Fridge Vents Winter Covers
I have a pair of covers for the fridge vents. Reports say they should be fitted when the temperature falls to about 8 deg. My question is do you leave them on when travelling as the locking pins don't seem that substantial
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You're right, the locating pins are not very robust. I rarely fitted them to my vans - I think I have some for the current van. Somewhere!
I thought they were to prevent cold draughts.
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I think my instructions say they should be fitted if the temperature falls to -10 degrees. I have never used mine yet whilst away in the van. However I do put them on at home during the winter and when I am washing the van to stop too much water getting
in.David
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There should be no cold draughts into your m/van or caravan from the fridges airvents, GW ! If there are then the fridge exhaust/inlet piping is loose or incorrectly fitted I believe and should be remedied fairly soon.
as for the covers, i always fitted mine for the Winter Months to avoid "Over Cooling" but that does not apply to my compressor fridge, 'cos there are no fumes so the vents are internal to the van.
B
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both thetford and dometic fridge covers should fit snuggly and safely onto the fridge vents.
we have used them on both brands and they should remain on whilst travelling.
ps....GW, as Brian says, you shouldnt have any cold draughts from the fridge area....if you do, unburnt gas could be coming back jnto the van. not good.
get someone to check the seating of the fridge into its mounting seal.....this should be draughtproof, but often, sloppy fitting can distort the foam/rubber sealing.
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I have often experienced cold draughts coming through the fridge vents and coming out via the cutlery drawer on previous caravans If the van's fridge vents are facing a 20+mph wind without the winter covers on, there was little to prevent a draught entering the van.
PS if I looked through the cutlery drawer I could see the fridge vents and the outside beyond. The fridge was NOT room sealed.
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I have often experienced cold draughts coming through the fridge vents and coming out via the cutlery drawer on previous caravans If the van's fridge vents are facing a 20+mph wind without the winter covers on, there was little to prevent a draught entering the van.
PS if I looked through the cutlery drawer I could see the fridge vents and the outside beyond. The fridge was NOT room sealed.
i guess youre talking about older caravans....
your avatar shows a PVC? this would have a compressor frifge with no outside vents...
however, for those with a normal 3 way fridge, there should not be a draught nor huge gaps you can see through...
the vents are to vent the back of the fridge NOT the van...
the fridge needs to be sealed from the van to stop outside draughts coming in......
a) its dangerous (unburnt gas getting into the habitation area)
b) its blooming cold (making your hearing work harder)
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A good guess BB, but not quite correct.
The previous caravan with the draughts was a 2010 Lunar so not that old, and prior
to that a 1990s Bailey was much the same, and it was cold ! I never worried about gas exhaust as we were always on 240v on site.... As you correctly spotted, we have now moved to an Autosleeper MH but it still has a conventional, though automatic Thetford
3 way absortion fridge with vents... Ive just put the winter covers on as its coming round to that time of year.
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i wasnt sure if AS used the three way fridges...
certainly Swift have yo-yo'd between three way, compressor, and back again....
on the one hand, theres no unneccary cutting of the steel bodywork (draughts, water, etc) but on the other, owners have been frustrated by excessive battery use.....
back to conventional....for now
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I have often experienced cold draughts coming through the fridge vents and coming out via the cutlery drawer on previous caravans If the van's fridge vents are facing a 20+mph wind without the winter covers on, there was little to prevent a draught entering
the van.PS if I looked through the cutlery drawer I could see the fridge vents and the outside beyond. The fridge was NOT room sealed.
i guess youre talking about older caravans....
your avatar shows a PVC? this would have a compressor frifge with no outside vents...
however, for those with a normal 3 way fridge, there should not be a draught nor huge gaps you can see through...
the vents are to vent the back of the fridge NOT the van...
the fridge needs to be sealed from the van to stop outside draughts coming in......
a) its dangerous (unburnt gas getting into the habitation area)
b) its blooming cold (making your hearing work harder)
..I think it would need to be quite a noisy cold draft to do that
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