Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Fridge door seals
#1
My Vitrifrigo c51is 12/24vDC  compressor fridge works awesome, and has so since October 2013, but I have been less than impressed with the flexible door seals. Not only are they thin and fragile, they close atop the metal skin of the fridge body, and this metal is exposed to interior cold temperatures. 

As such this metal effectively transfers ambient exterior heat to the interior of the fridge, which the cooling unit must then remove.  This makes the metal of the fridge body and the mounting flanges cold nearest the door seals, and they will sweat in humid conditions.

While the fridge is quite efficient, averaging some 16.2AH each day over a 3 day span  the last time I tested it a few years back, iirc, it has always bothered me that this glaring design error is reducing efficiency to some unknown degree.

Looking closely at the door itself and fridge body, it is apparent a second door seal can be set up inside the ones provided and separate the metal fridge skin from the interior.

My fridge is also recessed a bit in the cabinet due to the extra insulation so i could actually have the door itself close inside some soft foam, further increasing the insulation around the door.

I have just ordered these products to help insulate the door of my fridge even better:

https://www.amazon.com/Trim-Lok-D-Shaped...THMHK&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Duck-Conditioner-...way&sr=8-1

I'll be taking some consumption measurements before and after with one of these style of  inline wattmeters:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=watts+up+watt...nb_sb_noss

I'll be removing the fridge and its door to install the interior door D shaped seal and at that point will clean the condenser fins and the condenser fan of any accumulated dust. I do have an air filter on the intake below the fridge which keeps the larger dust down, but the fine dust still builds up.  It has been a few years since I last removed the fridge and looked.  Their cleaning will have some effect on total electrical consumption, and it is really difficult to control ambinet temps and how much I open and close the fridge so those will be imperfect variables in the before and after tests. of electrical consumption,  but overall I think the effect of better door seals should be quite obviously measurable.

So, I will, at some point, have actual before and after Data.
Which is so much better than supposition and smugly shouted opinion.
[-] The following 6 users say Thank You to sternwake for this post:
  • rvpopeye (08-12-2019), Cammalu (08-12-2019), CatPerson (08-12-2019), Texjbird (08-13-2019), Everyroadleadshome (08-17-2019), heron (08-17-2019)
Reply
#2
Looking forward to it. I like the scientific methodology over the smugly shouted affirmations.
[-] The following 3 users say Thank You to Scott7022 for this post:
  • Cammalu (08-12-2019), Texjbird (08-13-2019), heron (08-17-2019)
Reply
#3
Good mod to try out , hope it does work as you expect.
stay tuned 
popeye


 Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges ,  aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
Reply
#4
Have you checked out and compared the latest model to your own, just to see if the company is aware and has possibly updated the gasket?

Just curious.  Some companies care, and others can't get past the profit incentive.
Reply
#5
I cannot really tell if the new one is better in this regard, going by a small picture.

[Image: C51IBD3.jpg]

I also replaced the black plastic door panel with stainless steel.  This too sometimes sweats in humid weather.  Might go back to the black plastic as the particular SS is hard to keep looking clean, and SS is a good heat conductor.
  
I could just adhere the black panel over the SS and gain some more insulative value. Will have to see If i can accomplish that cleanly.

Several year back I looked into replacement original like seals and the price had me choose a different route.
The double seal should be quite effective, but time and data will tell.
Reply
#6
Is that a three way or a 12 volt compressor fridge?
Reply
#7
stopped by ace hardware for some weather stripping and they had a bunch of different designs all pretty cheap
Reply
#8
12v compressor.
Reply
#9
I thought the epdm D seal would compress the best in my application and be way more durable that the frost king weatherstripping at ace. That stuff is fragile IME.
Reply
#10
The EPDM trim-lok D seal just arrived and its strength and compression is just as I had hoped.  Not sure when i will get around to  testing a basline consumption, then removing fridge  fridge door, installing seals and re-testing electrical consumption. 

Soon.

My newly ordered wattmeter is shipping from China, and my other portable is in use elsewhere passing solar current to friend's vehicle starting batteries that are regularly left to allow parasitic loads to drag them below 10.5v.  Pretty much took days for a 100  watt panel to get the battery to 14.8v, and now amperage is only slowly tapering towards where it should be to be near fully charged.  My ultracheap Mohoo solar controller with the worst  user interface ever, basically just seeks and holds a programmed voltage, never dropping to float, which makes it perfect for seeking and then holding absorption voltage all day long to get abused batteries as close as possible to true full, short of an EQ  charge.

My existing portable watt meter also does not read currents under 0.1 amp very well and not at all under 0.06 amps.  I have an interior fridge fan on 24/7 that uses 0.03 amps and there is likely around a 0.01 parasitic draw from the compressor controller itself when the compressor is not running, so my existing portable wattmeter does not measure this. i added 0.05 AH for each hour I ran to previous fridge consumption tests.

Hoping the new wattmeter can read low currents more accurately and better overall, but I might not wait for its arrival before beginning the test. i could just use my clampmeter on the  solar controllers output and begin a 24 hour  consumption test soon, then install additional door seal in  25 hours.  I'm not bothering breaking out the hydrometer on the starting batteries as I am not that curious and their owner obviously does not care all that much.  Once amps taper to less than 0.4 on each battery at 14.8v, i will consider it good enough.  one is nearly there, the other took 4 hours to taper from 5 amps to 2.5 yesterday, and 2 hours today it is only down to 2.1.  this particular battery read 8.7 volts 4 days ago.
[-] The following 4 users say Thank You to sternwake for this post:
  • rvpopeye (08-16-2019), Everyroadleadshome (08-17-2019), heron (08-17-2019), American Nomad Patriot (11-05-2019)
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)