off when trying to sleep on a warm evening.