Which Fan?

[Newcastle George]

I need to purchase a cooling fan for my fridge. Which are the quietest, ball bearing or sleeve type?

George

[Martin B]

Hi George,
First some questions - is the fan for forced air circulation within the fridge to give more uniform "cold" and thereby avoid frozen lettuce and warm beer ?
OR is it to push more air past the condenser "coils" at the rear of the fridge ?
Is it a 3 way gas/12v/240v absorption or a compressor fridge?

Back in the dim dark ages (about 2005) I purchased a small "computer" fan from Dick Smith for internal circulation within a Waeco 220L compressor fridge. The noise was excessive.
On a very good Forum (no brand name advertising but the caravan started with Bush... and have a very robust aluminium frame) there was a recommendation for a strange brand name computer fan started with a "Z" I think and the source may have been Jaycar.
The fan was provided with a very small potentiometer already wired to it for speed control and it was particularly silent. I mounted it under a wire shelf of the fridge and wired it to the opposite contact of the interior light such that when the door was open and the light was on the fan was switched off. System worked a treat.
Pity the newer Waeco have solid glass shelves which would hinder/prevent internal circulation of air.

If your fridge is not cooling sufficiently look at all the possible causes as well -
not enough insulation in the wall behind the fridge to keep exterior heat out
not enough air space around the fridge
dirty condensor fins (I covered the external grilles and cut interior air ways for condensor cooling air circulation in my Bush... with great effect) - pics available if required
if a 3 way then too much air space above the fridge allowing heat from the absorbtion system to get there and put heat back into the fridge.

Sorry I can not remember the very silent brand of fan.

[BruceS]

George both are pretty quiet when new and both pretty noisy when on their way out. The ball bearing fans should run with less friction (less power useage?).
If noise is a problem I'd run it at 6 volts or so. Maybe 2 smaller ones in series?
If it's pretty easy to get to I'd just go with the sleeve ones as they're a dime a dozen.

3c ea at the present time.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Box-of-50-PC ... 3cce9edaee

speed controller.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Computer-CPU ... 3371c0a741

[Craig]

Hi George,

I wired in one last year, I bought it from Jaycar. They had 2 types available but I went with the bearing model. It is extremely quiet. I mounted it at the rear of the fridge and I am now going to change the switch to one with an LED in it because it is so quiet I can't hear it running. It was the dearer of the two. I am away from the MH and can't tell you the model/part number for it unfortunately. I hope this answers your question.

Craig

[T1 Terry]

If you want a truely quiet fan, you can't go past the maglev brg fans from J Car, a bit dearer but very quiet.

[Newcastle George]

The fridge is a domestic 240v model and the 240v fan will be wired into the thermostat circuit so that it operates in sync with the compressor. I do not have sufficient space around the fridge for ventilation of the sides so intend the fan to draw air past the sides and bottom and expel it slightly above the top to a solar fan through the roof. I also intend insulating the top of the fridge to avoid heat transfer that way.

I have decided on and ordered this ball bearing unit.

George