Fridge fan

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davidej

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Our fridge unit is in a cupboard under the galley sink. Not a good choice from the efficiency point of view but it would be difficult to move.

Another downside is that saucepans etc get tangled in the fan blades - I know I should have fitted a grill of some sort. Anyway the fan now has blades missing and needs replacement.

It looks like a standard computer fan (120mm). I'm no expert in this area but I thought most computer PSUs put out 15V - also they seem to have three wires rather than 2 as on this one. can I replace it with one bought on ebay?

If so, and to avoid a repetition, could I mount it back to front co the casing protects the blades? - it would then suck instead of blow so could the polarity be reversed to reverse the direction of spinning. It claims to be a brushless motor so don't know if that would work.
 
davidej said:
It looks like a standard computer fan (120mm). I'm no expert in this area but I thought most computer PSUs put out 15V - also they seem to have three wires rather than 2 as on this one. can I replace it with one bought on ebay?

If so, and to avoid a repetition, could I mount it back to front co the casing protects the blades? - it would then suck instead of blow so could the polarity be reversed to reverse the direction of spinning. It claims to be a brushless motor so don't know if that would work.
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You can easily find a 12v computer fan with simple 2-wire connection - see http://www.maplin.co.uk/brushless-12vdc-axial-fans-1806 for example. Reversing polarity won't reverse the motor, but you can simply add a metal fan guard to it (Maplin sell these too).
 
Don't worry about the 3 wires.. The thirst one, usually yellow, is the RPM sensor that PC's use.. Just connect the positive and negative and you will be fine.. Probably best to see if there is any indication on the old one of the speed.. PC fans come in everything from 500rpm to 2000+ rpm..
 
davidej said:
Our fridge unit is in a cupboard under the galley sink. Not a good choice from the efficiency point of view but it would be difficult to move.

Another downside is that saucepans etc get tangled in the fan blades - I know I should have fitted a grill of some sort. Anyway the fan now has blades missing and needs replacement.

It looks like a standard computer fan (120mm). I'm no expert in this area but I thought most computer PSUs put out 15V - also they seem to have three wires rather than 2 as on this one. can I replace it with one bought on ebay?

If so, and to avoid a repetition, could I mount it back to front co the casing protects the blades? - it would then suck instead of blow so could the polarity be reversed to reverse the direction of spinning. It claims to be a brushless motor so don't know if that would work.
Click to expand...

Nearly all computer fans will run on 12v (most PC fans are 12v anyway). Typically there are 3 or 4 wires connecting the fan, One Negative, one positive, one for the taco an done for speed control. In your fridge you can ignore the last 2 wires. Unfortunately different manufactures use different colours for the wires but this is OK. Just conned the wires in turn to the battery until the fan works - you will not fry the fan. Get a 'silent' running computer fan and buy a 'guard' with it - available form maplins or other sources online. Just measure the size of the existing fan. There a 3 or 4 standard size fans used in PCs, servers and the like. you should be able to mount the fan using the existing fittings on the compressor if the sizes match. To reverse the fan just turn it around 180deg.
 
temptress said:
Nearly all computer fans will run on 12v (most PC fans are 12v anyway). Typically there are 3 or 4 wires connecting the fan, One Negative, one positive, one for the taco an done for speed control. In your fridge you can ignore the last 2 wires. Unfortunately different manufactures use different colours for the wires but this is OK. Just conned the wires in turn to the battery until the fan works - you will not fry the fan. Get a 'silent' running computer fan and buy a 'guard' with it - available form maplins or other sources online. Just measure the size of the existing fan. There a 3 or 4 standard size fans used in PCs, servers and the like. you should be able to mount the fan using the existing fittings on the compressor if the sizes match. To reverse the fan just turn it around 180deg.
Click to expand...

And just to add HWMBO has though he doesn't mention it above fitted a silent running server fan (sourced from Maplin) to replace the original very noisy one some years ago and more recently a second fan off to one side as our fridge unit is in a very confined space under the navigators seat which was getting quite warm when the ambient temperature was higher than average. The second one was very noisy initially due to running full tilt until the speed control was connected up too - now I am happy to report the First Mate can sleep at night, the nav seat is not getting hot and the fridge seems to be working more efficiently than ever. The second fan was a slightly used Moroccan souk bargain..
 
Sort of thing you want. Out of an old computer.

12 volts 2 wires. Only runs if polarity is correct but can be mounted either way round and guard fitted to either side.


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paella said:
Try this these are used in good quality commercial refrigerators. http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/189368/
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At 3200rpm it would sound like then engine is running in the middle of the night.. :)

How about something like this..

http://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/products/cooling/case-fan/arctic-f12-pro.html

Have a guard built in.. Vibration insulated..Varies the speed according to the temperature picked up from the probe that could be mounted to the heat exchanger of the fridge somewhere..
 
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